United snatch the W in a thriller

Result: Melbourne United 83 Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings 80

Stats That Matter: United 15 offensive rebounds; Bench points United 32 Kings 14; United 38 points in the paint; United 13 points from turnovers

Kings MVP: Dejan Vasiljevic had a brilliant first half to set the Kings up.

Turning Point: United went on a 16-2 run in the third quarter that changed the face of the game.

The game was over when: Casper Ware missed a go-ahead three-point attempt with 11 seconds left.

Trending in the right direction: Sydney’s defence continued to show signs of improvement for the most part.

A gallant effort from the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings has fallen just short on Saturday night at John Cain Arena in Melbourne, with the purple and gold going down in an 83-80 thriller to Melbourne United in their fourth game of the NBL Cup.

Playing their fourth game in seven days, hamstrung by foul trouble for most of the night and challenging the presumptive NBL favourites, an undermanned and underdog Sydney unit faced down every United charge until the very end in a game that went right down to the wire.

Down by six points with less than two minutes remaining and with the Melbourne crowd in full voice, the Kings refused to yield, and three huge baskets from Casper Ware (21 points, five assists, four rebounds), pulled Sydney within a point with 32 seconds left.

On the next possession, Melbourne’s Scotty Hopson (14 points, four rebounds, four assists), bricked a jumper, the Kings grabbed the rebound and had an opportunity for a last shot game-winner. Unfortunately, Ware’s look at a three bounced off the rim and the ball travelled all the way to the other end of the floor, giving United the ball with less than a second remaining.

Daniel Kickert was then called for an unsportsmanlike foul and Jock Landale (20 points, eight rebounds) made the ensuing two free throws to give Melbourne victory in a game the Kings felt they let get away from them, especially during a stretch in the third quarter when United went on a 16-2 run that turned a double-digit Sydney lead into a two-point Melbourne advantage.

“We blew it in that stretch in the third and I’m a large part of that,” said a rueful Sydney Kings Head Coach Adam Forde.

“We were up 12 and Casper was called for the foul in the post on Hopson with about six minutes to play, and I thought I’d try to challenge it. I know I shouldn’t have, but there was a part of me that just wanted to use that timeout because I wasn’t happy with how we were moving the ball.”

“When they went on that 10-0 run, I just wanted to weather the storm and get to the end of the quarter because I didn’t want to blow that second timeout, but it got really bad and I had to blow it with two minutes left to stop the bleeding.”

Indeed, Sydney’s offence, which was in full flow in a first quarter where Ware and Dejan Vasiljevic (22 points) staked the team to an impressive 28-16 lead, noticeably broke down several times in the second half in the face of United’s increased defensive pressure.

Vasiljevic was rolling in the first half with 17 points and it seemed that United was powerless to stop the Rookie of the Year candidate. However, Dejan had just five points after halftime, and Coach Forde was unhappy with the team’s offensive execution, particularly after their impressive first quarter.

“We played selfish. It was just bad basketball,” Coach Forde admitted.

“I took a timeout because we weren’t running our offence effectively. Melbourne did a good job getting up in that zone, and we drew it up at halftime (to attack the zone) but we don’t run it, and everyone just wants to shoot these deep threes.”

“It was disappointing, but we’ll learn from this, and it was a game where we had another chance to win it. It’s a learning experience for everybody, including myself.”

One aspect of the game where the team can be relatively satisfied with their effort was at the defensive end, despite giving up 49 points in the second half. The Kings controlled the action for the most part, especially in a first half where they restricted United to just 34 points and led by nine points at intermission.

Sydney made it difficult for Melbourne for the majority of the night with very few breakdowns defensively against a ballclub with serious firepower and it’s something the team can continue to build on, especially when they get some healthy bodies back in the rotation.

“I checked it last night and we had the second-best defensive rating, which is pretty good when you talk about losing one of the best defensive players from last season in Andrew Bogut and being down with injuries as we are,” Coach Forde stated.

“So, for the most part we did a considerable job with that, but the issue is we give up 49 points in the second half, and we did a similar thing against Perth. Take it with a grain of salt, but we can be better.”

The Kings shot the ball at 40% from the field, 33% from three-point range and went 11 of 13 from the free throw line in their tough loss. The team lost the rebound count 42-40 and gave up 15 offensive boards to United, but a key stat was Sydney’s turnover count, where United punished the Kings’ 11 miscues with 13 points.

From an NBL Cup perspective, Sydney came away from the game with just one point after their win in the first period. The team is currently sitting in third place on the Cup ladder with 15 points, and dropped to 5-6 overall in their NBL21 campaign.

However, despite the disappointment of yet another close loss, the team showed they are well and truly competitive with the NBL elite. And with two key pieces still to come back into the line-up.

Thankfully, the Kings get a few days to rest and recover before their next assignment in the NBL Cup on Thursday night against the Cairns Taipans at the State Basketball Centre. Tipoff is at 8:00pm and the game will be broadcast on ESPN, SBS On Demand and NBL.TV.

Rise With Us Sydney.

MELBOURNE UNITED 83 (Landale 20, Hopson 14, McCarron 13)
BRYDENS LAWYERS SYDNEY KINGS 80 (Vasiljevic 22, Ware 21, Bruce 17) at John Cain Arena, Melbourne.

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