JLA loving being back in front of the ‘best fans in the league’

While Melbourne United may have fallen just short in their return to John Cain Arena on Sunday, star player Jo Lual-Acuil Jr and Head Coach Dean Vickerman praised the fans for the boost they provided.

After 49 days on the road, United’s welcome home from their fans was expectedly rapturous, with the Melbourne faithful helping push the defending champs out of a number of deficits against the JackJumpers.

Speaking to media on Thursday afternoon, JLA said hearing the roar of the home crowd helps to “get his juices going”.

“We’re disappointed we didn’t win, but we definitely felt the support of the crowd.

“It definitely gets our juices going… Playing at home, we believe that we have the best fans in the league, so having those guys yelling and rallying us on, especially in that third quarter, I think we went on an 18-2 run, it got super loud in there.”

Growing to a 21-5 run to start the third quarter and ultimately taking back the lead after trailing for much of the game, Dean Vickerman said it’s clear how much the crowd’s energy plays into his side’s success.

“You get down 15 and go on a little run, then within four minutes after half time we’re down 12, then up one within four minutes, and the crowd has a massive part to do with that.

“It was fun to be home, we’re disappointed we couldn’t close out the game for (our fans), and that’s what we’re looking forward to this week.”

Matched up against the Perth Wildcats in a Grand Final rematch from last season, Big Jo, coming off a huge 26-point, 21-rebounds outing against Tasmania, says he is hoping for another packed stadium on Saturday.

“It was a great turnout, I hope we can get another great turnout on Saturday,

“(The crowd) adds to the defensive intensity more so than anything. You hear the crowd going crazy once you get a stop and that’s when we get on a run, we get easy layups on the fast breaks, Chris Goudling gets going and it gets super loud.”

Tickets for Saturday night’s Grand Final rematch remain available here, and three and five game membership packages for the remainder of the season can be found here!