Heat’s on United after NBL fadeout
IT may go down as one of the great chokes in NBL finals history but Melbourne United coach Dean Vickerman claims his players will take confidence from their dramatic loss to the Sydney Kings in their semifinal series opener.
United have less than 48 hours to regroup before game two tonight after blowing a 16point lead with six-and-a-half minutes remaining to lose 86-80 at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena.
Having controlled most of the match, Melbourne was outscored 24-2 down the stretch as the Kings’ unlikely comeback grew and the pressure mounted.
Vickerman was putting on a brave face after the loss, United’s fourth in a row to the Kings, despite some pundits declaring there was no way back in the best-of-three game series after such a meltdown.
Hasty, poor shot selection cost United dearly as they turned the ball over time and again as the likes of Kings imports Jae’Sean Tate (24 points) and Didi Louzada made some clutch scoring plays.
“It’s not tough at all, that’s the thing,” Vickerman said.
“We felt like we should have won it, so that’s the positive. The last three games we played them we haven’t been in that position to go beat them.
“We go home with a lot of confidence about our game plan.”
Vickerman didn’t mention names but only point guard Melo Trimble (34 points) and centre Shawn Long (23) scored more than eight for Melbourne. Captain Chris Goulding made only three of 12 field goal attempts.
It helped Melbourne greatly that its former import star Casper Ware had a horror shooting night for the Kings, failing to score until well into the third quarter, before being typically strong in the key closing minutes.
Vickerman said that Melbourne had kept Sydney to its lowest score in their five games this season, and 20 points below what the Kings had averaged against them going into Saturday’s clash.