NBL: LaMelo Ball ruled out of Brisbane Bullets v Illawarra Hawks

The ‘House Full’ sign will go up at Nissan Arena when the Illawarra Hawks roll into town – but there’ll be no sign of LaMelo Ball when the teams hit the court.

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - NOVEMBER 30: LaMelo Ball of the Hawks looks on during the round 9 NBL match between the New Zealand Breakers and the Illawarra Hawks at Spark Arena on November 30, 2019 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)

• How depression made rising star ‘mentally unbreakable’
• Bogut still tantalising for NBA franchises

Brisbane coach Andrej Lemanis says the withdrawal of the NBA-bound LaMelo Ball will make Illawarra a different beast when the Bullets host the Hawks in front of a sellout crowd at Nissan Arena on Saturday night.

Ball pulled out of the clash at “The Armoury” as a precaution after hurting his foot at training during the week.

The 18-year-old US point guard produced triple-doubles in his past two matches and is averaging 17 points, almost eight rebounds and seven assists per game across his first 12 outings of the 2019-20 NBL season.

Live stream selected games of the 2019/20 NBL Season with ESPN on KAYO with your TV, Mobile, Tablet or Laptop. Get your 14 day free trial & start streaming instantly >

LaMelo Ball will miss Friday night’s clash against the Brisbane Bullets. Picture: Getty

So much of Illawarra’s offence goes through Ball that the Hawks will be throwing something completely different at the Bullets (5-7), who need to beat the last-placed Illawarra (3-9) to stay in touch with the top four.

Brisbane have already beaten Illawarra twice this season with Ball in the Hawks line-up.

“He (Ball) dominates the ball a lot so in terms of player movement and ball movement, things will change up a little bit for them,’’ Lemanis said.

“We’ve spent the week preparing for him (Ball) so it changes things … it will be interesting to see how they play.’’

I thought the Bullets would smash the hawks this weekend....but now it will be a mauling! @BasketballAu 🔨 https://t.co/NTpwfVrBAZ

— Shane Heal (@ShaneHeal) December 5, 2019

After blowing a 16-point lead over South East Melbourne last Saturday night, Lemanis said he was more concerned with how Brisbane applied themselves for all four quarters.

“It’s important to come out and play well. We haven’t played well over the course of 40 minutes and that’s the challenge for us this week,’’ he said.

“We have to continue to play ‘Bullets basketball’ and not get stressed by the scoreboard. Last week, we played well, got in front and then we got bogged down a little bit.

“Not seeing the ball go through the net weighed on us and then we weren’t able to get stops and I thought we got a little stressed and the lead went in a hurry.

Ball has drawn crowds across the country during this season. Picture: Getty

“In those situations it’s important we stayed poised, stay calm and continue to focus on the things that make us a good basketball team.’’

Lemanis said the Bullets would get a boost from playing in front of a packed house at Nissan Arena which will be full at over 5,200 spectators for the first time in its short history.

“Hopefully they can get behind us and we can give them a performance they can be proud of,’’ he said.

NBL – ROUND 10

Brisbane Bullets (5-7) v Illawarra Hawks (3-9)

Saturday night, 7pm (Qld time)

TV: ESPN

Ladbrokes: Bullets $1.25, Hawks $4

Originally published as NBL: LaMelo Ball ruled out of Brisbane Bullets v Illawarra Hawks