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Playing like a force to be reckoned with before the NBL break, Melbourne United are looking to bounce back from two straight defeats.
Melbourne United need to rediscover their early-season form if they hope to throw down the challenge to NBL pacesetters Perth.
United had opened up their championship defence in impressive style, navigating a heavy opening schedule to sit at 9-3 heading into the break for the FIBA international window.
But back-to-back defeats to the Brisbane Bullets have left Melbourne looking deflated and in need of some answers to their scoring woes.
After giving up a 17-point lead in Brisbane on Saturday night, United could only muster eight points in the third quarter at Melbourne Arena on Monday night and the Bullets capitalised to close out the 90-74 win.
"It was disappointing that we didn't show any resilience, we let things affect us and let our body language drop a little bit," coach Dean Vickerman said.
"That turned into a fourth quarter where one team was playing really positively and the other was playing a little negatively and that was the result of the game"
After finishing at the bottom of the ladder in their first two seasons back in the NBL, the Bullets (7-6) are in the thick of the semi-finals race following a run of three straight wins.
Brisbane's execution at the defensive end was critical to the result, disrupting United ball handler Casper Ware at every occasion to force the ball out of his hands.
While Ware (22 points) and 250-gamer Alex Pledger (13 points, seven rebounds) performed admirably, Vickerman lamented a lack of support with no other United player reaching double-figure points.
The two-time championship winning coach will look to ways to help side regain the momentum built up through the first part of the season.
"It didn't matter when teams made a run at us, we knew and had a confidence in ourselves that we were going to find a way to get stops, to find ways to put the ball in the basket and share it," he said.
A quick return to form is required if United hope to challenge the Wildcats in Melbourne next Monday night with Vickerman forecasting an improved showing from his talented roster.
"We've just got to make sure that we make a real honest assessment and the boys have got some good answers about why we struggled in both those four quarters - we'll go ahead and fix them," he said.
