Preview: South East Melbourne vs Melbourne - Round 11, NBL24

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Can Melbourne United complete a regular season sweep of South East Melbourne, or can the Phoenix rise?

Thursday, December 14 at 7:30pm AEDT | John Cain Arena

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

South East Melbourne announced the signing of former NBA wing Abdel Nader to replace Will Cummings on the roster, however given Nader will only arrive in Melbourne on Thursday, a Throwdown debut seems highly unlikely.

Melbourne head coach Dean Vickerman praised the noise levels of United fans at Phoenix home games, and stated it’s usually a 50/50 split between fans.

Alan Williams and Damon Lowery praised the form of Phoenix wing Matt Kenyon, but Derek Rucker believes the addition of Ian Clark to Melbourne’s active roster turns them from ‘beatable’ to almost unstoppable.

Should Melbourne lose to the Phoenix, South East Melbourne will be just two games behind United on the ladder.

South East Melbourne
104-94 win over Sydney
90-79 win over New Zealand
93-96 loss to Adelaide

Melbourne
103-68 win over Brisbane
103-115 loss to Cairns
105-93 win over Sydney

Alan Williams
Last time these teams met, the performance of Alan Williams perfectly summed up the performance of the Phoenix.

If anything, that just shows how crucial Williams is to the Phoenix’s fortunes, and when the chips were down last time he was off the floor having fouled out for the third time in as many games – and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr ate.

While Williams has continued to toe the proverbial foul line since then, he hasn’t fouled out of any of his last three games, and has put up double-doubles in each of those contests – including a near triple-double in the win over New Zealand.

Williams vs Lual-Acuil Jr is one of the most mouth-watering matchups between two of the competition’s top players whenever they face off, and if Williams can stay on the floor and not foul out this time, it will likely be a more even contest than last time out.

“I’m a big guy, I’m not a little big man, I’m not a skinny, long, crazy athletic big man. I’m a power big and at times I can overpower somebody guarding me or the person I’m guarding and often it leads to fouls. It’s been the case my whole career. Hopefully I can change it one day and get you a game where I play 33, 34 minutes – that would be amazing.” – Alan Williams on NBL Overtime.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/alantwilliams?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@alantwilliams</a> previews the much anticipated Throwdown on Thursday night ?<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLOvertime?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLOvertime</a> on ESPN via Kayo <a href="https://t.co/koq0ekZZx9">pic.twitter.com/koq0ekZZx9</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1734502056956932272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Ian Clark
When Ian Clark signed for Melbourne United in the NBL24 pre-season, it was likened to “Luke Skywalker joining the dark side” by News Corp.

The incredible thing is as good and loved as he was in Sydney, Clark may have found an even better NBL niche for himself in Melbourne in the talent-laden guard rotation of Shea Ili, Mattew Dellavedova and Chris Goulding.

Clark made his return from injury in Melbourne’s Round 10 rollicking of Brisbane and had 14 points, and the NBL champion will likely only continue to improve as he gets his feet back under him in match play.

The fact that Round 10 was the first time Melbourne started and finished a game with its full roster is scary, but the fact it’s Ian Clark and Matthew Dellavedova who are the players still searching for full match fitness is downright terrifying.

“Melbourne United look really good and the key is Ian Clark that guy changes them from a team that is beatable at times – I’m not saying they’re not the championship leader without him – but when he's in the lineup there’s no one else that can go with them.” – Derek Rucker on NBL Now.

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Matt Kenyon vs Chris Goulding
What a rebirth it’s been for Matt Kenyon in the past few weeks. The three-and-d wing has established himself as the defensive linchpin of this South East Melbourne side, and now that Craig Moller will be sidelined for the season, that role has just become infinitely more important for the Phoenix.

When United and the Phoenix last met, Goulding went haywire. He top scored with 27 points and kick-started a ridiculous run of scoring that has catapulted him into MVP calculations, but South East Melbourne – and Kenyon – have altered their defensive structure since then.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Matt Kenyon is getting it done on both ends against his old side ?<br><br>Catch the action live on ESPN via Kayo ? <a href="https://t.co/MttM29l7OF">pic.twitter.com/MttM29l7OF</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1713125941977727035?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Goulding has a love of putting the Phoenix to the sword, and regardless of who you have on your roster he’s one of the most difficult defensive covers in the league.

That 27-point outing acted as the circuit-breaker from a run of untypically underwhelming performances against United’s crosstown rivals, and he’s only found his hot hand even more since that Round 7 matchup.

Kenyon has been earning plenty of praise over the past couple of weeks for his elite defensive play and effort in getting stuck into the down and dirty aspects of the game, but a red-hot Chris Goulding on a firing United side is a different type of challenge all together.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Some fun numbers to add<br><br>25 players have attempted more than 48 threes in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL24?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL24</a> <br><br>Here’s the top 3 of those based on %<br><br>Chris Goulding - 148 attempts @ 43.2%<br>Denzel Valentine - 91 attempts @ 39.6%<br>Bul Kuol - 69 attempts @ 39.1%<br><br>Goulding has made 24 more threes than anyone else <a href="https://t.co/cbNmfGzI1b">https://t.co/cbNmfGzI1b</a></p>— Peter Hooley (@PeterHooley12) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeterHooley12/status/1734378946790371778?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Melbourne has won the second half in ten of its last 11games against South East Melbourne. Can the Phoenix buck the trend and finish strong, or will they be relying on a monster first half to get over the line?

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Jo Lual-Acuil Jr.