He has won two NBL titles and been in the league for more than a decade but guard Adam Gibson has admitted the Brisbane Bullets' inability to close out tight games has him "stumped".
Brisbane's finals hopes were seemingly snuffed out by the Adelaide 36ers who swamped the Bullets 16-5 in the overtime period to record a 95-84 win on Sunday.
Despite having a talented roster, Brisbane have lost nine games this season by single figures to be four games off fourth-place with a 7-13 win-loss record.
"I've got no idea," Gibson, who has played for Australia and several other NBL clubs, said when asked why the Bullets continue to come up short when it matters most.
"If we knew we'd obviously do something to change it.
"We're close in a lot of games and I feel like we've be losing those games, other teams have not been winning them.
"If we had the answer we'd be sitting pretty high up the ladder."
One big positive for Brisbane was the promising performance of Sunshine Coast teenager Tom Fullarton, who looked very comfortable on the court for someone so inexperienced.
"Without a doubt. He's someone the club should try and keep around the place for 10 years, "Gibson said.
"He works his butt off at practice, he does that to us on a day-to-day basis at practice.
"He played well against Cairns and for us when (Perrin) Buford was out (injured).
"I've got know doubt for the rest of the season he should be looking to get some good minutes and force his way into our rotations.
"He's a very promising player."
Coach Andrej Lemanis was not ready to give the season away despite another confidence-denting loss and said he had been trying to squeeze two-metre tall Fullarton into the game for a number of weeks.
"Good on Fullo (Fullarton) for making the most of his opportunities," Lemanis said.
"He has put the body work in to come out and play well.
"For the last five or six weeks, to be honest, I've been sitting there telling myself 'I need to get him in, I need to get him in' and at the end of every game I said 'stupid coach', I should have got him in."
Brisbane's next two games are at home but against the top two teams, Perth Wildcats and Melbourne United.
"You just keep trying to win basketball games," Lemanis said.
"Right now we are still at a point where we are trying make the best out of the season."
Adelaide coach Joey Wright said his team -- who trail the top three by one win -- were gunning for top spot but emphasised it was not his immediate focus.
"We definitely want to be there but Melbourne and Perth and New Zealand are playing tough ball so we can't just start talking about taking top spot," he said.
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