"Desperate" United keen to avoid form slump

“Desperation” is the word of the week at Melbourne United heading into Round 17, and Dean Vickerman and Chris Goulding are keen to see the ladder-leaders bounce back from their disappointing Round 16 defeat to Tasmania.

Melbourne holds the unique record of not having lost two consecutive games at any point in time during NBL24, but has lost two of its last three games. 

United's recent defeats to Tasmania and Adelaide bookend a one-point win over New Zealand.

“I think it leaves a really bitter taste in people’s mouths, and we have competitors and guys who pride themselves on the way they compete and the way they win games,” Goulding said of the defeat to Tasmania.

“So I expect us to have our heads screwed on the right way going into these games, because they’re another two really good teams (Brisbane and Sydney) who, if we’re not on our a-game, the results could go either way.”

“It’s felt like these last few games on the road that there’s been a desire that the other team had that maybe we didn’t quite have,” Vickerman added.

“[We were] disappointed with the physicality of last game and giving up 20 o-boards, so a big focus of the week has been our physicality and our rebounding and making sure we give ourselves enough possessions to have a chance to win.”

Melbourne will kick off its Round 17 double-header with a Friday night clash against Brisbane, in which Vickerman will once again come head-to-head with former United assistant coach Justin Schueller.

Damon Lowery recently vaulted Schueller’s name into the NBL Coach of the Year conversations for his role in spearheading a dramatic shift in the Bullets, which has seen them settle in at fourth on the ladder heading into this week’s fixtures.

United handily defeated the Bullets by 35 points in their last clash, but Vickerman is full of praise for the job Schueller has undertaken in Queensland and says the team demands the greatest respect.

“He (Schueller) had a goal to go up there and change culture, and he’s been challenged with a number of things that have happened with their program this year,” Vickerman said.

“I feel he’s stood up to all of those challenges, and the group looks like it has continued to bind together, where maybe previous Bullets teams haven’t. [I’m] proud of what he’s done and I’m looking forward to going to battle with him.”

Melbourne’s clash with Brisbane will tip off on Friday night at 7:30pm AEDT, live on ESPN via Kayo.