Moller: "Every point matters"

If the final standings of NBL23 are anything to go by, every moment matters in the NBL this season – and South East Melbourne forward Craig Moller has called on his side to be more locked in defensively for the entire 40 minutes following his side’s defeat to Melbourne.

Moller was apoplectic at the end of the clash, following a pair of simple baskets to end proceedings at John Cain Arena on Sunday. Melbourne earned two and-one opportunities through Kyle Bowen and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr in the final 20 seconds of play after leading by seven points.

Perth scraped into the Play-In Qualifier against South East Melbourne last season over United thanks to its superior percentage last season, and given NBL24 is currently the most closely contested season in the history of the competition – Moller has called for more buy-in from his teammates.

“Every point counts and we’ve spoken about that. Obviously United missed out last year by whatever it was – a couple of points – it was purely that,” Moller said on his frustrations.

“I felt like I was there on my own in that last 10-15 seconds with two or three guys to defend and obviously I fouled Jo. It was literally that simple for me, maybe a little bit of frustration that we lost, but every point matters and we just gave up and easy one at the end.

“All of us can really improve, we had some breakdowns that are just talk. We say we want to have guys going through our chest, but we didn’t do it.

“The one I remember is Shea Ili on myself because I’m looking around at the on-ball and it’s simple, just keep him in front. There’s a lot to improve on.”

“I do think the defence needs to be a constant buy-in from the guys. I can talk about it, others can talk about it, but we need to consistently demand it,” head coach Mike Kelly said.

“We’re not there yet, I guess I’d say this if we were the best team in the competition – I’d say I’m happy, but we’re not as good as we could be ... but I can’t wait until that day happens.”

The defeat marked South East Melbourne’s first loss in six home games this season, after opening their campaign with five straight home victories.

John Cain Arena was sold out for the clash between Melbourne’s two basketball heavyweights, and Chris Goulding and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr put the Phoenix to the sword with 53 points between them.

The likes of Ili and Flynn Cameron also stepped up in the absence of key stars Matthew Dellavedova, Ian Clark and Luke Travers.

Moller says the most frustrating thing about the loss is the fact United “didn’t do anything that was revolutionary”.

“Melbourne didn’t do anything we didn’t know they were going to do,” he said.

“That’s probably the most frustrating part of it.

“We talk about Chris, Shea getting downhill, these are all things we spoke bout. We still held them to 92 so that’s too many. We say 80-85, so there’s a lot of learning and a lot of film to watch.

“That’s my takeaway from the game. The coaches did a good job in preparing us, we just didn’t execute.

“They didn’t do anything that was revolutionary, it’s just simple. The good thing about that is we know where we can improve, but we go away disappointed, for sure.”

The improved performance of Moller was a bright spark for the Phoenix, and he pulled together his best game for the club since signing in the off-season.

He scored 12 points, and added nine boards and a pair of steals.

The former Melbourne and Sydney forward had missed over 12 months of basketball due to a gruesome knee injury suffered in Germany prior to his NBL return, and he believes he’s beginning to gauge his feel for the game once again.

“I don’t use my injury as an excuse but I’m 10 games back into it now. I knew there would be some challenges and some ups and downs ... even throughout training sometimes I still feel I’ve got more to give and so much improvement.

“I think it’s one me to stay involved – sometimes laying that wing position with such talented other guys, you can get a little bit passive and that’s my nature sometimes.

“I can understand I’m playing with Mitch Creek – let’s get him the ball. I’m playing with Alan Williams – let’s get him the ball. I myself have to take the responsibility to be more aggressive and I was that in the second half.”

South East Melbourne ended Round 7 in fourth position on the ladder, and next travel to Adelaide to take on the 36ers on Friday night.