Melbourne United has proven a resilient team under first-year coach Dean Demopoulos.
United had to overcome many bumps on the road to claim the 2015-16 NBL minor premiership.
Their regular season slumps were always short-lived as they inevitably found a way to get back on the bike.
But can a punch-drunk United get off the canvas one more time?
Facing elimination, United has to leap a hurdle like no other. They need to beat the defending champion New Zealand Breakers twice in a week after having lost three consecutive matches to them, including Thursday night’s 91-82 loss in game one of the best-of-three semi final series at Hisense Arena.
Demopoulos has shown unwavering faith in his players all season and will back them to respond again.
“This team has got it in them,” Demopoulos said. “I know they do and I’ve told them they do.
“We’re going to strap it up, we’re going to go in there and put our head in the lion’s mouth and see if we can take its teeth out.”
The message on the inside might be one of confidence, but, externally, there is hesitancy to believe United can get itself out of such a deep hole.
In the past week, United has not played at the same level as the Breakers, a fact pointed out by Demopoulos himself and the Breakers have all of the momentum going into game two.
“They got their rhythm and they’ve had it for a while now. Give them credit,” Demopoulos said. “We’ve had it, we’ve lost it, we’ve regained it.
“I don’t feel we’re out of rhythm right now, I just think they’re playing better than we are right now.”
United has snapped out of losing streaks before, but have not had to do it on a short two-day turnaround.
A Saturday night game at Vector Arena in Auckland is difficult enough to negotiate without factoring the lack of rest time between matches.
United would have some mental wounds from a harrowing week against the Breakers and must be feeling a toll physically against their hard-nosed defence.
Even history is on the side of the Breakers, having won four of the past five NBL championships and a swag of finals games in that time.
But Hakim Warrick, United’s best player in game one, believes his team can wipe the slate clean and force the series back to Melbourne for a decisive game three.
“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and we’ll be ready on Saturday,” Warrick said. “We’ve shown we can go and get big wins on the road and we’re just really looking forward to that opportunity.”
Game two will tip off at 5.30pm Melbourne time on Saturday and will be broadcast live on Fox Sports.
Game 1 summary
Melbourne United 82 (Warrick 24, Goulding 23, Holt 13) lt New Zealand Breakers 91 (Cedric Jackson 20, Abercrombie 16, Webster 14). The Breakers lead 1-0 in a best-of-three semi final series.
Talking points …
Rough start
United got off to a terrible start to the match to trail 23-6 in the first period.
Stephen Holt has been so good for United at point guard this season that it is harsh to single him out, but during this stretch, he lost control of the game, committing three turnovers and forcing coach Dempoulos to insert Nate Tomlinson into the game earlier than expected. The silver lining was that Tomlinson had a positive effect for United with a +/- of +19.
Breakers fire early
When you are on the road in game one of a playoff series, the best thing you can do is silence the crowd early.
The Breakers set the scene with Thomas Abercrombie landing two three pointers, star guards Corey Webster and Cedric Jackson proving a handful on both ends and captain Mika Vukona laying the ground work for a huge game, in which he ended with a double double.
Warrick leads fightback
From 17 points down to obtaining an unlikely half time lead, United erased the Breakers early advantage in no time, and it was mainly to do with the influence of Hakim Warrick off the bench.
Warrick turned the game on its head with his rebounding and efficiency on offence.
The centre finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in a dominant display.
With Majok Majok quiet again, it could be time for Demopoulos to insert Warrick into the starting line up.
Goulding patchy
Chris Goulding’s shot deserted him for most of the night, finishing with 7-from-21.
But a patch early in the third period, when he landed two big threes, threatened to break the game open for United as they took a seven-point lead. The shooting guard ended the game with 23 points and five rebounds and left the fans wanting a little bit more from their star player.
Starters a worry
Stephen Holt and Daniel Kickert have been like money in the bank for United this season.
But they certainly lowered their colours to the Breakers on the night, playing with a timidness rarely seen from them during the regular season.
Here’s hoping it’s an aberration and they return to their best form for game two.
Rebounding woes
United does not hide from the fact that rebounding is not a strength of theirs.
They lost the rebound count 43-36, which does not seem like much, but in the Breakers 43 were a massive 18 on the offensive end and Breakers coach Dean Vickerman pointed out the importance of those second chances in the game.
Towering centre Alex Pledger was enormous on the offensive boards for the Breakers when the game was on the line.
Star Weekly’s top three …
Mika Vukona (Breakers): The numbers do not lie. Eleven points, 13 rebounds, five assists and four steals. The Breakers captain did it all for his team. His influence in a leadership sense out-weighed any stats he accumulated on the night. He typified the in-your-face defence from his side on the night.
Hakim Warrick (United): While Warrick on the losing side, it would have been ‘game over’ long before had it not been for him taking the challenge to the Breakers in the second period onwards. He showed a smooth mid-range shot for an efficient 24 points and worked hard on the boards to reel in 13 rebounds to go with four blocks.
Alex Pledger (Breakers): When game one was up for grabs, it was Pledger who was the most willing to get his hands dirty and create second chances for the Breakers with huge offensive boards. His eight points, 12 rebounds and three blocks were crucial after fellow centre Charles Jackson fouled out in just six minutes.
