Melbourne United put the final piece to their roster puzzle together on Tuesday evening, announcing Casper Ware as their third import.
Even without Ware, the signs were looking ominous for the rest of the competition. Melbourne had the best roster on paper, and have now just about made it all star.
When the debate about who to bring off the bench will be between fellow import Josh Boone and gun centre Majok Majok, you get an understanding of how strong they are.
But, it’s a familiar narrative for the big-spending club – United had the best roster for the last two seasons. Only 12 months ago we were saying that United were favourites and only the Sydney Kings could stop them.
Yet whiel the Kings started well and Melbourne finished strongly, neither made it to the semi-finals.
So, how is this season any different?
(AAP Image/Joe Castro)
For starters, Melbourne looks even more unbeatable. Casey Prather is the most talented player in the competition, Casper Ware knows a thing or two about shooting, and Chris Goulding completes a dangerous backcourt.
David Andersen is a Rio Olympian, Majok was an animal on the glass last season, then you add Josh Boone and David Barlow to that – well you get my drift.
That’s not even to mention rotation players such as Kyle Adnam, who said Russell Westbrook won’t be able to guard him when the side travel to Oklahoma City in the pre-season, and Craig Moller, who will be huge this season.
But again, Melbourne was more talented than any other side last season, but couldn’t bring it together.
The reason? Dean Demopoulos.
It’s hard to single out a coach for a team not playing well, but there were times during the season when you had to scratch your head and ask if he actually understood how basketball worked.
Their offensive structure was atrocious, they had no plan B in defence and it never looked like it would change during the season.
The day I knew Demopoulos wouldn’t make it to the beginning of the 2017-18 season was against the Kings.
Down by a couple of points, the coach set up for a backcourt play out of a timeout to try and win the game, obviously forgetting the simple fact that you advance the ball from a timeout in the final minutes.
He was saved by a Casper Ware bomb, but it was the day you knew he was done. Melbourne went from bad to worse on offence last season, and so when Demopoulos was sacked in the days following season’s end, it came as little surprise.
A team who had Ware, Goulding, Andersen and Majok, along with the now-departed Todd Blanchfield, should never be able to miss the playoffs.
Sure, injuries hampered their charge, but the coaching was awful.
(Chris Pike)
Melbourne will face no such problems this year, with the acquisition of former New Zealand Breakers head coach Dean Vickerman.
Vickerman was part of the Breakers set up for nearly ten years, as an assistant for each of the Breakers’ first three titles, before becoming head coach in 2013.
His first season in charge didn’t end so well, as events conspired against the Breakers and they finished seventh.
He turned it around the following year though, winning the championship against all the odds, beating the Cairns Taipans in the final on the road, before wrapping it up during Game 2 at home.
During 2015-16, Vickerman probably had his greatest achievement. The Breakers had no right to make the playoffs, but he got them there, getting Cedric Jackson and Corey Webster to do a solid job alongside each other, despite the constant foul-trouble of key big man Charles Jackson.
Vickerman then took the team to Melbourne in the semi-final, defeating the minor premiers on the road, before doing the same back at home.
Getting to the grand final against the odds, they took the challenge to the all-conquering Perth Wildcats, and while they lost Game 3 heavily, it took a huge effort just to get it to a third game in the first place.
The point being, if Vickerman could get the Breakers to beat that 2015-16 United team, then there is no way he is going to allow the 2017-18 United team to lose.
It was somewhat of a shock to hear Vickerman was leaving the Breakers last year, and it’s little surprise they fell from the top, failing to qualify for the finals since Vickerman’s first season in charge.
Personnel changes and a tough season for Corey Webster hurt, but Vickerman probably would have found a way to win enough matches. New Zealand national team coach Paul Henare couldn’t.
Vickerman, working behind the scenes at the Sydney Kings last year as an assistant, was probably a little out of the picture because of the relationship shared between Kings head coach Andrew Gaze and assistant Lanard Copeland, but the defensive structures he put in place for much of the season were clear to see.
The Kings had an amazing start to the season, before injuries struck them down – without Vickerman though, it’s debatable they would have started so strongly.
And so he goes to Melbourne with all the experience in the world, the most talented group in the league, and more than a little chance to win the championship.
And he will. Melbourne will win the 2017-18 NBL championship. They are too talented not to, and if they don’t, heads are going to roll.
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