Lemanis wants Bullets to learn from loss

BRISBANE Bullets coach Andrej Lemanis says his side must learn from their heartbreaking loss to Melbourne United when they meet the Illawarra Hawks on Sunday.

Having led by 14 points at one stage in the third quarter, the Bullets lost 69- 68 in Melbourne on Tuesday night.

It was Brisbane’s second successive defeat and their 10th loss from 17 matches this season.

The Bullets have made a habit this season of failing to close out games.

But Lemanis insists Brisbane remain on the right path.

“We’ve won seven close games as well, so it’s important that we don’t feel the weight of a couple of close losses and let it affect the way we come out and play the next game,” the Bullets coach said.

“That’s the sport. It’s played over 40 minutes.

“We were much better defensively ( against Melbourne) … we gave up 69 points at 41 per cent — defence is not a problem.

“The frustrating thing for me is down the stretch, if we’d made team plays and missed shots, fair enough, but we didn’t really get the shots that I thought ( we would) … the sorts of looks down the stretch.”

Lemanis will remind his players of the team’s “let’s just get a little bit better every day” motto heading into Sunday’s road clash against the Hawks.

“From this ( loss) we need to find those things that we can take away and get better,” he said.