Table of Plenty Coaches' Round Table: Round 6

Welcome to the Table of Plenty Coaches’ Round Table. This weekly article will provide you with some behind-the-scenes insight from our team of coaches regarding our performance from the previous round, thanks to Table of Plenty, the Official Snack Partner of Melbourne United.
‍‍

Perth Wildcats - Lead Assistant Coach and Head of Player Development & Basketball Innovation, Keegan Crawford

“Disappointing not to get the win but we played one of our more balanced games for 40 minutes against another really good team.

“The group did a good job managing foul trouble and availability. [Luke Travers] stepped up and showed why he is a key part of our group. 

“We created a lot of high quality shots through our ball movement and creating advantage”

Despite coming away with the loss inside RAC last Friday, United had one of their most dominant offensive performances this year, scoring a season high 56 points in the paint. 

Forward Luke Travers was the key contributor, dropping an NBL career high 26 points on 11/19 shooting from the field; most of those makes at the rim. 
‍

Sydney Kings - Assistant Coach, David Barlow

“Against Sydney we did a great job of taking care of the ball, only turning the ball over six times which helped us to be solid in defensive transition, a focus for us all year. 

“In addition to that, we did a reasonable job of dictating the terms of the game and forcing them into the kind of shots we wanted them to take.”

The United defensive unit was excellent against Sydney, holding last year’s Finals MVP, Kendric Davis, to 3 for 16 shooting from the field; by far his worst shooting clip of the year. 

On offence, in both games, Melbourne made a season high 38 field goals. Across the NBL this season when teams make 38 or more field goals, their combined record is 17-5. 

‍

Head Coach Jacob Chance’s Final Word

“We've been strong all year defensively. We doubled down again on the things we've been doing well. We did some good things in Perth but we probably lapsed on eight to 10 possessions where we lost that last little bit of concentration to finish a possession. Against the Kings I think we did a better job of that.

“I try to preach to the guys as much as I can to think beyond the outcome, and not get too fixed on whether the shots go in or not. I liked our process in both contests. 

“I liked our mindset and how we're attacking and putting our feet in the paint and sharing the basketball. We've been doing a good job of that the last couple weeks. It took a while for us to get rewarded for it but it really showed against the Kings, and even against Perth despite the loss.”
‍

Melbourne United next take the court on Saturday October 31 when they head on the road to take on the Taipans in Cairns. The game will be live on ESPN via Kayo and Disney+, as well as 9GO and 9NOW from 7:30pm.

‍

‍