Bombs away the plan for Bullets showdown with Suns
BULLETS sharpshooter Daniel Kickert says it could be long bombs away in Phoenix tomorrow in the final match of the historic series between NBL and NBA teams.
Brisbane got a close look at the Suns yesterday when Phoenix hosted the Portland Trailblazers in an NBA preseason match at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Bullets players and coaches were courtside as the Blazers claimed a 113- 104 win over the Suns who were without star guard Devon Booker ( knee).
Young gun Josh Jackson led Phoenix with 22 points.
Booker, who scored 70 points in a game against Boston last season, may not play against the Bullets with the start of the 2017- 18 NBA sea- son less than a week away. It will not change Brisbane’s plans with the Bullets set to take their fair share of threepoint attempts
Brisbane hit nine of 16 attempts from beyond the arc against Perth last Saturday with Kickert ( four from five) and import Travis Trice ( three from five) leading the way.
The NBA three- point line is further from the basket than the standard FIBA court but Brisbane will not be shy.
“I’ll definitely be letting them fly if I’m open. There’s little adjustments to make over here but they are not insurmountable,’’ Kickert said.
“We’ll work on it and get used to the distance. It will be a pretty significant part of our attack.
“They’ve got a lot of athletic bodies inside so sometimes it’s a higher percentage shot. Brisbane trained yesterday with their two extra Americans, Grant Jerret and Zach Andrews, joining the team for the first time.
Kickert said Melbourne United’s one- point loss to OKC on Monday had given Brisbane great heart.
“It just goes to show if you really take it seriously ... you can actually compete,’’ he said.