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

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.

Can't believe 21 points up and we losted.

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.

Can Anyone say Angola ;-)

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?

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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"

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

"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.

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

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.

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.