United on track to hold lead: Boone
MELBOURNE United has dominated or broken even in six of the eight quarters played in the NBL grand final series against Perth Wildcats.
And yet the crunch best-offive series is locked at 1-1 after the reigning champions United wasted a golden opportunity in Perth last Friday.
United has struggled throughout the season to put teams away, often rising to the occasion late in games after wasting double digit leads.
That changed last Sunday at Melbourne Arena when United burst out of the blocks at half-time to race to a 12point lead, a margin it was able to hold and then build on.
Apart from making the Wildcats look slow and tired, the DJ Kennedy, Mitch Mccarron and Chris Goulding-led statement should be enough to make the Red Army nervous ahead of tonight’s crucial game three.
United is the competition benchmark.
It starts at the defensive end with Josh Boone, Alex Pledger, Kennedy and Mccarron attacking the glass.
“We had little patches here and there but for the most part that was one of the most complete games that we played,” Boone said.
“We’ve had some trouble this year playing with leads. A lot of times we have let teams back in.
“We showed we’re past that point now.”
Boone and Pledger hold the key for United tonight after running opposite numbers Angus Brandt and Nick Kay ragged last Sunday.
Brandt and Kay had a major impact in game one, which allowed the Wildcats to spread the floor, get open shots and draw fouls.