RD2 GAME PREVIEW v MELBOURNE UNITED

GAME PREVIEW –

Round 2  – Melbourne United v Tasmania JackJumpers 

Sunday 8^th October 2.00pm  

John Cain Arena, Melbourne

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State of Play

The Tasmania JackJumpers have had the upper hand over Melbourne United having won 4 of their last 5 encounters with the powerhouse plus a couple of preseason victories should have the JackJumpers confidence sky high heading to John Cain Arena. United left their big stars at home in the preseason practice games in late August in which the JackJumpers trampled over the top of the visitors in both clashes, but will have a full armour of weapons in the regular season, minus a couple of injury concerns.

Last time they met  

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS – 89 (Doyle 22, Krslovic 15, McVeigh 13)
MELBOURNE UNITED – 78 (Triplett 14, Krebs 13, Blogg 13)

NBL24 Begents Preseason Practice Game – Elphin Sports Centre, Launceston

A fast fourth quarter finish was not enough for Melbourne United to overcome Tasmania in the second of the team’s two pre-season clashes in late August, as Milton Doyle guided the JackJumpers to an 11-point victory.

Both teams came out of the gates firing in the first quarter, and Melbourne headed into the first break with a 28-25 lead from an up-and-back, offensively charged term.

Scott Roth rested the bulk of his starters for the final term, and United made the most of their opportunity to get back into the game thanks to some renewed defensive grit, however a pair of quick buckets from Fabijan Krslovic broke the resistance of the away side.

Doyle added just five more points to his half-time stat-sheet to end the game with 22 points and four assists, while Krslovic ended with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

SRT Logistics Coaches’ take

Mark Radford said “it’s a quick turnaround [from Friday night], which can be dangerous. When you focus on a lot on one game, especially our home opener, you can be behind the eight ball on the next. So we have to recover right and ensure we move on really quickly from Sydney. Logistics are always going to be a challenge, but it’s a short flight, we’ll recover and regroup, and do our scout and video well to prepare as well as we can”.

Fun Facts

• Tasmania have won 4 of the last 5 games against Melbourne United
  Melbourne has won each of its last six home games.
• Melbourne has covered the line in 12 of its last 15 games.
• Four of Melbourne's last five home games has gone UNDER the total match points line.

Ins & outs

Tasmania JackJumpers: Will Magnay won’t suit up for the JackJumpers as he continues to recover from a foot injury sustained in the off season.

Melbourne United: Jo-Lual Acuil is out for the first month of the season with a wrist injury, while Ian Clark missed Round 1 with a hamstring complaint.

Opponents on the Radar 

NBA draftee Luke Travers has gone cross country to join United alongside former NBA Guard Matthew Dellavedova and a plethora of talent across the board. Veteran Dellavedova is showing no signs of slowing with an average of 18 points and 4 assists across United’s first 2 games of NBL24.