Lemanis in sync with pain felt by Bullets fans
BULLETS coach Andrej Lemanis is not running and hiding from the six-game losing streak that has shot down Brisbane’s NBL campaign.
Lemanis fronted the club’s faithful at a member’s forum on Tuesday night and shares their frustration with the slide down the ladder after a series of heartbreaking losses when Brisbane blew doubledigit leads.
He has also been in 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, what are we going to do? Try harder? Every game gets my full application and effort to prepare,’’ he said.
“It’s not like we roll up to a game and see what happens.
“At the end of the day, someone else is making those decisions (about his tenure). I’m not going to make those decisions about whether I get fired or not.
“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.
“They are not all out to get you,’’ he laughed. “Members are the backbone of any club.”