R13 Preview: Melbourne United vs New Zealand Breakers

When: 8pm (AEDT), Saturday 10 April

Where: John Cain Arena, Melbourne

Broadcast: ESPN; Sky Sports NZ; SBS On Demand; Twitch

The last time
Melbourne 87 (Ili 16, McCarron 16, Goulding 13) d New Zealand 79 (Delany 17, Kendle 13, Bach 12), Round 11, Bendigo Basketball Stadium

When the Breakers twice bounced 18 ahead in the third quarter of this Round 11 clash it looked they were set to make it Melbourne’s sixth loss from seven games, but it wasn’t to be. While some controversial calls got pundits talking, it was United’s 15-0 run in four minutes closing the third that really swung this game. Remarkably, Melbourne repeated the same 15-0 dose in just over six minutes in the fourth, the unheralded Mason Peatling, Shea Ili, Dave Barlow and Yudai Baba playing key roles in the home team’s stunning turnaround.


The now
That was a turning point for United, who are now on a five-game winning streak to be breathing down Perth’s neck once again, despite the devastating loss of Jack White for the season. Regaining Scotty Hopson has helped, the smooth American adding 28 points, 16 boards and 7 assists in 52 minutes since his return. United’s next four games are at John Cain Arena, giving them a golden chance to climb back to the top of the NBL pyramid.

The Breakers’ pyramid keeps collapsing, with NBL21 often a case of two steps forward, one step backwards for the Kiwis. This week they got two pieces of great news – the return of centre Rob Loe and the opening of the New Zealand border – but then they find out Tai Webster is likely sidelined for four weeks with a calf strain. The good news certainly outweighs the bad, however, with new import Levi Randolph set to make his debut.


The stats

 - New Zealand have lost seven of their past eight games to Melbourne, however their past four losses have been by a total of just 15 points

 - At tip-off Saturday, the Breakers and United will have only three players who have taken part in every game this season. The average amongst other club is 5.4

 - In their five-game winning streak, Melbourne have allowed just 72.4ppg at 38 per cent from the field

 - New Zealand shot 45 per cent against United in Round 11, but were beaten 50-28 on points in the paint


The key men

Finn Delany – With White sidelined, United face some questions at the power forward position, with Dave Barlow still a solid player but not capable of big minutes like he used to be. Jock Landale and Jo Lual-Acuil can team up as twin towers, but how can they guard the Flying Finn when his jumper is going? Over the past six games, Delany has averaged 19.2ppg at 39 per cent from range, and that presents a challenge.

Mitch McCarron – Mitch has averaged 16.5ppg, 7rpg and 7apg in two meetings with the Breakers this season, dishing 7 dimes in both, shooting 14-of-21 from inside the arc, with all bar three of his shots coming inside the no-charge semi-circle in the last clash. When the Money Maker deals 6 dimes or more Melbourne are 9-0 this season, so New Zealand need to find some answers for his penetration and poise.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Drive &amp; dish for a Scotty triple<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StandWithUs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StandWithUs</a> <a href="https://t.co/IqXg3m4FEK">pic.twitter.com/IqXg3m4FEK</a></p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnitedHQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnitedHQ/status/1378607728751341572?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The quotes

There have been a few trains coming the Breakers way this season, but this light at the end of the tunnel may finally be the real thing.

“In terms of the roster we are in one of the best shapes we have been. We’ve added Corey (Webster), Will (McDowell-White) and Levi over the last week, and now we're going to have Rob available. With the exception of Tai, we’ve got a full squad,” coach Dan Shamir said.

"In pro sport it's not so easy to get the chemistry so quick, and to get everybody playing together in a very short period of time.

"We’re going to have to overcome this. We have 19 more games to play, and we need to catch a massive run. We have a talented team, and we’re going to come to win the game tomorrow.”

It’s been a while since they’ve beaten Melbourne, but they may well have done that in Bendigo in Round 11 had Colton Iverson not attracted the ire of the whistle.

He took that setback in his stride however, with a little help from his coach.

“He managed to play 18 minutes in the first half and we are up 18 on the floor and then we lose him,” Shamir said post-game in Round 11.

“Colton Iverson fouled out the last three games in a row. Last game he played 14 minutes, and just as a comparison last year he played 35 or 30-something games in the Euroleague, which is a very physical league, he knows how to play in the VTB and fouled out twice the whole season.

“The year before he played 55 games in the ACB in Spain and in the European Champions League and he fouled out twice the whole season, so that really hurt us.”

After having been whistled for 15 fouls in 67 minutes, Iverson has been pinged just four times in 63 minutes in the two games following Shamir’s comments.

He has added a remarkable 36 points and 42 boards in that time, and made his teammates a whole lot better in the process.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Our favourite <a href="https://twitter.com/colton_iverson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@colton_iverson</a> highlight from the weekend<br><br>Rumour is Mitch Creek is still flying <a href="https://t.co/skgCzwLuoD">pic.twitter.com/skgCzwLuoD</a></p>&mdash; Sky Sport Breakers (@NZBreakers) <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers/status/1379227727056670720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“Colton's greatest advantage is making ball guards better,” Shamir said.

“His ability to get them open and willingness to do all the little things on ball screens is second to none. Another great day for him and hopefully we’ll translate that to Ws.”

He gave Melbourne plenty of trouble that night as he freed up Tai Webster’s penetration time and again.

“They just got into the paint too easily, and that created all kinds of situations for us, left some hot shooters on the three-point line, people over-helping, Iverson was getting open at the rim by our bigs stepping up and helping,” coach Dean Vickerman said.

“So it was more about how do we control their penetration. We did a much better job of that in the second half, and I thought we were much more disruptive up the floor in making different people have to start their offence and taking them out of rhythm that way.”

Their defence has been superb since, but the reality is Jack White’s injury raises some questions they never quite answered the first time their rookie power forward was out.

Melbourne are 10-1 with White in the line-up, but just 5-4 on their White-less nights, and all in sundry know filling that hole is the key to their championship chances.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">OK JACK! <a href="https://t.co/C33GEk6DHV">pic.twitter.com/C33GEk6DHV</a></p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnitedHQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnitedHQ/status/1377874458401075202?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“Jack does so many things that contribute to winning. It’s not all flash and dash on the scoresheet, but he comes from a winning program and he has winning habits and he consistently does them,” captain Chris Goulding said.

“Any time you lose that people have to pick up the slack and at times we haven’t done a great job of doing that.”

They did last time against New Zealand when their backs against the wall, and that is the recipe for success again this Saturday against the fast-starting Breakers.

“We have to lay the foundation of how we play with our defence, like we did in the second half, and allow guys to come in and contribute to that and then find their way offensively,” Goulding said.

“What changed was our defensive coverages and our intent on the glass, the way we played that second half we've got to try and find that spark and do it from the jump, it’s not fun coming back from double figures.”