R16 Preview: Melbourne United vs Adelaide 36ers

When: 1pm (AEDT), Sunday 20 March 2022

Where: John Cain Arena, Melbourne

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; 10 Peach; 10 Play; Sky Sports NZ


Who won last time?
Adelaide 88 (Hannahs 19, Withers 17, Bairstow 16) d Melbourne 83 (Lual-Acuil 23, White 18, Peatling 11) OT – Round 9, Adelaide Entertainment Centre

In one of the finishes, and upsets, of NBL22 the 36ers owned Melbourne for much of the match, but the whistle ran against the hosts late and United capitalised with a stunning 10-0 run to seemingly snatch victory. Dusty Hannahs would have none of that though, nailing a game-tying triple and then scoring 8 points in overtime to bring the AEC to fever pitch.


What happened last start?

The 36ers got a huge pressure relief on Friday, holding Cairns to just 18 points after half-time to blow their five-game losing skid out of the water. It wasn’t by any means a slick offensive performance, although CJ Bruton would be relieved to see the three-balls finally drop, and they were below their usual rebounding standard, but for Adelaide a win is a win!

Melbourne produced a hell of a win in the Throwdown, charging from 12 down with eight minutes to play as Chris Goulding came to life at one end, and Jack White made life hard for Mitch Creek at the other. United had all sorts of trouble defending the Phoenix in the open floor, but when it came to crunch time, they made big plays on both sides of the ball.


Who’s in form?

Matthew Dellavedova – Cometh the moment, cometh the man, and with Perth and SE Melbourne on the menu in Round 15, Delly averaged 18.5 points and 4.5 assists while draining 3.5 triples at 41 per cent. He hasn’t enjoyed his two games against lowly Adelaide quite so much, managing a total of 8 points on 1/7 from range, but dishing 15 dimes.

Mitch McCarron – Speaking on cometh the man, after a horror run for both himself and the 36ers, Mitch was money against Cairns, dropping 21 points on 4/7 from range, as many triples as he’d hit in his previous seven outings. He also grabbed 10 boards, and after a shocker against United last time, will be looking to be make a similar statement on Sunday.


Who needs to be?

Chris Goulding – Speaking of shockers last time, CG43 went 0/14 in Round 9 in Adelaide, partly from some great Sunday Dech D – he was a game-high +14 – but also just some missed open looks. Goulding made his run late against SEM, scoring 13 final-quarter points to change the game, but with Caleb Agada out he should get more shots early this week.

Daniel Johnson – The Adelaide crowd was loud in the win over Melbourne, but so was Father Time talking in DJ’s ear. Jack White treated him like a traffic cone – scoring 15 points at the rim or foul line – and Johnson needs to make his athletic opponent prove he can hit his jumper, and then clean the d-boards to tilt the crucial rebounding battle the Sixers’ way.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jack White is doing HEAPS! <a href="https://t.co/lMWovVe8Mr">pic.twitter.com/lMWovVe8Mr</a></p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1487626255642271745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s statting up?

 - The 36ers are the NBL’s best overall rebounding team, pulling in 74 per cent of d-boards (4^th) and 33 per cent of o-boards (1^st). Melbourne rank second overall, grabbing 76 per cent at the defensive end (2^nd) and 30 per cent offensively (2^nd)

 - In their opening five wins, Adelaide averaged 35 per cent of available o-boards and were +38 on second chance points. On Friday against the Snakes, they grabbed just 29 per cent and were -10 in 2CPs

 - In their past three games, the United defence has allowed 90ppg at 45 per cent, compared to 77.9ppg at 39 per cent over the rest of the season. They have pulled in just 68 per cent of d-boards in the past two games

 - In losses, Melbourne have pulled in 26 per cent of o-boards and are -12 on second chance points, while in wins that number soars to 32 per cent and +38


Who’s matching up?

Jo Lual-Acuil v Cam Bairstow – This was a battle of epic proportions in Round 9, Bairstow with 16 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists, while Lual-Acuil retorted with 23 points, 12 boards and 2 blocks. The first meeting in Round 8 was just as good, with both the Bear and JLA outstanding with 18 points and 8 caroms apiece. Here’s to another classic match-up.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">You ?????, Mitch.<br><br>? - <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> <a href="https://t.co/XJnFa7RCOD">pic.twitter.com/XJnFa7RCOD</a></p>&mdash; Adelaide 36ers (@Adelaide36ers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1504764815885336576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s talking the talk?

The relief was palpable as a relaxed, smiling Mitch McCarron spoke to the media following his dominant performance against the Taipans on Friday night.

“It feels great,” he said.

“Anytime you’ve been on a losing streak you just need one win to change the mood and sometimes that enables you to make a run.”

McCarron admitted he’s had some challenging mental moments in recent times as his form nosedived.

“I have. I've had some time, our last game was last weekend and I was disappointed with how I've been playing,” he said.

“The group is frustrated, the coaching staff is frustrated, we’re all expecting a higher level from ourselves and we haven't quite got there.

“I had a big reflection week, for sure, and it feels good to just get back on the winner’s table.”

Of course, the solution was to put aside the past and have faith in his ability to play the game he loves with confidence.

“I just need to take open shots when they're there,” he said simply.

“I say the same message to everyone in our group, if it’s your shot and you’re open don’t turn that one down, that’s the best one we’re probably going to get.

“There’s no use me running around telling everyone else that if I'm not going to do it myself. I want to continue to be aggressive.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">P?i?t?c?h? Mitch Perfect.<br>3?? of 3?? from 3?? to start this one.<br><br>? - <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> <a href="https://t.co/Ew9fbT7eSe">pic.twitter.com/Ew9fbT7eSe</a></p>&mdash; Adelaide 36ers (@Adelaide36ers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1504742897765482496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

There were no issues with that against the Snakes as he shot at 58 per cent from the floor, 3/5 from deep, grabbed 10 boards, dished 3 dimes and pinched 3 steals.

On Sunday, the level of opposition goes up as Matthew Dellavedova and Shea Ili lay out the welcome mat. It’s three of the best defensive point guards the modern NBL has seen going head-to-head.

When they met in Round 9, the trio dogged each other into a combined 4/28 shooting night. The Melbourne pests hounded Sunday Dech into 2/11 from the field, while Church in turn wore Chris Goulding like a glove as he shot 0/14.

All up, Dusty Hannahs went 7/12 – after being 2/7 with 20 seconds to play in regulation – and the other seven guards in both teams’ rotations shot a staggering 9/65 as both outfits held, pushed and checked their opponents into uncomfortable positions.

“That’s locking in and fighting over screens, making sure we make them catch the ball where we want them to go, and I thought we really locked in on the scout today and really executed defensively,” Dech said afterwards.

“Down the stretch we were able to get big-time stops which fuelled our offence. When we do that and take care of the ball we’re a tough team to beat.”

Of course, that was in the early part of the season where a huge amount of contact was being allowed and NBL22 was on track to be the least efficient in NBL history.

Since then, the whistle has changed tack and now defenders are being forced to guard legally more often, and that will make it hard for both teams to repeat the same grind.

Last week against the Phoenix, Delly and Shili showed they can dominate a high-scoring game too, combining for 41 points on 7/12 from the arc, 9 assists and +17 to be the defining factor in the contest.

“Delly had a great first half and Shea had the great second half for us,” coach Dean Vickerman said.

When the table was there to be set, Delly was classy and calculated.

“Early in the game we thought we had really good stuff with Delly coming off on-balls where it was hard for them to help, and Chris was that kind of decoy there,” Vickerman said.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Delly with the runner ?‍??<br><br>Tune in to Throwdown XV delivered by Doordash - Watch now on 10Peach, Kayo Freebies or ESPN <a href="https://t.co/6MX9dd5DOm">pic.twitter.com/6MX9dd5DOm</a></p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1502868690186141696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

When desperation and improvisation was needed, Ili was everywhere at both ends of the floor.

“The one play, late shot clock, he used the on-ball once, used it again, got into his step-back, big possession, great confidence for him to want to take that shot,” Vickerman said.

“I thought there was one, we’d missed a shot and Shea chases it down, knocks it out of someone’s hands and it’s falling out of bounds and we tap it back in.

“You just need those kind of examples to say we’re not quitting on anything and when you see that, everyone feels the confidence, hey let’s just keep going we’ll give ourselves a chance.”

That’s the message CJ Bruton is preaching to his group. Last season the 36ers let it run down their legs once the playoffs were out of the question, dropping their final seven games.

Bruton doesn’t want a repeat as he looks to build a new culture to take into NBL23.

“Every game counts. I can come in here and rant and rave and tell you that you’re not doing the right thing, but at the end of the day we’re in this situation, we've got games to play and you need to show value for the person who put you here and pay attention to detail,” he said.

“It’s every game coming in with the right mentality and understanding where we are and what we need to get done to win this ball game, and delivering that in spades.”