Preview: Perth v Melbourne (Round 10)

When: 9.30pm (AEDT), Monday 12 December, 2022

Where: RAC Arena, Perth

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Foxtel; Sky NZ

Who won last time?

Melbourne 94 (Rathan-Mayes 25, Tucker 16, Goulding 13) d Perth 77 (Cotton 19, Blanchfield 13, Thomas 13) – Round 5 at John Cain Arena, Melbourne

United regained Shea Ili in Round 5 and all was well again for Melbourne fans, downing arch rivals Perth for the ninth time in 10 meetings, the Wildcats only once getting closer than seven points in the second half. Shili brought the early energy and Xavier Rathan-Mayes brought the class at both ends, finishing with 25 points at 62 per cent, 10 rebounds, five steals, three assists and helping keep Bryce Cotton to a manageable 19 points.

What happened last game?

United regained Shea Ili in Round 10 and all was well again for Melbourne fans, downing Brisbane by 16 thanks to a dizzying display of ball movement and team-first basketball that produced 104 points at 57 per cent and 27 assists. The Wildcats put themselves back in the top six with a come-from-behind eight-point win over Adelaide, surviving yet another horror night on the glass thanks to the scoring of Cotton, Corey Webster and TaShawn Thomas.

What’s working?

Shea Ili – This man feels the need for speed and Melbourne are transformed as a result. In three games at Melbourne Park this season he’s piled on 39 points in 52 minutes and United are 3-0, scoring 102.7ppg. The one time Ili had to back up on the road, however, things didn’t go so well, scoring one point on 0/7 shooting as Melbourne got caned in Cairns. Can the Kiwi blur produce two high-intensity games in one round? United fans are hoping so.

Mobile Thomas – TaShawn put up an NBL career-best 22 points on Adelaide – eight better than his previous high – as he got active on the roll and moving off the ball. In total, 14 of those points came when he received the ball on the move, be it as a roller, flashing to receive off penetration, in transition or on flex cuts to the block. Undersized as a centre at just 203cm, when he’s on the go he can use his mobility and dexterity to his advantage.

What needs stopping?

Second chance points – Melbourne were whooped 17-9 on second chance points by the Bullets on Saturday, as Aron Baynes and Gorjok Gak had more o-boards than the entire Melbourne team. Perth only grabbed 21 d-boards at the AEC, while the 36ers caromed 19 o-boards and dominated second chance points 23-8. Given Mitch McCarron and Sunday Dech had 12 offensive rebounds, compared to a combined four d-boards for Perth’s guards, it’s Webster, Cotton and Mitch Norton who must take the lion’s share of responsibility.

Late-game Bryce – Of course, Cotton redeemed Friday’s sins with 18 points in the final 12 minutes, including 11 in the final 110 seconds to seal the win. That performance echoed his 16 points in the final 14 minutes in Perth’s last home win over South East Melbourne and his 12-point final-quarter the previous time in Adelaide. Does Dean Vickerman need to manage Ili’s minutes so he’s fresh to curtail Cotton when the Wildcats turn to the MVP late in the game?

Who’s matching up?

Corey Webster v Chris Goulding – Inserting Webster into the starting five has paid dividends, with the 250-game milestone man scoring 48 points at 66 per cent in two games, including a ridiculous 9/10 on mid-range jumpers. The question is who does C-Web defend? Is he trusted with the crucial job on Goulding – who has nailed 4.5 triples at 50 per cent the past two games – to save Cotton’s legs, or is he better suited on XRM and Ili?

Luke Travers v Rayjon Tucker – There’s plenty of chatter about Travers’ performance or lack thereof, but halfway through the season he is second on Perth’s plus/minus charts, going a game-high +21 in the win over Adelaide. He can make a huge difference Monday by contesting Tucker at the arc and the rim, the Melbourne import averaging 21.2ppg in his past six outings at 61 per cent inside, 19/22 from the free-throw line and 12/26 outside.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tuck getting us started in true Tuck fashion ?<br><br>?: ESPN via Kayo Sports or Foxtel<a href="https://twitter.com/th3flighttuck?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@th3flighttuck</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/DoorDash?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DoorDash</a> <a href="https://t.co/rkO68926dK">pic.twitter.com/rkO68926dK</a></p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1601505327114948608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s saying what?

It's fair to say they're suddenly feeling good about themselves in Melbourne.

“Having Shea and 'Ice' back, we saw that it allowed the ball to move,” coach Dean Vickerman said after Saturday’s 104-88 win.

“We saw Tuck (when) we got some ‘kick-aheads’ early on, it got him going. He made his shots, he was great, we saw him come up with a massive steal he had on Baynesy just chasing something down, at a key moment he hit a big three, he did some amazing things.

“I thought Ice was really solid as well, we didn’t have a massive focus on going to the post tonight, he’s going to get more opportunities there as it goes along. Everyone’s starting to learn their role, X comes off the bench and has 10 assists.

“We haven't had 27 assists, I'm not sure if we've had 20 assists all year, so to let the basketball move and trust each other and make extra passes it was the right way to play basketball, it was fun.”

Vickerman faced a big test after his decision to promote a positive atmosphere at United was followed by a gutting 14-point loss to last-placed Illawarra.

Many-a-coach has turned their back on positivity after such a performance in favour of old-school punishments, but Vickerman stayed the course.

He had faith, understanding the Bullets game was the first time Melbourne have Shea Ili, Marcus Lee and their full roster together.

“We just talked about it as a group to say this is the team we put together at the start of the year and these are the roles that we had pictured for you, let’s play 13 games and see if everyone can stay healthy and see if the roles we had for the people at the start of the year, see if they can do them well,” Vickerman said.

“There was a big thing about loosening up a little bit and having confidence to shoot the basketball and really celebrate and I thought there was good rewards for people. Even if they were missing good shots people were letting them know that’s the right shot to take and that builds confidence for everyone.”

The Wildcats are happy too, having knocked off New Zealand and Adelaide in back-to-back road games, but in contrast to his United counterpart, John Rillie is firmly keeping a lid on it.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">LT soars in for the put-back. ??<br><br>? Watch live on ESPN via Kayo &amp; Foxtel <a href="https://t.co/yo7dijUVB3">pic.twitter.com/yo7dijUVB3</a></p>&mdash; Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1601150696497106945?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“The thing we've done a great job of the last couple of games is we've just competed a lot better from the start to the finish and it’s amazing how then things start to go your way,” he said.

“We've got some great players we can rely on in the clutch, but if you don’t get to the clutch it doesn’t matter... we’re getting contributors all over the floor in the last couple of games and that’s the biggest difference for us.

“It’s exciting right now but we've got a big game Monday so we can’t get fat and happy just because we won two games.”

Alongside their improved intensity, Perth’s new starting line-up has also made a big impact, giving more creators, more interior scoring options, more versatility defensively and more length for rebounding.

It’s also put two expert sparkplugs in Jesse Wagstaff and Mitch Norton back in the reserve roles they’ve excelled at for much of their careers.

“'LT' complements Webster and Cotton very well, TaShawn tonight is really finding his feet, Brady has been really good the last month, so those guys play very well together,” Rillie said.

“Then when we go to the bench we've got Mitch and Wagstaff who are very comfortable, have played a lot of games together, so I think I'm finding a better rhythm with our rotations.”

Melbourne present a different defensive challenge to both Adelaide and New Zealand though, neither of which possess a lights-out shooter who must be respected once he crosses half-court.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Marcus stole it ↔? CG scored it<br><br>?: ESPN via Kayo Sports or Foxtel<a href="https://twitter.com/JustMarcusLee?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JustMarcusLee</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisGoulding43?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChrisGoulding43</a> <a href="https://t.co/YeQMQQBX5d">pic.twitter.com/YeQMQQBX5d</a></p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1601524369422921728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

On Saturday, United gave Chris Goulding the greenest of green lights, and the result was a 6/10 three-point shooting barrage.

“There was an intent from us to hunt threes and I think that promotes really good ball movement. The transition ones were a total awareness of where he was on the floor and how could we find him,” Vickerman said.

“Some of those were deep trail-in threes as well … we want Chris to get 10 threes every game if he can, if they're 10 great ones then fantastic.”

That performance left coach Rillie wary of a resurgent Melbourne, who can move within one game of the sixth-placed 'Cats if they claim their eighth-straight win in Perth on Monday.

“If we don’t compete against Melbourne, they’ve spanked out butts this year because they’ve been the more aggressive and physical team,” he said post-game in Adelaide.

“If we don’t bring that, if we get fat and happy and go back to the hotel tonight and think we’re doing well, they’ll beat us again. So we better bring that physicality, that emotion, we’re playing with a little bit of emotion right now.

“We got in this rut where we were worries about making mistakes whereas now we play with emotion and little confidence about ourselves, but we can’t rest because we’re 7-7, I don’t play to be 7-7.”