Trice says Bullets’ formula right but consistency not
BRISBANE Bullets sharpshooter Travis Trice has vowed to continue doing what he is paid to do as a professional despite the club’s sixth straight NBL loss.
Trice looked to have snapped the club’s mounting losing streak when he put the hosts ahead 80- 79 against the Perth Wildcats with four seconds of the game remaining. But the reigning champions broke the hearts of Brisbane fans when their classy import Bryce Cotton made a clutch basket to complete one of the club’s best comeback wins.
Brisbane, who lost in overtime to the Adelaide 36ers in their previous home appearance after surrendering a healthy lead, squandered a 21point advantage in the 81- 80 defeat to the Wildcats. It finally forced coach Andrej Lemanis to admit the Bullets needed to find a way to get across the line in tight finishes.
Trice, though, was having nothing to do with suggestions the latest loss could result in the players running up the white flag in their remaining games, starting with Saturday’s Heritage home clash with top of the table Melbourne United.
“What we have to do now is try to bounce back and try to correct the things we messed up in our next game,” the 23year- old American said.
“We’re all competitors, this is our job, it’s not hard to bounce back. It’s not hard to come to work and want to get better each day. The thing is putting four quarters together, I think that is our problem.”
Lemanis said the losing streak would not be easier to swallow if Brisbane were losing by big margins rather than by one or two points.
“No. When you get hammered every week, that just shows you are not good enough” he said. “The frustration comes, for us, because we know we are good enough.
“We’re not getting the reward for the effort we put in at different periods of the game.”