Whenever Melbourne United names their starting five for each game, don’t expect it to be the same as the previous one.
That’s the message from coach Dean Vickerman, who has expressed his desire to keep his starting line-up fluid and flexible during his side’s bid for back-to-back NBL championships.
In United’s five games this season, Vickerman has swung in four different starting units due to a variety of reasons, ranging from injury, form and individual match-ups. Casper Ware and David Barlow have been the only two common denominators in all four starting line-ups.
This past weekend, Chris Goulding sat for the tip-off in Perth due to a slight niggle, while in Monday night’s win over Illawarra, Josh Boone was forced to come off the bench, in a premeditated plan to manage soreness in the 33-year-old’s body.
Alex Pledger started in Boone’s place, impressing with 12 rebounds and seven points, as he helped Melbourne establish a physical brand in their blistering first quarter, where they led 29-16 after 10 minutes.
It’s the Pledger/Boone combination that seems to attract the most versatility for Vickerman, and with United facing an identical schedule format this week – a road game (in Cairns) on Saturday, followed by a home meeting (against Sydney) on Monday – the coach hasn’t ruled out keeping the starting line-up a mystery.
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“A lot of it is form right now,” Vickerman said of the starting group.
“We have got two games (again), so going up there, coming back for Sydney, they may start one, Pledger may start two, practice form will be a part of it as well and history will be part of it.
“We will look at the match-ups, we will look at their practice form.
“I like that going into each game we have had different starting line-ups and people are accepting that and accepting roles coming off the bench as well.”
Pledger’s signing was an underrated one on the surface, but internally, his performances haven’t been overlooked.
The former New Zealand Breaker is pulling down 6.4 rebounds per game, a number Vickerman knows Pledger wants to increase, a testament to his selfless attitude and mentality.
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“I’ve always had great faith in Alex,” Vickerman said.
“He really is a unique rebounder, he loves it, and it is something that drives him.
“Other people enjoy points, steals and assists and different things, but for him, it’s one of the most unselfish things for him to walk up to the stat sheet and see how many rebounds he has got because it drives him, it is a goal for him.”
The coach is also searching for schemes to help get his towering centre some more scoring opportunities.
“His offensive game, there is still some improvements that we can continue to make,” Vickerman said.
“We want to be able to throw it to him at the post and for him to be really comfortable shooting hooks either way or getting fouled.
“Then there’s the jump shot that he has really developed over time.
“We probably haven’t allowed him to do it enough at the moment but around that elbow area he is pretty deadly.”
Melbourne United take on the Sydney Kings on Monday November 5 (Cup Day Eve) at Melbourne Arena. Tickets are available HERE.
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