Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
<strong>Round</strong> 19 vs Illawarra <strong>Hawks</strong> • <strong>18</strong> February 20<strong>18</strong><br />
WE ARE. I AM. UNITED.<br />
UNITED LOOK<br />
TO BUILD ON<br />
MOMENTUM<br />
<strong>Game</strong> preview,<br />
team line ups<br />
and more!
UNITED LOOK TO<br />
BUILD ON MOMENTUM<br />
Melbourne United will be looking to<br />
build on their momentum before the<br />
Finals kick-off in a double-header<br />
weekend at Hisense Arena to round out<br />
the regular season.<br />
Having already claimed the Minor<br />
Premiership, United are not going to take<br />
their foot off the pedal in either Fri<strong>day</strong><br />
night’s game against Perth or Sun<strong>day</strong><br />
afternoon against Illawarra.<br />
United big man Josh Boone talked about<br />
claiming the Minor Premiership but also the<br />
fact that there are larger goals on his mind.<br />
“It definitely feels good. That was one of the<br />
main goals we’ve been working towards<br />
this entire year. We’re happy, but we’re not<br />
content yet because we know we still have<br />
two more games left.” Boone said.<br />
“The next one is a really big game against<br />
Perth. They beat us pretty badly last time<br />
they were here and there’s a chance we<br />
could see them in the Playoffs – we want to<br />
try to get that mental edge going into that<br />
potential series.”<br />
Having the mental edge over the opposition<br />
is something that Boone admitted<br />
Melbourne lacked over New Zealand. But<br />
that all changed last weekend, with United<br />
going two-from-two over the Breakers.<br />
“It was definitely very important. I think, up<br />
until the weekend, they definitely held<br />
the mental edge over us. They had beaten<br />
us twice in a row, 11 out of 12 times or<br />
something crazy like that, so getting both<br />
of those wins and in particular getting the<br />
dominant win in New Zealand on Sun<strong>day</strong><br />
was huge.” Boone said.<br />
“That’s why this game on Fri<strong>day</strong> is so<br />
important, because we need to take that<br />
mental edge back from Perth as well.”<br />
Coach Dean Vickerman also spoke about<br />
what he saw from his team over the<br />
weekend whilst getting two wins in three<br />
<strong>day</strong>s.<br />
“I think our conditioning really shone through.<br />
The run we had in our legs and the defence<br />
that we continued to play over there just<br />
showed that in tight turn around games,<br />
we’re more than willing, physically, to keep<br />
going.” Vickerman said.<br />
“Different people do different things. Casper<br />
scores 26 here and has 10 assists over there<br />
– he had a different night out. We were able<br />
to make slight adjustments on the fly with<br />
a small practice window going from game<br />
to game and I thought they handled those<br />
adjustments well.”<br />
2 <strong>Game</strong> Day Program
Whenever Melbourne and Perth faceoff,<br />
there is always plenty of firepower. The likes<br />
of Jean-Pierre Tokoto and Bryce Cotton are<br />
capable of making a game-changing play or<br />
getting hot and scoring in bunches.<br />
With the strength of the point guard<br />
position in the NBL at an all-time high, the<br />
match-up of Casper Ware and Cotton is yet<br />
another battle of the guards that will be<br />
worth the price of admission alone.<br />
Ware is coming off a weekend that saw him<br />
score 26 points on Fri<strong>day</strong> night, followed by<br />
10 assists on Sun<strong>day</strong> against New Zealand.<br />
It’s fair to say these two guards are evenly<br />
matched with Ware averaging <strong>18</strong>.4 points<br />
in his nine games in 20<strong>18</strong>, whilst Cotton is<br />
averaging <strong>18</strong>.3 points in 10 outings this year.<br />
Vickerman talked about not taking these<br />
two final regular season games lightly,<br />
especially with Perth having plenty on the<br />
line.<br />
“We’ll finish off these two games, which are<br />
really important to us, and we want to make<br />
sure that we carry good momentum into the<br />
break.” Vickerman said.<br />
“We know what Perth is going to bring<br />
because their position on the ladder is still<br />
anywhere from two to four, so they’ll be<br />
fighting as hard as anybody to go and get<br />
that win against us. They embarrassed us<br />
last time and they feel pretty confident<br />
coming to our place I’m sure.”<br />
With Illawarra coming to town on Sun<strong>day</strong>,<br />
despite their chances of making the Finals<br />
ending quite some time ago, they still pose a<br />
very real and dangerous threat.<br />
Rotnei Clarke, on any given <strong>day</strong>, can<br />
completely takeover an offence and lead his<br />
team to victory. His game is built on speed<br />
and an offensive arsenal that can go toe-totoe<br />
with anyone in the league.<br />
Demitrius Conger’s season has been a<br />
major bright spot for Illawarra this year. His<br />
consistency has been amongst the best in<br />
the league and the <strong>Hawks</strong> will be relying<br />
heavily on him help carry much of the load<br />
with Clarke.<br />
With the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers taking<br />
place in Melbourne on the 22nd and 25th of<br />
this month at Margaret Court Arena, there<br />
is an almost two-week break between the<br />
final regular season game and the beginning<br />
of the Finals.<br />
This is a challenge for all Finals-bound<br />
teams, but Boone is focused on just keeping<br />
momentum going through that period and<br />
getting in plenty of competitive practices.<br />
“Just no let-ups. We need to get off our legs a<br />
little bit and dial it back a bit, but when we’re<br />
in the gym, we need to go hard.” Boone said.<br />
“That’s kind of what we discussed to<strong>day</strong>;<br />
we’re going to have <strong>day</strong>s where we’re in<br />
here for two hours just going hard the<br />
whole time, playing competitively and<br />
getting the juices flowing.”<br />
3 <strong>Game</strong> Day Program
GET YOUR<br />
CG43<br />
JERSEY<br />
Youth and adult<br />
jerseys now on sale!<br />
ADULT<br />
JERSEYS<br />
$70<br />
$25 OFF<br />
YOUTH<br />
JERSEYS<br />
$60<br />
$25 OFF<br />
BUY NOW, VISIT SHOP.MELBOURNEUTD.COM.AU
POWERING<br />
MELBOURNE<br />
UNITED<br />
TO NEW<br />
HEIGHTS<br />
MAJOR SPONSOR<br />
GAME DAY PARTNER<br />
AWARD-WINNING<br />
5-STAR SERVICE<br />
WWW.TYREPOWER.COM.AU 13 21 91
MELBOURNE UNITED<br />
HEAD COACH<br />
Dean Vickerman<br />
ASSISTANT COACHES<br />
Mike Kelly and Simon Mitchell<br />
#<br />
3<br />
JOSH BOONE<br />
#<br />
7<br />
PETER HOOLEY<br />
#<br />
8<br />
KYLE ADNAM<br />
#<br />
9<br />
CRAIG MOLLER<br />
Height: 208cm<br />
Position: Centre<br />
DOB: 21 Nov 84<br />
Height: 193cm<br />
Position: Guard<br />
DOB: 5 Feb 92<br />
Height: <strong>18</strong>5cm<br />
Position: Guard<br />
DOB: <strong>18</strong> Nov 93<br />
Height: 202cm<br />
Position: Forward<br />
DOB: 22 Aug 94<br />
#<br />
13<br />
DAVE ANDERSEN<br />
#<br />
20<br />
DAVID BARLOW<br />
#<br />
21<br />
CASPER WARE<br />
#<br />
22<br />
MAJOK MAJOK<br />
Height: 211cm<br />
Position: Forward<br />
DOB: 23 Jun 80<br />
Height: 205cm<br />
Position: Forward<br />
DOB: 22 Oct 83<br />
Height: 178cm<br />
Position: Guard<br />
DOB: 17 Jan 90<br />
Height: 206cm<br />
Position: Centre<br />
DOB: 10 Dec 92<br />
#<br />
23<br />
CASEY PRATHER<br />
Height: 198cm<br />
Position: Forward<br />
DOB: 29 May 91<br />
#<br />
42<br />
TAI WESLEY<br />
Height: 201cm<br />
Position: Forward<br />
DOB: 13 May 86<br />
#<br />
43<br />
CHRIS GOULDING<br />
Height: 192cm<br />
Position: Guard<br />
DOB: 24 Oct 88<br />
6 <strong>Game</strong> Day Program
ILLAWARRA HAWKS<br />
HEAD COACH<br />
Rob Beveridge<br />
#<br />
1<br />
DEMETRIUS CONGER<br />
#<br />
3<br />
KEVIN WHITE<br />
#<br />
6<br />
ANDREW OGILVY<br />
#<br />
7<br />
OSCAR FORMAN<br />
Height: 198cm<br />
Position: Forward<br />
DOB: 29 May 90<br />
Height: <strong>18</strong>5cm<br />
Position: Guard<br />
DOB: 7 Apr 87<br />
Height: 211cm<br />
Position: Centre<br />
DOB: 17 Jun 88<br />
Height: 206cm<br />
Position: Forward<br />
DOB: 16 Jan 82<br />
#<br />
8<br />
MITCH NORTON<br />
#<br />
11<br />
NICK KAY<br />
#<br />
13<br />
RHYS MARTIN<br />
#<br />
15<br />
ROTNEI CLARKE<br />
Height: <strong>18</strong>7cm<br />
Position: Guard<br />
DOB: 1 Apr 93<br />
Height: 206cm<br />
Position: Forward<br />
DOB: 3 Aug 92<br />
Height: <strong>18</strong>5cm<br />
Position: Guard<br />
DOB: 13 Feb 86<br />
Height: <strong>18</strong>3cm<br />
Position: Guard<br />
DOB: 20 Jul 89<br />
#<br />
21<br />
DELVON JOHNSON<br />
Height: 210cm<br />
Position: Forward<br />
DOB: 20 Jul 89<br />
#<br />
22<br />
TIM COENRAAD<br />
Height: 199cm<br />
Position: Forward<br />
DOB: 5 Jun 85<br />
#<br />
24<br />
CODY ELLIS<br />
Height: 202cm<br />
Position: Forward<br />
DOB: 24 Apr 90<br />
7 <strong>Game</strong> Day Program
ALL YOUTH<br />
T-SHIRTS $30<br />
Get your hands on a youth<br />
t-shirt just in time for finals!<br />
EAT, SLEEP,<br />
UNITED, REPEAT<br />
T-SHIRT<br />
#43<br />
GOULDING<br />
“M” TEE<br />
MELBOURNE<br />
BASKETBALL<br />
LONG-SLEEVE<br />
WE ARE<br />
MELBOURNE<br />
T-SHIRT<br />
BUY NOW, VISIT SHOP.MELBOURNEUTD.COM.AU
From photography to engineering.<br />
And everything in between.<br />
tafe.vic.gov.au
MELBOURNE<br />
UNITED TALK<br />
DUNK OF THE YEAR<br />
It all came down to a split second<br />
decision. Casper Ware had the ball in<br />
hand, Carrick Felix to his left and chasing<br />
defenders to his right.<br />
He knew he had two options and both of<br />
them involved passing to Felix, his superathletic<br />
Melbourne United teammate.<br />
Ware could hold the ball and throw a lob<br />
pass high above the rim or he can flick a<br />
short pass to Felix and let him attack the<br />
hoop.<br />
He decided the latter and luckily he did<br />
as Felix would catch the pass, make a<br />
two-footed take-off and throw down a twohanded<br />
power dunk over the outstretched<br />
hands of New Zealand Breakers star<br />
Thomas Abercrombie, possibly the best<br />
transition shot blocker in the NBL.<br />
It will take an almighty effort to beat out<br />
the play as dunk of the season and Hisense<br />
Arena has rarely been louder than the<br />
moment Felix completed the play.<br />
“I was thinking how am I going to get this to<br />
him,” Ware said.<br />
“Do I throw up the lob or just lay it off to him<br />
so I played it safe and just laid it off back to<br />
him and he finished it.<br />
“Carrick is probably the best athlete we have<br />
in the NBL right now and I knew once I got it<br />
to him he was going to throw it in.”<br />
Felix came into the game knowing it could<br />
possibly be his last in a Melbourne uniform<br />
as he only joined the side as an injury<br />
replacement for Casey Prather.<br />
He also had struggled with his form in<br />
recent weeks with coach Dean Vickerman<br />
speaking to him during the week about<br />
thinking less and playing more on instinct.<br />
That mindset was very much on show in<br />
Felix’s blocks, steals, rebounds and dunks<br />
during the win over the Breakers.<br />
“The guys are supportive and I’ve been<br />
playing kind of bad lately but the guys have<br />
picked me up and supported me,” Felix said.<br />
Felix said he had very little recollection of<br />
the play beyond being impressed Ware had<br />
found a pass which allowed him to stay in<br />
stride.<br />
11 <strong>Game</strong> Day Program
“Honestly I was thinking about the pass, that<br />
was a hell of a pass by Casper,” Felix told<br />
Melbourne United media.<br />
“After going up I don’t know what happened<br />
but it seems like I got a little bit higher as I<br />
was going up and I just wanted to finish it.”<br />
Vickerman was a coach and assistant coach<br />
at the Breakers for many years and both he<br />
and guard Chris Goulding know Abercrombie<br />
and both were shocked when Felix took him<br />
on in the air.<br />
Both players got well above the rim but Felix<br />
got higher and came down faster.<br />
“That was impressive,” Goulding said after a<br />
pause of appreciation.<br />
Then Vickerman added his thought as Felix<br />
took off.<br />
“Does he know that’s Abercrombie? No. He<br />
doesn’t care,” Vickerman said with a laugh.<br />
Goulding said Felix had faced many great<br />
athletes during his time in the NBA so was<br />
less intimidated about going to the hoop.<br />
“We have played Abercrombie before but I<br />
don’t think Carrick knew how athletic Tom<br />
is and how good of a shot blocker he is in<br />
those situations,” Goulding said.<br />
“It probably helped him but I dare say Carrick<br />
has probably gone up against some athletes<br />
before.”<br />
Felix knows his time in Melbourne, at least<br />
for this season, could end at any time and<br />
he hopes he can bring more highlights to<br />
Hisense Arena in the future whether that is<br />
in next week’s final round or beyond.<br />
“It’s fun playing in here,” Felix said.<br />
“Hopefully I can play here a lot more in the<br />
years to come.”<br />
12 <strong>Game</strong> Day Program
SHARE YOUR<br />
GAMEDAY EXPERIENCE<br />
USE #WEAREMELBOURNE
THE ESSENTIALS<br />
New Thule backpacks now at:<br />
shop.melbourneutd.com.au
PROUD<br />
PARTNERS<br />
$5<br />
OFF *<br />
EXCLUSIVE OFFER<br />
*RECIEVE $5 OFF A WAGNER PURCHASE OF $30 OR MORE AT<br />
CHEMIST WAREHOUSE STORES AUSTRALIA WIDE.<br />
Exclusively available at Chemist Warehouse stores Australia wide. To redeem offer present this voucher at store.<br />
Offer valid from 04/12/17 until 31/12/17. Limit 1 per customer.<br />
PLU: 982072<br />
Wagner is proud to offer an affordable range of vitamins to all<br />
Australians, without compromising on quality and standard.<br />
www.chemistwarehouse.com.au<br />
Offer<br />
exclusively<br />
available at
march in to march<br />
FINALS INFORMATION<br />
Melbourne United are heading to the 2017-<strong>18</strong> NBL Finals!<br />
The below information includes everything you need to know to secure yourself a<br />
seat whether you’re a member or fan.<br />
Members will have the opportunity to pre-purchase seats for the first Semi Final<br />
game through special pre-sale periods via ticketek.com.au on Mon<strong>day</strong> 19th February.<br />
Once the pre-sale periods are finished all remaining seats will be released to the<br />
general public at 9am on Tues<strong>day</strong> 20th February.<br />
All information for members regarding how to purchase your finals tickets, including<br />
a personalised code to receive member discounts, will be provided via email<br />
by 5pm Fri<strong>day</strong> 16th February.<br />
For full details on how to secure your same seat and exact pre-sale times, please<br />
check your emails or contact the Club immediately to avoid missing out on<br />
1300 698 443 or email membership@melbourneutd.com.au<br />
SEMI FINALS (BEST OF THREE)<br />
<strong>Game</strong> 1 – Satur<strong>day</strong> 3rd March, 5.30pm at Hisense Arena<br />
<strong>Game</strong> 2 – TBC (pending <strong>Round</strong> 19 results)<br />
<strong>Game</strong> 3 - (if required) Sun<strong>day</strong> 11th March 3pm or 5pm (pending results) at Hisense<br />
Arena<br />
All tickets available from ticketek.com.au<br />
Semi-final <strong>Game</strong> 1 will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 503 and SBS Viceland.
MEMBER<br />
APPRECIATION<br />
ROUND<br />
Thank you to our members for joining us for the 2017-<strong>18</strong> NBL season.<br />
We appreciate your continued support of the Club and look forward to<br />
going deep into the finals with you in our corner!<br />
Car Loans – Personal Loans – Home Loans<br />
Dreamstreet guarantees a better home loan rate for Melbourne United members!<br />
Get in contact with the Club to find out more.
MELBOURNE UNITED<br />
2017-<strong>18</strong> NBL Season Fixture<br />
HOME<br />
AWAY<br />
ADELAIDE 36ERS<br />
1 Thu 5 Oct 2017 – 7.30pm<br />
Fri 22 Dec 2017 – 7.30pm<br />
11<br />
Titanium Security Arena<br />
ADELAIDE 36ERS<br />
2 Sat 14 Oct 2017 – 5.30pm<br />
Tue 26 Dec 2017 – 7.30pm<br />
12<br />
Titanium Security Arena<br />
PERTH WILDCATS<br />
3 Fri 20 Oct 2017 – 9.30pm<br />
Sat 30 Dec 2017 – 5.30pm<br />
12<br />
Perth Arena<br />
NZ BREAKERS<br />
3 Sun 22 Oct 2017 – 3.00pm<br />
Sat 6 Jan 20<strong>18</strong> – 7.30pm<br />
13<br />
Hisense Arena<br />
BRISBANE BULLETS<br />
4 Sat 28 Oct 2017 – 5.30pm<br />
Fri 12 Jan 20<strong>18</strong> – 9.30pm<br />
14<br />
Carrara Stadium<br />
ADELAIDE 36ERS<br />
Hisense Arena<br />
BRISBANE BULLETS<br />
Hisense Arena<br />
SYDNEY KINGS<br />
Qudos Bank Arena<br />
ILLAWARRA HAWKS<br />
WIN Entertainment Centre<br />
PERTH WILDCATS<br />
Perth Arena<br />
5<br />
CAIRNS TAIPANS<br />
Thu 2 Nov 2017 – 7.30pm<br />
Hisense Arena<br />
NZ BREAKERS<br />
Thu <strong>18</strong> Jan 20<strong>18</strong> – 5.30pm<br />
North Shore Events Centre<br />
15<br />
5<br />
ADELAIDE 36ERS<br />
Sat 4 Nov 2017 – 5.30pm<br />
Hisense Arena<br />
BRISBANE BULLETS<br />
Sat 20 Jan 20<strong>18</strong> – 5.30pm<br />
Brisbane Entertainment Centre<br />
15<br />
6<br />
CAIRNS TAIPANS<br />
Thu 9 Nov 2017 – 7.30pm<br />
Cairns Convention Centre<br />
CAIRNS TAIPANS<br />
Wed 24 Jan 20<strong>18</strong> – 7.30pm<br />
Hisense Arena<br />
16<br />
SYDNEY KINGS<br />
6 Sat 11 Nov 2017 – 5.30pm<br />
Sun 28 Jan 20<strong>18</strong> – 3.00pm<br />
16<br />
Hisense Arena<br />
PERTH WILDCATS<br />
7 Sun 19 Nov 2017 – 3.00pm<br />
Sat 3 Feb 20<strong>18</strong> – 5.30pm<br />
17<br />
Hisense Arena<br />
ILLAWARRA HAWKS<br />
8 Mon 4 Dec 2017 – 7.30pm<br />
Fri 9 Feb 20<strong>18</strong> – 7.30pm<br />
<strong>18</strong><br />
Hisense Arena<br />
CAIRNS TAIPANS<br />
9 Sat 9 Dec 2017 – 7.30pm<br />
Sun 11 Feb 20<strong>18</strong> – 1.00pm<br />
<strong>18</strong><br />
Cairns Convention Centre<br />
SYDNEY KINGS<br />
9 Mon 11 Dec 2017 – 7.30pm<br />
Fri 16 Feb 20<strong>18</strong> – 7.30pm<br />
19<br />
Hisense Arena<br />
ILLAWARRA HAWKS<br />
10 Sat 16 Dec 2017 – 7.30pm<br />
Sun <strong>18</strong> Feb 20<strong>18</strong> – 3.00pm<br />
19<br />
WIN Entertainment Centre<br />
SYDNEY KINGS<br />
Qudos Bank Arena<br />
BRISBANE BULLETS<br />
Hisense Arena<br />
NZ BREAKERS<br />
Hisense Arena<br />
NZ BREAKERS<br />
Spark Arena<br />
PERTH WILDCATS<br />
Hisense Arena<br />
ILLAWARRA HAWKS<br />
Hisense Arena<br />
MELBOURNEUTD.COM.AU #WEAREMELBOURNE<br />
All times AEDT
STAY TUNED FOR<br />
FINALS INFORMATION!
MELBOURNEUTD.COM.AU<br />
#wearemelbourne
Change language