Melbourne Stars coach Stephen Fleming believes his team might be caught up in their own hype and says it's time for them to show some courage.
The Stars started the season as the BBL title favourites, but now face an uphill battle just to reach the finals after losing their opening two games.
Batting collapses have been a feature of both of their defeats - a surprising aspect given their star-studded line-up.
Against Brisbane, the Stars crashed to 4-53.
And chasing a modest 143 against the Perth Scorchers on Tuesday at the WACA, the Stars crashed to 5-59.
Those collapses have been hard to stomach for Fleming, whose team boasts Kevin Pietersen, Marcus Stoinis, Ben Dunk, James Faulkner, Peter Handscomb, Luke Wright, and Glenn Maxwell.
"Maybe we were reading too much into ourselves, and have got to get back to a bit more basics," Fleming said.
"There's no point ranting and raving. The players are very experienced players.
"Extra trainings aren't going to make them hit a cover drive better. So it's just working on that mindset.
"It's got to be known that it (our performances) are below par, and the pressure again is back on this side.
"We've got the players to respond - we know that. But we're just short of it at the moment."
The Scorchers boast arguably the best bowling attack in the competition, and the Stars had no answers to Andrew Tye (5-23) and Mitchell Johnson.
Johnson was near unplayable early, while Tye's bag of tricks befuddled the Stars.
But Fleming scoffed at talk his team couldn't handle the extra pace.
"They were bowling no quicker than our boys," he said.
"Courage is always a key word when you've got a bit of pace coming at you, but there's opportunities.
"We're just too quick to give it up at the moment, which is an attitudinal thing, rather than a skill set.
"If it is hard, get through it, rather than give your wicket up and have your team fall down after six overs."
Pietersen, who returned home to England for Christmas, is set to return for the January 2 clash with Brisbane at the MCG.
