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Melbourne United gave the Brisbane Bullets a thrashing on Boxing Day, winning by 38 points under and open roof.
Final score
Melbourne United 97
Brisbane Bullets 59
In what will be a sight to behold, the roof will be open at Hisense Arena in Melbourne for the second time in the NBL as Melbourne United look to hit back against the Brisbane Bullets on Monday evening.
Last year’s open-air game in Melbourne was a raging success and so it will return for this season, with the Bullets the team in the hot-seat.
While conditions could impact the way the game is played, it should hold a minimal change at worst, although it would certainly affect Melbourne more than Brisbane.
Because of United’s offence, which is structured around getting off plenty of three-point shots through their gun shooters in Chris Goulding, Casper Ware and Todd Blanchfield among others, conditions could impact on their success rate.
While it could become a problem this game, it’s been an ongoing one for United despite their turnaround in form.
They still don’t look like they have enough options on impact and while they had managed to win a number of games, they sit back in seventh place coming into this game, after being dead last a few weeks ago but going into the top four between then and now.
Simply put, if their shooting doesn’t work, their offence is too one-dimensional and backup options look few and far between, leaving them in a rut where they struggle to score points.
With a defensive effort that isn’t much better, effort levels going from everything between non-existent and moderate, it’s not hard to see why they sit near the bottom or lost to Brisbane by ten points on the road last round.
Brisbane, have been a little up and down but generally look like one of the league’s better teams, especially on the defensive end.
It takes a solid effort to hold United to just 90 points which is exactly what they did in Round 11, putting on 100 themselves.
Ever since the Bullets beat the Wildcats on the road by 15 points, their offence looks to have grown a new set of legs with their guard combination of Jermaine Beal, Adam Gibson and Torrey Craig finally finding some fire.
With Daniel Kickert and Tom Jervis continuing to lock down the paint, it’s little surprise that the Bullets are well in the championship picture and looking like legitimate contenders.
They do however, need to find a little more consistency, particularly in closing games out. A loss to the Illawarra Hawks in their last game, going down in overtime has seen them drop to a record of below 50 per cent, and they are dangling right on the edge of the top four.
Losing home games in this league is a massive blow and while Brisbane look much better than what they did at the start of the season, it’s going to take a big effort from them to stay on the winner’s list as other teams continue to find their touch and make changes to improve.
Prediction
This should be an intriguing game, but in Melbourne and with the duo of Chris Goulding and Casper Ware displaying some promising form, they should have enough offence to pick up an important win against the fighting Bullets outfit.
United by 4.
Tip-off: 7:30pm (AEDT)
Venue: Hisense Arena, Melbourne
TV: Live, Fox Sports 503
Online: NBL.TV
Betting: United $1.30, Bullets $3.50
Last meeting: Round 11, Bullets 100 defeat United 90 at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
Melbourne United (expected)
Point guard: Casper Ware
Shooting guard: Chris Goulding
Small forward: Owen Odigie
Power forward: David Andersen
Centre: Majok Majok
Bench: Nate Tomlinson, David Barlow, Kyle Adnam, Devin Williams, Ramone Moore, Todd Blanchfield
Brisbane Bullets (expected)
Point guard: Jermaine Beal
Shooting guard: Adam Gobson
Small forward: Torrey Craig
Power forward: Cameron Bairstow
Centre: Daniel Kickert
Bench: Mitchell Young, Shaun Bruce, Tom Jervis, Anthony Petrie, Jarryd Bairstow, Reuben Te Rangi
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde