Melbourne United coach Dean Vickerman on how team bounces back after wild night at John Cain Arena

Melbourne United coach Dean Vickerman has addressed the ugly scenes at John Cain Arena that dominated NBL headlines through the FIBA break. Here’s what they’ve done in response.

Melbourne United coach Dean Vickerman says the club has reviewed its processes in the wake of last week’s ugly scenes at John Cain Arena and will be better-equipped to deal with similar situations, should the need ever arise again.

Vickerman said he’d addressed the November 17 melee involving Adelaide players and United players and staff with his team, which was followed by a verbal and physical altercation between the Sixers and courtside fans.

“We got our fines handed out fairly early and we’ve had our conversations about ... how, as a group in those situations, ‘what’s everybody’s role and responsibility? Who can go on the floor, What are the things that we can do? Who’s holding people back from those situations?’,” Vickerman said.

“So it was good for us, not to go through it, but to make sure we’ve got a process if it happens again, that we go ahead and do it better.”

Tensions boiled over between Melbourne United and Adelaide during their November 17 clash at John Cain Arena. Picture: Getty Images)

United guard Shea Ili was fined for his role in the melee, as was assistant coach David Barlow, for leaving the bench during the incident. Adelaide imports Montrezl Harrell (three games) and Kendric Davis (two games) were suspended and the NBL handed down a life ban to one fan and excluded another for 10 years.

It’s emerged Davis was subjected to racist comments from spectators during the incident and Vickerman drove home the message there was “no place in our sport” for racism.

“Our club’s worked really hard to make sure that we do a great job of creating a safe space and an inclusive space for everybody,” he said.

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Melbourne, with social media users pushing a narrative it was looked after or favoured by the NBL, amplifying the persistent ‘MBL’ (Melbourne Basketball League) sledge and pointing to league owner Larry Kestelman’s stake in the club.

Melbourne United coach Dean Vickerman is focused on the Kings. Picture: Getty Images

But Vickerman was paying no attention to the negative discourse, preferring instead to focus on his top-of-the-table team’s next task — the Sydney Kings on Sunday.

“It’s been handled and, just like a referee decision, it’s come down, we deal with it, we move on,” Vickerman said.

“We’ve got an exciting game versus the Kings and we’re looking forward to getting back to John Cain, packing that place out and having a great game.”

Vickerman backed the NBL’s plan to review and overhaul its dated tribunal system in the wake of the nine-day process.

“Just like us, we looked at our process to say, as a team, in those situations, ‘can we be better and have a better process?’, and I the league’s doing that also,” he said.

“How can they be a bit more transparent with it? How can they quicken up the process?”