Tatum shrugged off questions about his testy interaction with veteran referee Vaughan Mayberry late in his club’s semi-final win last Wednesday where the coach’s microphone picked him up telling Mayberry he wouldn’t talk to him as “you don’t like my kind”.
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“You can take it as you want,” Tatum said.
“I don’t remember the situation and all I’m worried about is tonight’s game.”
Mayberry, who has won the last four NBL referee of the year awards, didn’t referee game one with Michael Aylen, Chris Reid and Nico Fernandez running the game.
Tatum said he had no problem with Mayberry officiating games in this series.
Tatum was fined $3000 in October for calling referees “incompetent” following a loss to Melbourne United, after that game he questioned in the post-game press conference whether the referees were intimidated by his tall build, deep voice or dark skin.
Illawarra coach Justin Tatum.Credit: Getty Images
“The referees are who they are and there is nothing to be said about them,” Tatum said after game one.
“Whatever I say or don’t say about the referees, the NBL will use against me.
“They just used my quotes from the last game, that they fined me for, to pump up this game so the officials and the NBL don’t need any extra attention. It’s all about wins and loses with us and the Hawks.”
Chris Goulding had just four points in the first three quarters but he found his range in the last to finish with 15 points while Clark was a constant threat with 14 points while centre Marcus Lee was outstanding with 14 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks.
“I thought he [Dellavedova] had an elite second half,” United coach Dean Vickerman said.
Melbourne United’s Ian Clark throws a pass.Credit: Getty Images
“His response and our whole team’s response was fantastic. There was a search to try and continue to get CG [Goulding] open and, at times, it left Delly open at the end of the shot clock for floaters or open threes and he was good enough to knock them down.”
It was far from Melbourne’s best performance but they showed the grit needed to grind out a win under the bright lights.
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“They are a really great team so we had to throw a punch first,” Lee told ESPN post game
“I took it personally, I knew my team needed me and I had their back.”
Game two of the NBL championship series is at John Cain Arena on Wednesday at 7.30pm AEDT.
