Ian Clark knows exactly what to expect when Melbourne United takes its 1-0 NBL grand final series lead into Tassie’s hostile home cauldron after they sent the JackJumpers back to the island with their tails between their legs.
He’s been there, done that in front of massive crowds in the NBA finals and, two years ago with Sydney.
The slick shooting guard helped the Kings eke out a 90-86 win in the face of the raucous Ant Army on their way to a 3-0 series sweep grand final series sweep.
Watch every game of the NBL Championship Series LIVE with ESPN on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial Today >
And Clark, along with the likes of Chris Goulding, Jo Lual-Acuil Jr and Matthew Dellavedova — who experienced the MyState Bank Arena finals atmosphere when the JackJumpers beat United in that season’s semis — will ensure their teammates were prepared for Friday night’s game two clash, starting at 7.30pm AEDT.
“It’s loud, I had my fair share of it a couple years ago when I was in Sydney and I’m expecting it to be the same,” Clark said after United took the grand final ascendancy with a 104-81 win in Sunday’s series opener.
“Some of these other guys haven’t been in that environment and are going into it for the first time, so it’s just making sure that they’re ready for it.
” We’ve got some guys who have experience with it and we go down there with a 0-0 mindset, knowing that they’re going to come out hard and knowing we’ve got to make sure we hit the first punch.”
Tasmanian-born teammate Goulding was relishing the challenge of a grand final dogfight in front of the JackJumpers’ ‘Sixth Man’.
“It’s what you want, right? Expansion team, great fans, they sell out the arena, it’s much better than having no fans in the arena and being quiet, we’ve experienced that before through Covid,” Goulding said.
“So, embrace the challenge, go down there and be better again.”
A 23-point drubbing in the biggest game of the season has the potential to leave scars, but Clark scoffed at any suggestion the result gave United a psychological advantage over the battle-hardened but fatigued Jackies, who went into John Cain Arena off a pair of trips to Perth in the semis.
“With this team? Not really,” he said.
“We circle back to the beginning of the season (October 8) when they came in, we were up big (13) and they came back and beat us (80-75) so I think we’re just staying level-headed.
“It’s good to get a win, especially at home, but we know it means nothing.”
United poured in 104 points — Sixth Man of the Year Clark devastating with 18 off the bench — but the win was built on a rampant defensive effort that limited JackJumpers’ scoring trio Milton Doyle, Jordan Crawford and Jack McVeigh, who had a particularly tough time dealing with Luke Travers.
With five days to rest up and re-tool, the former Golden State Warrior is expecting Tasmania coach Scott Roth to make adjustments for game two.
“We know how dangerous those guys are, those two guards and McVeigh,” he said.
“We’ll be doing our best job to limit their touches and try to make it hard for them again.
“LT did a great job being up and attached to McVeigh.
“They will double down on things that they do well and obviously try to get those guys more touches and make sure they’re a little bit more physical with us.
“We’ve just got to make it tough on them for 40 minutes.“
– Michael Randall
Battle-hardened Melbourne United’s experience in the pressure cooker situations of finals basketball looms as a key factor in this year’s NBL grand final.
United is stacked with championship pedigree, sharing a combined 16 NBL titles — and two in the NBA — while just three JackJumpers have tasted ultimate success in the Aussie league.
United mentor Dean Vickerman, the reigning Coach of the Year, owns seven titles — three as head coach and four as an assistant — Chris Goulding has won the NBL championship three times, Shea Ili twice, and Both Matthew Dellavedova and Ian Clark each have NBA rings.
It’s that rich history of success star big man Jo Lual-Acuil Jr says the minor premiers have leant on all season and it holds them in good stead ahead of Sunday’s grand final opener at John Cain Arena.
“I think we have a good mix of age and experience and when things don’t go right or we have any adversity, we have a calmness to us that, all year, we’ve been very solution based,” Lual-Acuil Jr said.
“Delly’s huge, we lean on his experience. We also have Shili, we have CG, LT (Luke Travers) has been in some grand finals, I’ve been in some grand finals, Newls (Brad Newley) as well, has been huge for us … it’s a collective effort (and) we have a wealth of experience.”
Both Dellavedova and Goulding own Olympic bronze medals, adding to a daunting task for the plucky JackJumpers, who are the form team of the league. But only coach Scott Roth — as an assistant — Clint Steindl (two) and Tom Vodanovic own an NBL ring.
But the Ants enter the series with a remarkable advantage over United, leading 8-4 all-time and sporting a 5-1 record at the John Cain Arena fortress, where Melbourne has won nine straight.
Memories of Tassie’s greatest triumph — the NBL22 game three semi final win over United that booked their place in a grand final, ultimately won by the Sydney Kings — are fresh every time the Jackies walk down the race at JCA.
Jack McVeigh was a United killer in that series with 15, 15 then 16 points in the decider and the gun forward has levelled up considerably, pouring in 23 points per game in his four finals appearances this season.
The 27-year-old knows United’s experience presents a mammoth task for the JackJumpers, who have captured the imagination of the Australian basketball world with a second grand final appearance in their three years of existence.“They’ve been the best team all season but we’re feeling good,” McVeigh said.
“They’ve got vets, they’re being led by an Australian NBA great (Dellavedova) so it’s going to be a fun battle but we definitely feel like as long as we focus on us, stick to what we do, we’ve got as good a chance as anyone of bringing this thing home.”