Big Sauce Ready to Heat Up

Alan Williams lit up the NBL during his first season in the competition, and after a successful off-season stint in Japan, ‘Big Sauce’ is ready to hit the ground running in NBL24.

Williams’ performances for South East Melbourne in NBL23 placed him in contention for an All-NBL berth, and his arrival with the Nagoya Dolphins in the Japanese B. League coincided with the side’s surge up the ladder.

The team registered a 15-4 record during his time at the club, where he averaged 14.5 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.

“The B. League does a really good job in bringing in foreign talent,” Williams told Phoenix Media. “Typically, the foreigners are bigs which typically means more post-up opportunities for guys.

“I think it gave me decent preparation for NBL24. The NBL season is pretty short, there aren’t a lot of games – so it’s easier to take that time off and wait – but I wanted to stay in game-ready shape throughout the summer.

“I was able to play well and contribute to most of my team’s success at the end of the season.”

Williams’ stint with Nagoya came to an unfortunate end though, as concussion ruled him out of the best of three quarter-finals series against Ryukyu.

“There were some really good guys that I got to play with and great people within the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins organisation,” he said.

“I felt like I owed it to them to be there in any capacity, whether that was filling up water bottles, washing them out, or carrying bags. I still wanted my impact to be felt – to let the guys know that I am with them.”

Williams is currently resting at home in Phoenix, Arizona before heading back to Melbourne for his second season with the Phoenix.

South East Melbourne’s opening game of NBL24 is fixtured to come against Melbourne United on Thursday, September 28.