How Collingwood star Scott Pendlebury spent time behind the scenes at Melbourne United

Did you know Scott Pendlebury has a basketball background? Could the round-ball sport also be in his future after football.

Scott Pendlebury might have handed over the reins of the Collingwood captaincy, but his wealth of sporting nous has had a cross-code impact at NBL club Melbourne United.

The 300-game champion, last month, spent some time behind the scenes with Dean Vickerman and the United coaching staff as he prepares for life after footy.

Pendlebury gave Vickerman honest feedback and while it hasn’t necessarily translated in the win column, it’s helped lead to a change in mindset for the group, which is struggling in second last at 6-11 — including a heartbreaking Monday night capitulation in Perth.

Pendlebury ‘having a basketball background’ has become a meme in the footy world but he identified the quieter United playing group needed to have more tough conversations, while celebrating the little things.

Scott Pendlebury, if you didn’t know, enjoys his basketball away from the football field. Picture: Getty Images

“Footy’s different to basketball, it’s one of those sports that people just get around each other all the time, they celebrate every little thing and so we’ve certainly taken that on board to say we’ve got to go over the top a little bit,” Vickerman told News Corp.

“One of his (Pendlebury’s) feedbacks was there’s not enough direct conversations between your guys to try to fix problems.

“We’ve got to a point where, even before games, people are putting their phones away and we’re making sure that they’re not sitting there in the locker room and they’re having conversations.

“After the game, in recovery, where people might just go straight to their phone — no let’s get together and stay together as a group and have these conversations, even though they might be hard, sometimes.”

Scott Pendlebury and Brett Deledio playing one-on-one basketball. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

The conversations would have been difficult after United blew an eight-point lead with 35 seconds left in Perth, but veteran club figurehead David Barlow gave the loss — and tough season — some perspective, ahead of Thursday’s fourth and final clash with state rival South East Melbourne.

“Life goes on. There are more important things than whether the ball goes through the hoop or not,” Barlow said.

“Life goes on, game in a couple of days, got to keep striving for success and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Will the loss crush United or galvanise them? We’ll find out Thursday night against Phoenix, who have built a three-game winning streak and sit in third place on the ladder.

HOW MELBOURNE UNITED’S 35-SECOND MELTDOWN AGAINST PERTH PLAYED OUT

Melbourne United should have been marching into Thursday night’s Throwdown, chests out and rejuvenated after back-to-back victories.

Instead, the proud club’s season could well have ended in a 35-second Perth debacle.

The game should have been over when playmaker Xavier Rathan-Mayes found big man Isaac Humphries under the basket for an easy two that put United up eight with 45.9 seconds left.

But Melbourne produced a calamitous ending that snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, Corey Webster producing the game winner in his 250th NBL game.

United is now third-last at 6-11, but has played two more games than every other team, owing to a front-loaded schedule in lieu of John Cain Arena’s imminent Australian Open takeover.

That means they play the next three at home, before facing eight trips all over the country — and two across the ditch to New Zealand — returning to JCA on the last day of the season.

United fell behind by 14 in the first quarter but upped the ante with some brilliant play, producing a 28-point turnaround to establish a 14-point lead of their own, before the messy finish.

Melbourne United snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Picture: Getty Images

Veteran stager David Barlow called it a “s--- game to lose” while coach Dean Vickerman said the fade out, which allowed the Wildcats to hit a pair of threes within 3.5 seconds, was “extremely disappointing for our group”.

“They have to do a lot of things right to win when you’re five up with 10 seconds to go,” Vickerman said.

“We contest a tough three, haven’t looked at how much contact was on the foul but it’s a big mistake from us to give them an extra possession.

“The last possession, I don’t think we got our rules right (around) rebounding … (and) … what we practised and it gave them one more opportunity.”

“Good on Corey, it’s a hell of a shot … we thought we did enough to win.”

After similarly handing over a lead against Tasmania a couple of weeks ago, barring a miracle, this game looms as the dagger in a season that has fallen well short of expectations.

VICKERMAN’S PLAN TO UNITE AUSSIE COACHING FRATERNITY

Melbourne United coach Dean Vickerman has opened up on the personal struggles that left him feeling overwhelmed during his side’s floundering start to NBL23 — and the moment he realised he had to change his mindset.

The master coach also revealed he wants to help establish a coaches’ association to better support Australia’s pro-basketball mentors.

In a wide-ranging interview with News Corp, Vickerman said several issues plunged him into a dark place as he wrestled with his side’s difficulties on and off the court.

His own expectations, concern for injured stars Ariel Hukporti and Shea Ili, managing a difficult import situation with Jordan Caroline departing and Marcus Lee eventually arriving and then Isaac Humphries opening up on his heartbreaking struggle had taken a collective toll on the 51-year-old father of three.

“Seeing those two guys (Ili and Hukporti) in those difficult places and then, what tipped me over a little bit, was when Ice came to me and talked to me about how he considered taking his life,” Vickerman said.

“I’ve never been good with death ... so that one set me off a little because you just never know what people are dealing with.”

There’s an external pressure, too that comes with coaching one of the league’s premier franchises and Vickerman is dealing with something new to his time in Melbourne — a revamped team that has been ravaged by injuries, moved on an import and struggled to mesh on the floor.

Dean Vickerman has opened up on his struggles throughout a tough period at Melbourne United.

It was wife Christy who saw signs the father of three was struggling and urged him to make change.

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“I’m taking stuff home and my wife, to look at me and say ‘hey, you can’t keep bringing your bad energy back home’, you get a good kick in the arse,” Vickerman said.

“I struggled with that life balance. Once you get to that point of ‘hey, the game is really important and I want to succeed every time we go out’, but, as a leader, as a husband, it can’t have an effect on your own health or the mood of your family, players and the people around you.

“That was the trigger for me — when your wife starts telling you to snap out of it.”

Vickerman, who said Tasmania coach Scott Roth has supported him, plans to approach the NBL in the hope of creating a stronger network for coaches all over the country.

“With the whole NBL1 and the mass of coaches that we have, we have the ability, right now, to join together and create a coaches’ association and have some power to really support coaches, educate, network and help each other with personal development,” he said.

“(Former Illawarra coach) Brendan Joyce tried to start up a coaches’ association, (ex-Brisbane coach) Andrej Lemanis tried to do a few things before he left but no one’s really succeeded in gathering the coaches together.

“I’d love to be a part of trying to drive it. I haven’t sat down with the NBL to say ‘hey, what do you think we can do here right now?” but, as you go through your own stuff, it’s like, it’s time, there’s a need for it.

“Coaches feel they’re sitting out there by themselves sometimes and I plan to start that conversation and see where we can take it.”

Vickerman was hurt to hear how much Isaac Humphries struggled. Picture: Getty Images

A key to Vickerman’s rejuvenated outlook is the help of United’s in-house Sports Chaplain Mason Taylor, who has provided counsel to many staff and players over the journey.

“For me, having Mason, who’s been in our program the whole time, just to sit down with him once a week, talk about what’s going on with your team and him talking to me about my own family and then knowing that I’m consumed is a huge help,” he said.

My comments on NBL media were sparked from Scott Roth’s press conference - being in this league for 20 + years I felt compelled to support Scott’s comments and have media consider the wellness of both players & coaches whilst driving exposure of the NBL. https://t.co/l6LscHwSkJ

— Dean Vickerman (@DeanVickerman) November 10, 2022

Vickerman admitted he got it wrong when he compared Caroline to former star Jack White and used his verbal back-and-forth with NBL commentator Corey ‘Homicide’ Williams as a learning experience.

“As a coach, you shouldn’t compare people like that and that will be a lesson for me,” he said.

“There’s always learning about how to deal with the media.”

Shea Ili’s return completes the United roster puzzle. Picture: Getty Images

Vickerman has made the finals in all five of his Melbourne United seasons and won two titles.

While this year’s outfit is languishing in second last on the ladder, point guard Ili finally returns from the concussion and inner-ear issues that have kept him out of all but three games this season.

Add Isaac Humphries back in the mix after he recovered from a bout of Covid and United has it’s full 11-man roster active for the first time in NBL23.

From the outside looking in, a playoff run is highly unlikely, but the league’s transition to a top-six play-in finals format provides added opportunity — and only a fool would put a line through a team led by Vickerman.

Originally published as How Collingwood star Scott Pendlebury spent time behind the scenes at Melbourne United