With the competition rapidly intensifying in the NBL, cracks have already emerged at the Gold Coast where coach Brendan Joyce is feeling the pressure mount.
Joyce's notoriously short fuse was sparked following the Blaze's 80-94 loss in Perth, as he deferred the attention from his team's lacklustre performance to engaging into a verbal confrontation with the media.
Joyce angrily called out Ross Lewis from the The West Australian during the post game press conference in classic style.
Unfortunately for Joyce things are only going to get worse and that short fuse will continue to be lit unless the Blaze catch alight soon.
Joyce has a long history of letting criticism openly annoy and distract him, going as far as responding to hecklers in the crowd during games.
Until the Blaze start winning or at the least display a significant improvement, questions and criticism about the Blaze's recruitment and Joyce's coaching are fair game.
Although Joyce thrives on using criticism as a source of motivation, he may need more then that if the naysayers are right.
In three games the Blaze are averaging just 77 points in three losses which has them holding down last place on the ladder and the only winless team after the Sydney Spirit conquered Adelaide on Saturday.
The Blaze's roster is biased towards a defensive frontline to instil Joyce's trademark defensive ethos, which so far has exposed a reduced scoring punch; they're making just 29 field goals per game on 39% shooting.
Their second import Luke Whitehead is yet to play and James Harvey is coming off an injury but regardless, this team's chances rely on the effectiveness of the point guard combination of a 38-year-old Shane Heal and unproven Daniel Joyce.
So as the Blaze tries to ignite the only warm things in the Gold Coast at the moment are Brendan Joyce's hot seat and the goose egg his team is sitting on.
