United coach backs his group: ‘Others would crack’

Melbourne United dug themselves a deep hole on Thursday night, trailing by as many as 34 points midway through the second quarter, and it ultimately proved too much to chase down.

“Unfortunately, sometimes you don’t quite get to your standards,” Jacob Chance said post-game.

“You’re never going to be perfect. And our job is to acknowledge it, challenge it, and support each other and move forward.”

The game looked headed for one of the biggest blowouts of the season, before United fought their way back in the fourth and came within touching distance of a stunning comeback.

Down 59-35 at half-time and 80-62 at the final break, United cut the margin to just four with three minutes to play, led by Cole Anthony (27 points, 4 assists) and Josh Oduro (14 points), before Adelaide closed out a 101-93 win.

“Maybe some other teams, I can’t speak for other teams, would crack or fall under pressure in those moments,” Chance said of his side’s response.

“Our guys rallied together… and it’s one thing to bring it back to 20, which I think naturally happens with variance of leads, because it’s really hard to stay up by 34, but to get it back to a game we could have won, that’s a different level of connection and problem solving that our group has.”

United had their chances late, but key opportunities went begging, including a missed layup that would have cut the lead to just four. Bryce Cotton then answered with two big threes later in the quarter to put the game away.

“We’re constantly preaching to be above the outcome,” Chance said.

“Credit to them. You know, Kenyon’s making threes and Cheatham’s making threes, and you can’t take everything away when you play Bryce.

“Just that second quarter, they probably got it out to a lead that was, well, ultimately too hard to come back from.”

United now have 48 hours to rest and recover before returning home to face a South East Melbourne Phoenix side desperate for a win, in what shapes as an enticing Throwdown.