‘Aggressive’ victory a good way to end the Blitz says Vickerman

Having secured the largest victory of the entire NBL26 preseason, Dean Vickerman says his group are showing positive signs ahead of Round 1 on September 18 against the Tasmania JackJumpers.

Speaking after our 38-point win over the Brisbane Bullets on Saturday night, Vickerman touched on how his team was able to execute the game-plan aggressively, while adjusting to different looks at the defensive end.

“(It was) an elite start from us,” he said.

“I thought Finn Delaney was a massive factor in how we started the game. Aggressive, putting his feet in the paint, really in an attack mode and I think that translated a little bit to the defensive end.

“Tohi (Smith-Milner) made some shots in the second and third quarter, so we had some things to deal with with (defending) some pick-and-pop fives, and I thought we found a good rhythm in the second half with our defence as well.”

Import guard Tyson Walker showcased his game-breaking speed across much of the contest, leading all scorers with 18 points while dishing out six assists.

“I think we've all been pushing him (Walker) to really use his speed a little bit more and I thought he bought into that tonight and really pushed the pace to a point where he's absolutely cooked and challenged his fitness a little bit.

“The combination of getting to the rim and being able to shoot the three ball and distribute, you know, we get Shea Ili healthy as well and we've got two guys that our guys are gonna have to keep up with in the way that they're pushing the basketball.”

We will play one final game before the start of NBL26 when we head on the road to face the Bullets again on the Sunshine Coast on 12 September from 6:30pm.