Melbourne United coach Dean Vickerman has spoken about his team’s recent signing of Australian Boomer Jock Landale.
Speaking on SEN Breakfast, Vickerman said United were pleased to finally announce the signing of Landale, who had been training with the squad since midway through the year.
“We showed unbelievable patience to get this deal done,” Vickerman said.
“Jock’s been training with us for a long time. There’s been a connection with him for a little while with him dropping into our practices before national team commitments.
“He’s so multi-skilled as a player. He’s the modern-day five that can really step out and shoot the threes, he has great post presence, he’s a great passer, he has unbelievable connections with his teammates that is so important for our group."
Vickerman said that the possibility of losing Landale to the NBA this off-season was real.
“We all knew that the NBA was a real possibility for him and COVID sort of messed that up with international players not able to get over there,” Vickerman said.
“All along we always thought it was a real chance from our side. We just thought the best opportunity for it to happen was to wait for the NBA Draft, wait for NBA free agency, and it played out as we had hoped.”
The 211cm power forward signs with United after playing most recently in the EuroLeague for Lithuanian outfit Žalgiris.
The NBL21 season is set to begin on January 10 when United face the South East Melbourne Phoenix in Throwdown V.