Roster depth top priority for United

Written by Melbourne United Media

As Melbourne United enter their offseason, a top priority for the club when constructing their NBL24 roster looks to be assembling a deep, formidable rotation.

United were hit hard by injuries last season, losing Next Star Ariel Hukporti for the entire year with a torn achilles, Shea Ili for 14 games with concussion, as well as untimely absences for David Barlow, Isaac Humphries, Lachie Barker and development player Malith Machar.

Speaking on SEN 1116 this morning, Head Coach Dean Vickerman said ensuring he has the depth in-place to deal with any extended absences will be crucial as he puts together his group for NBL24.

“Obviously player availability was a big one, having 27 games missed with concussion was a massive factor that we couldn’t do a lot about,” he said.

“As we recruit again, part of when you put a team together is can you cover every situation if someone goes down and we didn’t do that well enough this year.

“Putting our team back together, finding injury coverage at every position is going to be key. We’ve got some guys that are returning from injury as well… We’re excited about rebuilding this group.”

With so little separating the league this season, ultimately leading to United falling two points short of making the top-six, Vickerman added making the most of every possession will be a point of emphasis throughout the pre-season.

“There’s going to be a big emphasis for us as a group moving forward next year to say ‘every point is important, every possession is important’.

“We have a great example this year of what happens if you neglect a possession. If you don’t shoot the ball at the end of the game, you can miss the playoffs.”

Vickerman has an exciting week ahead of him, with the three-time NBL Championship winning Head Coach set to lead the Australian Boomers for a pair of World Cup Qualifying games at State Basketball Center.

His squad features a strong group of NBL talent, including United frontcourt pair Isaac Humphries and Mason Peatling.

The Boomers will face Bahrain and Kazakhstan on Thursday 23 and Sunday 26 February respectively.