Landale applies Bogut advice to Championship run

Written by Roy Ward for Melbourne United

Andrew Bogut has been a staunch rival of Melbourne United since his return to the NBL, but the retired NBA title-winner did the club a big favour this season.

United centre Jock Landale and Bogut formed a close bond while playing for the Australian Boomers together and when Bogut saw things he didn’t like from Landale, he called him out on it.

Landale arrived back home in the NBL this season with enormous expectations as he set himself to be one of the NBL’s dominant players.

But the combination of adjusting to the NBL, dealing with double-teams and teething issues for the star-studded Melbourne side saw Landale reach the NBL Cup in a frustrated state.

“There was a bit of frustration from my end with the expectations I had coming into the year,” Landale said.

“It probably built up in my mind that I was going to run the league and score 24 points a night like Bryce [Cotton] does. 

“But then the defensive coverages that I was seeing, people being able to take away my pops with switching defences, then I had to roll down and post up a guard which attracts a double-team, every night there was something thrown at me. 

“So I had to change up entirely and put in a lot of hard work figuring out how to beat all these things. 

“Now I feel like I'm in the position where I'm consistently putting up bigger numbers. But it's not even about that.” 

Bogut saw Landale’s frustration and gave him a dose of reality. At the time, Bogut was still to take up his ownership stake in the Kings having retired during the off-season.

“Early on in the year I was just frustrated with my numbers and I remember having this conversation with Bogues [Bogut],” Landale said.

“He was like 'Bro, you guys are winning, you are still putting up solid numbers but that’s not what it should be about'. He pulled my head out of that and got me back to winning. 

“That was halfway through the NBL Cup. In a long season, you will have ups and downs and get caught up in the wrong stuff but since then I have just been so locked in on winning and that stuff hasn't mattered to me.”

Landale has averaged 16 points per game and seven rebounds heading into the playoffs while his United finished top of the ladder.

Landale eclipsed those numbers in game one of his club's semi-final series against South East Melbourne Phoenix on Friday night with 26 points on 10 of 14 shooting as United won 98-76 and can seal a place in the Grand Final series with a win in game two at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Sunday at 3pm AEST.

Landale only has his eyes on doing his part to keep his side on track for the title and he said he treasures mentors like Bogut.

“He called me out a couple of times over the season,” Landale said.

“When my body language might not be the best or he would notice when we were losing that I looked really pissed off. He told me that as a leader on the team you can’t be the guy who slumps his shoulders.

“I’m not ashamed to say I felt that way. He called me out and showed me what I had to work on for the benefit of the team. 

“I need to be a bit more level-headed. I’m a really emotional guy, you see me up and about and carrying on like an idiot when we are winning and when things don’t go my way I can go into my head or whatever.

“Bogues has always been that guy who has taken me under his wing and helped me level out. The last three or four months I have really taken on board what he said and been able to put it into play.”

Landale’s return to the NBL has also seen him run his own fundraiser for youth mental health provider headspace with Landale donating $200 for every dunk this season, the #GivingRise fundraiser is ongoing and has passed his $10,000 target.

“We hit our target and it's gone way over,” Landale said.

“It's more about making sure that it stays in the forefront of people's minds and we're able to get that message out there and continue to push that story.”

Roy Ward is a sports journalist with The Age.