The veteran guard usually has self-confidence to burn and insists he still believes his next shot will go in. That look in his eyes suggests otherwise.
In eight games this season, he has shot 28.8 per cent from the field and 27.5 per cent from the three-point arc, by far his lowest returns since joining the Breakers in 2009. Over the past four games, his accuracy has dipped to 2/23 FG and 2/16 3pt.
Shooters do slump; it's the nature of their trade. But Bruton is adamant his knees are messing with his shooting mechanics, initiated from the legs.
"There are some games I've shot the ball and felt like it should have gone in and any other time, it would have. That's not coming from a slump - that's just not being able to bend down properly or I've pushed it too hard because I can't get down low enough."
Like many basketballers, Bruton's knees belong on someone twice his age, the result of years of continuous pounding on hardwood floors. His troublesome right knee, now riddled with tendinitis, is the result of over-compensating for a bone bruise in his left, but in reality, both are probably just past their 'use by' date.
"It's definitely affecting me," he says. "Obviously, you need your wheels to be able to move and run around. Defensively, I think I've been doing not too bad a job, but to help the team out, I need to do more. This has been hindering me since the pre-season and I really need to get it looked at."
The Breakers have been managing matters, mainly through a drastic reduction in Bruton's practice time: "It's one of those things that gets more sore with use, so we've got to reduce the use and be smart about when we use it," says coach Andrej Lemanis. "Obviously, a game is the most important time to have him right."
But Bruton suggests that may not be enough any more. If he's going to be a factor as the season progresses, he may need to sit out games and even consider surgery.
The Breakers roster certainly hasn't helped Bruton ease gracefully towards retirement. With the departures of Kirk Penney (playing in Spain), Corey Webster (drug suspension), Paul Henare (retirement) and American Kevin Braswell (not re-signed), he's the only survivor from last year's backcourt rotation.
After tapering off into a bench role, Bruton was thrust back into the starting line-up to replace Penney, while also filling the Henare/Braswell void as a back-up point guard behind new import Cedric Jackson. So the team's fortunes were always going to rest heavily on those ageing joints.
"I definitely feel that responsibility," he says. "We lost a lot of key players and I don't want to harp on that any more but, in terms of getting key plays and shots at the end of games, we had guys that had been here and knew how. Now, we can be a little jumbled and impatient, and rush things at certain times."
Lemanis hopes that as the new personnel - particularly Jackson and late call-up Daryl Corletto - find their feet and as development guard Josh Bloxham also begins to show his promise, the pressure will lift from Bruton.
There were certainly signs of that on Thursday, when the Breakers broke out of their collective funk with a come-from-behind home win over Townsville Crocs. Bruton started off the bench and made only a six-minute cameo as Corletto scored 16 points, including four three-pointers, and Jackson (11 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists) fell just short of a highly prized 'triple double'.
"CJ has always got so much to offer from an experience and leadership point of view," observes Lemanis. "I'm sure he'll continue to contribute off the bench or in limited minutes on the court as well."
