FIBA breaks chemistry for playoff clubs, coaches

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Doubled-edged sword: Perth Wildcats head coach John Rillie and Melbourne United’s Dean Vickerman have both been cut by it.

The blade is the associate head coach of the Australian Boomers and the FIBA Breaks for the FIBA Men’s Asia World Cup qualifiers during the NBL26 season.

Critics can dance around it with “may have” impacted, but the reality is it has.

The Wildcats were undercooked last night, after more than a week off, against the South East Melbourne Phoenix and were exposed 111-94 without a true point guard, as the Phoenix set the tone early by turning the  Wildcats over numerous times in the first quarter after scores.

Owen Foxwell and John Brown III forced backcourt turnovers for wide-open layups as the Wildcats struggled to get the ball over halfway.

Rillie spent the FIBA Break in Guam and Manila, leading the Boomers on a 2-0 road trip while the Wildcats were in Perth preparing for the third-versus-fourth semi-final qualifier.

“It was just a good old-fashioned butt-kicking,” Rillie conceded.

“It felt like we had a couple of moments where we could try and wrestle the game to get a bit of momentum our way, but they did a great job of keeping the flow of the game the way they wanted it all night long. The ball pressure, the turnovers start to mount up after a while.”

The Wildcats turned the ball over 17 times, while Phoenix turned it over just 5.

Kristian Doolittle (5), Dylan Windler (4), and Ben Henshall (4) were the main culprits. Elijah Pepper was with Rillie on the road trip and delivered for the Boomers but went just 3-for-6 for seven points in 26:20 minutes. He didn't grab a board or dish an assist, his only other stat was turnover en route to -16 in his minutes in the 17-point loss.

“When you play them, and they execute their game plan beautifully like they did tonight, the players did a hell of a job. I thought Josh King was the MVP of the game,” Rillie said.

“What I would say is we probably tried to dribble too much against the pressure instead of using the pass and then playing off that action. I don’t know what we ended up with – 16 or 17 turnovers – and they were in single figures.

At halftime, we had zero offensive rebounds, and they had about 18 more shot attempts. It just mounts up, and the pressure to execute at a high level increases.

“The reason we play the regular season is to give ourselves another opportunity. We’ll flush that and move on.”

The first FIBA Break in late November interrupted the connection Vickerman had with his team at a crucial time. United started the season 9-0, lost two straight, but then 4-0 before the break.

United lost four straight after the break and were in a dog fight the rest of the way, battling inconsistencies on both sides of the ball. Losing Defensive Player of the Year Shea Ili didn’t help.

Melbourne United before the first FIBA Break

September 18 – November 23, 2025 (Rounds 1–10)

1. Sep 18 – def Tasmania JackJumpers 88–84 (A)
2. Sep 21 – def New Zealand Breakers 114–82 (H)
3. Sep 25 – def South East Melbourne Phoenix 103–83 (H)
4. Oct 8 – def Sydney Kings 107–93 (A)
5. Oct 12 – def Cairns Taipans 95–60 (H)
6. Oct 17 – def Brisbane Bullets 95–86 (A)
7. Oct 19 – def New Zealand 104–88 (H)
8. Oct 24 – def Cairns 94–67 (A)
9. Oct 26 – def Adelaide 36ers 81–80 (H)
10. Nov 3 – lost to Sydney 92–95 (H)
11. Nov 5 – lost to Illawarra Hawks 93–107 (A)
12. Nov 8 – def South East Melbourne 92–81 (H)
13. Nov 15 – def Brisbane 99–93 (H)
14. Nov 21 – def Illawarra 105–102 (A)
15. Nov 23 – def Perth Wildcats 98–87 (H)

• Record: 13–2‍
• Points For: 1,460‍
• Points Against: 1,288‍
• Average Margin: +11.5

Snapshot

• Opened season 9–0
• First loss came on November 3 vs Sydney.
• Closed pre-break 4–2
• Elite offensive efficiency – 100+ points in 8 of 15 games

Melbourne United after the FIBA Break

December 4, 2025 – February 19, 2026 (Rounds 11–22)

1. Dec 4 – lost to Perth 84–96 (A)
2. Dec 7 – lost to South East Melbourne 86–111 (H)
3. Dec 12 – lost to Adelaide 105–114 (OT) (A)
4. Dec 14 – lost to Sydney 86–92 (OT) (H)
5. Dec 18 – def Illawarra 97–75 (H)
6. Dec 23 – lost to Tasmania 73–92 (H)
7. Dec 27 – def Brisbane 92–87 (A)
8. Jan 3 – lost to Tasmania 75–84 (A)
9. Jan 7 – lost to Cairns 92–93 (H)
10. Jan 11 – lost to Sydney 94–97 (A)
11. Jan 17 – def Tasmania 79–77 (N – Hoopsfest)
12. Jan 21 – def Brisbane 98–66 (H)
13. Jan 25 – def Perth 74–73 (A)
14. Jan 30 – lost to New Zealand 95–97 (A)
15. Feb 7 – lost to Adelaide 76–87 (H)
16. Feb 12 – def Cairns 89–85 (A)
17. Feb 15 – lost to Illawarra 91–100 (H)
18. Feb 19 – def South East Melbourne 95–91 (H)

• Record: 7–11‍
• Points For: 1,611‍
• Points Against: 1,664‍
• Average Margin: –2.9

Snapshot

• Lost the first four games after the break
• Eight losses in first 10 post-break
• Four losses decided by five points or fewer
• Defensive drop-off – conceded 100+ points six times.

Rillie now has just under three days to prepare for either United or the Tasmania JackJumpers in Perth on Saturday, March 7. The Phoenix move on to face the Adelaide 36ers in the semi-finals.

“You play the regular season to have the second chance and to have it at home,” Rillie said.

“In saying that, we’ve been good on the road this year as well. At the end of the day, it’s playoff basketball, and it’s going to be a grind.”

About the Author

Peter Brown is the head coach of the Sydney Comets Women’s Youth League team in the Waratah Basketball League in NSW. He is also the assistant coach for the Comets NBL1 women’s team in the NBL East Conference. Peter is a 30-year journalist, starting as a sports reporter at the NT News in the early 1990s. He played junior basketball for the Northern Territory at national championships from U16 to U20 and for the Territory’s senior men’s team at numerous international tournaments. Peter has been a basketball fan since the early 80s, especially the NBA. Basketball is his passion — and his opinions his own. Email peter.brown@basketball.com.au with feedback. Any email feedback on articles sent to Peter can be published on basketball.com.au for others to read.