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Had they not been teammates then Melbourne United pair Josh Boone and Casper Ware were deserving of being NBL MVP winners this season. They showed exactly why with a dominant semi-final performance each in the sweep of the New Zealand Breakers.
It was Perth Wildcats guard Bryce Cotton who won the league’s MVP award largely because he was the overall dominant presence on his team. Teammate Jean-Pierre Tokoto also finished fifth in MVP voting but no other Perth player was at all in the mix.
It was a different story with Melbourne. Not only did Boone and Ware confirm themselves as the best centre and point guard in the league respectively, but they had plenty of teammates to take votes off them including Chris Goulding, Casey Prather and Tai Wesley.
Given the way the league’s MVP voting works with each opposition coach voting on the most influential players in each game, that meant that Boone and Ware couldn’t quite take out that award despite both deserving of being called most valuable NBL player this season.
While they didn’t get an MVP award, the pair were named in the All NBL First Team and then proved their true value in the semi-final series against the Breakers.
Melbourne won Game 1 at Hisense Arena on Saturday 88-77 and that was Ware’s night to dominate. The point guard was simply unstoppable finishing with 33 points, six rebounds and three assists on the back of shooting 13/29 from the field and 3/9 from deep.
Bryce Cotton of Perth under pressure from Casper Ware of Melbourne (AAP Image/Hamish Blair)
He knew that it was his game to take over in and he did so, controlling his much-hyped match up with New Zealand’s Edgar Sosa to deliver Melbourne’s first ever playoff victory.
Then heading to Auckland on Monday, Melbourne was fully aware that the Breakers would be locking down on Ware so somebody else would have to become the focal point and that man turned out to be Boone.
Melbourne went on to win 88-86 in overtime to wrap up the series and advance to the grand final with Boone the dominant presence on the floor. Not only did he hit the game-winner on a perfectly run side ball play, but he finished the night with 33 points and 15 rebounds on 14/19 shooting.
For Ware and Boone to both reach the 30-point barrier for the first time this season in the semi-finals only further highlights their quality.
Either one would have been a deserving MVP winner, but right now the bigger prize of the championship looks to be theirs for the taking as they await either the Adelaide 36ers or Perth Wildcats in the grand final.
Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman has done a remarkable job in charge this season taking over in his second stint in the league as a head coach after previously winning the 2015 championship with the Breakers.
He thought they had an advantage with Game 1 with Ware and he let him off the leash with it paying dividends as he put in a season-best performance to deliver the win.
“Casper had a good advantage coming off on-balls and they were sitting pretty deep off him,” Vickerman said.
“I thought his shot selection was pretty good other than that little period to start the fourth when he forced a few. We got him a little rest and I thought he came back better.”
Vickerman felt that Boone played well also in Game 1 but just didn’t have the ball in his hands enough.
That all changed in Game 2 on Monday and Vickerman couldn’t have been prouder of his big man and the whole team to come up with the game-winning play in overtime to find Boone.
“I asked Mike Kelly (assistant coach) after Game 1 how he assessed Josh Boone’s game and he went back though it and said he actually played really well but the numbers didn’t identify that because Casper shot the ball a lot, and was in great positions,” Vickerman said.
“We thought they had to change something in Game 2 and might have to be more aggressive with Casper and we hoped and believed it might open up Josh a little bit more.
Robert Loe of the Breakers challenges Tai Wesley of United (AAP Image/David Rowland)
“To have the confidence in him to go to him on that last play, was a great call by the team. They brushed me off and said they had it coach. His effort around the rim and defensively was just outstanding.”
Boone, himself, revealed that the final play was something the Melbourne players have been keeping in their back pocket all season. There was no better time to pull it out, even if it did take him collecting the rebound on the Tom Abercrombie block shot to make it work.
“With this team, anybody on the court could have taken that last shot but it just so happens that we have a couple of plays in the play book for that situation,” Boone said.
“It was actually Tai Wesley that made a great play call and it’s a play that we haven’t really got to run all year so it’s not something they could scout. I don’t know that anybody would have expected the ball would be in my hands at the end of the game either, you might think Casper, Chris or even Tai.
“We caught them by surprise and Abercrombie made a great block, I had no idea he was there until he hit the ball, but I honestly got a bit lucky to have enough time to get the second one off. It was a great effort by us as a team.”
Boone was proud to make such a significant impact on Monday with 33 points and 15 rebounds, but really it was the team effort he was most proud of. Now his focus already has turned to the grand final series against either Adelaide or Perth.
“It was just about effort. We said at the beginning of the game that the team that wanted it more and that would work the hardest was going to be the team that won,” Boone said.
“It was the same thing when we came here a couple of weeks ago and their effort was great, but it just came down to that last shot. It was a well played game and one of the better ones I’ve ever been part of.
“It’s pretty high for me, but the fact was this was the semi-final and not a championship game. At this stage in my career, it’s about championships. That’s what we set out to do at the start of this season and that’s what we still need to do.”
NBL semi-final fixtures (AEDT)
Series 1
Game 1: Melbourne United 88 defeated New Zealand Breakers 77, Hisense Arena
Game 2: New Zealand Breakers 86 lost to Melbourne United 88, Spark Arena
Series 2
Game 1: Adelaide 36ers 109 defeated Perth Wildcats 74, Titanium Security Arena
Game 2: Perth Arena – Friday March 9, 9.30pm
Game 3 (if required): Titanium Security Arena – Sunday March 11