Chris Goulding and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr have stolen the headlines from Melbourne’s Sunday afternoon Throwdown victory, but Goulding has praised the impact of the club’s depth players in helping guide United to the high-profile win.

United entered the clash without the services of Matthew Dellavedova, Ian Clark and Luke Travers all through injury, while Ariel Hukporti played despite suffering a knock to his knee in Round 6.

Goulding earned Foot Locker Player of the Game honours for his 27 points, while Lual-Acuil Jr was a dominant force in the paint with a 26-point double-double.

Goulding singled New Zealand-born guard Flynn Cameron out for stepping up into the breach left by the absent Dellavedova and Clark.

“My thoughts are I’m really proud of the way he handled himself tonight,” Goulding said of Cameron post-game. “For a lot of guys it was a big game and a big opportunity and I think the best thing I see with that is he’s a worker.

“He works, and he works and he works. The way I think – that’s why you work, so when opportunity presents itself you’re there to take it and grab it, and that’s what he did. It doesn’t surprise me one bit.

“We have a system and a style of play we want to live with. When you’re coming into extended minutes the best thing you can do is to do the things the team values and your club values.

“First possession Campbell Blogg lays some wood on a guy and gets his first rebound. That’s the thing we value. Missed a shot? Doesn’t matter, he locked down and got a couple of good stops and three good rebounds in a physical sense.

“For Flynn to trust himself – guys are out so you have to be aggressive and trust you’ve done what you need to get yourself ready for these games and both of them did that.”

Goulding was named Foot Locker Player of the Game for his 27-point performance, while Lual-Acuil Jr starred with a 26-point double-double, with only a handful of missed free throws limiting him from tying his career-high of 30 points.

That game incidentally also came against the Phoenix in NBL22, and Goulding praised the way the entire unit played around the form of both himself and ‘JLA’.

“I think when there’s deficits in that finishing of plays area compared to what we usually have the guys kind of organically found me at the back end of the shot clock,” he said.

“There were some God-awful decisions from me in there at times but I needed to be aggressive. I thought we did a good job with Rob (Loe) in the game, when KB was in the game, identifying when they’d sent two at me and then drop it down and trust them to make plays.

“We didn’t see too many low-post post ups from Jo tonight where maybe they’d have sent a double. We did a good job of getting him in isolation spots at the elbow with him bringing the ball up.

“When that happens and they’re guarding me a certain type of way it really opens up some space for him in the same way when he’s getting bucket after bucket, they’ll naturally sag in a little bit and it’ll open up for the guards. I think there was a really good balance.”

Victories to both Melbourne and Sydney have set up a top of the table clash between United and the Kings on Sunday, where United will once again be the home team, after they were the away team against the Phoenix.

Goulding says he’s looking forward to the challenge Sydney’s unique defensive system will present.

“Early feel [is the Kings are a] good team. [It’s a] new system, different system to what we’ve seen in a little while in the NBL,” he said.

“Like always we’ll lean on our coaches to give us the best plan possible. I’m sure there’ll be a big crowd. Our fans have been turning out in droves and it’s so good ... hopefully we’ll gave a good game plan and try to get a win.”

Melbourne and Sydney will clash on Sunday, November 19 at 4pm AEDT – live on ESPN via Kayo Freebies, 10 Peach and 10 Play.