JLA could have Landale-like influence, says Vickerman

Melbourne United coach Dean Vickerman has praised the work of Jo Lual-Acuil Jr across the first two games of the 2021 Hungry Jack’s NBL Blitz, comparing the big-man’s efforts to that of United’s Grand Final MVP, Jock Landale.

Coming off a great NBL21 campaign, which saw the imposing interior force take home the Best Sixth Man of the Year award, JLA turned heads around the league in his first game of the NBL Blitz.

Jo dominated the interior against New Zealand, scoring 37 points and pulling down 11 rebounds in a hard-fought victory, before following up that effort with 13 points and seven boards in 24 minutes against Sydney.

Vickerman said while he and his coaching staff were expecting Jo’s numbers to go up in extended minutes, they certainly weren’t expecting 50 points in 54 minutes across the two games.

“I didn’t really expect close to a 40-piece in game one,” Vickerman chuckled.

“When we looked at the metrics and the numbers on what (Jo) has done when he’s played for us… We believed he’s going to be a high-level scorer in this league.

“The challenge is trying to back up these performances; can he then deal with what’s going to come.

“If you’re a player that can score 40 in this league, expect a lot of attention and a lot of aggressive coverages.

“Can he go through that, just as Jock Landale did last year? There’s going to be a lot of growth from (Jo), but he’s in a great place to take that step up that we need.”

With two games down and two to go in the 2021 NBL Blitz, Vickerman says he has been pleased by what he’s seen from his side so far, while also acknowledging there is still part of the game the team needs to improve on.

Watch Vickerman’s full interview:

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