{"id":353256,"date":"2025-12-17T05:46:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T05:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/353256\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T05:46:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T05:46:08","slug":"brisbane-bullets-set-to-part-ways-with-coach-stu-lash-latest-news-reaction-nbl26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/353256\/","title":{"rendered":"Brisbane Bullets set to part ways with coach Stu Lash, latest news, reaction, NBL26"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brisbane Bullets\u2019 turbulent NBL26 season has reached a breaking point, with the club reportedly set to part ways with head coach Stu Lash.<\/p>\n

Through 12 rounds, Brisbane sit ninth on the ladder with a 5-13 record, just one win clear of the bottom-placed Cairns Taipans. A six-game losing streak appears to have ultimately proved decisive.<\/p>\n

Code Sports reports <\/a>that conversations between the Bullets and Lash were initiated prior to the club\u2019s 25-point loss to the Adelaide 36ers in Round 11, with both parties now set to formally part ways.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Watch live coverage of NBL and WNBL 2025-26 seasons with ESPN on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA – DECEMBER 05: Stu Lash, head coach of the Brisbane Bullets during the round 11 NBL match between Adelaide 36ers and Brisbane Bullets at Adelaide Entertainment Centre, on December 05, 2025, in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Sarah Reed\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

What was meant to be a campaign signalling a return to contention instead unravelled quickly after Lash\u2019s appointment in the pre-season, as Brisbane struggled to find stability on and off the court.<\/p>\n

The Bullets entered the season with optimism, signing former NBL MVP Jaylen Adams, adding Javon Freeman-Liberty, re-signing Casey Prather and building what appeared to be a strong local core. That optimism soon faded. Adams departed the club, Prather suffered a season-ending injury, and Freeman-Liberty left before later returning \u2013 leaving the roster in constant flux.<\/p>\n

Lash was in the first year of a three-year deal and becomes the second Bullets coach in recent seasons \u2013 following Justin Schueller \u2013 to depart before seeing out his contract.<\/p>\n

Former NBL MVP and Bullets great Derek Rucker had questioned the appointment from the outset, speaking on Moments That Mattered earlier in the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was a high-risk move\u2026 and one that probably was not going to bear the type of fruit required to get into the postseason,\u201d Rucker said.<\/p>\n

Since returning to the NBL in the 2016-17 season, Brisbane have made the finals just once \u2013 in 2018-19 \u2013 finishing fourth before being eliminated by the Perth Wildcats in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n

Lash\u2019s appointment raised eyebrows across the league. While highly regarded for his front-office work in both the NBL and NBA, he had never held a head coaching role at the professional level \u2013 a gamble for a club seeking immediate success.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey took a risk in the offseason by signing Stu Lash,\u201d Rucker said. \u201cIt was somewhat disrespectful to the league to think you can bring in someone who doesn\u2019t know it well enough and expect to win basketball games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cotton fouls out in 36ers OT victory | 01:10<\/p>\n

As the losses mounted, Rucker believed a decision was inevitable.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter 18 games, it\u2019s not working, and they need to make some serious decisions going forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Fox Sports Australia<\/a> previously revealed<\/a> that during a recent members-only forum, Lash acknowledged uncertainty surrounding his future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe as an organisation are evaluating everything right now,\u201d Lash said. \u201cThose are conversations that are actively happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mark Worthington was also vocal throughout the season, questioning the club\u2019s claim of conducting a \u201cworldwide search\u201d for the role.<\/p>\n

\u201cRed flags at the Bullets with Stu Lash,\u201d Worthington posted on X. \u201cWorldwide search for a head coach. Gifted by his mate and co-owner Levien.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharing Rucker\u2019s comments, Worthington added: \u201cBasically what I said at the start of the season. From what I\u2019ve heard, Stu is a great guy \u2013 it\u2019s not his fault he took the job \u2013 but he was never going to be the answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attention now turns to Brisbane\u2019s next move. It is understood Lash may coach through Round 13 before formally departing, with the club beginning its search for a new head coach \u2013 or potentially transitioning Lash back into a front-office role.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brisbane Bullets\u2019 turbulent NBL26 season has reached a breaking point, with the club reportedly set to part…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[193903,64,63,689,20923,193900,76651,191073,135329,193899,193898,2105,5330,81408,72497,97768,193901,193897,60457,161223,673,193902,677,193896,23508,68838,85,40623,97772,23590,4526],"class_list":["post-353256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-e-finn","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-basketball-games","tag-breaking-point","tag-coach-set","tag-cotton-fouls","tag-derek-rucker","tag-front-office-role","tag-front-office-work","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-head-coach","tag-head-coaching-role","tag-jaylen-adams","tag-josh-higgins","tag-justin-schueller","tag-levien","tag-mark-metcalfe","tag-mark-worthington","tag-new-south-wales","tag-nick-rakocevic","tag-oceania","tag-professional-level","tag-sarah","tag-six-game-losing-streak","tag-sports","tag-three-year-deal","tag-watch-live-coverage","tag-win-clear","tag-wollongong"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}