Anonymous
Years ago

Casper Ware officially announced by Melbourne Utd

CASPER WARE IS BACK
Melbourne United have completed the final piece of puzzle today announcing the signing of star import Casper Ware for the 2017-18 NBL season.


The 27-year old American quickly became a fan-favourite when he joined the Club in Round 7 of the 2016-17 season, taking out the Club's Most Valuable Player honours and being named in the All-NBL First Team.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Mmmmmm hmmm.

Oooooh yeah.

Welcome back Champ.

Boone
DA
Prather
CG43
Casper

Not a bad starting 5 you might say....

Reply #644444 | Report this post


LV  
Years ago

^
Me

Reply #644445 | Report this post


B.O  
Years ago

Ware, Goulding and Prather...

Someones going to need to sacrifice their scoring a bit. Who's it going to be.

Reply #644446 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Prather will be a Torrey Craig type with that team, less scoring.. he should jump his assist numbers though with good creation off the bounce.

Reply #644448 | Report this post


Hespect  
Years ago

It might work better to play Andersen with Majok and Moller with Boone.

Basically I'm not sure if DA is starting quality on a top 4 team.

Reply #644449 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

Agree, I think Majok will start and Boone off the bench as per last year.

Reply #644450 | Report this post


B.O  
Years ago

Is prather at a point in his career were he's happy to let his scoring production numbers slide?

Reply #644451 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

By that I mean Majok/Andersen starting, Boone/Wesley coming in off the bench.

Reply #644453 | Report this post


LoveBroker  
Years ago

Damn thats a good team and without Dean Demopolous as head coach this team is deadly.

Sorry to say this folks but its looking like United for the Championship (barring things like injury or NBA call ups).

This team can hurt you from outside or mid-range at the 1, 2, 3 and 5.

Can't see any team capable of stopping this line up for 4 quarters.

Reply #644455 | Report this post


koberulz  
Years ago

Sorry to say this folks but its looking like United for the Championship (barring things like injury or NBA call ups).
Everyone was saying the same thing last year. And the year before that. And the year before that.

Reply #644457 | Report this post


leungtl  
Years ago

What is more likely this season - Cairns winning the chip or the NBL releasing player salaries like they promised last year?

Reply #644458 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Im a united supporter but until we see this team gel on court and get runs on the board early, its hard to buy in and get over the issues of the last few years. Arguably brought in someone (Prather) who will demand more shots than Blanchfield did last few years so it looks like not enough ball once again

Reply #644462 | Report this post


koberulz  
Years ago

What is more likely this season - Cairns winning the chip or the NBL releasing player salaries like they promised last year?
Cairns.

Reply #644467 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

What a joke !!

Hope they pop a few ACL's

Reply #644479 | Report this post


LV  
Years ago

Yep.

History tells us teams of talented individuals don't necessarily become champion teams.

It will be either frustrating or fun to watch. One or the other....

Best case scenario is a 97 Tigers team. Multiple stars all working together, or as Goorj said at the time, a bit like playing whack-a-mole and you just can't keep them all down at once.

Worst case might be.... it just doesn't work and they miss playoffs. Aka Kings 2017

Reply #644483 | Report this post


Isaac  
Years ago

United were paying $4 for the championship the other day.

Reply #644486 | Report this post


Zodiac  
Years ago

I wouldn't put money on them!

Expecting them to re-sign Ware I thought the Prather signing was a curious one. Shades of Ebi Ere at the Tigers, just too many cooks in the kitchen.

Is Prather going to be comfortable being Ramone Moore on this team? Goulding is obviously the #1 guy and Ware is probably #2 so Prather is likely going to be the third option.

I could see a Cedric Jackson style meltdown coming again.

Reply #644487 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Assuming holding is g it to play.

Reply #644493 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

If they are still paying $4 I'll be putting a couple hundred on em, recruit of the year is still Vickerman imo

Reply #644495 | Report this post


Cats 4 life  
Years ago

Tough team, interesting to see how they go. Which team will have the best match up against them? Ware for mine and Boone we're consistent, bubbles and cp can go missing more bubbles.

Seen in all sports, there is always a Cinderella story wonder witch team will it be this year.

Reply #644498 | Report this post


J  
Years ago

Difference is this year the players are better than last year and the coach is now elite. You would think they are over the so called cap by the full team salary of the Hawks or tampons. Heck I'd say they even make perth look cheap this year!!!

Reply #644503 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Yes Adam and Holley will play an important part in their Chamionship. Not.

Reply #644505 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Backup guards are weak as.

Reply #644506 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

I disagree that the backup guards are weak. Comparative to other teams around he league and what they'll put out I'd say they are on par. Big man depth is also good this year with the overall bench looking very promising.

Reply #644512 | Report this post


Hespect  
Years ago

#644479

Lovely post. I wish you happiness in your life.

Reply #644513 | Report this post


Isaac  
Years ago

I could see a Cedric Jackson style meltdown coming again.
Different coach, for one thing. Also, don't have to hold a bet until the championship is decided.

With new imports coming in, I'd assume there's a lot more risk, but this Melbourne squad has three imports with NBL experience which should help them.

Both Prather and Boone strike me as the types who can play strong supporting roles. Boone seemed to have a decent attitude last season to coming off the bench.

Reply #644516 | Report this post


B.O  
Years ago

For the interest of Prather's future career prospects, I can't see him wanting to play a "supporting role".

While you want imports to play selfishly and forgo shots and points (like the GSW players do), Prather's numbers directly impact his livelihood.

If Prather goes a season only average 9 points a game, that would have to diminish his stock for other leagues right?

Reply #644528 | Report this post


B.O  
Years ago

^Unselfishly not selfishly

Reply #644531 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Exactly B.O but in the heat of the moment finding out Cotton's salary that wasn't taken into consideration.

Reply #644541 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

People might be overlooking the fact that Prather had done all he could in Perth. Runner up in the MVP, back to back titles and everyone seems to be shouting Cottons praises. He goes to United and potentially helps them to a title will only boost his stock. NBA teams value the intangibles especially more so for the role players.

Reply #644542 | Report this post


BVL  
Years ago

I see Goulding dropping to number 3 option with Prather and Ware 1+2.

I love Goulding but he showed last year there's only so many fade away 3 pointers you can make plus it wont carry a team deep into the finals.

I expect his production to go down but he will have the opportunity to hit plenty of open 3's with two playmakers on the team.

Very excited, although dreading a 1-3 start...

Reply #644568 | Report this post


AngusH  
Years ago

Prather compliments the 3pt shooting of Ware/Goulding perfectly. Seems to be a good balance on paper, especially if Andersen is healthy. Bench is fine if none of the starters miss significant time.

Reply #644570 | Report this post


Isaac  
Years ago

B.O., I'm not saying 9 PPG. I'm saying 17 PPG and solid boards/assists. I can see the three big guns sharing the scoring fairly evenly, even if the guards take more shots to get there.

Reply #644575 | Report this post


Pennywise  
Years ago

Melbourne have smashed the soft cap by 1.5 million or more...

Reply #644580 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Melbourne have a tricky start, two games in Adelaide punctuated by trip US and then back over to Perth followed two days later by game at home against NZ. Still a really good looking squad of players but could be a few games down early.

Reply #644583 | Report this post


SteveK2  
Years ago

Hmmm if you look at their bench only: Adnam, Hooley, Moller, Wesley, Majok and Barlow... outside of Wesley, scoring may become a bit of an issue. There will be roughly a 10 minute window where two of the big three will be sitting and the one left on the floor can step up and get their shots.

Pretty sure Vickerman would be preparing to make sure that it will be an offensive capable lineup for 40 minutes straight.

Reply #644633 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

#4479 id clrarly a dickwad. Adnam and hooley eont get it done. Undoubtedlt. Training bait so why even bother.

Reply #644649 | Report this post


Isaac  
Years ago

Stevek2, if Majok starts, they have Boone providing impact off the bench. Moller will be useful too.

Melbourne have a tricky start, two games in Adelaide punctuated by trip US and then back over to Perth followed two days later by game at home against NZ. Still a really good looking squad of players but could be a few games down early.
Might make for an interesting betting strategy. Bank on them having a mediocre record after that stretch and hope their odds push out to $5.50 maybe?

Reply #644657 | Report this post


Hendo8888  
Years ago

"#4479 id clrarly a dickwad. Adnam and hooley eont get it done. Undoubtedlt. Training bait so why even bother."

Drunken ramblings on a Wednesday night. Nice!

Reply #644658 | Report this post


Hendo8888  
Years ago

Every year it seems Melbourne have a ridiculously stacked starting 5. This year seems the most stacked I've seen, though.

Reply #644659 | Report this post


SteveK2  
Years ago

Yeah that's quite likely that Boone comes off the bench to spread the talent more evenly. The starting 5 of other teams may be able to match Utd's starting lineup for stretches but if Dean smartly manages his 2nd unit makeup, that would be where they may have a slight unfair advantage over other teams with weaker 2nd unit.

Reply #644662 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Maybe Goulding isn't as good as everyone makes him out to be... great scorer when he's hot but lets the team down by focusing on being a Vine star, or his theatre performances with the refs.

Reply #644663 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Goulding is a gun and under Vickerman will only get better, take your bigoted glasses off and you will see this.

Reply #644665 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

"bigoted glasses"

wut?

Reply #644666 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

Last year Melbourne were 214 points better off with Goulding on the court than on the bench. He was one of the league leaders in +/- differential over the season, that tells me he plays a pretty important role.

Reply #644670 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

For the people saying Melb have smashed soft cap by over $1m how do you know??
Just guessing.

Reply #644674 | Report this post


Zodiac  
Years ago

Because Boti said Goulding is on $400k a year and Andersen is rumoured to be on $500k-$600k a year. I doubt Prather, Ware & Boone are playing for peanuts.

Reply #644681 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

I doubt $2mill. If so close the nbl now.

Reply #644683 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

Goulding, Andersen, Boone, Prather and Ware would be on a combined $1.5m at the very least, but I would say more. Majok certainly wouldn't be dirt cheap as he could pick up a gig in Europe, Wesley wouldn't be cheap either.

If this roster is under $2mill it would only be by a bit of change.

Reply #644684 | Report this post


LoveBroker  
Years ago

Holy crap...the NBL could have a $2m team (I say could because these are unsubstantiated claims).

Thank goodness we have a soft cap that is strictly policed and a luxury tax process that is open and transparent as advertised.

Seriously, I hope this type of arms race is sustainable.

Reply #644687 | Report this post


Isaac  
Years ago

Would've thought there were $2m+ teams in recent years also.

Reply #644697 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Mid 2000s the great Bullets/Kings/Tigers arms race was similar. The $$$ has returned.

Reply #644700 | Report this post




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