Preview: Melbourne v Tasmania

When: 2pm (AEDT), Sunday 16 October, 2022
Where: John Cain Arena, Melbourne
Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Foxtel; 10 Peach; 10 Play; Sky Sports NZ
LIVE SCORES & STATS

Who won the last time?

Tasmania 76 (Adams 30, McVeigh 16) d Melbourne 73 (Ili 18, Lual-Acuil 16, White 14) – Semi-Final Game 3, NBL22 at John Cain Arena

In one of the NBL’s greatest story lines, the JackJumpers pinched the deciding semi-final game on United’s home floor, with hundreds of traveling Tasmanians making for a remarkable atmosphere at Melbourne Park. Josh Adams was the hero with seven points in the final three minutes, including his unforgettable contested triple. Without Chris Goulding, United shot 6/29 from the arc, only Shea Ili’s standout performance keeping them in the hunt.

What happened last game?

Melbourne took care of business at their home away from home, downing the Wildcats out west for the seventh straight time in a bruising, playoff-like encounter, as star recruits Isaac Humphries and Rayjon Tucker showed signs on much-needed improved form. Tasmania made Adelaide their other home with a stunning 32-10 opening term then a clinical 30-18 ending, Josh Magette en fuego early and often, and Rashard Kelly outstanding throughout.

What’s working?

Josh Magette – What is a blinder? It’s what Jet did to bounce back from his second-half benching against Brisbane to blister with 23 points on 5/8 from deep, seven assists, four steals and only one miscue in Adelaide, highlighted by his four first-quarter long bombs that blew the game open. Magette was +32 in 30 minutes, with Tasmania outscored by five in the remaining 10 with the JJs PG resting, highlighting how dominant he was.

Hitting the roll-man – In Friday’s first half, Melbourne fed the roller just three times and got four points in return. In the second half, however, they hit their bigs rolling to the hoop 11 times for 18 points, with Humphries scoring 12 of those. They did it with patience too, often finding their bigs on the second pass. When Perth adjusted, they found the weakside shooter, then introduced Spanish action to create an open three for Chris Goulding.

What needs stopping?

JackJumpers jacking jumpers – The Tassie boys dropped 15/42 triples on Brisbane and then backed it up with 15/38 in Adelaide, outscoring the 36ers by 30 points from the arc in a 25-point win. Across those two games, Kelly and Jack McVeigh hit four each from the frontcourt, while Milton Doyle nailed seven, Jarrad Weeks six and Magette five from the backcourt as that quintet accounted for 26 of the 30 made treys at 42 per cent.

Screen defence leakage – Of Bryce Cotton’s 22 first-half points, 18 came from leaks in United’s screen defence, mostly involving Tucker. Early, Perth used Humphries’ man, Cotton picking up eight quick points. He then got two open triples from off-ball screening from Jordan Caroline’s man. While Xavier Rathan-Mayes stepped up in the second half, the JJs have two quality screen users in Magette and Milton Doyle, so Tucker and Co need to lift.

Who’s matching up?

Rayjon Tucker v Milton Doyle – Tucker contributed 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists in the Perth W, and Melbourne will be confident his 2/6 conversion from two-point range will improve given he missed some bunnies. Doyle hasn’t missed much inside the arc of late, hitting 10/13 as he racked up 48 points in 62 minutes against the Bullets and Sixers.

David Barlow v Jack McVeigh – While Barlow didn’t add much to the boxscore, his addition to the starting five helped spark United’s fast start with his team-first approach. He’ll be there again Sunday as the only United match-up for the wily McVeigh, with Jordan Caroline much better suited to going head-to-head with Kelly once he emerges from the bench.

Xavier Rathan-Mayes v Josh Magette – XRM produced a point guard masterpiece in Perth, with 17 points on 4/6 from outside, 11 rebounds, five assists and just one turnover. It didn’t quite match Magette’s blinder in Adelaide, but his defensive effort on Bryce Cotton suggests he’ll get the task of disrupting Jet, who is crucial in controlling the tempo for Tassie.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mag3tt3 from the carpark. Yes please. Watch live now <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/Foxtel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Foxtel</a> <a href="https://t.co/Fg3q7t2CIO">pic.twitter.com/Fg3q7t2CIO</a></p>&mdash; Tasmania JackJumpers ? (@JackJumpers) <a href="https://twitter.com/JackJumpers/status/1580483496157802496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s saying what?

After Melbourne’s gutsy win in the Jungle on Friday night, the first thing coach Dean Vickerman’s mind jumped to was how his team bounced back from their Round 2 embarrassment.

“It’s pleasing to make a response, and that’s who we are and who we've been as a club over these last five or six years. If we've been poor we've come out and responded the right way,” he said.

“They're team-building wins, we needed a win like that for this group to really believe. When we got down heavy last week we didn’t have a response.”

While it mightn’t be talked about publicly, United will be looking to make a serious response on Sunday to their semi-final defeat to Tasmania last season, but they’ll need their new faces firing to achieve that.

Vickerman particularly liked that “when we got down we locked in on the defensive end”, and that was led by Isaac Humphries, who tallied four blocks and seven defensive boards to go with 17 points at 72 per cent.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">5 blocks to go along with his 16 points &amp; 8 rebounds ??<br><br>?: ESPN via Kayo Sports or Foxtel <a href="https://t.co/sQ95bzs8Fq">pic.twitter.com/sQ95bzs8Fq</a></p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1580895891300708352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“Ice was great tonight,” Vickerman said.

“The last couple of games we felt like it was building. We go through some things both games about our coverages and where he is in the on-ball, how he plays it and what our expectations are.

“He got those things fixed up, and tonight became a great target for us on the block.”

For Humphries, the points were good, but the defence was better.

“I take a lot of pride in my rim protection and I wanted to be that back line of help for us,” he said.

“There was a couple of guys I could help off of which is beneficial for us, I can stay closer to the bucket and help out the guys.”

That’s going to be a trickier proposition against Tasmania on Sunday when Jarred Bairstow isn’t on the floor, with Jack McVeigh, Fabijan Krslovic and Rashard Kelly all capable from range and all willing to find the open man.

That trio has dished 10 dimes between them in back-to-back JJs wins, highlighting the selfless ethos that drove the JackJumpers to the grand final last season.

“We had good offence, the ball was moving, we found open guys and it was multiple guys really,” coach Scott Roth said in Adelaide.

“That’s what this team is about, these guys are defending the island every time we go to play, try to represent Tasmania the right way.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Milt different. ? Watch live now on <a href="https://twitter.com/espn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@espn</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/kayo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayo</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/Foxtel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@foxtel</a> <a href="https://t.co/AMR97BA2hB">pic.twitter.com/AMR97BA2hB</a></p>&mdash; Tasmania JackJumpers ? (@JackJumpers) <a href="https://twitter.com/JackJumpers/status/1580481576345178112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


While Josh Magette’s stunning offensive outburst caught the headlines, typically for Roth it was the defensive side of his bounce-back game that was most pleasing.

For Magette, it was a matter of pride.

“I didn’t think the product I put out there was a reflection of who I am,” he said.

“I've been doing this for a while now and I felt like I wasn’t myself, let the team down maybe. But they’ve rallied around me this week, a lot of positive feedback and we've continued to grow.”

Magette’s cool guidance will be important against a Melbourne defence that found its teeth in Perth, with their second-half intensity killing off the Wildcats’ ball movement.

“Our new guys to the league are adjusting to how the league is refereed, how teams guard physically. I think we’re still growing in that area,” Magette said.

“We shot the ball well tonight, but I think for the most part this season we've got good looks, sometimes they go in and sometimes they don’t, but I think for us it’s about limiting those possessions we call playing in the mud where it’s a bit sloppy.”

As for the significance of a play of last season’s classic semi-final series, Roth isn’t buying into it.

“I don’t think we’re in the league long enough to have any kind of rivalry or back and forth with any team, it’s just a situation that played out last year with how it ended,” he said.

“We just defend they island, it doesn’t matter who we play, we’re trying to do the right thing by Tasmanians. We’re excited to go over to Melbourne and play.”