'United need to refocus'

It’s do-or-die for Melbourne United on Thursday night. The equation is simple – if they lose, Tasmania will be crowned the NBL24 champion.

For the fact Tasmania emerged from Game 3 with a victory, it’s easy to contest that it was actually Melbourne who was the better side overall on the night. United held a lead for almost 33 minutes in the defeat, while the JackJumpers were in front for a total of 152 seconds – but led when it counted most.

After their dominant win in Game 1, that seems to have been the tale of Melbourne’s series, and Liam Santamaria has called on the top seed to “refocus” ahead of Thursday night’s Game 4.

“Melbourne, I think, have been the better team for the large chunk of this series,” Santamaria said on NBL Now.

“They won Game 1, they were up double digits in that Game 2, and they were leading and it took that miraculous shot to beat them in that last couple of seconds, and they were leading most of Game 3.

“They just haven’t been as good in the big moments as Tassie have over the course of the series as a whole ... I don’t think they’ve been handling these moments terrifically well. 

“They’ve been complaining about the reffing too much, they’ve been twirling their finger too much and looking over at Dean Vickerman saying ‘challenge this, challenge that’. They’ve got to refocus, put all of this behind, huddle up, communicate, and get this job done to extend this series.”

So, now, it all comes down to Thursday. MyState Bank Arena has not been a happy hunting ground for United over the journey, but it’s been far from a fortress for Tasmania.

Melbourne has won three of the seven games it has contested in the Hobart stadium, but is currently on a two game losing streak at the venue following the 21-point defeat in Round 16, and the five-point loss in Game 2.

“It’s going to be a cauldron-like atmosphere that makes it very tough, it’s a huge advantage to the JackJumpers,” Santamaria said. “Melbourne United are going to need to overcome that to extend the series to a decisive Game 5.

“It’s been epic so far. I was going to say it’s going to go to another level, but I don’t think it can go to another level from what we saw at the end of Game 3.

“But just when you think you’ve got things worked out in this league it twists and turns in another direction.”

Game 4 of the Championship Series between Melbourne and Tasmania will tip off at 7:30pm AEDT on Thursday night, live on ESPN via Kayo. Watch the Coca-Cola Pre-Game Show from 7pm AEDT.