Ili ecstatic ahead of return to action

Written by Melbourne United Media

Having missed Melbourne United’s last five games, kiwi dynamo guard Shea Ili is back and couldn’t be more energised to return to the court.

After initially suffering a concussion in preseason, Ili has battled a vestibular disorder over the past few weeks, which he has since overcome.

Now, heading into United’s huge home clash with the Brisbane Bullets on Saturday, Ili touched on his anticipation ahead of his comeback.

LISTEN TO HIS FULL INTERVIEW HERE

“I’m just super excited to be back with the boys, hopefully I can help out on court,” he said.

“(I can help) with the energy I bring defensively, I feel like that will create our pace going down the other end.”

Looking at United’s final 13 games, Ili said he believes he and his teammates are still well positioned to go on a run now that they have a fully healthy lineup.

“If everyone buys in to what the coaches have for us every week, I feel like we can get some wins and create a winning streak that can lead us into the playoffs.

“It’s been a tough few weeks, a tough few months really. We’ve taken some losses that we should have won, but if we all buy in, play defence and create easy offence down the other end, I feel like we can win.”

These sentiments were echoed by Head Coach Dean Vickerman, who said the energy surrounding his team’s Thursday training session was encouraging.

LISTEN TO HIS FULL INTERVIEW HERE 

“There was good energy (at training), we kind of made some changes in style in what we want to do for these last 13 games to make a run and there was great buy-in about how we go about it,” he continued.

“Just having our full squad together for the first time all year, there was a real buzz about Shea being back on the floor and Ice (Isaac Humphries) being back from his COVID spell.”

United will host the Bullets for the first time this season at John Cain Arena from 8pm. Tickets remain available here.