Melbourne United 87-86 NZ Breakers

Despite what sports fans will say, they secretly love it when they can feel robbed by a referee. We all do. First it removes any accountability from our own glorious, flawless teams. Second of all, it’s dramatic.

Sports fans are among the most emotional people of all. We spend our lives craving the fleeting glory of victory and yet each win is never enough, there’s always something more. Wins just push the target further away and we spend so much time dealing with the grief of loss. If we didn’t love that feeling then we wouldn’t be doing this. We’d take up pottery or something.

So while Breakers fans have every reason to feel aggrieved by the finish to this game, there’s also a whole lot to love about it. We have ourselves a new rival, for example. And that rival walks this earth with the face of Chris Goulding. If anything the bitterness of this game only raises the stakes. On behalf of Breaker Nation, we’re calling you out, Melbourne United. And you’d better be ready.

Despite the soap opera at the end though, this was a classic from the start. Skip to the end if you must but you’ll be missing out. Now let’s set the scene.

The season so far for the Breakers has had its downs and it has had its ups. After a tough start on the road the Breaks have welcomed back Corey Webster in immense form and re-established the dominant home court advantage that’s always done them well in the past. But Melbourne United… this was the litmus test. This was the one to show where this team is at. Away to Melly, undefeated after eight games. It doesn’t come tougher than that in this season’s NBL.

Once again, Mika Vukona was missing. That’s not getting any less surreal to type. But this time his deputy Tai Wesley was also out for personal reasons (birth of a child, you get it). Wesley’s been massive the last couple games, scoring 26 & 26, though this time it would have to be Charles Jackson (equally great last game) carrying that weight with Alex Pledger. Coach Vickerman went ahead and started both of the twin towers, which obviously has advantages (rebounding, rim protection, etc.) and disadvantages (handling, pace of play, etc.). Pledge found himself with a couple early layups on his way to the hoop. In fact the Breakers, kick-started by an Abercrombie triple, got off to a quick start on the scoreboard.

And, of course, this one was always gonna be a thriller for the battle between Corey Webster and Chris Goulding. Two fringe NBA talents who can shoot with hellacious capability and that may well be scrapping for the scoring title come the end of the season. Neither was hitting much to start with, though Goulding got going with a couple fast break layups, the second skipping past Webby with some hot-stepping Euro strides. That made it 12-11 to NZB, midway through the first.

It was a bit weird this one, as the shot clocks weren’t working and that meant the announcer calling out “ten” with that typically resonant boom at the appropriate moment and then counting down the last five if needed. Just to put a lil extra pressure on and all. TA drilled a three, Steve Holt hit right back. 19-16.

Missing a couple big men meant that others would need to step up and contribute. At the start of the season that would have meant good minutes for Duane Bailey but that train’s left the station for now. So cometh the hour, cometh the next rising start of New Zealand basketball: Tai Wynyard. Great to see him get some a couple mins on the court, as he’s done now and then in 2015, it’ll be something for us all to remember when he’s running up and down for Kentucky next year. Melbourne briefly took the lead late in the first but the Breaks finished strong, Cedric with a steal and a pull up three and they led 25-20.

Melbourne have killed teams this season with three pointers but their range wasn’t there against NZ, not in the first half anyway. They were a combined 1/9 until Goulding drilled one to make it 35-34, though he rimmed one next possession and Cedric went and sunk one of his own. But what they did have was an endless supply of offensive boards and the confidence to just keep on shooting. It served them well.

The last couple minutes of the half it felt like Webster and Goulding were playing a bit of 1 v 1. They traded shots between themselves, though it was Goulding with the better touch. 14 points at HT, shooting 6/12, while Corey had 8 from 4/13. TA and Cedric both had 10 at the break, United led 48-43.

Any slackness in the second that may have undone some of the quick start was overcome by a fast start out of the gates in quarter three. Dan Kickert missed a couple, RTR hit one from deep and Cedric tied it up, a 5-0 run over the first couple minutes. Melly were slack but you take what you can get and when the Breakers are able to clear the paint out for a Cedric to Tommy alley-oop then you take such an opportunity and the lead that comes with it. NZB 52-50.

Melbourne rocked back to life late in the third, Tomlinson and Hadziomerovic each with threes to arrest a 16-4 Breakers run in the third quarter but Tom Abercrombie matched each one of them with two trebles of his own. Swish swish. He had 20 already, however he wasn’t the one doing the most of the damage. Cedric Jackson was all over everything. He was having one of those games that only he can have, finishing the third with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists. 10 minutes remaining. The defending champions leading the title favourites 68-62.

Everard Bartlett somehow contrived to fluff an open layup on the cherry picker but his layups are from outside the arc and as such he made amends soon after. Melbourne were charging back though. They closed it back to a single possession game before Majok Majok sucked in a second chancer and went to the line to make it 73-72. Blanchfield tied it up from the line soon after before Abercrombie and Holt traded step-backers.

This is a Breakers team far from ready to relinquish their crown. This is a Breakers team that has made a habit of finding ways to win games. TA was still scoring and Cedric was still dishing. When Ced robbed a steal and emphatically slammed it home, the Breakers led by 7.

Yet just when it looked like the game was starting to slip away from United, with their star man fading away in the second half, up he stepped for another three to bring United right back in it. Holt hit two free throws. The score was 83-81. Two minutes remaining. A fierce and frenetic game between a couple teams looking to make major statements.

Corey Webster had the chance to bump the lead to three but he missed his jumper over traffic. Then Alex Pledger, of all people, showed some light feet and a very smart head in guarding Dan Kickert. Cedric Jackson rebounded. Flash forward as Melly used up their fouls to give and there were 10 seconds remaining, Breakers inbounds with the score 85-84. Goulding did his best to flop his way to a foul on Webster, which drew some long discussion from the referees. Pledger was fouled simultaneously and the call was Pledge to the line for two, followed by Goulding for two and MU possession. Not trying to editorialise here, but it was a veeeery rough call. Heads up by Goulding but wow. Pledge hit one, Goulding hit two. Scores level at 86.

The crowd were transfixed on the presence of Chris Goulding from the inbounds but it was Steve Holt that took it, Steve Holt that drove to the line and Steve Holt whose shot rimmed out. It was also Steve Holt that drew a fifth personal from Alex Pledger with 1.1 on the clock. First shot good. Second shot… missed on purpose and the clock expires and Melbourne win. Holy crap.

87-86 to Melbourne, credit to a fantastic team that has already beaten every other side in the league on the way to a 9-0 start to the season. Incredible from them. That refereeing though… hmm. Nobody ever prefers to see a game decided by the whistles and this one swung enormously on the unsportsmanlike call on Webster against Goulding. If there was illegal contact there it was tough to pick it up on the telly screen. Maybe you had to be there? And then the foul to win it, Pledger probably caught him but that was soft contact and if you’re calling those then there’s a worrying performance meeting on Monday to attend.

But so it goes. What this result does now is it puts some real heat into this rivalry and into this season as a whole. It’s a long campaign and it just ramped up to another level. There’s blood in the water now, baby!

For the record:

Corey Webster: 15 pts (7/22), 2 reb, 3 ast, 3 to, 2 stl, 1blk.

Chris Goulding: 21 pts (8/19), 5 reb, 2 ast, 2 to, 1 stl, 1 blk.

Stocks:

Movin’ On Up Like Curtis Mayfield – Lost in the midst of it all was that Cedric Jackson did indeed get that triple-double, his second of the season. 16p/14r/10a. This game may have been billed as Corey vs Chris, and Abercrombie may have top scored with 24 (a game high), but don’t forget who’s been leading this team for the majority of the last few seasons. Do you remember the last time Cedric didn’t win the NBL? Coz he doesn’t.

Goin’ Down Slow Like Howlin’ Wolf – Refereeing. Enough said.

Key Stat

Tom Abercrombie with this game became the fourth player to play 200 times for the Breaks. He joins Paul Henare, Dillon Boucher and Mika Vukona in that illustrious club.

Play of the Game

It could be none other than the great man, Cedric the Entertainer. This is classic Ced.

Season Standings

Cedric Jackson – 12

Charles Jackson – 10

Two with 8

Match MVP Points

Cedric Jackson – 3

Tom Abercrombie – 2

Corey Webster – 1

Up Next

Friday, 7.30pm: NZ Breakers vs Perth Wildcats, Vector Arena (NZT)