The following is a preview with betting tips for Game Two of the Grand Final series for the 2023/24 NBL season.
View and compare the latest NBL bookmaker odds
View the NBL form guide
|
Tasmania JackJumpers vs Melbourne United
Friday March 22, 7:30pm |
|
Dawg Drmic or Magnificent Melbourne, who will get it done during Friday night Hoops?
Anthony Drmic headed into Game One averaging just 7.2PPG during the regular season, however despite his sloppy JackJumpers side losing the opening affair by a whooping 23PTS, the seven-year plus veteran still found a way to steal the show at John Cain Arena with a bountiful 18PTS of his own on 6/9 shooting from the floor + 2REB + 2AST + 1STL in just 23:57-minutes of playing time. The former NBL Rookie of the Year highlighting just how vital he can make himself in a must win Game Two for the hosts. However Melbourne will certainly pose a daunting task to Drmic & Co as they won every single quarter last time out. Q1 – 26/24, Q2 – 25/17, Q3 – 25/22 and Q4 – 28, 28/18. Among the beneficiaries for United were Chris Goulding with 22PTS, on 6/10 converted makes from beyond the arc, Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. with a double-double of 20PTS & 11REB and Ian Clark with 18PTS + 6REB off the bench. It was also Dean Vickerman’s second victory from just their last three attempts versus ‘Tassie’ and on those two memorable occasions they put up 104PTS just a few days ago and prior to that 90PTS. The ‘Jackies’ will have a capacity crowd cheering their hearts out for them on Friday night, however Melbourne will still be extremely, extremely potent. The next scintillatingly tasty affair is here and it will be a ripper!
And boy will it be tasty! In response to Chris Gouldings simply superb Game One performance former NBL MVP Derek Rucker let it be known that “Who would have thought that the best player from Tasmania would have been Chris Goulding”, as the multiple times Grand Final winner was born in Launceston, adding fuel to the fire. Whilst Dean Vickerman did some match lighting of his own as he shot a few barbs right back at Scott Roth in response to his ‘defend the island quote’, saying “Scotty Roth’s gonna talk about defending his little island as much as he wants to. We’re just gonna go about our business”. It’s safe to say that things are already on edge headed into this encounter. There could quite easily be some early spills in terms of hard fouls or trash talking from either franchise if you know what I mean.
But here are a few things that you can count on, despite arguably being one of the most famous Men to emerge from ‘Tassie’, Goulding will no doubt relentlessly get booed every time he touches the ball. However in spite of that his flame-thrower like ability from deep, as well as the rest of his offensive arsenal, 55.7% from two-point range, as well as 76.3% from the FT line this season, will no doubt continue to cause the JackJumpers serious issues in this matchup. That whilst the coaching battle on the sidelines will bring a whole new element into this game as well. We all saw how well defensively Dean Vickerman set up his troops in Game One. So now Scott Roth has no choice to respond in kind, especially given A. That’s what Tasmania are known for this season and B. They are defending their home floor, a place where they have proven triumphant in their last five straight games. There are just countless ways in which this encounter can be both won and lost for the hosts, as well as exactly that for the visitors as well.
Did you know that Melbourne have lost five of their last seven away games. That despite them losing just eight total games over the course of the regular season. And with each of those defeats has come a fairly jarring blow, as they’ve conceded 97+ PTS in each of them. However interestingly enough in two of the last three loses they’ve won the opening quarter. Undoubtedly Dean Vickerman will have them well adjusted to both start and finish well in Tasmania.
Did you know that Tasmania have won four of their last five home games by double-digit points. They have come via a 16-point margin vs Illawarra, a 14-point margin vs Perth, a 23-point margin vs Adelaide and a 21-point margin vs Melbourne. In those four affairs from most recent through till last, Milton Doyle has conjured up 10, 5, 10 and 6AST. That as the former Brooklyn Net turned NBL Maestro will crucially be another piece to the puzzle for the ‘Jackies’ at home.
To go down 0 and 2 in this seasons Grand Final series would be a pretty stern death wish for the JackJumpers. So with that in mind and their undoubtedly clinical home ground advantage, I’ll back them to get the job done by 2-6 points right here.
Beting tips: Back Tasmania to win at $1.80 (BlueBet)
Also back them to prevail in Q1 at $1.80 (BlueBet)
Look for Tasmania to also reach 20PTS first at $1.80 (Bet365)
And for Melbourne to score 84+ PTS at $1.40 (Bet365)