Lemanis fronts up to faithful on slide

BULLETS coach Andrej Lemanis is not running and hiding from the six-game losing streak that has shot down Brisbane’s NBL campaign.

Lemanis (pictured) fronted the club’s faithful at a members’ forum on Tuesday night and shares their frustration with the slide down the ladder after a series of heartbreaking losses when Brisbane blew double-digit leads.

He has also been around basketball long enough to know that the buck stops with him, with Brisbane second-last on the ladder with a win-loss record of 7-14 ahead of Saturday’s clash with league-leading Melbourne at Boondall.

Lemanis is up for the fight with all the work ethic, experience and nous that helped him lead the New Zealand Breakers to a hat-trick of NBL titles and the Australian Boomers to within a whisker of a historic Olympic medal in Rio.

“Everybody is frustrated that we are losing but it’s one of those things,” he said.

“What are we going to do? Try harder? Every game gets my full application and effort.

“All I can do is be the best coach I can be and help the team be the best it can be. We prepare, play and make adjustments as the game unfolds to the best of our ability.”

Lemanis said he enjoyed talking directly to the club’s most rusted-on supporters.

“When you are going through something like this it’s often quite heartening to see the passion people have for the club,” he said.

He said it would not take a major shake-up for the Bullets to turn around their fortunes.

The Bullets hosted Lions players at training yesterday, with Brisbane’s first competitive foray of 2018 to come on February 17 in the new abbreviated AFLX format at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium.