Preview: Illawarra vs Melbourne (Round 4)

Thursday, October 19, 2023

The bottom of the ladder Hawks host the high-flying Melbourne United in Friday night hoops.

Friday, October 20 at 7:30pm AEDT | WIN Entertainment Centre

Watch: Live on ESPN via Kayo Sports - International viewership details
Box scores: Download the free NBL App

Melbourne United and Illawarra enter this game at opposite ends of the table. So far this season, United has dropped just one of their five games, while the Hawks have won just one of their four.

Illawarra’s Mason Peatling has been ruled out of a return clash with his former side due to a fractured cheekbone, but Jo Lual-Acuil Jr will return for his first appearance since re-signing with Melbourne, after recovering from a wrist injury.

Former Hawk Damon Lowery called on his former side to be harder on itself, following last week’s fourth quarter collapse against Adelaide mid-week.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Celebrity lookalikes ? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeRiseTogether?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeRiseTogether</a> <a href="https://t.co/KO7UTsT2dr">pic.twitter.com/KO7UTsT2dr</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1714516467239239826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Illawarra
80-89 defeat to Adelaide
73-103 defeat to Tasmania
11-106 win over South East Melbourne

Melbourne
89-78 win over Brisbane
88-81 win over Perth
75-80 loss to Tasmania

Playerstowatch

Illawarra
Justin Robinson

After absolutely dominating in Illawarra’s win over South East Melbourne, Hawks import Justin Robinson struggled in his side’s loss to Adelaide, and some questions were raised over the effectiveness of his side’s backcourt down the stretch against the 36ers.

Robinson hit just one of 15 field goal attempts – including zero of five attempted threes – and one of two free throws, to have one of the most ineffective shooting nights in recent NBL history – and Illawarra slumped to a nine-point defeat despite heading into three-quarter time with a six-point lead.

Everyone knows that when Robinson is cooking he’s an incredible offensive scorer and facilitator – you just need to look at his 26 points and seven assists, not even one week earlier against South East Melbourne.

The former NBA guard needs a bounce-back game to silence the whispering critics though, and a likely one-two punch of Shea Ili and Ian Clark will not make that easy.

“He had a bad night, there’s players that have bad nights. We played him down the back stretch – he’s our point guard right now and we’ve got to ride that wave with him. He’s not going to be down too long and we’ve got to stay upbeat … it was a tough day for him, I’m not going to kick him – he knows it. Looking at it it’s worth than I thought but we’ve got to take it for what it is because he’s a better player than that.” – Jacob Jackomas on Justin Robinson following the loss to Adelaide.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Come for the Justin Robinson handle, stay for the Gary Clark jam ?<br><br>Catch the action live on ESPN via Kayo ? <a href="https://t.co/1Tap1eB5ai">pic.twitter.com/1Tap1eB5ai</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1713088595899134161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Melbourne
Jo Lual-Acuil Jr

It’s taken longer than NBL fans would have liked, but Jo Lual-Acuil Jr has been confirmed to make his second debut for Melbourne United this weekend – and is as far as five weeks ahead of schedule in his return from the wrist injury he suffered whilst playing in Lebanon.

Ariel Hukporti has thrived as Melbourne’s starting centre in Lual-Acuil Jr’s absence and currently leads the NBL in rebounds, offensive rebounds and blocks, while injury replacement player Rob Loe has added an extra floor-stretching dimension off the bench.

While Loe will stay active in Melbourne’s lineup following the injury to Matthew Dellavedova, Lual-Acuil Jr’s inclusion – while a massive positive – does raise some questions around United.

How rusty will the former MVP candidate be? How does Hukporti’s role change now Lual-Acuil Jr is back? What does Rob Loe’s contribution look like both this weekend and for the remainder of the season?

All those questions will be answered in time but for now, let’s just enjoy having one of the NBL’s most entertaining and talented players back on the floor.

“I thought he (Lual-Acuil Jr) came back in with a really good mindset today. He’s such an aggressive, attacking player who drew other people into the game today and shared the basketball, and that’s what you want to see from a player returning, not trying to come in and dominate straight away which at points of the season we know he’s going to.” – Dean Vickerman in a mid-week press conference.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">HE'S BACK ??<br>Jo Lual-Acuil Jr is set to make his season debut on Friday evening in Wollongong. <br>Get your tickets for Sunday's home game to welcome him back: <a href="https://t.co/Q3DsujvwId">https://t.co/Q3DsujvwId</a> <br>Delly will sit out our pair of Round 4 games & Rob Loe will remain in the squad.</p>— Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1714487508002902241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Tyler Harvey vs Chris Goulding
Shooters shoot, but two of the top sharpshooters in the NBL have had some seriously conflicting fortunes in recent weeks, but should one of Tyler Harvey or Chris Goulding enter the game with a hot hand, we’ve all seen they each have the potential to win games for their team.

Harvey seemed to have the licence to shoot what and when he wanted as he led the injury-hit Hawks in NBL23, but now there’s more help around him it looks like he’s struggling to adapt to having extra offensive weapons around him.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tyler Harvey dances his way to the bucket for 2?? ?<br><br>Catch the action live on ESPN via Kayo ? <a href="https://t.co/ePb4OKevSh">pic.twitter.com/ePb4OKevSh</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1710553516752724294?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

His points per game and three-point percentage are at an all-time low when compared to the other three seasons of his NBL career, and he’s come under fire for taking questionable shots from range early in the shot clock.

Goulding looked to have turned a corner last week as Melbourne’s offence shifted to giving him more looks from three and dialling in on whoever had momentum on the offensive end. He scored 18 points in each of Melbourne’s Round 3 games and took 24 of his 28 shot attempts in Round 3 from range.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lights, camera, Chris Goulding ?<br><br>He's got 15 in the first half. <br><br>? ESPN via Kayo Freebies | 10 Peach & 10 Play <a href="https://t.co/2eJpzaWJsp">pic.twitter.com/2eJpzaWJsp</a></p>— Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1713401368961307003?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 15, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

With Matthew Dellavedova set to sit out with concussion, 'CG43' could get even more looks in Melbourne’s double-header this weekend.

Melbourne looks to have figured out how to involved a previously (slightly) struggling shooting star into its offence this past week – can the Hawks follow suit with Harvey against the NBL’s best defensive team?

The Illawarra Hawks are allowing their opposition to score more points per game than any other team in the NBL at 98.5 per game. Conversely, Melbourne has the stingiest defence in the competition and is allowing just 76 points per game so far in NBL24.

Gettyimages 1723476291
Ariel Hukporti has been key to Melbourne's stingy defence and currently leads the league in blocked shots.