DreamShake
Last year

Mackinnon out as Bullets GM

The Brisbane Bullets announce Sam Mackinnon will not return as General Manager of Basketball next season.


The Bullets would like to thank Sam for his contribution to the Club over the past six seasons, and wish him all the best for the future.


"Sam has had a long and distinguished career in the League and he brought a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the Bullets when he joined back in 2017," Senior Basketball Advisor, Stu Lash said.


“We want to sincerely thank Sam for all his efforts and wish him great success.”


Lash said the decision to restructure Brisbane's basketball operations and make the position redundant came after a thorough internal review.


“There’s no hiding the fact we didn’t achieve what we set out to achieve this season, and we owe it to our incredible fans to leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of sustained success for this great Club,’ Lash explained.


“We are extremely pleased with the recent appointment of new head coach, Justin Schueller, who comes to the Club with an outstanding basketball resume, and tremendous skillset.


“We are equally excited to announce Greg Vanderjagt as our lead assistant coach for next season and beyond. Greg has done a great job as interim coach and will work well with Justin to help lead our Club in a new direction.


“We exist to win championships for this great city and our loyal fans,” Lash added.


“We are focused on creating a winning culture, and maintaining a club that connects with its fans and community. We are confident that when the new season begins, our supporters will not only be excited about the team we’ve put together, but also the direction we are headed.


“I want to thank all our amazing fans for their patience and understanding as we look to take the Bullets back up the ladder and into Championship contention."

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DreamShake  
Last year

Not overly surprised, although there may be a PR cost to come with this one. Being sold as a redundancy, will be interesting to see what the new structure is that 'necessitated' Mackinnon's departure.

In either case, there isn't too much to argue against both a new coach and GM/Head of Basketball etc being appointed

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Ben  
Last year

Not surprised Sam is departing, he couldn't stay following the last two seasons chock full of recruiting whiffs.

As DreamShake alluded to, I am surprised this is being spruiked as a redundancy. Who the heck is going to be responsible for roster management? Justin?

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Dunkman  
Last year

Writing on the wall with this one, he should have gone when Duncan went. Six years of total average.

Reply #912700 | Report this post


Anonymightymouse  
Last year

It would be wrong to blame Mackinnon entirely for that, the owners providing a stingy budget for most of that time was the biggest reason for mediocrity.

Reply #912701 | Report this post


DreamShake  
Last year

Also the issues of who really pulled rank/influence when it came to roster construction. Evidently it wasn't Duncan and rumours were that it wasn't Sam either.

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Dunkman  
Last year

Certainly wasn't Duncan, my information was Mackinnon had control of team formation. Good to see Vanderjagt back.

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Zodiac  
Last year

I'm sure the new coach is thrilled to have the previous coach as his right hand man. I assume that means PC x 2 aren't being brought back.

Reply #912714 | Report this post


Dr Dre  
Last year

Greg was Justin's assistant coach for Aussie junior team. They already have a relationship.

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