BEFORE their streak-breaking loss last weekend, the Gold Coast Blaze showed they could walk the walk.
Now coach Joey Wright wants his players to talk the talk.
Wright's not interested in his players' opinions about whether they can win a championship.
The talk he wants to hear is on the court, where the Blaze's communication breakdowns last week cost them the match.
Defence was the cornerstone of the five-game winning streak that pushed the Blaze to third place on the NBL ladder.
But tight defence requires good communication and as soon as the players stopped talking last week, their game started unravelling, sending them out of the top four.
"That was definitely where we slipped. We lost focus," Wright said of the 80-66 loss to Townsville in Brisbane. "(They players) were fatigued and the first thing that happens when you're fatigued is you don't talk.
"When you get tired, you shut up. And because they shut up, that's where those breakdowns came."
The Blaze play Wollongong in a home-and-away series on Friday and Sunday, with the Coast desperate to break back into the top four.
"It's real important to get that first win because if you get the first one, you have momentum going into the second one," Wright said.
That first match is at Wollongong tomorrow.
The Blaze need to pinch a couple of road wins in the eight games left in the regular season to keep their playoff hopes alive after losing "home" matches played against Cairns and Townsville in Brisbane while the Gold Coast Convention Centre was unavailable.
Wright knows the series against Wollongong will not be easy, despite their position at the foot of the ladder.
The Hawks beat competition pace-setters New Zealand in their last game at home and former Blaze import Ayinde Ubaka has had time to settle in with his new team, leaving Wright on guard.
"That's how this league is, bottom of the ladder can beat top of the ladder and middle," he said.
"For so many years you could predict the winners in this competition, bar the top five teams.
"But now you don't know. I don't even look at the ladder.
"I know we're playing a team that can beat us and we need to come out and play."
