The Melbourne leaders standing tall

If there’s one thing Melbourne United’s roster is not bereft of, it’s veteran leaders – and Dean Vickerman says a number of his more experienced players are standing tall in the club’s preparations to keep its season alive on Thursday.

Should United suffer defeat to Tasmania at MyState Bank Arena their season will be over and the JackJumpers will be champions. Should they win, the series will be extended to a decisive fifth and final game at John Cain Arena.

“All our leaders CG (Chris Goulding), Delly (Matthew Dellavedova), Jo (Lual-Acuil Jr), they all stepped up and were great about driving a belief about ‘let’s go get it’,” Vickerman told News Corp.

“(Brad) Newley, I got a text from him yesterday and he text all the boys, sharing his belief about what we can get done, it’s a positive message to come from one of your leaders.”

History is against United, with just one out of eight teams fighting back from a 1-2 deficit in a five-game series, across the league's history.

Game 4 of the Championship Series between Melbourne and Tasmania will tip off at 7:30pm AEDT on Thursday, live on ESPN via Kayo.

Read the full story here >> NBL Crosscourt, grand final: Big barrier to JackJumpers’ success, Melbourne United bunkers down.