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Full Noise by SN
Running It Straight is back!Why Copeland is giving the JackJumpers a chance against United
Nicholas Quinlan • March 3rd, 2026 6:27 pm
With the NBL Finals about to get underway, Melbourne Tigers legend Lanard Copeland has given his prediction for who will win the first two play-in games.
With the regular season coming to an end, it now means only six teams remain with a chance of lifting the Dr John Raschke Trophy at the end of the Championship series.
In the first of the play-in matches, the 3rd-placed Southeast Melbourne Phoenix take on the 4th-placed Perth Wildcats.
With the winner of this match directly booking their spot in the semi-final series against the Adelaide 36ers, the two-time NBL Champion believes that Southeast Melbourne’s shooting could help them win by a fair margin, despite the Wildcats having the better form coming into the match.
“Well, I'll tell you what, everyone's saying they like Perth because Perth is playing better basketball now that (shooting guard) David Duke Jr. (is) back,” Copeland told SEN’s The Run Home with Andy and Gazey.
“But I just think because Southeast Melbourne are that type of team that have been playing fantastic defence the whole year and they shoot the ball. They shoot more threes than anybody I've ever seen in my life.
“If they get hot and they can and they have time to work on their defence (and) if they get hot, they're gonna blow Perth out of the water.
“I just feel like Southeast Melbourne are a better team and they're going win the game.”
While the loser between the Phoenix and Wildcats will still keep their championship chances alive, it’s not the same case for Melbourne United and the Tasmanian JackJumpers.
Having finished 5th and 6th respectively, the loser will see their season come to an end.
It’s not the first time these sides have faced one another in the finals, with this being the third time in the last five final series that both sides have met.
And while Copeland acknowledges that the JackJumpers are capable of the upset, he has last year’s runner-up in United progressing into the Play-In Game.
“If you have any common sense and you know basketball, of course, you give them a chance,” he said.
“Because for some strange reason, they play better at John Cain Arena than they played anywhere else in Australia.
“It's just something about the arena, something about coming down, playing in the playoffs (at John Cain Arena) over the last couple of years and winning games that, that got them to the championship and won a championship that gets them fired up.
“Now they don't have the same squad. But they have the same belief, and they have the same coach, and they got some of the same players.
“So, you certainly give them a chance. Melbourne United have not been the Melbourne United of old.
“I still think they'll win it…but barely.
“You never count out the JackJumpers. The JackJumpers will always have a chance.”
The play-in matches get underway on March 4 when the Phoenix host the Wildcats at John Cain Arena in the Seeding Qualifier.
That will then be followed the day after by Melbourne United taking on the Tasmanian JackJumpers at the same venue in the Play-In Qualifier.
Tip-off for both matches takes place at 7:30pm AEDT.
