Basketball On The Internet.

SON of a gun Max Mackinnon tonight declared himself a superstar in waiting - and not waiting too long - with a "Supermax" performance, posting 31-point and 12-rebound NBL career highs while steering Brisbane past Illawarra 103-95, the Bullets off to a rare 2-0 season start.

Frankly, Mackinnon was quite magnificent. He shot 69 per cent from the floor in a tally including 6-of-8 threes, he stuck big shots at key times, he did spin moves to the hoop, he basically attacked Illawarra's defence as if it was something to be treated with contempt.

Supermax's audacity and self-belief left the 22-year-old's total score only four behind the best his father Sam achieved in an illustrious career which included a Bullets' championship in 2007, the league MVP and Best Defensive Player sweep.

But enough about the old guy, the sight of Mackinnon ripping the Hawks' defence to shreds again has to not only fill Bullets fans full of excitement and optimism but also NBL fans generally after watching what Elijah Pepper did for Perth 24 hours earlier.

The future looks pretty promising with no shortage of quality young Aussies ready to shed the backseat and take over driving.

Oddly the Hawks, despite their obvious shortcomings, managed to keep in touch throughout and even occasionally threaten. Kudos to back-up, back-up, back-up Johny Narkle, a player like Dan Grida who embodies the true Illawarra spirit.

Narkle had 15 points at 75 per cent, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block in 22 minutes of solid effort, remininscent of William "Davo" Hickey a couple of years ago, before he became "good".

Sam Froling battled for a 10-point, 10-board double-double, Tyler Harvey off the bench had 20 points but on 8-of-23 shooting while Mason Peatling and Todd Blanchfield appear to now be out of the main rotation. Wani Swaka Lo Buluk also must be wondering where he fits.

The Hawks cut import Darius Days, who was apparently degustated, er, devastated, but while the club insists it needs a big man - it had Javale McGee last season and how did that work out? - a quality ball distributor (a la Trey Kell) seems a more pressing concern.

Despite the Hawks sticking with it, they never really looked capable of taking the reins of the game.

Brisbane's Arnas Velicka-Tyrell Harrison link-up continued to blossom, both with 17 points and the Lithuanian guard posting a further 11 assist return. His shooting though (6-of-18) was somewhat more wayward than his opening round return but the Bullets now are in the comforting situation of being able to bring championship-winning PG Mitch Norton off the bench.

Nate Hinton's 16 points, 10 boards were further solid contributions for a team steadily defining a new identity and gettiung it right, to the max.  

Round 2 Result, Friday

Brisbane Bullets 103 (Mackinnon 31, Harrison, Velicka 17, Hinton 16, Holt 12; Mackinnon 12 rebs; Velicka 11 assts) d Illawarra Hawks 95 (Harvey 20, Doyle 16, Narkle 15, Hickey 11, Froling 10; Froling 10 rebs; FDoyle 5 assts) at Boondall Entertainment Centre.

Saturday: New Zealand at Perth