By Melissa Woods
Three-time NBL championship-winning coach Dean Vickerman has coached 45 finals matches but put Melbourne’s thrilling series victory over the Perth Wildcats in his top two.
Vickerman’s United clinched the semi-final series with a frenetic 113-112 game three win on Tuesday night at John Cain Arena, with skipper Chris Goulding nailing a free throw after he was fouled by Perth’s Ben Henshall inside the final second.
Melbourne United captain Chris Goulding sealed the win.Credit: Getty Images
Wildcats captain Jesse Wagstaff had drained a three-pointer to tie the game with two seconds left on the clock.
The win sent Melbourne to their second successive grand final series, hoping to lift the trophy after losing last year’s decider against the Tasmanian JackJumpers.
The match was hailed by Boomers great Andrew Gaze as one for the ages.
In an offensive frenzy, Goulding finished with 30 points and his teammate Ian Clark had a career-high 38, while Kristian Doolittle (37) and Bryce Cotton (33) starred for the visitors.
Goulding is fouled by Perth’s Ben Henshall in the last second of Tuesday night’s game three NBL semi-final clash.Credit: ESPN
“One of the greatest games we’ve seen in NBL history,” Gaze said in commentary.
Vickerman, who has coached United to titles in 2018 and 2021 and the New Zealand Breakers to the championship in 2015, agreed with Gaze.
He said the entire series was full of incredible moments with Goulding scoring 41 points in game one, the Wildcats clawing back from a 16-point deficit to win game two, and the thrilling finale in game three.
“Yeah, for sure … there’s so many talking points about this series, and the finish of the game,” said Vickerman, who has coached 360 games, with a winning record only behind Boomers and Sydney Kings coach Brian Goorjian.
United coach Dean Vickerman said it was one of the most memorable finals he had been involved in.Credit: Getty Images
“It’s certainly up there in the top two semi-final series I’ve been a part of.”
It looked like Perth’s captain Wagstaff had taken the match to extra time when he tied the score. But Goulding was fouled by Henshall, sending the captain to the line for two shots.
Perth unsuccessfully challenged the call and with the clock showing zero he made the winning basket.
In a best-of-five grand final showdown, United will take on either minor premiers Illawarra or South East Melbourne Phoenix, with their series-deciding semi-final match on Wednesday night.
Ian Clark (right) was outstanding in the frenetic final.Credit: Getty Images
“It was just an elite game of basketball, shots were fired at both ends, playing at a super high level,” said Vickerman.
“All year we’ve talked about the things that we need to do better and one of those was execution down the stretch of games.”
Vickerman said he used his other favourite finals series to inspire his team, recalling the influence of ex-Breakers star and coach Kevin Braswell, who died last month following a heart attack, aged 46.
Vickerman was an assistant coach at the Breakers, when they tussled with Perth in 2011.
“I obviously lost a mate in Kevin Braswell recently and I showed the boys that series, where Kevin made massive plays to win game two and Mika [Vukona] had pretty much a broken leg and played. That’s the other one for me that I’ll always remember.”
AAP
