Early Hoopsfest thoughts and observations – United vs JackJumpers

Tasmania is missing a third gun

The Tasmania JackJumpers sorely miss Jack McVeigh. Their offence last season relied on him as a non-ballhandling scoring option. Bail-out catch-n-shoot threes, pull ups, scoring in the post, they haven’t replaced him at all.

They completed their roster, including using all three import spots on guards, way before McVeigh went on a run of a lifetime and signed with the Houston Rockets. 

Having Sean MacDonald and new defensive weapon Craig Sword out didn’t help them last night, but they wouldn’t have been massive additions on the offensive end either.

Anthony Drmic did his best last night for the Apple Isle side, being their tied second leading scorer with 14 points (5/9 FG), but it wasn’t enough.

Delly, United’s Leader

When Dellavedova first joined United three years ago after the Tokyo Olympics, United head coach Dean Vickerman said he would like to see the return of “Saint Mary’s Delly”. A player with a bigger offensive, scoring impact than the man we saw play in the NBA.

After a stellar Paris Games, I think we’ve got it.

21 points on 7/12 shooting, three rebounds, six assists. I could keep on listing the impact Matthew Dellavedova had on United… and I will.

Delly’s third quarter took the game away from the JackJumpers when they were in an arm’s reach. He took them to a game high 14-point lead and didn’t look back. He scored 12 of United’s 27 points in that term.

Whether or not this can be replicated every game is yet to be seen, but with no real scoring big on the team with the loss of Jo Lual-Acuil, Delly is going to have to put the ball in the hoop more than ever.

Goulding the sixth man?

Melbourne United fans, things will go back to your regularly scheduled programming soon.

Chris Goulding found himself coming off the bench in last night’s victory, playing 24 minutes and only shooting three shots from beyond the arc. Last night was the first time since the 2018/19 Grand Final series against Perth that Goulding didn’t start the game.

United’s all-time points leader was coming off an illness battle, missing their final two blitz games.

Head coach Dean Vickerman said post-game that United’s starting five will be a rolling door throughout the season. 

“He obviously came in under the weather, being sick. We highlighted with our group that this year there’s going to be different groups that start.”

“If everyone’s willing to sacrifice like he did today… hopefully if he (Goulding) does it anyone’s willing to take a few minutes on the bench.”

“Sell out” but not Sold out

The crowd at the season opener was at capacity and the place was rocking (partially because they turned the speakers up so much). 

The attendance though… *drum roll* 4,622. 

A very respectable number for two teams playing outside of their home state, but not sold out. The Lynx/Flyers and Wildcats/Phoenix double header will be more than double that. 

I guess my non-Wildcats attendance prediction of 6k will be a bit off…