The last thing anyone ever wants to do is watch the team they've just gone to war with be presented with the fruits of that battle.
So, it's understandable that, as the Tasmania JackJumpers were set to be presented the 2024 NBL Championship trophy, Melbourne United's players began to file out. They'd just seen their season come to an end on their home floor, in a brutally intense, deciding Game 5.
The players didn't care to witness it, but their head coach did.
"I wanted to stay out there," United head coach Dean Vickerman told ESPN.
"I wanted to show respect for the JackJumpers, and see them presented with the championship. I feel it's important to see that and live it, and make it a little more real that it just happened."
Vickerman then had the unenviable task of addressing his team after the loss; after their season had come to an end. The 53-year-old isn't one to be verbose following games, but this was his last chance of the season to get a message to his group.
"I just went in and congratulated them on the season that was," he said. "We just talked about being one step better."
Then what happens? How do you rebound after coming so, so close to a title? That deciding game was on a Sunday afternoon, and the playing group came together that same evening. It was an opportunity to reflect on the season, celebrate those who wouldn't be back, and talk through what went wrong.
"Understand this feeling... embrace it"
The makeup of that iteration of United's roster is unique within the NBL. Its top-end talent is very local heavy, and leans on veterans in a substantial way.
Chris Goulding is a two-time Olympian, while Matthew Dellavedova has been to three and won an NBA Championship. For good measure, Ian Clark also has an NBA Championship ring, while Shea Ili is widely regarded as one of the best leaders-by-example in the league.
"We've got guys that are winners," Clark said.
So, when faced with the task of absorbing a heartbreaking loss, United was uniquely built to attack that head on.
"How can we not have this feeling again? That's one of the big things we talked about in the locker room after the game, Clark said. "Understand this feeling. Embrace it, so you can know what it feels like, so you don't wanna feel it again."
Everyone approaches that adversity in different ways. For Dellavedova -- who's been on both ends of high-pressure, high-stakes situations -- his demeanour couldn't have been more forward-looking. In the days after the Game 5 loss, United conducted their reviews with each player. Dellavedova's involved him explaining a four-year plan to Vickerman and the team's brass.
"The Delly moment... was incredible to me," Vickerman said.
"I wanted to mope around for longer, but then it was like, wow, he's already done that, and he's already next-stepped it. It gave me a good little kick, to say: don't sit around and mope for too long. It's not time to do that. Let's look at how we care for everybody, what everybody does next, and make sure everybody's in a good place to move forward, and set a path about how we do it."
Starting at the end
It's a weird thing to think that a team being just a few possessions away from winning a championship is considered to have failed. But, that's the beauty and brutality of the NBL.
"Being that close, and then having that disappointment, just gives you a little extra," Dellavedova said. "It gives you a different perspective on how important each possession is, which you know, but to get reminded in that way is tough."
United being a whisker away from a title is an indication that only those small tweaks are needed. Of course, in the NBL, the subtle changes can make all the difference.
Vickerman zoned in late-game situations, rebounding, and how to better utilise his subs. A conversation with staff at the Boston Celtics about Joe Mazulla's tactics gave Vickerman a new perspective on how to approach crucial possessions at important times in games.
"They started at the end," Vickerman said.
"They started with the last two minutes of the game; the most important part. It wasn't about your systems or your structure; it was about special situations, and everybody understanding where the ball was going, and what we were gonna do in those situations. I enjoyed our preseason being a bit different, in starting at the end."
"I think that's been the whole process in the off-season so far. How do we be that one step better? How do we close out games? One or two possessions better than we did."
Enter Jack White and Marcus Lee.
Jack White was in his hotel room in Los Angeles during Game 5.
He was a member of the United team that won the NBL title back in 2021, and was a consistent feature at Hoop City -- United's practice facility -- even as he was jumping between NBA and G-League teams over the past few seasons. White was once a teammate of a lot of the United team on the floor, and watched that final game through the lens of someone still wearing the jersey.
"Yeah, it sucked... for them to get that close, it definitely sucked to see it go down that way," White said.
It wasn't long after that game when White signed a new two-year deal with United, hoping to be a difference-maker as they aim to get over the line this time around. The 6'6 forward effectively replaced Luke Travers, who signed a two-way deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers; and, what United loses in creation and height, they gain in White's more powerful game that comes with a more consistent jump-shot.
"I guess I bring a good voice and energy to, especially, practice," White said. "I feel like I'm a good communicator, and eager to learn. I love to win. I hate losing. I don't know if I do anything necessarily better [than last year], but I guess I pride myself on being a really good competitor and versatile player."
Breakers import Freddie Gillespie is in hot water following a headbutt to Shane Bruce of the Sydney Kings late in the fourth quarter.
Retooling for the new season also meant replacing Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. and Ariel Hukporti, both of whom were significant parts of the team, and widely regarded as the best big-man duo in the NBL over that campaign.
The team also brought in Marcus Lee -- who was a member of United back in the 2022-23 season, before joining the JackJumpers for their title-winning run -- as well as Rob Loe.
"I think we bring a different dynamic," Clark said. "Bringing Rob back was pretty big. My first time playing with Jack is gonna be fun. We see the athleticism that he's been showing over the preseason, and his ability to stretch the floor; also, Rob, the same way. It just opens it up for guys like Shili and Delly to get downhill, and me and CG, having space and opportunity to either shoot or put the ball on the floor.
"We've still got that dynamic roller with Marcus. It's bittersweet coming out from last year, and him winning it, but it's just another piece we've got of a guy that's been there and understands it. I think we've got a lot of pieces; we've just gotta put it together."
Goulding is still looking like his elite-shooting self, while United is hopeful for a career year from Shea Ili, who dealt with an ongoing shoulder injury over the course of last season.
Boomers great Luc Longley neglects to share any specific thoughts on Brian Goorjian's replacement as national coach, but hopes to be involved in the search.
Part of those small changes is also Vickerman's hope that he gets slight improvements from the entire playing group.
"We've seen Shea in the preseason in FIBA, to say he is that 5% better," Vickerman said.
"Can we get that from the bench group, where I didn't play them enough? There wasn't enough trust in Flynn Cameron and Tanner Krebs, and Kyle Bowen, for the magnitude of the moment in a five-game series, about those possessions that were so important.
"Now, as we move through the season, they continue to understand that they need to help us in a Grand Final series, and need to be able to have the physicality and defensive coverage shot-making in big moments, to really help us. If we drive that development, then our guys don't tire as much as they did in that Finals series. We can rest them a little bit more, and know we have sustained pressure on the floor."
It's largely the same group in Melbourne, with small tweaks here and there. What United lost in talent, they made up for in what's arguably a more balanced, hierarchised team.
"We're all defensively minded," Lee said.
"They were already a great defensive team, and then I get to add that second layer of commanding the defensive in the background. Also, it's a lob threat that they had with Ariel and with JLA.
"Me and Delly, and I just think the team in general, we're a bunch of vets, and we're all really smart. Immediately, once we got on the court, we're talking to each other, we're trying to learn each other. Even in some of the preseason games, you see us attempting to do things; we may fail, but we're laughing, we're still talking, trying to figure each other out as fast as possible. One of our big things this year is: we need to fail fast, so we can get ready and get going as fast as possible."
That's where the uniqueness of United's roster build is on show; what value they don't have in crazily dynamic imports, they instead get in being able to more quickly process the game than other teams in the league.
"A lot of us aren't the most flashy, athletic guys," Goulding said. "But, we can think our way through a game, and think our way through some problems that may occur throughout a game."
Using context as motivation
Clark called it "unfinished business".
Dellavedova mentioned how losing gave him a cruel reminder of the significance of each possession.
Vickerman has the image of the JackJumpers receiving the Dr. John Raschke Trophy etched into his brain.
It's that context that acts as fuel to the fire of a United team that desperately doesn't want to experience the same disappointment they did at the end of last season.
What's fascinating is, while one would think that White and Lee are immune from that sort of motivating failure, their 'why' comes in a different form that's not dissimilar from one another.
Both have been part of championship-winning NBL teams, while not being able to actually hit the floor to close out those titles.
"I was feeling the disappointment on behalf of the group when I was watching in the States, and feeling like I have unfinished goals and aspirations to win a championship here, but actually be on the court for it and not on the sidelines doing calf raises," White said. "We all share that collective hunger to get back and get that chip."
While Lee had some meaningful moments during the JackJumpers' championship run, he also missed games due to a suspension, a shoulder concern, and ultimately a knee injury that saw him confined to the sidelines for that Game 5.
"I didn't get to play in the last two games," Lee said. "In my heart, I feel like I didn't fully earn that win. This season, it's a lot more for me, to get all the way through and win it, and be there on the court and win it."
It's redemption of the minds of every United player -- even for the one who won it all last season -- and they open the new season with a Championship Series rematch against the JackJumpers. That matchup should be as effective a reminder as any for this United team, to use the context of last season's outcome to make sure they achieve a different one this time around.