Bullets challenge awaits in season opener

Adelaide 36ers open the NBL24 season on the road against the Bullets on Friday night and will look to reverse a pre-season loss to Brisbane earlier this month.

The Bullets, minus sharpshooting import Chris Smith, shocked Adelaide with an increased defensive intensity in a stunning second quarter display, which led to a 103-78 win against the 36ers at The Lights Community Centre.

Isaac Humphries and Alex Starling were rested from that match, and both will return for Friday night’s opener as the Bullets dominated inside the paint, doubling Adelaide’s score in the keyway.

The 36ers will look to rebound strongly from a disappointing NBL Blitz campaign, which saw the club go winless from its three matches.

THE KEY
In the pre-season loss to Brisbane, the 36ers were hounded by the Bullets defensively. With the likes of new recruits Mitch Norton, Isaac White and Sam McDaniel pressuring the passing lanes, Adelaide found it tough to score in patches.

Expect the Bullets, led by new coach Justin Schueller in his NBL had coaching debut, to bring the same heat and potentially even more pressure at the defensive end.

With the Bullets in front of their home crowd with a new-look roster and coach, Adelaide will have to start with an intent at both ends of the floor or will be playing catch-up.

Adelaide will have counters for the Bullets’ new defensive focus and will also have to limit Brisbane’s penetration of the keyway to stop the shooters getting open from the perimeter.

Brisbane have their marquee one-two punch in Olympic bronze medallists Aron Baynes and Nathan Sobey fit and firing and a match-up against Mitch McCarron and Humphries looms large.

THE SECRET
Smith has been brought in as a dynamic scorer and a shooter who can get hot and get hot quick. This was evident when he went a perfect 7/7 from beyond the arc in a pre-season win against Cairns Taipans.

The 193cm swingman is coming off an impressive couple of seasons in the B-League, Japan’s top tier league, where he played for the Shiba Jets alongside former Bullet and Wildcat Vic Law.

He was recently named in the 2022-23 B-League best five after averaging 17 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.

Smith will likely go head-to-head with Trey Kell at both ends of the floor and whoever wins this battle will go a long way into which side starts the season with a victory.

Schueller is excited to add a player of Smith’s calibre to the NBL24 roster.

“Chris has been on our radar for a long time, and is the perfect piece within our roster build,” Schueller said.

“He is a winner and everywhere he has played he has been one of, if not the top performer in his teams and we believe he is exactly the piece we needed.”

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DEPTH CHART
PG: Scott / Norton / Devers
SG: Sobey / White / Hadley
SF: Smith / McDaniel
PF: Bannan / Mitchell / Johns
C: Baynes / Harrison / Zikarsky

THE FINAL WORD
The real season starts now and it’s time to bring the heat. Head coach CJ Bruton said his side has been preparing all pre-season for this weekend and Friday night is a massive test.

To start the season on the road is tough in any professional sport, and Adelaide has that challenge going into what will be a fired up and hostile Nissan Arena where the Bullets’ fans have a new sens of optimism.

Adelaide needs to come out and make a statement and show the league the inconsistency of pre-season is in the review mirror.

The focus must be on the defensive end, which was vastly improved in Adelaide’s 86-82 loss to Tasmania JackJumpers in the final NBL Blitz game.

Even though Adelaide will be back on Brett Maher Court on Sunday for the club’s home opener against Melbourne United, all the energy must be put into getting off to the right start in Brisbane.