Behind the trophy and popped champagne bottles, there’s been a sense of the unknown with Melbourne United heading into the 2018/19 season. This time last year they assembled what many considered to be the most talented roster in the NBL’s 40-year history, combined with a known commodity and championship-winning coach Dean Vickerman, they finally lived up to the hype.
Fast forward less than six months since the Game 5 victory and here’s who’s left over from that championship roster:
Granted, Dean Vickerman inherited most of that roster as a carryover from the Dean Demopoulos era and players who thrived under that system (Adnam and Majok) didn’t click and are now elsewhere. David Andersen fought health issues all year and is now likely to end his career where it all began in with the Hawks. Tai Wesley will be the biggest loss of this group as he took an offer that was too good to refuse to return to the Breakers. Combine that with the fact that all those four players were fan favourites, you could understand why United fans are feeling a little uneasy.
Adding to the uneasiness is the lack of news regarding import signings. Consecutive three-time NBL Champion Casey Prather is off to play in Europe, leaving a hole at the Small Forward spot and his dream replacement Demetrius Conger has just signed in France and while Casey is a significant loss, the loss of Casper Ware and Josh Boone would be a huge gut punch to the United faithful.
Since their arrival halfway through the 2016/17 season after United completely and justifiably gave up on their imports, the city of Melbourne have embraced Casper and Josh as their own and they have given that love back to the fans who erupt every time Casper makes a deep 3-pointer or when Josh gobbles up a hard fought rebound. Both All-NBL First Team players have made no secret about their desire to return for another summer of hoops at Hisense Arena but the season is 60-odd days away from tip-off and we have no answer if we will see them back on the court.
Casper Ware and Josh Boone were pivotal to United’s chase for the championship. Source: Herald Sun
Should Ware and Boone not return, along with Prather, Melbourne stands to lose a combined average of 45.8 points, 17.9 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.3 blocks per game. That’s more than half of the team’s total points (88.5), just under half of the total rebounds (39) and assists (16) per game, as well as the loss of team continuity. The break up of an experienced core group also takes away the advantage of getting early wins in the season against teams with new rosters (Sydney Kings) that come handy later in the playoff race for home court advantage, which proved vital for United in the Grand Final Series as they were unable to win in Adelaide against the 36ers.
It’s not all doom and gloom for the defending champions, in fact, their core local players are arguably better than what they had last season; the franchise player and the Finals MVP Chris Goulding re-signed for a further two years, looking to continue as a leader particularly on the defensive end which was a huge improvement to his game and David Barlow is back is to peak fitness looking to have finally put the torn Achilles behind him.
Craig Moller and Peter Hooley have balled-out in the SEABL and will be pushing for more minutes. Moller in particular heading into his 3rd season will be a pivotal swingman at both forward spots and Hooley was the Ballarat Miners team MVP. Dan Trist, who has been long chased by Vickerman has come home after 3 years in Europe and looks to be a solid and younger replacement for Wesley, playing a similar physical style with a great shooting touch. Alex Pledger will link up with his old Breakers coach to bolster the frontcourt with Smith-Milner who showed flashes last season.
The biggest shock off United’s off-season was the signing of Boomer “Money Making” Mitch McCarron after he had announced he was committed to a career in Europe after he finished the season with Cairns. McCarron was the top local player vote-getter in the 2017/18 MVP Award and according to Fox Sports Australia, will be one of the top-five highest paid players in the NBL after the signing a three year deal with the defending champions. The 6”2’ guard from Alice Springs averaged 11.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game last season and will be used as utility player across the two guard spots as well as small forward.
There’s some comfort in the current unknown for Melbourne United considering last year, there was insurmountable pressure to win the championship and now that monkey is off their back and has clung onto Andrew Bogut and the Sydney Kings, Dean Vickerman now has chance to shape and mould this team into his own vision without external expectations.
Vickerman knows that having a strong core of local talent and culture is the key to staying in title contention. The sustained success of New Zealand (where he won a championship) and Perth are proof of that and is something that Melbourne Basketball has lacked for the better part of a decade, so while the unknown may be a little discomforting for fans who are conditioned to imports taking their team as far as possible, it’s clear that United’s focus has been to build on their depth first and they have done that and now we wait and hope the days of the Ware and Boon pick and roll aren’t behind us.
Feature Image Source: Getty Images