R17 Preview: Melbourne United vs Illawarra Hawks

Sunday, March 27, 2022

Melbourne United are looking to lock up top spot, but Antonius Cleveland and the Hawks are on a roll, and can move within a whisker of second place with a win.

When: 3pm (AEDT), Sunday 27 March 2022

Where: John Cain Arena, Melbourne Park

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo Freebies; 10 Peach; 10 Play; Sky Sports NZ

Who won last time?

Melbourne 88 (Dellavedova 33, White 14, Agada 13) d Illawarra 84 (Jessup 18, Cleveland 14, Reath 14) – Round 7, WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong

This was the night Brian Goorjian learned his local Delly does long-range deliveries! The Hawks paid dearly for their scout of going under the ball-screen on the Boomers legend, who dropped 7/11 from distance en route to a match-winning 33-point, 8-assist haul. Despite that, Illawarra were a chance late thanks to Justinian Jessup’s hot shooting.

What happened last start?

Melbourne had no challenges down the stretch against Adelaide last week, turning a four-point lead in the middle stages of the third term into a 30-point rout late in the game thanks to a staggering 48-22 run over 16 minutes. A win over Illawarra will move United two games and percentage clear atop the NBL ladder and all-but lock up the minor premiership.

The Hawks are only one game clear in fourth place ahead of SE Melbourne, but a win on Sunday will put them within 0.5 games of the second-placed Kings. Goorjian’s men have now won seven of their past nine games, capped by their best performance of the season in Launceston, where their physical defence and fast-paced O blew their hosts off the floor.

Who’s in form?

Antonius Cleveland – The main destroyer in that game was Cleveland, who brought the defensive heat and then attacked mercilessly in transition going the other way. AC had 22 points at 57 per cent, 7 rebounds, 3 o-boards, 2 assists and 2 steals as he solidified himself as Illawarra’s most important piece. Now can he repeat it against the NBL’s best team?

Ariel Hukporti – Jo Lual-who? Don’t get us wrong, JLA is one of the NBL’s stars, but over the past five weeks big 'A' has shown this is a true two-headed monster in the middle, averaging 11.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in just 17 minutes per night. In the past three games, Melbourne have been +45 with Hukporti on the floor and -20 the rest of the way.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">? Clean up aisle 15 <a href="https://t.co/Ms1x3AcyiK">pic.twitter.com/Ms1x3AcyiK</a></p>— Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1505382769131925506?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who needs to be?

Chris Goulding – CG had a match-winning burst against SE Melbourne, but overall his past four games have been lean with just 10ppg at 32 per cent and 8/35 from deep. While against most opponents Goulding can play decoy and Melbourne’s others options will get it done, his 3/14 against Perth was costly, and the Hawks are playing at a high level right now.

Duop Reath – Talk about a rebounding fiend, Reath has grabbed 23 rebounds and 12 o-boards in the past two games, while adding 38 points at 59 per cent and 3/5 from outside. Against Melbourne, his ability to pick-and-pop will be important, but so will his variation in slipping, rolling and crashing the o-boards to keep United’s ball-screen defence guessing.

Who’s statting up?

- Illawarra are 8-2 against the bottom four, 5-3 against Sydney, SE Melbourne and Tasmania, and 0-3 against Melbourne and Perth

- The Hawks have averaged 91ppg in their past five outings, averaging 67.8 on two-pointers and free throws. Against Tassie last week they were +32 on scoring from ‘ones and twos’

- United have averaged 95.9ppg in their past eight games, going +58 on points in the paint in seven wins in that stretch, but -10 inside in their sole loss to Perth

- Melbourne were +13 in the possession game against Adelaide (turnovers and offensive rebounds), and won possession points 46-24 in a 27-point win

Who’s matching up?

Tyler Harvey v Matthew Dellavedova – Is there a more inconsistent star in the NBL than Harvey, who’s had five games in single figures and five of 20 or more? Shot selection is the key, however, for while he came out firing in the first three games of NBL22, since then the Hawks are 1-6 when he hoists eight or more triples, but 8-2 when he attempts less.

There are no such issues with Delly, on nights when he attempts five or more trifectas he’s connected at 41 per cent, usually parking the three-ball early if he’s not hot. Funnily enough, when Dellavedova shoots 40 per cent or better from outside Melbourne are a perfect 9-0, but on the nights he’s taken five or more treys and shot poorly, they are 0-3.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/YoungTRaaw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YoungTRaaw</a> with the HOOP & HARM ?<br><br>?: <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Foxtel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Foxtel</a> <br> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreIllawarra?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreIllawarra</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://t.co/g0p1FMSvdG">pic.twitter.com/g0p1FMSvdG</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1504391656657031169?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s talking the talk?

It's been 10 weeks since Illawarra faced Melbourne United, but that loss will still burn a little inside.

The Hawks put themselves in a winning position, level at 71-71 with just under seven minutes to play, but dried up offensively to be outscored 15-8 over the next six.

“They're the best team in the league defensively and they locked us down in that fourth quarter,” said coach Brian Goorjian, who will miss this Sunday’s clash due to COVID.

“It's the professionalism of them over a number of years, knowing each other, playing together, not making any mistakes, that was the difference in the game.”

It was a frustrating day for Goorjian, who watched his team execute the defensive game plan with precision, only for Matthew Dellavedova to produce a match-winning masterpiece.

“I thought we did a good job on Goulding, we played Barlow at the three-point line. Acuil, he’s been killing everything, we did a real good job covering down on him,” Goorjian said.

“It was Delly from the three-point line and the scout was to go under the on-balls and give him space and keep him out of the paint, and he was tremendous tonight and 7/11 was the difference.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Back-to-back triples for D3??lly <a href="https://t.co/3ds3kQ9gK1">pic.twitter.com/3ds3kQ9gK1</a></p>— Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1505385201547247616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It was a different Hawks team that fronted in Launceston last week. While they’ve at times shown what they're capable of, and dominated the bottom four, they hadn’t looked like a championship team.

But after a slow start against the JackJumpers, they produced a playoff-type performance that held their hosts to just 39 points in the final 30 minutes.

“It's been coming,” Goorjian said.

“They move the ball and make you guard in the half-court, and that’s been our weakness. They exposed it twice and tonight the game started the same way, three-point shots uncontested, offensive rebounds, second opportunities.

“Down 17-10, time-out, addressed it, it’s something we’d talked about leading into this, no tolerance for anything else, and I think from that point we were on the mark. The plays they made were tough plays.

“The things they do really well, moving the ball, cutting, rebounding, physicality, playing with heart, we haven't been able to match it.

“Tonight we did, and with the talent that we have, if we do that we’re going to have a good performance, and tonight was probably all the way around our best team effort.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="et" dir="ltr">JJ SNIPIN’ ? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreIllawarra?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreIllawarra</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/A65oJLPQHA">pic.twitter.com/A65oJLPQHA</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1505084467719045122?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Leading the way were Antonius Cleveland and Xavier Rathan-Mayes, whose recent form is an ominous sign for the league, and whose strength and athleticism will be much-needed against Melbourne’s physical defence, which only gets tougher with Yudai Baba back on board.

“We've got four offensive guys that we’re trying to blend and this thing has been about sacrifice, and I think AC and Xavier have been the most affected,” Goorjian said.

“I think both of them are starting to find their way in the group with the ball not sticking. (AC) gets on the offensive glass, he plays the D up the floor, he’s like a Justin Simon aspect to it and maybe more of an offensive figure for us.

“Xavier, the same thing, distributing the ball, moving the ball, instead of sitting on the ball. Both of those things with both of those guys have been an important adjustment.”

Melbourne also produced some playoff-level basketball against the 36ers, annihilating their visitors on the boards and dominating the possession game to overcome the absence of Caleb Agada, and early injuries to Dellavedova and Goulding to win emphatically.

“Adelaide are a great rebounding team and I thought in the second half we really got on top in that area, highlighted by the second chance points and the offensive rebounds we came up with,” coach Dean Vickerman said.

“We were obviously prepared for it with the Caleb one but putting CG and Delly in the mix as well, there were super tests for the group and we were down pretty heavy that first quarter when that happened in the first few minutes.

“To get close to level at quarter-time was a good result, and be up five or six at the half, we started playing the defence we wanted to play and we did that in the second half.”

That defence will be critical against the Hawks, who have averaged 91ppg over their past five outings, using their dangerous shooters to spread the floor and open up their interior domination.

That was the focus of United training this week, and left coach Vickerman confident heading into Sunday’s clash.

“We thought our communication level today was at a standard that we want it to get to, which is going to be really important to try and defend some of the shooters and locate the shooters that we have to with Wollongong,” he said.