R20 Game Preview: Melbourne United vs Cairns Taipans

When: 7.30pm (AEST), Monday 18 April, 2022

Where: John Cain Arena, Melbourne

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Sky Sports NZ

Who won last time?
Melbourne 92 (Lual-Acuil 23, Goulding 23, White 10) d Cairns 63 (Pinder 15, McCall 13) – Round 19, Cairns Convention Centre

After Melbourne skipped away early, the Taipans kept this tight until shortly after half-time, when their trademark third-quarter fade-out kicked in and United kicked away, Jo Lual-Acuil and Chris Goulding pouring in 14 points in six minutes to push the margin to 15. Melbourne didn’t receive much push-back after that as they cruised to a 29-point victory.


What happened last start?

The Snakes wasted another solid start in Perth, outscored 73-49 over the final 28 minutes as Bryce Cotton and Co did whatever they wanted offensively, and finally found a little starch in their D. Cairns’ bigs did their best to keep them in the game, Keanu Pinder, Majok Deng and Nate Jawai combining for 52 points at 51 per cent, 16 boards, 4 assists and 4 blocks.

Melbourne were made to work hard by the plucky Bullets, whose defence forced them into a remarkable 39 long-range heaves, of which they made 10. United’s reliance on the three-ball would be a concern for Dean Vickerman, who’ll be urging a return to the approach in Cairns in Round 19, when they took just 15 bombs and scored 74 from ‘ones and twos’.


Who’s in form?

Keanu Pinder – Arguably the NBL’s most improved player, Pinder was relentless in Perth, playing almost 35 minutes of high-intensity basketball to record 24 points at 50 per cent, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. He had 16 and 12 against Melbourne last time, but will no doubt remember that Lual-Acuil and Ariel Hukporti combined for 31 points and 19 boards.

Jo Lual-Acuil – Vickerman would be happy with how he was able to manage the minutes against Brisbane, JLA on the floor for just 25 but scoring 25 to go with 13 boards and 3 blocks. He had 23 in 22 minutes in Cairns last round, with all 18 points from field goals coming inside the no-charge circle as he exploited roll-outs, o-boards and dump-offs.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Behind the ? just like that.<br><br>Chris Goulding gets creative to find Jo Lual-Acuil for the jam ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/10PeachAu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@10PeachAu</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> Freebies ? <a href="https://t.co/2cqr0TNmGe">pic.twitter.com/2cqr0TNmGe</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1513032686012551170?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who needs to be?

Caleb Agada – Melbourne can beat Cairns without Agada playing well, but can they win the title without their import firing? Probably not. Agada’s biggest contributions have been defence, rebounding and sharing the ball, but in an injury-interrupted end to the season he’s averaged just 1.3 boards and 0.8 assists in the past four games. Time to get going again.

Majok Deng – The Taipans’ barometer has been outstanding on the run home, averaging 14.4ppg at 52 per cent and 11/22 from deep in the past five games. He was a bright offensive light in Perth with 16 points, 4 o-boards and 2 assists, but made just 1/6 from outside. If the Snakes are to put the bite on Melbourne, Deng needs to spread the D.


Who’s statting up?

 - In wins this season, Majok Deng has connected at 45 per cent from long range, compared to 28 per cent in defeat

 - In Cairns past five losses they’ve been outscored by an average of 16 points in the second half, and have averaged just 14.4 points in the third quarter

 - Agada averaged 11.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals in eight games leading into April, shooting 48 per cent from the field and 10/26 on threes. In April he’s averaged 6.3ppg, 1.3rpg, 0.8apg and 0.8spg, shooting 37 per cent from the floor and 2/11 from deep

 - United average 8.1 three-point makes at 29 per cent in losses, compared to 10.5 at 36 per cent in wins. When Chris Goulding hits three or more they are 14-2, compared to 5-5 when he doesn’t


Who’s matching up?

Chris Goulding v Tahj McCall – McCall took on the Goulding challenge in Round 19, but with the Taipans’ switching he had to watch CG nail three first-quarter threes on someone else. When Goulding dropped eight quick points in the third to blow the contest open, he was guarding Shea Ili. This time, Cairns need McCall applying the clamps as much as possible.

The Melbourne skipper has averaged 13.1 shot attempts in the past eight games, and has dropped 4.2 triples at 43 per cent in his past five. McCall dished 11 dimes in Perth, and averages 6.4 in wins. He needs to withstand the pressure from Delly, Ili and Co, get the ball out in transition and get into the lane to create open looks before Melbourne’s D is set.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tahj protects the rock at all costs! ? <br><br>Amazing dime, amazing dunk as McCall finds Pinder.<a href="https://twitter.com/215tahj?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@215tahj</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/KeanuPinder28?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KeanuPinder28</a> <a href="https://t.co/jW4uB1VFCr">pic.twitter.com/jW4uB1VFCr</a></p>&mdash; Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1515282940699164675?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 
Who’s talking the talk?

Thanks Adelaide. That would be the message from Melbourne after the 36ers’ stunning sinking of Sydney, now United have to make the most of it.

While a win Monday night won’t officially lock in the minor premiership, it will effectively shut the door on Sydney’s chances of pinching top spot.

Home-court advantage means a lot to Dean Vickerman and Co. They had it last season, but played the first three games of the post-season in Sydney, the next two in Perth, and returned home for one solitary playoff appearance in Melbourne to claim the title.

While COVID continues to impact crowds in sporting competitions all over the world, Vickerman was buoyed to see a big, boisterous crowd at Melbourne Park on Saturday to help his team over the line against Brisbane.

“I thought our crowd was outstanding tonight and when we needed them they were fantastic, we’d make a big shot and it was really fun listening to our crowd,” he said.

“One of the things we spoke about before the game was just playing with enough passion that we get everyone back here on Monday night to help us with that one, to really make sure when finals time comes around we’re going have a packed venue.

“Our fans have been starved of finals basketball so we’re really looking forward to securing home-court advantage if we can.”

United took some other positives from the tighter-than-expected clash too, with 13 players taking the court and no one playing more than Shea Ili’s 28:11.

After going -17 across his opening four games – while Melbourne were +51 with him seated – Yudai Baba put the flopping aside and found some form leading into the playoffs with a game-high +10.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">How do we say &quot;GET THAT OUT OF HERE!!!&quot; in Japanese? ??<a href="https://twitter.com/yudai_baba?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@yudai_baba</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/lvYOazlcHi">pic.twitter.com/lvYOazlcHi</a></p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1515239402938957829?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

There were also some lessons too, after falling into Brisbane’s trap of living from the three-point line.

“We thought they might play some zone tonight and it’s the first time all year we've seen that much zone so we navigated our way through it a little bit, but certainly didn’t shoot the basketball as well as we needed to against the zone,” Vickerman said.

“It was good to experience that, go through it, we’ll make some improvements in that area and I think next time we see it we’ll do a better job.”

The game resembled a playoff contest, where the opposition springs a new line-up or strategy change during the series, and Melbourne worked their way through it.

“To score 90 points and not play at the pace we normally play at and create early advantages, we come away with a pleasing win,” Vickerman said.

“They got out and ran off made baskets and scored three or four quick baskets after we’d scored, I wasn’t quite prepared for them to play at that pace as well. They junked it up and did everything they could to make it a really good contest and credit to them.”

Vickerman said “when the game was tight we turned up our pressure a little bit more”, and that was the case in Cairns last round too, when the third quarter was the turning point.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Things are heating up in JCA!<br>This one&#39;s going down to the wire. <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/f4CcOzmoi7">pic.twitter.com/f4CcOzmoi7</a></p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1515255432197341188?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“Cairns played us tough up there the other day,” Vickerman said.

“We’ll look at the things we did well and I thought in the second half our pressure really wore them down.”

Asked what went wrong after interval in that game, Cairns coach Adam Forde has a simple answer.

“Everything,” he said.

“We had some looks at the rim, we didn’t make those lay-ups. We got 20 foul shots in the first half, we only got four in the second, that was nothing to do with the officiating, that was us not playing aggressive, we were playing rather conservative.

“Then Melbourne’s pressure went up so they took the ball from us, literally took the ball out of our hands at different times, I don’t have any real good excuses for you, it was a snowball effect.”

Ultimately, his team didn’t have the composure and smarts to weather a Melbourne storm.

“There were times where Delly, who’s been outstanding from the perimeter, he gets an on-ball closer to half-court than the three-point line and we try to fight over it knowing we've got Keanu in a drops coverage, and it ends up in a lob for JLA,” Forde said.

“Why are fighting over that screen? Then the alternative is they set a pin-down action for Goulding and we’re so far off him that it ends up being an uncontested three.

“Yes, play with energy and effort, 100 per cent, but also play with a level of attention to detail, know who you’re guarding, and sometimes our over-enthusiasm can lead to errors and mistakes.”