Tall Black powers United into final
In a team stacked full of premium Aussie hoops talent, it was blue-collar Kiwi guard Shea Ili who stepped up with the big-time contribution to power Melbourne United into an NBL grand final series matchup against the Tasmania JackJumpers.
When former Breakers coach Dean Vickerman lured the hard-nosed Tall Blacks backcourter to Melbourne for the 2019-20 season – he was absurdly judged surplus to requirements at the Kiwi club – it was for moments like Wednesday’s bestof-three semifinal series decider against the Illawarra Hawks at John Cain Arena.
The 31-year-old national team stalwart is built for playoffs hoops, and Ili’s stamp was all over a 100-94 Melbourne victory that advanced them to a best-of-five grand final series against the Jackies that gets under way on Sunday at JCA. It’s their first appearance in the championship decider in three years.
Vickerman’s stellar Aussie contingent did their bit, led by former NBA champion (with the Cleveland Cavaliers) Matthew Dellavedova (11 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals).
But it was Ili’s trademark high-energy output that proved the difference on the night as the Aucklander led Melbourne in scoring with 22 points, on 6-of-12 shooting, knocked down a pair of triples and added 3 rebounds in 28 game-changing minutes.
He also put the defensive clamps on Hawks dangerman Tyler Harvey, keeping the sharpshooter to just 9 points at a 3-of10 clip.
“Shili tonight – that was pretty special from him to chip in for 22 points and do the job that he did at the other end,’’ said Vickerman. ‘‘That was a pretty special performance.
“It was a great job too from Shili on Harvey. It was a big one. There were seven or eight times Shea just didn’t let Harvey catch the basketball, and that was on multiple efforts as well.’’
Dellavedova was equally impressed, shrugging off one journalist’s attempt to get him to talk about his own effort, such as diving over advertising hoardings after loose balls.
“We’ve all seen Shea make plays like that all the time, and when I see him do stuff like that it picks me up and makes me want to go harder,” said the one-time LeBron James team-mate at the Cavaliers.
Melbourne will meet the ultra-competitive JackJumpers in the final series after Scott Roth’s Tasmania outfit won their own decider by upsetting the Perth Wildcats 100-84 at RAC Arena late on Wednesday.
The Wildcats’ Kiwi trio all chipped in, but not enough to get them into another grand final series. Forward Hyrum Harris was the best of the New Zealanders with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while fellow starter Tai Webster added 9 points and older brother Corey 8 off the bench.