United Embraces Christmas Privilege

Melbourne United coach Dean Vickerman has revealed he spoke to his players about how special it was to participate in the history making Christmas Night game.

Despite losing to the Sydney Kings 101-80, Vickerman says the significance of being part of the first ever professional Australian sporting fixture on Christmas was not lost on United.

"It was a privilege to be part of the first ever one, and we spoke about that as a group," Vickerman said.

"We had our American players talking about wanting to play on Christmas Day. It's the big day to play, other than the playoffs. Whether we get to a point where that's something our kids grow up and want to do and want to be on a big stage on Christmas Day, that’s yet to be seen.

“It was a sacrifice for us obviously, but it's something we've done multiple times as United - to try different things and try to see the league grow.”

The NBA has a long-standing tradition to schedule marquee matches on Christmas and Vickerman thinks if the event becomes a staple of the NBL calendar, a similar theory should be applied.

"If you look at the NBA, they reward the best teams in the competition and the drawcords of the league,” Vickerman said.

"That's what it should be. If you're one of the best teams in the league, and we say this is something we want to do if it’s successful, then the best team should have an opportunity to showcase themselves."

Melbourne youngster David Okwera called the occasion a “fun” environment to play in and something the entire playing group enjoyed.

The loss drops United’s record to 9-12 and snapped their three-game losing streak. With a road heavy schedule coming up in January, Vickerman remains hopeful his side can make a charge for the top six.

“We got a great challenge in front of us. We feel like we’ve got to get to that 14-15 win mark to even give ourselves a chance. If we make the playoffs we deserve to be there,” Vickerman said.

“We had a good month. We were 5-10 and we made a real run at this thing in December. Get a couple of more bodies back and have a real crack in January and see if we can string some wins together that give us a chance to make the playoffs.”