Shea Ili thriving as a bench leader

Melbourne United’s bench has been praised heavily during its current eight-game winning streak.

The defending champs have run a 10-man rotation for the majority of the season, leaning on strong contributions from everyone who suits up.

Often, the man leading these bench-groups is Kiwi point guard Shea Ili, who is thriving in his role.

Speaking ahead of Melbourne’s matchup against Adelaide on Sunday, Head Coach Dean Vickerman shined a light on the impact Ili has made during their hot run of form.

“When we look at his third year here… his value to this group continues to rise.

“He’s shooting the basketball at a really good level in practice… and when he’s coming downhill with speed, he’s one of the hardest players to stay in front of in the league.”

Round eight featured a pair of strong performances from Ili, averaging eight points and 5.5 assists across the pair of victories.

This included providing one of the highlights of the season, as he lobbed up a perfectly placed alley-oop to Ariel Hukporti, resulting in a vicious slam (and taking home the number one spot in our plays of the week).

Vickerman touched on Shea’s growth as a playmaker, and his chemistry in the pick and roll with Big A.

“It’s something Shea really wanted to improve over his time with us; his decision making once he gets into the lane at high speed.

“Being able to put that lob in the perfect spot. With Ariel, you don’t quite need to put it in the perfect spot, he can go get it from anywhere.

“I thought (Shea has) shown great improvement in that area this year.” 

Shea’s next opportunity to make his mark on the game will be on Sunday, as United face Adelaide for the second time in eight days.

The game will be broadcast on Kayo Freebies and 10 Peach.

This will be Melbourne’s final road outing of this seven-game stretch, before returning home on Sunday 6 February for a meeting with the Tasmania JackJumpers at John Cain Arena.

This game will also feature a half-time performance from United #1 ticket holder Tones And I at half time. 

Tickets are available here.