Melbourne United coach Dean Vickerman has lamented his side’s effort in their 12-point defeat to the New Zealand Breakers on Sunday afternoon.
Despite trailing by just two points at halftime, the third quarter proved to be United’s downfall, as the Breakers outscored them 27-17. A failure to contain Tom Abercrombie, who led New Zealand with 21-points, and a lack of defensive intensity were the catalysts for Melbourne’s loss.
After travelling to Adelaide twice, Perth in Western Australian and Oklahoma City to start the season, Vickerman believes the travel finally caught up to his squad.
“The challenge was to stay up as long as we could,” he said.
“I thought in Adelaide in the second game, there were signs of fatigue in that one, but the boys put their hands up and said, we are going hard for four minutes, I’m going to give you everything and then I’ll sit down for a while.
“Tonight it felt like we were trying to manage ourselves and we didn’t absolutely go out there and empty the tank. I’m sure they were absolutely trying to give everything, but it didn’t look the same as that effort and burst we had in Adelaide when we really needed something.”
The 26 fouls and slew of turnovers Melbourne committed were other elements that proved crucial in the result, according to the coach.
“We had momentum stoppers all the way through,” Vickerman said.
“We couldn’t get on a roll of three-to-four good things happening in a row. Part of that was our discipline and we spoke about that before the game, leaving the referees alone, but we didn’t really commit to that.
“Those things hurt us. Mentally, for us to have 17 turnovers, and some of them really self-inflicted ones, not out of any pressure, we just gave them too much possession.”
A total of 43 fouls were called in the contest, creating for a stop-start affair. While admitting his players need to modify their approach in allegiance to how the game is being officiated, Vickerman conceded he would like to see less calls.
“I’m always of the opinion that we got to let the players play a little bit more,” he said.
“The fans are not coming to see all these free throws. I believe in each game we have had so far, there has been five-or-six fouls that I look at and aren’t sure about.
“The referees are doing it and we got to adjust to them, but I’d like to see the game played with a little bit more physicality.”
Melbourne heads on the road again for their next affair, travelling to the Gold Coast to battle the Bullets on Saturday night.