Bullet squashes 'funny' emergency meeting reports

• Casey Prather is averaging 24.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists for the Brisbane Bullets in NBL26
• He is a three-time NBL champion with the Perth Wildcats and Melbourne United
• Prather reveals he is in the process of becoming an Australian citizen

Brisbane Bullets star import Casey Prather has squashed reports the team held an emergency meeting after their 116-89 drubbing at the hands of the defending champion Illawarra Hawks earlier in the season.

Speaking on the latest episode of 'Cut to the Jase' with former opponent Jason Cadee, Prather addresses several issues surrounding the Bullets in NBL26 ahead of their Sunshine Stoush clash with rivals the Cairns Taipans at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre tonight.

The Bullets had just one win to their name before heading into Wollongong on October 11 and putting in the worst performance of the new era under coach Stu Lash, which sparked reports of an "emergency meeting" before they travelled to Perth just days later to take on the Wildcats - a game they won in dominant fashion.

"It's funny to be honest because it's just like bro everybody trying to make assumption," the 34-year-old forward said on the basketball.com.au podcast.

"They're just trying to like, I don't know, find a golden egg or whatever you want to call it, just trying to pinpoint things that are not really occurring.

"We've always been a tight-knit group regardless of the results of the game. It was no meeting up there (in Illawarra). If it was, it probably was just like film or something.

"We don't let that stuff bother us, bro. We professional, we grown men, we older, we just trying to win games, trying to feed our families and trying to do the best we can on the court. All the other stuff is just extra."

Brisbane's season has been full of commentary regarding Lash's unique coaching style, utilising assistants Greg Vanderjagt and Darryl McDonald extensively, but Prather said all of that was "outside noise" to people within the Bullets camp.

"I mean I didn't see (Lash becoming the coach) happening," he said.

"Like everybody we didn't know who was coming into this position but we were trying to be confident in the organisation, confident in Mal (Watts) the CEO, trying to you know pinpoint the right guy for the job.

"Once (Watts) told us, I already had a personal relationship with (Lash), he held my baby when my baby was born, so it was always love there. I obviously didn't know his coaching style and how he was going to come over and lead from a leadership position as a coach.

"For me it's been interesting to see that and and see his journey and the development of that. It's not easy switching roles in any kind of field that you're in. So, for him to come over, take ownership of it and attack it at the way he's attacking it with everybody all hands in, I think it's a smart way to do it.

"Allowing assistant coaches to help, allowing the older guys in the group and the veterans to help lead the group as well, I think that's a positive for him and I think that's going to help him excel to that next stage of his coaching journey.

"(We've had) some injuries happen and import changes and things like that but from my perspective about how things going, regardless of the record, we're getting better each and every day. We're trusting, we're buying in to our system, we believe in each other and we're believing in what we can do and our abilities on that court.

"It's only a matter of time before those wins start taking over. We got positives going on, I don't like to dwell into all those negative things that's kind of occurred in the early stages of it. I'm happy with where we at, obviously we got some more work to do, we're not a finished product by no means but right now, I'm cool, I'm happy, I'm content.

"It's just about us keep getting better and getting those wins on that column."

Despite sitting with a record of 3-5 and with injuries to key players, including captain Mitch Norton as well as defensive stopper Sam McDaniel and new recruit Jacob Holt, the Bullets have shown positive signs in recent weeks through wins against the Wildcats and the New Zealand Breakers.

But facing a Taipans team, which is also riddled with injuries, at home is a danger game with Cairns traditionally a dominant force against the Bullets when playing in southeast Queensland.

"To be honest, I think it's all about us, right," Prather, a three-time NBL champion, said.

"It's all about what we got to do offensively, defensively, how we execute on the offensive end, how our mindset is going into the game, right? We can't go into the game like 'well this an easy one because Cairns are losing' or whatever the case may be.

"Quite frankly, they beat us and won early in the season, which we thought we we should have won, and to me, it was like the same kind of scenarios. They didn't have import guard or the import guard just got there. I think (McDaniel) had just got hurt that game, too. So, it was two teams on the ropes trying to figure out who they are, trying to find their identity.

"It's obviously some beef between Cairns and Brisbane historically. You can never look at a team and be like 'their record sucks, they suck, we suck'... It's an opportunity for us to go out there and play our game to be us and focus on us, if we do that, I feel like we're going to be all right."

Prather, who is averaging career-high numbers in eight games in NBL26 with the Bullets, could join five-time MVP Bryce Cotton as another import to become an Aussie with the former Florida Gator confirming he had started the process to gain citizenship.

"Yes, mate. I'm trying to become a full Aussie out here, bro," he said."We done put the papers in and once that gets going, we're going to try to apply for that citizenship and get that going as soon as possible."