Hired guns ready to fire for Bullets
TRICE, Holt and Buford – it sounds like a law firm.
But the multi-talented, multi-faceted trio plan on dominating a different sort of court.
Collectively, they have the skills to provide the thrills and pay the bills for the Brisbane Bullets this NBL season.
As the three US imports for Brisbane, they know they will also carry an extra weight of expectation.
Travis Trice is the quick point guard with all the tricks, Stephen Holt the cool and
classy combination guard, and Perrin Buford the highflying human highlight reel at small forward.
Together they will contribute a lion’s share of Brisbane’s points and set the tone at the defensive end.
They’ve all played as US imports in overseas leagues before, so they know the score for hired guns.
“You definitely have to carry a bigger load but you understand that,” Buford said. “You know you have a job to do – it may be scoring or rebounding or guarding the best player on the other team.
“It might be all three but there is always extra responsibility. You just have to train your mind to accept that.’’
Trice, who starred for Cairns last year after being the leading scorer for Michigan State in their NCAA Final Four campaign in 2015, won the Ray Borner Medal for MVP of the pre-season Blitz tournament. He said the season proper cannot start soon enough, with the Bullets opening their campaign against the Wildcats in Perth on Saturday night.
“I’m excited. I can’t wait to get started. We’ve played seven or eight pre-season games and we are ready,’’ Trice said.
“We are over practising. We want the real thing. It’s been fun to get to know the other imports and I think we mesh really well because we all can do multiple things.
“We know how to score but we also know how to get teammates involved and be unselfish.’’
Holt is also happy with how the import trio is coming together after Buford missed two weeks because of illness.
“We all bring something a little different,” he said.
Trice and Holt have played in the hostile environment of the Perth Arena and are expecting nothing different when the Bullets play the champions on Saturday.
Adelaide host Melbourne United in the NBL season opener tonight.