Vickerman lauds pride of playing group

Across the first five Rounds of NBL24, no team has played as many games as Melbourne United.

The ladder-leaders have taken to the court twice in four of the five rounds thus far, frequently having to travel across the country before preparing to play on a Sunday.

Despite this, Dean Vickerman’s team has tallied six consecutive wins and the league’s best record.

Speaking on The Extra Pass podcast, Vickerman said United’s game against Illawarra, their sixth in 16 days, could have easily been one they could have dropped, especially without two key players in Matthew Dellavedova and Ian Clark.

<iframe src="https://omny.fm/shows/the-extra-pass/ep-20-round-5-recap-with-dean-vickerman/embed" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write" width="100%" height="180" frameborder="0" title="Ep 20 - Round 5 Recap with Dean Vickerman"></iframe>

“Any time you go into a game and Delly (Matthew Dellavedova) isn’t playing, and Ian Clark’s not playing… to have those two pieces missing and being the sixth game in 16 days, we could have easily just rolled over and taken a loss,” he explained.

“The pride the boys showed in the second half to say ‘Nah, we’re not losing this one’ was amazing.

I thought Shea (Ili) just found another level in that second half and CG (Chris Goulding) was obviously amazing.

“I thought Ariel played with crazy energy, like he hadn't even played these other five games, he just came out and was a menace and a monster.

“(It was) Tanner Krebs’ best game, Flynn Cameron’s best game for the club as well so the other guys stepped up in the absence of our key guys which was huge.”

Coming off a full week of rest, Melbourne could head into their next contest, an Indigenous Round clash with the Perth Wildcats, fully fit for the first time this season.

Taking place the night before the Melbourne Cup, it’s the perfect opportunity to get the family together for a blockbuster evening of hoops.

To lock in your spot, secure your seat today via ticketek, or grab a three or five game membership to ensure you’re there for Melbourne’s remaining home games.