Melbourne Utd 95-74 NZ Breakers

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An offensive drought and a defiant Melbourne team saw the Breakers pick up their first loss of the season, going down by 21 in Melly. The newly re-christened Melbourne United lost their opener to Cairns, and then had the ignominy of their coach Chris Anstey standing down for whatever reason. As is so often the case, however, the team without a coach rallied for a big win.

It was a slow start, with plenty of missed shots and plenty of whistles. So many freakin' whistles. There were good looks there too, it’s just that NZB couldn’t hit ‘em. They did get to the free throw line plenty of times early but failed to make that count either, finishing with 10-18, Abercrombie missing 3 of his 5, surprisingly.

By the end of the first quarter Melbourne had a 15 point lead. Daniel Kickert did most of the damage initially, he clocked 15 points midway through the second. By that stage it was clear that the Breakers were on the fast train to brickville. They never managed to assert themselves in the paint, instead fouling and turning the thing over. Tai Wesley, Mika Vukona and Ekene Ibekwe were all pretty awful. But the team still moved the ball ok, and worked some good shots. They just didn’t fall. If it wasn’t for Corey Webster’s ability to get involved and stay aggressive then things could have been even worse at the break.

As it was, half time arrived with a 53-34 lead to the home side. The kiwi side had hit 2-14 from 3pt and 36% from the field. It was a black hole.

Melbourne passed with urgency all game and created plenty of wide open efforts. It was actually quite ugly how often they found an unmarked guy. And with their threes tending to fall through the net, United stretched the NZB D and fellas like Kickert, Mark Worthington and Jordan McCrae found more success attacking the rim. Too often they got past their markers with quick little moves and drew fouls from desperate slaps and reaches. Worthington had 20p/10r while McCrae dominated the second half, finishing with a game high 31 (and 9 boards).

It wasn’t until 4:49 into the third quarter that the Breakers were able to add to their half time total. All the same story from there on. Alex Pledger got a few more minutes and showed some nice finesse in the paint, he bagged 13 points. His toe injury is gonna limit him all season, though when he got court time his size gave his team an asset they really could have used more of.

Cedric tried hard all game to make things happen, only he couldn’t hit his shots. His 9 boards, 6 assists and general effort went a little spoiled by missing all 6 from deep for only 8 points. On the plus side, Corey Webster continued his Carmelo Anthony impersonations with a handy 21 points. When that man gets the ball in his hands, things happen. It’s great. Big Bopper Bailer hit a couple nice shots too.

Yeah, but on the whole it was a stinker. Lots of stuff went wrong and Melbourne dominated from start to finish. It was extreme enough that we can write it off as an anomaly for now so there’s no point getting dramatic. Everything looks better when the shots are falling.

Funny aside: Apparently Melbourne reached out to Mike D’Antoni (last seen as Kobe Bryant’s punching bag) over their vacant coaching role. He politely declined.

Key Stat:

The Breakers shot 28-77 from the field, with 8-32 three pointers.

Stocks:

Corey Webster on the upwards. Look for this lad to challenge for the scoring title at this pace. He’s made such advances on his game the last 18 months or so, it’s outstanding.

Ekene Ibekwe fouled out with only 2 points and 3 rebounds. Not great, that. Everyone struggled in the paint today (bar a few Pledger flourishes), though Ibekwe got caught out defensively a little too often. He’s got such long arms, but he’s a skinny guy too. When he isn’t able to set himself, there’s plenty of room for a swift opponent to slip past. He’s on the downwards after this game, but he’ll be back. He’s too good.

Play of the Game

Well, clearly it was this alley-oop from half court, supplied by Mark Worthington to Jordan McCrae. Sublime, really.

But for the homers, here’s Webby wrapping around and dishing up a treble, too. Chur.

Match MVP Points

Corey Webster – 3

Alex Pledger – 2

Cedric Jackson – 1

Season MVP Standings

Corey Webster – 6

Cedric Jackson – 4

Alex Pledger – 2

Up Next

Thursday, 7.30pm: NZ Breakers vs Cairns Taipans, North Shore Events Centre (NZT)