Melbourne United gun Matthew Dellavedova is eager to take on the JackJumpers in this week's NBL semi-final series which starts Thursday night at John Cain Arena.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The former Cleveland Cavalier missed the final home-and-away game against Tasmania after getting his wisdom teeth out.
The guard admires the progress the JackJumpers have made in their inaugural season.
"It's impressive to start a team from scratch and make the finals in the first season and build up a culture," he said.
"You can see they're hard-working, tight-knit, they play hard and they've been rewarded for their efforts."
United mentor Dean Vickerman said his team would need to lift its defence against the JackJumpers.
"Over the course of the three games, I just don't think we've defended them at a really high level yet," he said.
"There's massive growth in that area."
Vickerman noted the JackJumpers had been "absolutely dominant" during two quarters of their past two encounters and United would be striving to stop that.
The JackJumpers got off the chain with a 36-23 opening quarter in their February 6 clash and then outscored United 29-9 in the third quarter of their most recent bout.
Dellavedova, who has been regarded as one of the best defenders in the world, spoke of how United could be tighter defensively.
"They play for the full 24 seconds with the shot clock. So even when we do defend the initial action, it's about staying disciplined, defending without fouling and making sure we finish with a rebound," he said.
Vickerman identified JackJumper MiKyle McIntosh as a player to watch for his team in the series.
"McIntosh has been really good against us in the last two games and he's one we've spent a bit of time on trying to work out," he said.
"Is it a power forward that matches up with him better? Is it a centre that matches up with him better?"
He noted Josh Magette, Josh Adams and captain Clint Steindl were also among the opposition's weapons.
United fell 83-61 to the JackJumpers in their final home-and-away game of the season.
It was a must-win for the JackJumpers while the minor premier had key players out.
Vickerman felt it a good chance to see the Tassie side in full flight ahead of finals.
"Anytime you get to play a team late in the season and they're going for it, you get to see how they want to attack you and how they want to defend you, how some people can deal with foul trouble or if they can't, and where they go to in key moments," he said.
"They've got a pretty heavy playbook. We didn't see everything the other night and we'll go back through the whole season to some areas they used offensively."
Vickerman also spoke about United not being able to match the JackJumpers' physically on the boards last weekend.
JackJumpers members will get first access to tickets for the club's first-ever home semi-final at Derwent Entertainment Centre on Saturday at 8pm.
Tickets for game two go on pre-sale to JackJumpers' 12 and 14-game members from 9am-12pm on Wednesday before six and two-game and supporter membership holders will then receive access from 12pm-5pm on Wednesday.
Members will be able to purchase one ticket per membership. Members will receive an email with a unique code with purchase instructions on Tuesday afternoon.
MyState Bank customers will have pre-sale access from 9am-5pm on Thursday before any remaining tickets are released for general public sales from 9am on Friday.
Stadium capacity is just under 5000.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.examiner.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @examineronline
- Follow us on Instagram: @examineronline
- Follow us on Google News: The Examiner