Vickerman outlines mid-season turnaround

Written by Melbourne United Media 

After a tough start to their season, Melbourne United have put together a miraculous turnaround which has the team on the cusp of a playoff spot.

The reasons for the shift in form are many, ranging from a change in play-style to relative good health, however Head Coach Dean Vickerman said perhaps the most important aspect was ensuring his group were enjoying themselves on the court.

Speaking on SEN yesterday, Vickerman outlined some of the aspects on why his side has found such success over the back-half of the season.

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“At 5-10 it wasn’t looking great. The boys kind of had to change their mindset a little bit and start to enjoy the ball,” he said.

“We value the three-point shot… so we kind of doubled down on shooting the three a little bit more and knew that when Shea (Ili) and Marcus (Lee) joined us that defensively we would just get better automatically.”

With Ili and Lee leading the way defensively, Chris Goulding has stepped in a huge way, leading United to eight wins from their last nine outings.

Averaging 20.8 points and 4.3 three-point makes per game over this stretch, Vickerman praised his captain for his form, but also his leadership.

“Chris through this period as a leader, as a scorer (has been great).” he continued.

“He’s won our club award regularly through this period as voted by the players… not only is he hunting great shots and shooting it well but defensively he’s really locked down and just done a great job in composing the team in big moments.”

Over that stretch, Goulding ranks #1 in the league in per-game plus/minus, closely followed by teammates Marcus Lee and Rayjon Tucker, who rank #2 and #5 respectively.

Looking at Tucker, the athletic American has showcased his incredible skill over the same stretch of games, averaging 21.8 points and shooting the ball at over 43% from behind the three-point arc.

Vickerman credited this success to extra work the wing has put in since the FIBA break on his long-range shooting.

“Rayjon Tucker has been phenomenal the second half of the year, he’s just been a really consistent scoring threat.

“A lot of it’s just to do with his ability to play at a high pace… When he’s defensive rebounding and starting the break, and he’s a good passer as well, he puts his feet and sees two people in front of him he pulls that thing out to the perimeter.

“His three-point shot is something when he came to us people played off him and as the year’s gone on I think the scout has changed a little bit about how well they have to guard him from the three.”

United’s next opportunity to build on their winning streak comes on Saturday evening, when the side takes on the New Zealand Breakers in Auckland from 5:30pm.

Fans can tune in on ESPN via Kayo and Foxtel.