IMPORT TIPPED TO FACE THE HAWKS

THE Brisbane Bullets are confident import Orlando Johnson will recover from an elbow injury to boost their hopes of gaining revenge on the Hawks at Nissan Arena on Thursday night.

Johnson’s NBL debut was cut short on Saturday when he suffered a hyper-extended elbow in Brisbane’s 90-84 loss to the Hawks.

He was on court for less than 11 minutes and had contributed only two points before succumbing to his injury. But the 31-year-old former Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans swingman trained strongly in the buildup and is set to suit up on Thursday night.

However, the Bullets will be without young gun Tanner Krebs, who is suffering delayed concussion after a mishap on the beach at Brisbane’s recovery session.

Krebs, who had four points is 16 minutes on court last Saturday, is expected to return for the Bullets’ home clash against the Sydney Kings on Tuesday.

The Hawks may be flying on the back of consecutive wins to start the season but coach Brian Goorjian is refusing to become carried away before the clash.

After 11 seasons abroad coaching in China, even the NBL’s most successful coach is taking nothing for granted.

“I totally loved China and learned a lot in China, but I was unable to communicate and I couldn’t read or do the things that I’m talking about now in Australia,” Goorjian said. “

So, I’m very much in a learning and growth cycle, and I’m trying to get better. I’ve been out of this for a while and I’ve got some work to do. We are building and growing. Sure, we’ve had a good start to the season, but there is a long way to go.”