Hoops

Wildcats vs United, Oct 5

United played out of their skin with nothing to lose as large underdogs, Prather and Barlow could be injury concerns all season and don’t believe the hype on McDaniel, he’s hardly an nbl1 player. Perth will be fine, expected to win and did. That Joe Lulil Acul could be the surprise package for United though.

Still allowed 16 o boards to perth, kober rulez,the point i was emphasising was the extra posessions they allowed perth.

allowed perth 16 o boards while only collecting 5 of their own.

I actually thought melb had the better run with the refs

Three make two... united had 30 to 29 boards, allowed perth 16 o boards while only collecting 5 of their own. Also turned it over 18 times to 8. That's 21 extra possessions to perth!!!! Of you're suggesting united lost because of the umpiring ot was 25 to 15 fouls, if you watched uniteds big men, id say most fouls were there.

Melbourne shot 74% (v 58%), 50% from the 3 (v 35%), and 83% FT (v 75%), out rebounded Perth 26-22, and lost.

23 fouls to 11, 12 FT to 28.

Should they feel aggrieved?

Oh yeah, don't get me wrong, he could be anything, very exciting young player.

Defensively he's loose, but athleticism and length make up for some of that.

Offensively decision making will improve with experience at this level.

Good project player for Vickerman this year. Intriguing to see where he's at in 2-3 years

"Yep, JLA at the 4 is what put Melbourne in the game."

Lots of potential, and can play a bit already, but lacks poise and his turnovers really hurt Melbourne tonight.

I love the look of Acuil.

United very very deep this year.

Acuil has some nice talent and quickness for his size. He just needs to know when to dial it back.
Chances of Hunt lasting the season in Perth? < 50% I reckon.

Agree with ME, united was running over 70% from the field most of the game, unlikely even the greatest player lifts that %.

Acoul looks good but he and uniteds other bigs are a worry defensively, had he received the welcome to the league treatment hunt got, he would have sat.

United have some serious egos to manage, long doesn't strike me as the i dont mind being benched for the betterment of the team kinda guy, melo, goulding, prather, long, mccarron and barlow all need to eat....

Perth, well hopefully they got the rust out, not their greatest game but found a way. Jury is still out on hunt.

Yeah agree on Acoul. I thought he adjusted nicely after the 2 charges as well - had that nice pass off the drive, and also a drive and kick before that. He looks like a future starter (to be fair, probably a current starter on most other teams in the league).

Acoul looks damn impressive. Other than the 2 head of steam charges, he made shots and good decisions.

With him like that United are well 8 deep.

Your only as good as the team you can put on the floor.

Melb United in full spend mode decided on Prather. He has been bouncing off injuries and likely will be there at season end. Unfortunately every game counts this season and 50%W/L is not going to get you into the final 4.

Melbourne deserved to win that. Was something wrong with Long to be out at crucial time?

Despite 0-2, Melbourne are still the favourites. Three stars to come back.

Good first three games of the season so far.

The Vice HD looked great to me, but that's probably because I was watching SBS On Demand the last two games.

Also thought the commentary team were the best we'd had yet in so far as not obviously being at a different location to the game.

they barely beat an undermanned United

Why do the teams shoot at the opposite ends as compared to fiba rules?

Why do the teams shoot at the opposite ends as compared to fiba rules?

Looking forward to LV's analysis of every foul and discrepancy.

I can't wait for LV's assessment of the game. Brace yourselves.

Also a bit surprised Long didn't get inserted in the last couple of mins, even with how well Pledger was playing.

Free throw and foul count to Perth is ridiculous. Great game though. Melbourne should be fine when the troops return.

Great game. Would've like to see United go to the hoop there, but I think fatigue got them in the end.

Cotton took a dive off a moving screen, refs are a major problem in Perth.

United very unlucky, again Whites length down the stretch hurt them again, Prather might be able to stop it.

FT PER 94-93 MEL

Vague trying his best to lose it for us. How many dumb moments has he had. Not on Smith-Milner level but come on.

FFS Vague.

I think half of Longs problems on D stemmed from his early foul trouble last season. Since then he plays D like he's on 4 fouls from the opening tip.

I’ve seen statues defend better than Long, Kay went rotund him like he had cement boots.

Correct.

Vague is dumb.

I get a feeling that Smith-Milners dunk early in the opener on Thursday is going to be his sole highlight for the year.

It looks like shrapnel injury.

Perth Arena refs though. :p

Agreed that United look better today - seemed to be a bit of a rabble on Thursday. One less cook in the kitchen with Goulding injured helps.

Looks like scar tissue.

This fill in import for United is freakishly athletic.

United look a lot more settled. No Goulding but if anything it's made roles clearer on offense so far.

Haha Smith-Milner can't do anything right.

Who else but Nick Kay with the first basket.

Odds have changed - line by three to four points and Wildcats were 1.58 earlier in the week now in the high 1.30s.

GOULDING is out tonight after injuring himself in last game

Jury is still out on White for me. Will his great GF form be legit or will it be a Beal like fluke.

What position was Kennedy playing most of by that point?

Kennedy and for that matter McCarron got eaten alive by White in the grand final series, didn’t see any elite defence there.

Kennedy was close to the best defensive SFs in the comp. Boone mightn't have been great for fantasy coaches last season (he may have been too, I don't know), but in real life he was as important to anyone not named Casper to that team. Big guys who set great screens, run the floor well, get you extra possessions and cover defensive mistakes are invaluable.

I think they have improved but not the team that will take the floor in this game. Kennedy was a chump. Boone was once very good but not last season's version.

"Melbourne has improved by leaps and bounds"

I don't see how any team that has lost the absolute defensive quality of Boone, Kennedy and Ware, and the leadership and playmaking of Ware, can have improved.

They have potential to score more if they aren't taking it out of the net a lot, but they'll need to score a lot more because their ability to defend and score down the stretch is greatly diminished.

PS. I think it would be good if everyone who starts a game thread includes the tip off time in the post