United, Clark link months in making

Ian Clark’s recruitment to Melbourne United didn’t happen overnight. In fact, Dean Vickerman and his staff had been in contact with the NBA championship winning guard for months prior to the announcement.

New Tasmania signing Marcus Lee was brought in to provide added size and rim protection to an injury hit United side part-way last season, but Vickerman says the club almost elected to bring in a new guard to cover for the loss of Shea Ili.

That’s when Clark’s name was thrown up.

<iframe src="https://omny.fm/shows/nbl-podcasts/dean-vickerman-on-sen-august-11-2023/embed?style=artwork" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write" width="100%" height="180" frameborder="0" title="Dean Vickerman on SEN - August 11, 2023"></iframe>

“When we had some injuries to Shea Ili – some concussions and different things we were just kind of having a bit of a look out there to see who was around. His name came up and we got to chat to his agency last year,” Vickerman told SEN.

“The feedback we got from his time in Sydney about what he was like as a locker room guy, a leader, and the qualities we saw in the Grand Final Series when the point guard went down and he had to step up to win that championship were amazing.

“Then we circled back again this year when a position that – I think – suits him perfectly came up and he was willing to jump on board.”

Clark is not the only surprise familiar face that has been added to United’s group this season, as Vickerman coaxed former Breaker Rob Loe out of his NBL retirement to sign as an injury replacement.

The reigning NZNBL MVP initially announced his farewell from the NBL due to a desire to spend more time with his family, but a long-term injury to star centre Jo Lual-Acuil Jr led Vickerman to reach out to the 32-year-old.

“I have a history of pulling people out of retirement. Casey Frank was in the commentary box when I was in New Zealand and I pulled him out of retirement, Dave Barlow kind of retired last year and we put him back on the floor,” Vickerman joked.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Loe calls time ?<br><br>The <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NZBreakers</a> big has announced his retirement from the NBL at the age of 31.<br><br>Thanks for the memories, Rob ?<br><br>Read more: <a href="https://t.co/pGshzpDBMW">https://t.co/pGshzpDBMW</a> <a href="https://t.co/oDKiHDL5u0">pic.twitter.com/oDKiHDL5u0</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1666306069478658048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“Rob Loe was a little bit of a different situation. There were some things with his family where he didn’t want to travel, so not being a part of the NBL was more based around his family. We’ve found a short window where his family can come and be in Melbourne.

“We think it’s going to be somewhere between eight and 12 games Jo is going to miss, and that kind of number is fluctuating because he’s recovering so well. He’s a little bit ahead of schedule right now and hopefully we see him sooner rather than later.”

With the re-signing of star players Lual-Acuil Jr and Matthew Dellavedova, along with the high-profile recruitment of Luke Travers, New Zealand international Flynn Cameron, and now Clark, United’s off-season is being heralded as one of the best in the NBL – and Vickerman’s side has launched itself into title calculations.

The three-time NBL champion head coach has saved special praise for one his rival sides though.

“Everyone’s great at this time of year until we pull it all together. The talent level has gone off the charts,” he said. “But I’ve got to single out Illawarra and what Mat Campbell’s (Illawarra Hawks GM) done there.

“He’s used every possible advantage he can get to have the Indigenous rule covered, the Asian rule covered, to have a Next Star, imports, he’s done everything he can to build a quality roster and I think they’ve put a really solid roster together.”

Melbourne and Illawarra are first set to lock horns on day three of the upcoming NBL Blitz, before United open the NBL regular season on Thursday, September 28 against South East Melbourne.