NBL champ Doyle's seamless fit with United

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Milton Doyle was always quietly confident he'd have no trouble fitting in at Melbourne United and his cool head has been instrumental in their 3-0 start to NBL26 with his clutch reputation only growing.

Doyle had an outstanding last three seasons at the Tasmania JackJumpers including being a critical part of their NBL24 championship triumph where he was named to the All-First and Second Teams along the way.

Melbourne had felt the brunt of Doyle's penchant for game winning plays over the past three years so coach Dean Vickerman was keen to bring him on board especially with the departure of Matthew Dellavedova from his backcourt. Now three games in and Melbourne have scored strong wins over the JackJumpers, New Zealand Breakers and South East Melbourne Phoenix with Doyle huge in each of them and especially important with Chris Goulding currently sidelined.

It started with him scoring 11 of his 22 points in the last four minutes against his former team before 15 points and six assists in the 32-point win against the Breakers, and 18 points with 4-from-8 from downtown in the 20-point victory against the Phoenix. Having already played in the G League, Italy and Türkiye before arriving in Tasmania, Doyle was always confident he'd have no trouble fitting in with United but it has even surpassed his expectations to date.

"Yeah I did (think I would fit in so quickly)," Doyle said.

"I've played in a number of different countries and as an import you have to go and figure out so coming here I knew I was going to have to figure some things out, but the guys have made it easy for me.

"(I'm liking) everything and we're winning games, we're playing the right way and everybody's coming in and working hard.

"With that aspect of it, when you're coming into the gym you know that you'll getthe best out of everybody from the front office to the coaches to the players. I love that part about it."

Doyle is certainly enjoying being a teammate to Shea Ili much more than an opponent so far in NBL26 while Tyson Walker's explosiveness has helped him shine along with the physical presence of the likes of Finn Delany and Kyle Bowen.

"I think we've got such a good system so credit to Dean with that and the other coaches," Doyle said.

"Then Shea and Tyson move the ball well and they put pressure on in the back court just by pushing the pace, and then Finn and KB do a great job also. I think we just keep the ball flowing and we trust each other and everybody gets some good looks."

Vickerman saw firsthand over the last three years just how good Doyle could be including in the NBL24 Championship Series. As a result, he was keen to get him on board for NBL26 and beyond just the production he's delivered over the first three games, he's also proving himself just like a playing assistant coach.

"He was always a target for us and we wanted to have another closer on our team, and someone who can create their own shot," Vickerman said.

"You saw it in the Tassie game that his iso possessions once we created a switch that we liked, there's no one better in the league in those big moments so we're happy to have him.

"There's talk of him after he finishes playing wanting to be a coach and you see it, he does a great job with putting little wrinkles on what I put out there and finding better ways.

"They are fun guys to coach when they are just trying to make your system better from what they see, and he's been able to coach it in a way and sell it to his teammates that they get on the same page.

"That's a really good skill for a player who wants to be a coach later on is how they get their message across really simply. He does that in a really calm way."

One other Melbourne player Doyle has played his entire NBL career with is championship teammate Fabijan Krslovic, who has joined him in crossing to United for this season. Krslovic has now pulled down 25 rebounds over his first three games with Melbourne while also shooting the three ball at 3-from-4 to go with his 24 points with Doyle delighted to still call him a teammate.

"It's all the little things like the talking and being in the right spot every time, moving the ball and then when he hits a big shot, it brings a lot of energy and the crowd erupts," Doyle said.

"Everything he does just helps the team in so many ways."

Doyle even threw down a rare two-handed dunk in traffic on Thursday night showing there's still plenty of lift in those 31-year-old legs.

"I haven’t done it in a while so I had to get one in," Doyle said.

Next up for United and Doyle is taking on the New Orleans Pelicans at Rod Laver Arena next Friday night in the first time an NBL team has ever faced-off with an NBA side in Australia.

Doyle hasn't spent too much time thinking about it yet, but will now start to look forward to taking on Zion Williamson and company this week.

"I haven’t even thought about it yet to be honest and have been focused on this game, but now I guess we'll start preparing and looking in that direction," Doyle said.

"It's going to be fun just to play against some NBA guys and test your talent against those guys."