R18 Preview: Melbourne United vs Illawarra Hawks

Saturday, April 2, 2022

Melbourne were humbled at home by Antonius Cleveland and the Hawks, and now they must keep vengeance to stay clear atop the NBL ladder.

When: 5.30pm (AEDT), Saturday 2 April 2022

Where: John Cain Arena, Melbourne

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Sky Sports NZ

Who won last time?

Illawarra 92 (Cleveland 20, Harvey 19, Reath 15) d Melbourne 77 (Lual-Acuil 18, Goulding 13, Agada 12) – Round 17, John Cain Arena, Melbourne

Illawarra came ready to play and made Melbourne pay. Building on their stunning win in Tasmania. The Goorjian-less Hawks put the champs to bed with a 52-34 run bridging the first and third quarters, Antonius Cleveland the architect as his team completely disrupted Melbourne’s offence and then exploited their d-trans and interior defence time and again.

What happened last start?

Goorjian was back on deck Thursday and his team picked up where they left off, racing to a 29-15 quarter-time lead over Brisbane, once again generated by their aggressive defence, but this time triggered offensively by a red-hot Justinian Jessup from the perimeter. The win was despite the absence of Tyler Harvey, who will likely be a game-time decision once again.

That win made it four on the bounce for Illawarra, and on Saturday they can move to level-pegging with Melbourne atop the ladder. United face Perth and South East Melbourne next up, with the minor premiership now a genuine dog fight, and a big challenge for Dean Vickerman’s men is adjusting to the recent change in officiating which is cracking down on physical defence.

Who’s in form?

Justinian Jessup – The sophomore Next Star was at his best against Brisbane, hitting 29 points at 65 per cent as he hunted shots in transition and was aggressive getting to his pull-up in the half-court. The Hawks are 7-3 all-time when Jessup scored 20 or more and 11-2 this season when he lands multiple triples at 33 per cent or better. JJ needs to get shots.

Caleb Agada – It’s quite possible the physical Agada could get that match-up. Last round, when few United players were up for the defensive challenge, the Nigerian star was strong at both ends, finishing with 12 points at 50 per cent, 13 rebounds, five assists and three steals, Melbourne only -1 in his 27:38, but a decisive -14 in the 12:22 their import was benched.

Who needs to be?

Melbourne’s backcourt – Chris Goulding, Matthew Dellavedova and Shea Ili produced just 26 points on 9/32 shooting (28%), while coughing up eight turnovers to outnumber their five assists. Harvey, Jessup and Xavier Rathan-Mayes countered with 37 points at 50 per cent, nine dimes and four turnovers. Melbourne need a response from their star-studded guard crew.

Sam Froling – While the Hawks thumped the defending champs last week, they were thumped on the glass and can count themselves fortunate the game wasn’t closer as a result. Froling was a chief culprit with just one defensive rebound in 20 minutes, while also coughing up 4 turnovers, and his team needs better to repeat the dose on Saturday.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Allow us to reintroduce you to SLAM FROLING ??<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/10PeachAu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@10PeachAu</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> Freebies ? <a href="https://t.co/2n6vJnigko">pic.twitter.com/2n6vJnigko</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1507955239550599171?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s statting up?

- In Round 17, Illawarra forced 19 Melbourne turnovers while committing just 12. They finished +11 on points from turnovers. The Hawks rank first in the NBL for turnovers (9.8), while United rank eighth (13.7)

- Melbourne pulled in 22 offensive rebounds to the Hawks’ 10 last round, winning second chance points 14-9. United are second in the NBL in o-boards (32%) while Illawarra sit seventh in d-boards (71%)

- In United losses, opponents shoot an average of 26 free throws, compared to just 16.7 in Melbourne’s 15 wins. Illawarra shot 29 in last week’s win, but only 16 in their Round 7 loss to United

- The NBL’s scoring rate has skyrocketed in recent weeks with the tightening of the whistle. In Rounds 15-17 the average score was 88.2ppg. Over the rest of the season it is 82.7ppg

Who’s matching up?

Jo Lual-Acuil v Duop Reath – While the stats say JLA had 18 points at 53 per cent and eight rebounds, while Reath had 15 points at 36 per cent and five boards, the reality is when the game was decided in the first half Duop dominated this match-up. His two giant blocks on Lual-Acuil early made a statement, as did his five total swats en route to a game-high +19.

In contrast, big Jo was -18, and while he had two quick buckets to start the game, he scored just four points in the 20 minutes following Reath’s double send-away as the Hawks set up a match-winning 13-point lead. Melbourne need him hunting shots, and if he again defends Duop, finding ways to deter his three-ball without giving up easy drives to the basket.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">DRIVE AND SLAM. <a href="https://twitter.com/DuopReath?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DuopReath</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreIllawarra?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreIllawarra</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://t.co/K0aRKbVbeD">pic.twitter.com/K0aRKbVbeD</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1507935922821959682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s talking the talk?

It’s no secret the Hawks are packed with offensive weaponry, and it’s no secret what gets their guns going.

“There’s some things you can’t do against the Hawks, and one is turn the ball over,” Dean Vickerman said after his team’s capitulation to the men from the Gong.

“I thought their hand pressure and their length and their deflections they created, and our inability to move the basketball the way we wanted to, created a lot of fast-break opportunities for them. You can see fast-break points are 27-10 for them.”

The reason that’s so important is the ability of Tyler Harvey and Justinian to connect from deep in transition, the ability of Duop Reath, Sam Froling and Tim Coenraad to be effective as trailers, and the speed of Antonius Cleveland attacking the rim in the open floor.

If you’re defence isn’t set, chances are Illawarra will find the weak point and exploit it, and last Sunday that was at the basket.

With the recent shift in officiating interpretations opening the game up, Melbourne faces a big test to protect their interior as they had for most of the season.

“The other area of the game that was lop-sided was their ability to get to the foul line and our inability to get to the foul line,” Vickerman said.

“The transition ones we can take care of by taking care of the ball better, but (Cleveland) shoots 14 free throws tonight and I thought our wall-ups and our ability to be vertical and do those things all year has been at a pretty high level.

“I think last game he might have shot 7-8 threes, where tonight he was pretty committed to put his feet in the paint.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Break out the Blu Tack. Because Antonius Cleveland put em on a POSTER.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/10PeachAu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@10PeachAu</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> Freebies ? <a href="https://t.co/AySXATYxcV">pic.twitter.com/AySXATYxcV</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1507956625100791810?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

While Melbourne’s defence had plenty of issues – giving up 92 points at 47 per cent and 29 free-throw attempts – their offence left a lot to be desired as they were forced to play half-court for most of the night.

The Hawks put plenty of heat on the pick-and-roll ball-handler and crowded the ball side, forcing the United guards to make difficult passes that Cleveland and Co regularly picked off.

When they did pass their way out of pressure, the Hawks’ intense rotations seemed to leave them on the back foot.

“The way they help each other and clog the paint, you do get the opportunity to shoot the three-ball and I thought we were a little reluctant at times to let it go,” Vickerman said after his team went 8/27 from deep.

“We end up putting it on the deck a little bit more and got some late shot clock situations. Last time we shot the ball well against them and this time I thought we were just reluctant and a little hesitant to do that.

“You’ve also got to finish around the rim, and it’s an area that ignites their break if you don’t finish around the rim and we didn’t do that.”

In reality, the Hawks were at such a level that day, few teams could beat them.

“We just had to come in with nothing to lose, that sort of mentality, which we've been great at ever since people started to write us off,” stand-in coach Jacob Jackomas said.

“It’s like we’re on a path where we could miss out and now we’re desperate. There’s a bit of that, and then just time together, allowing Brian to do his job, allowing him to coach the guys, he coaches them hard and it’s a method of teaching.

“We recruited a lot of guys that have a scoring mentality and with Brian having that defensive mentality.

“Having a bit of patience and letting the defence form … he's got a list of things we’ve got to get better at but I just think maybe it kicked in a little later than everyone wanted, but it’s a little bit of giving it time and a little bit of desperation.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">THE HUSTLE.<br><br>Chris Goulding with an acrobatic save.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/10PeachAu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@10PeachAu</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> Freebies ? <a href="https://t.co/AZEzrnkOd4">pic.twitter.com/AZEzrnkOd4</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1507940885450801154?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It’s desperation time for Melbourne, with Perth, Sydney and Illawarra now breathing down their necks for top spot after consecutive losses.

With Tyler Harvey in doubt, expect the home team to put some serious pressure on the ball, but third-in-line point man Emmett Naar stood tall against Brisbane and is confident his team can handle Melbourne’s heat.

“They’ve got a pretty impressive defensive backcourt there but we’re not going to back down from anyone. We back our talent, they're going to get after us but we’re going to get after them too,” he said.

“We've got versatile players, we’ve got guys like AC who can bring it down to relieve some pressure, that really helps us and if Tyler’s out we’ll be ready to go.”

If you listen to Caleb Agada, Melbourne will be more than ready, setting the scene for two teams with genuine title credentials to go at it on Saturday.

“They threw the first punch, we have to be the guys who throw the first punch,” he said.

“This is our home court, so what happened tonight can’t happen again to be honest. They can’t want it more than us, they were on the loose balls more than us.

“It was just their game and we handed it to them, that’s not the characteristics of a championship-winning team. We've got to be better.”