The import emerging as United’s biggest weapon

Dean Vickerman says a “relentless” Melbourne United found their rhythm in the second game of the CODE Sports NBL Blitz and believes the squad’s depth will be a strength heading into Round 1.

United opens its Hungry Jack’s NBL Season campaign with an away clash against Tasmania, a perfect early test of their off-season growth.

With experienced names like Matthew Dellavedova, Jack White and Ian Clark departing, fresh opportunities have opened up for the next generation, with 213-centimetre big Jesse Edwards primed and ready.

Vickerman highlighted Edwards’ sheer size as just one of several key strengths, pointing to multiple areas of upside in his evolving game.

“That plus the length, the 7'4" kind of wingspan, I thought as the two games wore on, he just grew as a shot blocker,” he told the Melbourne United website.

“Offensively, he just continues to grow. We see the lob threat, the ability to run at pace. Saw a little bit of his post game as well. He had a nice little elbow drive late in the shot clock too.

“He's been shooting the ball really well in practice from three. I think there are just levels to his game that we can keep adding. He's not a finished product as a pro, he's still got big upside and hopefully we keep seeing it.”

Vickerman says Edwards and a fellow import have been setting the tone at practice, driving the team’s intensity and lifting standards across the board.

“Firstly, we had to replace amazing people. When you talk about Delly, Jack White, Ian Clark, Marcus Lee, the first thing you think is, wow, what great people and players they are.

“So, we had to bring in really good people as well, and obviously a little bit more youth. We did a leadership exercise with some of the younger guys in the club and saw Tyson (Walker) and Jesse emerge. They're still pretty young, but there's youth coming into it.

“We added speed with Tyson, rim protection and hopefully a high-level rebounder in Jesse, and then Milt (Milton Doyle), who's been there before and won. He's a guy who, late in the shot clock, can take pressure off CG (Chris Goulding) and others as well.

“We went out and got the pieces we needed. Finn Delany comes in to replace Jack White — they're not the same player, but he can have a similar impact at the four spot.

“I'm excited about the group we've put together.”

Vickerman believes Melbourne is well positioned to extend its run of Finals’ appearances, pointing to the squad’s growing depth and versatility, but acknowledges there is still work to do.

With Chris Goulding only just back from an ankle injury, Shea Ili nearing a return from concussion, and the club’s imports still settling after just weeks in Australia, the cohesion is still building.

Even so, the coach was buoyed by the signs of upside, especially a dominant 38-point win in Game 2 at the Blitz.

“I thought we started to understand how we want to play,” Vickerman said.

“We got relentless in the Brisbane game, how we move the basketball, what shapes we want to play out of. We played a lot of people and it's starting to feel like we've got pretty good depth on our squad.”