Bullets bank on Gliddon to tame Taipans

BULLETS head coach Andrej Lemanis is backing sharpshooter Cam Gliddon to snap out of his three-point funk against former club Cairns in this Saturday’s “Sunshine Stoush” at Boondall.

Gliddon is second in the NBL for three-pointers this season with 60 and is fifth in the competition for threepoint percentage (42 per cent) but he has gone stone cold in Brisbane’s two losses to the Taipans. The Boomers guard has hit just one shot from 10 three-point attempts against the Snakes in stark contrast to his matchwinning heroics against other clubs.

“Cam’s been disappointed by those two games against Cairns,” Lemanis said. “When you play somewhere for six or seven years like he did in Cairns, there is a connection.

“He may have been a little anxious going into those games but I expect him to play well this weekend.

“We believe our strength is our depth and different players can step up at different times. We believe we have the spread of talent so we’re not relying on the same people all the time.’’

Lemanis said the fourthplaced Bullets were not “stressed” by the 29-point loss to the Taipans in their last meeting on January 3 but Brisbane would have to bring a sharper mental edge.

Taipans point guard Melo Trimble exploded with 74 points across the two games against Melbourne and Perth last weekend that included 13 of 17 from three-point range in the highest scoring round for a player in the NBL in 12 years.

Lemanis said Brisbane had come up with defensive schemes to limit the influence of the likes of Bryce Cotton and Casper Ware and would formulate a plan to contain the dangerous Trimble.