"You Can't Coach Effort"

They were one of the championship favourites heading into NBL23, but it seems nothing has gone right for the Brisbane Bullets.

From injuries to their key players to coaching changes, continuity has been a big issue for what from the outside was considered a star-studded lineup. 

Baynes, Sobey, Johnson – that’s a trio most teams would love to have at their disposal. 

But it just hasn’t come together for the Bullets - in fact, they’ve have had their full 12-man roster available just once this season. And they’ve clearly underperformed. At five wins and 14 losses, they sit ninth in the standings. 

Import Tyler Johnson boasts experience like very few in the NBL, with 350+ NBA games to his name. For him, the formula to winning is simple. 

“I think that’s all the guys looking at ourselves in the locker room and understanding that we can have all the scout, we can have all the video that we want, but when we are on the court, what are we going to do when things get really hard?,” he said after the loss to Melbourne.

“Are we just going to go ‘it’s just their (the opposition’s) night tonight?’, or are we going to dig in and make that extra effort or box-out and come over the top when you see someone boxing out.

“From that perspective, I know ‘Vandy’ (coach Greg Vanderjagt) is a great guy and coach … he wants us to get better, but you can’t really coach effort. That’s on the guys in the locker room.”

Brisbane conceded 20 offensive rebounds and gave up 19 turnovers in Sunday’s 13-point defeat, falling short despite strong performances from Gorjok Gak (18 points, 13 rebounds), Johnson (17 points) and DJ Mitchell (16 points). 

“We dug ourselves a hole in the third quarter. I think we had seven turnovers in the first 11 or 12 possessions,” Vanderjagt said. 

“On the back of DJ Mitchell, we kind of found some energy and got back in the game.

“We just have breakdowns defensively … we overhelp on (Dave) Barlow, three ball. (Chris) Goulding who is an incredible player and shooter sticks four threes in the third quarter. 

“There’s a lot of things we can control … a lot of attention to detail and a lot of scout that we just don’t concentrate. Is it a product of fatigue? It’s our third game in a week … I don’t know. There’s some aspects we just need to be better.

“There are some really controllable things that are a lot of the time just concentration and effort areas, where we break down and let ourselves down on the hard work we do.

“The play that sticks out … Sobes (Nathan Sobey) chases (Chris) Goulding around, three or four screens, switches on to (David) Barlow, contests and then we give up an o-board for a tip-in.

“In the fourth, (Brad) Newley gets a tip-in after we kind of get some in-roads again. It’s just those momentum plays that break our back.”

Vanderjagt said it was up to him to be able to give his team confidence, particularly when the momentum is against them. 

“I need to be better as a coach in terms of giving the guys direction offensively and finding ways for us to score when things get hard. I think I’ve done a poor job of that tonight and also in Adelaide,” he added. 

“A lot of it sits on my shoulders in terms of helping us being better.”

But Johnson was quick to defend his coach.

“Vandy’s taking a lot of heat thinking he didn’t have us prepared, but there’s not a lot you can do for that … that’s effort.”

Brisbane takes on Cairns on Wednesday night, with the addition of Baynes giving the Bullets a full-strength roster for just the second time this year.