Melbourne United need four things to secure NBL glory in game four of the championship series, according to club legend and assistant coach David Barlow.

And United, he says, have all four in spades.

"To win games like these, I think teams have to be talented for starters, but they have to be tough, smart and competitive," the five-time NBL champion told AAP.

What Barlow has called a "rollercoaster" of a championship series could come to an end at John Cain Arena on Wednesday as Illawarra fight for their dream of a second NBL title.

The Hawks clinched their only win of the first three games with a late Tyler Harvey three-pointer in game two, before United pulled ahead in the series with a Matthew Dellavedova-inspired victory in Wollongong on Sunday.

That win put United 2-1 up in the series and eyeing their seventh title as a franchise.

"It's always a little bit of a rollercoaster these finals series because you get so high after each win and you can get pretty low after losses, especially after say the one we had in game two," Barlow said.

"But whether you're really high after a win or low after a loss, you realise you've achieved nothing until you've won three games. I guess that's where we're kind of at at the moment."

Barlow's own playing career has given him confidence United have it in them to round out the series in Melbourne on Wednesday night.

The 41-year-old played on five NBL championship-winning teams in a professional career spanning the best part of 20 years.

He won the second two titles of the Sydney Kings' "three-peat" under Brian Goorjian in the 2000s, and was on the roster for three of Melbourne's championship wins as a franchise.

He sees similarities between the current United roster, boasting NBA champions Dellavedova, Ian Clark and Jack White, and his old firms.

"I look at all the championship teams I've been on and I look at the group as a whole but also at the individuals, and over and over again, you see toughness, intelligence and competitiveness," he said.

"I think we've got that."

Dellavedova's game-three performance epitomised Barlow's recipe for championship success.

The veteran point guard took United under his wing in the absence of concussed back-court partner Shea Ili to help come from behind for a six-point victory.

"If you think of Delly and the way he just never says die, how smart he is in executing an offence, his toughness in battling defensively," he said.

"These things just win you basketball games.

"But in our whole team, if you watch it enough, you'll see it in all of them."