United looked dangerous.......and then Goulding came back

Yeah it literally started to fall apart when CG came back. Amazing. The Casper-Chris dysfunction was bad last season but worse this season.

Casper could probably do with a rocket. *quickly google searches US point guards who can penetrate to the rim*. Oh hey there, Kevin Dillard, what's up?

Goulding was -15(+/-) tonight, only time United looked threatening was when Miller replaced him at the start of the 3rd, the team was balanced and they made a run.
Casper was at 0(+/-) I like how they play when he's on court without Goulding.

Moller ^^

Does Casper get to the rack enough?

Agree with Moller. Team clearly started playing well once he stepped on court. The moment he left in the third, they turned to putty again. Pathetic really. Starting five should look like this:

Ware
Goulding
Prather
Moller
Boone

And if that doesn't work, put CG on the bench. But I genuinely think Casper may need to be replaced. And it's sort of starting to get to a point of being time sensitive if they want to replace imports.

Wesley does nothing but stop the ball in an offence with studs like they have in the starting lineup.

Wesley is a stud scorer but put him with the bench unit so they aren't playing with their dicks in their hands hoping the ball goes in. That second unit can defend but score to save themselves. Wesley is the perfect fit

I like the Kings and think they will be so much fun to watch for the remainder of the season...

I don't really think I can say that about United, they need to keep playing open air games as there is something that absolutely stinks in Melbourne... anyone have any ideas

Interesting to hear Homicide and Lachy Reid discuss whether Damian Martin would Melbourne during Friday night's game, with even Reid conceding that he probably wouldn't if he were just dropped in there now.

I think he's exactly what they need. They just don't have enough basketballs there at the moment. Someone with leadership qualities who isn't looking for his own shot all 40 minutes would work wonders.

He was right, though, that you can't fix team culture overnight. How many of these players are Vickerman's? They need a long-term overhaul of their roster with a focus on building a team, not bringing in big names who can put up high scores.

I'm pretty sure Martin would make them a lot better by the end of the season.

Having said that, I wouldn't write them off as they are just yet, remember Perth last season and NZ the year before recovered from mid-season slumps.

Yes, this United team doesn't have the history of those two, but third spot is wide open and Melbourne have huge room for improvement.

Was Vince Crivelli at the Tigers at the same time at JVG? Maybe its a shared 'style over substance' orientation. Too many big name picks whose play isn't matching their celebrity status.

^^^
They don't get time because their bench is rubbish!

Some approximate maths (approximate because I can't be bothered adding up all the seconds played so 'near enough'):

Melbourne bench - 36 player minutes for 9 points, average 4 bench minutes per point.

Cairns bench - 70 player minutes for 39 points, average 1.8 bench minutes per point.

I'd rest my case, but I've no idea what it is :D

LOL @GordonG. Pretty simple mate, it means Snakes bench offensively twice as productive as United's. I did say back in pre-season that United's going to have issues with bench scoring.

I think Vickerman's biggest issue right now is convincing some players to buy into his culture. There is some resistance and if it continues, it may derail what he's trying to do. Those players need to evaluate whether winning is far more important than doing what they're used to.