Anonymous
Years ago

Does Lemanis struggle to coach down the stretch?

Just thinking, the Bullets have lost a lot of close games this year, including many where they've lost healthy leads.

I also remember in the World Cup in Spain, where the Boomers had a healthy lead in the knock-out game and proceeded to choke it away, including giving up a 5 point lead with less than a minute left.

Is there something about Lemanis' coaching style which isn't good at protecting leads down the stretch?

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Pickem  
Years ago

He's certainly not as poised on the sideline as I thought he’d be given his status .. looks like a tight nervous wreck down the stretch of a lot of games.. Looking like you’re afraid of losing would surely rub off on the players you’re steering around

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Anonymous  
Years ago

never rated him as a coach. he stuffed up our medal chances in rio.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Correct. People forget how NZB stunk when he first got there. Only once ownership changed and the money flowed he turned into a winning coach overnight. cough cough yeah right

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Udog  
Years ago

And NZ won their championships when the league was terrible and teams were folding. That era was forgettable and it was only really NZ and Perth that looked any good.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Probably one of the biggest chokes for a long time. They are lucky trice was on song. otherwise they would have been belted.

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John  
Years ago

Can't believe 21 points up and we losted.

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AshT  
Years ago

He definitly has a save the game mentality that is costing games. I had money on them today (knowing full well what they are like) but even at +21 knew they would become over careful at some point and we'd have a heart in mouth finish.

Coaches like that (and management) understand game plans but not creative psychology and thus never seem to change. The past two North Melbourne (AFL) coaches are/were notorious for it. I counted three games Brad Scott lost last year after employing unecessary save-it tactics, then blames the players for inability to ice games. Gleeson and Vickerman do it too but only with a 12pt lead inside the final 2mins, which is the right way.

Lemanis needs to be replaced. Talent alone won't get it done and there's no way Boomers will medal as things are now.

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Big Ads  
Years ago

Can Anyone say Angola ;-)

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Losted is a gr8 word. How can you not see when you write that word the underlining in RED?

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Probably meant he " lost it “

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Melbourne Boy  
Years ago

There certainly are lots of late shot clock heaves in the 4th when it's close and the defense locks in... maybe wrong play calls?

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proud  
Years ago

I think at the end of the day we want to see players try and penetrate to the basket and either score from that, draw a foul or kick it to an open man... they get called for offensive fouls and stop trying to take the game on.

I'm still annoyed at the World Cup where we were beaten by Turkey and then Spain in Rio, it's one thing to lose missing a shot but twice we've turned the ball over when we could least afford it. That is impossible to forget.

Sat next to him on the plane on a Perth-Brisbane flight and he was happy to have me talk his ear off for a bit, I know it's part of the job but he seemed quite genuine to me and I liked him more after that... he sucks as a coach though late in games

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paul  
Years ago

Had David Andersen been stronger with the ball on that last play v Spain then Patty Mills gets a lay-up. The play was a good one, had Bogut not been fouled out it would probably have been him making that pass and we get bronze.

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AussiePride  
Years ago

No Proud, It is not part of the job to listen to you rabbit on during a flight. He must have the patience of a saint.

#worldslongestflight

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AshT  
Years ago

proud, yes that's what stands out with them. They started playing so careful that all they did was pass it around the arc, no attack mode whatsoever. Then the fact they couldn't get a stop or win a hustle play bred from that same mental approach.

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Isaac  
Years ago

If it's not the coach, is it the guard contingent? I haven't watched many of their games other than Trice, I don't hear much about the others - Holt, Gibson and Bruce.

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Pointybits  
Years ago

OMG the worlds, rio, nbl was weak, Lemanis can't take a trick regardless of the 3 NBL rings. The Breakers owner lost millions patiently allowing both Lemanis and elite basketball to develop our game in NZ.
Yes this season the Bullets back court other than Trice has been inconsistent and probably just not good enough. To date I have not witnessed the coach miss a layup, fail to box out, throw the ball away.
Of course, if the team wins the players are amazing, if they lose well blame the coach.

An old coach once said to me "don’t blame a loss on the player who missed a winning layup, blame the loss on the player who missed the teams first layup"

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Gibson been quite reasonable, Holt inconsistent and Bruce hardly plays. There bigs miss very gettable baskets from under the bucket and other than Buford, Trice not a very athletic list.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

"The Breakers owner lost millions patiently allowing both Lemanis and elite basketball to develop our game in NZ."

The money poured in made Lemanis look good. Now he is back to the norm.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Bruce ain't gonna cut this new NBL level.

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Luuuc  
Years ago

My jury is still out on how good Lemanis is as a coach, but when a whole team just mentally turns chickenshit in a game that's not something I put on the coach. He was looking pretty good at half time! I doubt his instructions were "ok just go into your shells now and cling on to this lead"

I don't think the Bullets are far away at all. They just need to get this monkey off their backs.
Might also help if their fans realised they were at a basketball game and not a library.

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AngusH  
Years ago

Having 4 PGs is definitely part of it. I just think it's a poorly balanced roster. Holt made zero sense from day 1, and too many minutes for guys like Te Rangi who does 2 negative things on the court for every 1 positive.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

"My jury is still out on how good Lemanis is as a coach."

Really? One of only two three-peats in NBL history and the Boomers' best ever performance. I think he deserves to be listed as a great coach.

It's fair though to point out that his greatest strength is preparing a team, rather than in-game adjustments, and with veteran teams like the Breakers and Boomers that's the most important thing, the players will take care of the rest if they are well-drilled in your plan.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

He went to NZ before they started spending money and he sucked. Everyone forgets those early years. Then NZ started spending. Now this same flawed and clouded opinion of him gives him the Boomers gig with its best players ever. Right time, right place. Oh and he can't even tank properly which was disgraceful.

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Luuuc  
Years ago

I'm not knocking his NZ or (especially) Boomers achievements at all, but those were some quality rosters he was working with. What he has achieved with the Bullets isn't anything special.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

They didn't just start spending, they developed their own players. Vukona, Abercrombie, Pledger, Webster all came through their system. Lemanis set up a great program that is still producing great talent and got the rewards.

The Boomers' performance in Rio was incredible offensively, smashed Australian assist records, that comes from the coaches system.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

I think you can say he hasn't done a super job at Brisbane while still acknowledging he is an excellent coach. Starting up a team from scratch isn't easy, and as you say they aren't that far off the mark.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Don't forget they are missing arguably their top player in Cameron Bairstow for a long time now.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Those Kiwi players were there mostly before Lemanis came on board or were always returning from overseas/promoted from the Breakers Academy no matter who the coach was going to be whether Lemanis or someone else. The Blackwells setup and invested in the system Lemanis was just a hire.

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Isaac  
Years ago

Brisbane have entered the league in a time of arguably unprecedented spending by the top teams (and the bottom team...). That's going to work against them.

On the building side though, what projects are coming through? Bruce and Young barely play, and Young doesn't seem to have come along much.

Cairns have good young options. Hawks have Kay and Norton coming through, hopefully Glover down the track. Brisbane don't seem to have much unless I'm forgetting players?

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AngusH  
Years ago

There was some hype around Magnay as a young prospect, but he doesn't get a lot of burn. 3 year contract though, so I'd imagine he's considered a long-term project.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

"On the building side though, what projects are coming through?"

That's one of their main focuses, replicating what the Breakers did. They've signed Kenyon, Harrison, Fullarton and Magnay as their next crop coming through. Some good talent in that lot, Fullarton will be a gun.

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Anon  
Years ago

"An old coach once said to me "don't blame a loss on the player who missed a winning layup, blame the loss on the player who missed the teams first layup"

^^ Hallelujah aint that the truth.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

"Those Kiwi players were there mostly before Lemanis came on board."

Actually, in Lemanis' first season the Kiwi players there were Aaron Olsen, Mika Vukona, Paul Henare and Lindsay Tait. The previous year Vukona was a DP who played a total of 55 minutes.

Lemanis set up the Breakers Academy which has helped produce most of the players who have since gone onto represent New Zealand, it's the equivalent of the CoE program here and has been the key to the Breakers' success.

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paul  
Years ago

Sorry, the above was me, and a few other above that too.

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PlaymakerMo  
Years ago

I re-watched the Bullets-36ers game from the other week: Lemanis really didn't put a foot wrong.

-Up by 2 late in the 4th, Jervis fouls DJ on a drive. It looked as though the Bullets correctly predicted what Adelaide were running, but Jervis really doesn't understand legal guarding position (it was an obvious foul and he was visibly perplexed with the call).

-Scores tied, ~14s left in the 4th and Bullets' possession, he drew up a play to isolate Buford on DJ. Good call, DJ just played good defense and forced a turnover.

-In OT they only really had a couple of offensive breakdowns. They just missed open looks (particularly Gibbo if memory serves) and were far too passive defensively.

-The only mistake Lemanis made was their choice of pick and roll coverage which allowed DJ to get wide-open for two 3-pointers and make them both. Given Adelaide's desire to score in the paint, their plan made sense - just didn't work out.

When I've watched their other 4th quarter collapses, it just seems to be the players failing to execute and falling into mental lapses.

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SteveK2  
Years ago

Agree PlaymakerMo. I think conditioning may play a factor in that poor defense in OT and he could really use another experienced big in his roster.

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