It’s the journey for 300- game Lemanis
THE people and the process have always been – and always will be – the guiding lights for Brisbane Bullets mentor Andrej Lemanis, who brings up his 300th game as an NBL head coach on Thursday.
Lemanis will be the 13th man in NBL history to reach the milestone when the Bullets take on Cairns at the Cairns Convention Centre in the season’s third “Sunshine Stoush’’.
After serving as an assistant with Townsville, Lemanis took the reins at the New Zealand Breakers in 2006.
He guided the Breakers to a hat- trick of titles in 2011- 13 and collected two NBL coach of the year gongs before leaving to take up the Australian Boomers post he still holds.
“It’s about the people and the journey along the way,” he said. “The biggest reward in coaching has always been seeing others achieve their full potential. Maybe being a part of that journey for people always gives you a buzz.
“Championships are nice but to me it’s about getting into the process, caring about the people and letting it play out. That’s the reward.”
The rise of Peter Crawford from Crocs development play- er to 2012 Olympian and Torrey Craig’s elevation from the Bullets to the NBA are two success stories he takes great pride in.
Having a milestone game against the Taipans is not new to Lemanis, who coached his first and 200th game against Cairns. He also won his first championship with the Breakers against the Taipans in 2011.
He said Brisbane’s 85- 77 win over Sydney on Saturday was full of positives to be carried into the Cairns clash.
“We’ve been playing pretty well over the last five or six games without getting the results to suggest that,’’ he said.