Adelaide 36ers captain Dejan "DJ" Vasiljevic was completely locked up last Sunday as Melbourne United made light work of his side and ran away to a 27-point victory at John Cain Arena.
The 27-year-old has started NBL25 with a bang and announced himself as one of the most prolific scorers in the league but the United defenders got the better of him on the night, restricting him to eight points.
NBL24 Defensive Player of the Year Shea Ili and renowned hustler Matthew Dellavedova made his life difficult from the tip off, keeping him from getting his hands on the ball and wearing him like a glove.
Eight points at the final buzzer meant it was DJ’s lowest scoring NBL game in 637 days, his lowest scoring output since playing the Illawarra Hawks back in the 2022-23 season where he registered four points in 24 minutes of game time.
He was unable to get into the game and despite playing 30 minutes, he finished with just eight points, one rebound and one assist while shooting 3-12 from the field, which included 0-5 from three-point range.
It seemed the harder Vasiljevic tried, the more things went against him. He had three turnovers, was blocked twice and ultimately had a game to forget.
Prior to the encounter, the captain had put up some impressive numbers with an average of 22.6 points per game and led his side to some tough victories over Illawarra Hawks and Sydney Kings.
Melbourne United coach Dean Vickerman said nullifying DJ’s dominance was a focus for his side coming into the game.
“After watching the first half against the kings the other night, I thought DJ was the one that really led the scoring (and) was creating energy for the group … so the focus was on (Kendric) Davis and DJ all night,” he said.
“(The goal was) driving Davis into crowded areas and making it really hard for DJ to get a catch, we were pretty consistent with that the whole game."
Vickerman said while each of his guards spent periods of time on Vasiljevic throughout the game, there was one player who led the way.
“Shea started the game as the best one to stop DJ from catching the basketball … (we were) trying to make his first couple of shots as tough as possible,” he said.
While Adelaide 36ers coach Mike Wells felt the issue was being unorganised at the defensive end of the court which hurt the scoring output as a result.
“Our defence wasn’t as efficient as it needed to be … they did a great job with pressure and that slows down your pace,” he said.
“You’ve got to handle the physicality (against United) and you’ve got to talk about how to execute your offence through what they’re trying to do.”
Davis led the scoring for the 36ers with 17 points, using his clever awareness to generate 13 attempts at the free throw line. While Isaac Humphries (16 points, six rebounds, three blocks) and Montrezl Harrell (12 points, nine rebounds) were also damaging.
Ian Clark (18 points, three assists) was at his brilliant best, shooting 7/10 from the field, including 2/3 from deep. And despite struggling to convert on deep looks early and an injury scare late in the game, captain Chris Goulding dropped 13 points in his 450th NBL outing.
But it was Melbourne United’s big three that took control of the game as Rob Loe (16 points), Jack White (15 points) and Marcus Lee (13 points) combined for almost half of the team’s total score.
Loe played 22 minutes and finished with 16 points, including a couple big threes as the 33-year-old wound back the clock. White was consistent all night and Lee got some silver service lobs from the guards.
Adelaide 36ers will look to bounce back when they take on Tasmania JackJumpers on Sunday, while Melbourne United also take the court on Sunday to face South East Melbourne Phoenix in another Showdown at JCA.
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