Nick Nurse has told his players to start thinking like winners after the great let down against Newcastle.

Bears threw away a winning position to slump to a one-point defeat by the Eagles on Sunday.

That defeat left coach Nurse as angry as he has been in his time with the Bears.

He has promised his players some tough times at training this week.

Bears have been at their best when they have been up against it this season but have often struggled to handle the tag of favourites.

Nurse said: "It's part of the learning process. It takes time to get a losing mentality out of players' heads and make them realise they can be as good as anybody in this league.

"That's the next step and we have got time to get it right."

Highly-rated shooting guard Jerome Robinson will be training with Bears for the next few weeks.

The 23-year-old from Ontario was on Nurse's shortlist of potential new recruits in the new year before he signed Rodger Farrington.

Robinson, who is in contention for pace in the Canadian national team, has been joined at practice by compatriot Steve McQueen, who expects to receive his British passport next season.

McQueen has tried out with lower division Spanish teams recently and believes he is of the required standard for the NBL Conference.