‘This is Ridiculous’: An Oral History of the Illawarra vs Melbourne 4OT Classic

By Liam Santamaria

It was the opening week of the 2018-19 NBL season.

The defending champions, Melbourne United, had just returned from a gruelling NBLxNBA trip and were looking to open their season with a road win over Illawarra.

The Hawks, themselves back from pre-season action in Malaysia, had been re-built by head coach Rob Beveridge over the off-season. Gone were most of the players from the previous year and in their place Beveridge had added some exciting youngsters and a number of grizzled vets with points to prove.

The stage was set for an enthralling opening round encounter.

Of course, what no one knew at the time was that an all-time classic was about to ensue; a quadruple overtime marathon that would go down as one of the greatest NBL games ever played.

As we celebrate the two-year anniversary of that unforgettable night, here is the inside story of the game, told by the people who were right in the heart of the action.

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‘DAVID VERSUS GOLIATH’

Rob Beveridge (head coach, Illawarra Hawks): It’s game one of the season and here it is: Melbourne United, the superpower, and Illawarra, always known as a struggling team. It’s David versus Goliath.

Chris Goulding (guard, Melbourne United): We’d just won the championship so people were saying if we just roll down to Wollongong we should pick up the win and it’s not too hard. But when you’re playing there it’s never easy. We knew we were in for it… we just didn’t know we were going to be in for it for about four and a half hours.

Josh Boone (centre, Melbourne United): All game long it was back-and-forth, back-and-forth.

Todd Blanchfield (forward, Illawarra Hawks): The fans were crazy in there that night. It was loud, everyone was standing.

Matt Russell (TV commentator, Fox Sports): I had two seats to sit on to get myself up above the fans so I could see the majority of the court. But the longer the game went the more the fans were out of their chairs, which meant I was standing up with my headphone cables stretched to the max, knocking notes and pens everywhere. It was quite chaotic.

 

END OF REGULATION

In the dying seconds of the fourth quarter, with the scores tied at 88-88, Melbourne’s David Barlow missed a potential game-winning shot from the top of the arc. He was open – I mean, Danny Green-level open – but Barlow couldn’t knock it down and the game went into overtime.

Dean Vickerman (head coach, Melbourne United): I was more than happy with the shot that we got. You trust Barlow that he is going to make those shots.

Boone: That was such a good look. Barlow is one of the best three-point shooters I’ve ever played with and for him to get a wide-open look in a situation like that, I’ll take that any day of the week. Sometimes everything can be perfect and the ball still won’t go in.

 

FIRST OVERTIME

Blanchfield: We had actually done a really good job on Chris (Goulding) and then he just went nuts in overtime. He hit a bunch of threes.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">CG43 coming up BIG in OT ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MELatILL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MELatILL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL19</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisGoulding43?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChrisGoulding43</a> <a href="https://t.co/N4z7oTINMe">pic.twitter.com/N4z7oTINMe</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1050697997086945280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Vickerman: The third one Chris hit was pretty deep and he kind of danced into the timeout. We were feeling pretty good at that point.

Goulding: When you come out and make a few threes in overtime, in quick succession, you generally don’t think there’s going to be much more to play. You generally think ‘that’s probably it’. Credit to them. We hit a lot of shots that you’d say ‘oh that’s a dagger’ but it was never a dagger to them.

Russell: It looked like the Hawks had run their race and this was the end of the journey. Then, out of nowhere, Brian Conklin goes bang and drops the crucial bucket… the whole joint just rose, it was like the roof got blown off. It was just incredible.

Brian Conklin (forward, Illawarra Hawks): I knew I was coming down with the ball at all costs… when I did, I went to my bread-and-butter move; a little baseline fade. It’s what I feel most comfortable with on that side and it dropped. Then I blacked out in adrenaline and tried to flatten Toddy.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Welcome back to the NBL, <a href="https://twitter.com/BrianConklin14?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BrianConklin14</a>.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL19</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MELatILL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MELatILL</a> <a href="https://t.co/e2RiU5vKD7">pic.twitter.com/e2RiU5vKD7</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1050699896137834496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


 

SECOND OVERTIME

AJ Ogilvy (centre, Illawarra Hawks): I started to get a couple of offensive rebounds in the second overtime that created some energy.

Vickerman: Ogilvy had 21 rebounds! There was certainly a problem in that area.

With ten seconds remaining in the second period of OT, DJ Kennedy hit a pair of free throws to put Melbourne up by three. The Hawks quickly inbounded the ball, finding Cedric Jackson in the backcourt.

Blanchfield: I was in the opposite corner when Ced got the ball at the other end. He made eye contact and just made a beeline for me. I came off the hand-off and I just remember turning and having a pretty good look at the rim. I knew everyone in the team had confidence in me to shoot it, I had a little bit of daylight and I caught it in rhythm and was able to let it go

Vickerman: Switch by Barlow, good contest, deep three to tie it up. Hell of a shot by Blanch. Toddy was good that game. One of the best games I’ve seen him play.

Beveridge: You’ve got to identify who ‘the man’ is at the time and Blanchfield was our guy from the perimeter.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">TRIPLE OVERTIME ???<br><br>For the first time sine 1994.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL19</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MELatILL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MELatILL</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZUaR1YoSd6">pic.twitter.com/ZUaR1YoSd6</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1050703613423546369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Blanchfield: The fans were crazy that night; it was loud, everyone was standing. It was pretty cool and it still gives me goose bumps to think about.

Boone: After Todd hit that shot I went over to him and said, “Toddy really? Come on man, we’re just trying to go home! We don’t need to keep doing this.”

 

THIRD OVERTIME

Oscar Forman (commentator, Fox Sports): We were going into a third period of overtime and everyone was like ‘how good is this!’ I was just so exhausted and was like ‘I need to go home, I’m so tired’. Mentally I was just stuffed.

Blanchfield: After the second overtime my ankle, which I’d hurt in the fourth quarter, was starting to get fat and was getting stiff.

Vickerman: Barlow and Casper hit back-to-back triples in the third OT. Casper’s was a real deep one and I was thinking ‘yeah that’s what we need right now, we need him to get cooking for a couple of minutes and we’re good to go again. We’re feeling good.’

With ten seconds remaining Melbourne led by two. Ware missed a step-back three, Ogilvy secured the rebound and quickly flipped it to Blanchfield.

Blanchfield: We were two-on-one on the break and I remember coming across half-way thinking ‘this is a massive play, we really need a bucket’.

Goulding: I was backpedalling thinking ‘who do I go to?’ You’ve got Blanch coming down (who) could pull up for a three but he threw a pass to Jordair (Jett). I just went with verticality and he made a really tough up-and-under reverse. I mean, that was a tough finish.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Talk about putting on the JETS...<a href="https://twitter.com/jjett5?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jjett5</a> sends this thing to quadruple OT<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL19</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MELatILL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MELatILL</a> <a href="https://t.co/jDFiC2AOdD">pic.twitter.com/jDFiC2AOdD</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1050707348090544128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Vickerman: That was one of those timeless ones as a coach where I could see it unfolding and was thinking ‘just don’t foul’. Great shot by Jordair but at least we didn’t foul and give them a chance to win.

On the TV broadcast, play-by-play commentator Matt Russell was in audible disbelief. “This is ridiculous,” he cried. “This is unbelievable. What is happening at the Sandpit?”

Russell: I would say it was at least three or four times I thought the Hawks were gone. Game over. Then they come up with a big play – like that cool-as-you-please, reverse lay-up from Jordair Jett – and this rollicking story just kept rolling on.

 

FOURTH OVERTIME

Blanchfield: I remember coming out in that fourth overtime and just looking up at the clock and sort of just being in a little bit of disbelief. I’d never even seen this or heard of it let alone been a part of it.

Forman: At that point I stopped caring about who won. I was like ‘as long as the score is not even when that damn siren goes off, I’m going to call that a win and then I can go home’.

Russell: The Statman, Mark Slocombe, was texting me that it was the second time in NBL history a game had gone to a fourth period of OT. We were in rare territory indeed. All of a sudden I’m thinking to myself, ‘we’ve never gone to five, is tonight going to be a bit of NBL history?’ We almost did.

Vickerman: My mind was on ‘who on this bench can give me something?’ Mitch (McCarron) hadn’t had a great night but he was the one in my head where I was thinking ‘we really need to get something out of Mitch down the stretch. I think he can really help us’. With a few people fouling out I thought he had a big impact on that last overtime.

Boone: In the fourth overtime my hip started cramping and my entire leg basically shut down. I’ve dealt with calf cramps before but I’ve never had my hip just say, ‘nah you’re pushing it too far!’ That was weird. I legitimately played until I could not play anymore.

In the opening minutes of the fourth overtime period, Hawks veteran David Andersen – who had won a title with United the previous season – came off the bench and hit two straight jumpers to put Illawarra up by four.

Beveridge: He’s a big time player. He’s a veteran and a leader and that’s what he does.

Vickerman: At that point I was scared because I’ve got the ultimate respect for that man. Him going there, you know he’s going to win a few games on his own. He ended up getting subbed out and I was so happy when I saw him get subbed out. I think they may have put Ogilvy back and I was thinking ‘wow, that’s good for us.’

Boone: Ogilvy’s not the greatest free throw shooter but he made two really big ones late in that fourth overtime.

Ogilvy: I was just thinking ‘concentrate and put these in. You‘ve played this much basketball, you can’t miss free throws at this point of the game and end up losing.’ I was definitely feeling some pressure going to the line.

Boone: He cashed them like they were nothing.

Vickerman: We brought (Peter) Hooley in for defence for a possession… everybody trusted him at that point to go and get a stop.

Peter Hooley (guard, Melbourne United): I was freezing cold. I’d been sitting for almost an hour of actual time. We got the stop, which was great, but then I didn’t really want the ball. Of course, it came to me anyway and I got fouled. I was thinking, ‘I’ve just got to make the first one’. Once I missed that I started thinking ‘now we could lose the game if I miss this’. Not only that, but throughout the pre-season Casper, Boone and I had been talking a lot about cheeseburgers so that was in my head as well. When I missed it I was like, ‘oh no’.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hawkheads?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Hawkheads</a> might not have got the W they wanted tonight, but 4 free periods of epic <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL19</a> ? and free cheeseburgers thanks to Peter Hooley/<a href="https://twitter.com/HungryJacksAU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HungryJacksAU</a> is a pretty good consolation prize. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MELatILL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MELatILL</a> <a href="https://t.co/2PBNZEgsqA">pic.twitter.com/2PBNZEgsqA</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1050719709270749185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


So… after Hooley gave away burgers, Melbourne led by a single point with less than ten seconds remaining. As time wound down, Hawks guard Kevin White attacked the hoop.

Boone: The biggest play of the game was made by Casper Ware. At the very end of the game he made the biggest play at the defensive end, coming over and stopping White at the rim.

Kevin White (guard, Illawarra Hawks): I had an open lane and all of a sudden Casper’s come across and made me take a tough shot. That won them the game. (He’s played) fifty-five minutes and makes a hell of a play and contest.

Casper Ware (guard, Melbourne United): “I had to use every last bit of my energy to contest that shot.”

Vickerman: Incredible. The bounce that he had on that play and the verticality… it was amazing. Amazing play to win the game.

Hooley: I just hugged him and said “mate, you’ve just absolutely saved my life there.”

Goulding: Casper made big defensive plays for us so often… it was plays like that where your five-foot-ten point guard makes a play at the rim to win the game. That’s just a play you don’t expect guys of his stature to make and if he doesn’t do that at that moment, that’s a lay-up and we lose a quadruple overtime game. Damn, that was a big play.

Boone: Not only was it a great play, but good on Vaughan (Mayberry) and those guys for not calling a foul in that situation. That’s a play that a lot of referees might call a foul. Casper was perfectly vertical but a lot of referees could potentially blow the whistle on it.

Beveridge: He might have been vertical but he moved like five feet. I just don’t think the referees wanted to make that call, so they didn’t.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Not sure if game 3 of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL19</a> or ONE OF THE BEST GAMES IN NBL HISTORY ??<a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnitedHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MelbUnitedHQ</a> hang on in the Gong in a Quadruple OT thriller, beating the @illawarrahawks 123-122<br><br>Unbelievable.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MELatILL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MELatILL</a> <a href="https://t.co/jN9Q4cYwKJ">pic.twitter.com/jN9Q4cYwKJ</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1050712370199154688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


 

POSTGAME

Russell: When full time finally came and Melbourne won, all eyes went to Chris Goulding because he was off, straight towards the loudest part of the crowd just giving it to them. They were all out of their seats, pointing their arms, mouths going a million miles an hour. I don’t think any of the crowd heard what Chris was saying and I don’t know whether Chris heard what the crowd was saying, because it was verbal warfare from about 10 feet and it was great.

Goulding: There are lots of guys at Wollongong who consistently talk. It’s one of those cool atmospheres where when you win it’s good fun, but when you lose it’s not fun because they don’t shut up – they keep talking until you leave town. But when you win there it’s really cool.

Ogilvy: I just felt so deflated. We’d battled so hard for so long and to not come away with the win was a little bit upsetting.

Blanchfield: We took the loss and that’s heartbreaking but, at the same time, we’d played pretty well and it was a fun game to be a part of.

Ware: “I was too tired to celebrate. I remember I just really wanted to get out of there and rest up.”

Vickerman: We were sitting in the locker room asking if anyone had been in a four overtime game before. No one had really been through it so then it started to click that we’d just been a part of something really special.

Boone: That’s certainly the longest game I’ve ever been a part of. I’ve been in a couple of triple overtimes, but that’s the only quadruple overtime game I’ve ever been in.

Goulding: With the amount of games that have been in the NBL to only have had two that have gone to four overtimes it’s cool to be a part of that. It’s cool to be on the winning end of that, for sure.

Boone: Trying to play against New Zealand two days later with how my legs felt… oh man, that was rough! That was really, really rough. I felt even worse for Illawarra because they had to fly to Perth!

Blanchfield: I remember getting off the plane in Perth and I could hardly walk. I was thinking ‘holy moly, this is going to be tough’. Sure enough we got whacked by 40.

Ogilvy: We were the walking wounded getting off that plane in Perth. They saw us coming and beat the hell out of us.