Tale of the Tape: Our Championship Series contenders

The NBL24 Championship Series is finally here, and Melbourne United will take on the Tasmania JackJumpers to see who is crowned the newest champions of the NBL.

United has led the competition all season and will be searching for its first title since NBL21. The JackJumpers, on the other hand, are contesting their second Championship Series in three seasons and is searching for its first title - and the first to be won by a Tasmanian side since 1981.

The tale of these two sides extends far beyond this season. While there are players competing in their first professioanl season for both teams, there are also some of the most experienced and long-serving stars of the competition looking to add to already extensive resumes.

This is the Championship Series tale of the tape.

Melbourne – 1638
Tasmania – 1612

For all the experience of Chris Goulding and Brad Newley on Melbourne United, the difference in full roster games played in the NBL is just 26 games in favour of United.

Despite Melbourne’s strong local contingent of players, crucial pieces like Matthew Dellavedova and Ian Clark have spent large swathes of their careers elsewhere. Dellavedova, for example, has played over 500 games of NBA basketball rather than be in the NBL.

Tasmania’s bench unit has also been around NBL teams for long periods of time before the JackJumpers came into existence. Clint Steindl has over 300 NBL appearances to his name and is the club’s most experienced player, while role players Fabijan Krslovic and Majok Deng have 14 seasons of NBL experience between them.

Chris Goulding (439) and Clint Steindl (322) have made the most NBL appearances for their respective teams.

Melbourne – 9
(Chris Goulding 3, Shea Ili 2, Ian Clark, Jo Lual-Acuil Jr, Luke Travers, Kyle Bowen)
Tasmania – 3
(Clint Steindl 2, Tom Vodanovich)

Chris Goulding’s long and successful NBL career means he has won as many titles in the competition as the entire JackJumpers roster put together, but it is often forgotten the first of those titles came as a development player at the Brisbane Bullets in 2007.

Shea Ili has played alongside Goulding for both the titles won at Melbourne United, and they were joined by Jo Lual-Acuil Jr in the 2021 triumph.

Ian Clark was a crucial inclusion to Sydney’s NBL22 title, while both Luke Travers and Kyle Bowen won championships as youngsters in Perth.

Clint Steindl won both of his titles as a member of the Perth Wildcats in 2019 and 2020 – the latter of which was won alongside Bowen and Travers, while Tom Vodanovich played alongside Clark in Sydney’s NBL21 title win.

Vodanovich will now contest his third straight NBL Championship Series on his third team in that span after featuring for New Zealand last season.

Shea Ili poses with the NBL21 title, Tom Vodanovich celebrates the final buzzer of the NBL22 Championship Series.

Melbourne – 7
Matthew Dellavedova/Ian Clark 1x NBA champion, Shea Ili 5x NZNBL champion
Tasmania – 3
Jordon Crawford 1x Cyprus North League/1x Macedonia Cup, Tom Vodanovich 1x NZNBL champion

The NBA titles won by Matthew Dellavedova and Ian Clark at Cleveland and Golden State respectively headline any and all international titles of any player in the NBL, not just this Championship Series.

Dellavedova’s Cavaliers triumphed over Clark’s Warriors in 2016, before Clark and his teammates had revenge the following season. Shea Ili has also won five NZNBL titles between 2012 and 2019.

Jordon Crawford’s extensive international career has seen him win titles in Northern Cyprus (2015) and Macedonia, while Tom Vodanovich has also won an NZNBL title.

Golden State's Ian Clark defends Cleveland's Matthew Dellavedova in 2016.

Melbourne – 6-5
Tasmania – 0-1

This is where Melbourne’s long history in the NBL as the Tigers comes to the fore. As the Tigers, Melbourne won four of the eight Championship Series’ it contested. Since the change to the United banner though, the team is 2-1.

United defeated Adelaide in a five-game series in 2018 where Chris Goulding was named the Larry Sengstock Medal winner, before they suffered defeat to Clint Steindl and Perth in NBL19.

They then rebounded to defeat Perth in NBL21, with a team that contained Goulding, Shea Ili and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr.

Tasmania shocked the NBL by defeating Melbourne in the club’s first ever Playoff Series, in its first ever season to reach a title decider against Sydney in NBL22. The Kings, however, would overcome the plucky JackJumpers 3-0 with a team that featured NBL24 contenders Ian Clark and Tom Vodanovich.

Melbourne United celebrates its NBL21 title win.

Melbourne – 22
All-NBL First Team – Jo Lual-Acuil Jr (2022), Chris Goulding (2014, 2016, 2024)
All-NBL Second Team – Brad Newley (2007, 2017), Matthew Dellavedova (2022), Chris Goulding (2021, 2022, 2023)
Championship Series MVP – Chris Goulding (2018)
Best Defensive Player – Shea Ili (2024)
Best Sixth Man – Brad Newley (2007), Jo Lual-Acuil Jr (2021), Shea Ili (2022), Ian Clark (2024)
Most Improved Player – Shea Ili (2018)
Rookie of the Year – Brad Newley (2007)
Scoring Champion – Chris Goulding (2014)
Coach of the Year – Dean Vickerman (2018, 2019, 2024)

Tasmania – 8
All-NBL First Team – Milton Doyle (2023)
All-NBL Second Team – Milton Doyle (2024), Jack McVeigh (2024)
Most Improved Player – Clint Steindl (2016), Will Magnay (2020), Sean Macdonald (2024)
Rookie of the Year – Anthony Drmic (2017)
Coach of the Year – Scott Roth (2022)

The individual award winners is where Melbourne’s high-level veteran talent really comes to the fore.

United has NBL award winners stretching all the way back to 2007, when Brad Newley was named the NBL’s Rookie of the Year and Best Sixth Man, and extends through multiple championship teams to the club’s cleaning up of the NBL24 awards night.

Chris Goulding is the most decorated player – from an NBL standpoint – contesting this series. He’s a three-time First Team and three-time Second Team nominee, is the only Championship Series MVP on either team, and was the 2014 Scoring Champion to boot.

Dean Vickerman’s third Coach of the Year award – won this season – also puts him in the top echelon of NBL coaches. He’s now tied with legends Lindsay Gaze and Joey Wright on three awards apiece, but is adrift of Brian Goorjian’s record six titles.

The JackJumpers have preached a mantra that the side is greater than the sum of its parts over their entire journey, but still have some high-class, NBL recognised players on their roster.

The JackJumpers’ penchant for fostering talent is obvious by the fact they have three players who have won the NBL’s Most Improved Player award on their roster. Clint Steindl won it while a member of the Wildcats, while Will Magnay won it during his time with Brisbane.

Sean Macdonald was the award’s recipient this season.

Milton Doyle with his 2023 All-NBL First Team award, and Chris Goulding collecting the 2018 Larry Sengstock Medal.