Rucker: Big scalp sparks belief for Phoenix

Arguably, the biggest statement win of the weekend belonged to South East Melbourne.

The Phoenix smashed crosstown rivals Melbourne 111-86 on Sunday, marking not only their biggest ever Throwdown win, but also their highest score in the matchup.

Further to that, it represented the first time Josh King’s side had defeated either of the competition’s top two sides, Adelaide or Melbourne, during the Hungry Jack's NBL26 season.

On Monday’s episode of Moments That Mattered, presented by Mitsubishi Motors, 1990 NBL MVP Derek Rucker said the Round 11 victory could be a pivotal moment in the Phoenix's championship charge.

“I thought the energy that they played with on the defensive end, and had been successful against lesser teams, finally came to effect against one of the best teams in the competition,” Rucker said on Moments That Mattered.

“South East Melbourne finally gets a big scalp, and I believe it will do tremendous things for their confidence.

“They can take a deep breath now, reset themselves and try and push on from here.”

On the flip side, the result handed United their fourth loss in eight games, after starting the NBL26 campaign 9-0.

“United’s Dean Vickerman rolls the dice and tries to go with a different starting lineup, removes Jesse Edwards, removes Chris Goulding, removes Milton Doyle, and it didn't work out,” Rucker said.

“Melbourne United only put up 86 points, while being really bad on the defensive end, giving up 111.

“You take this type of risk, and you hope it works out for you, but it goes totally the other way and results in a 25-point disastrous loss on a prime TV spot.”

Rucker also questioned what kind of impact the lineup shift would have on someone like Jesse Edwards, who only managed 6 points and 1 rebound in 16 minutes on Sunday.

“How does it affect Jesse Edwards going forward? Is this a blow to his ego? Does he take this as a burden and take it the wrong way?” Rucker said.

“He wasn't good in yesterday's game. I don't know Jesse Edwards, so I don't know what type of resilience he is equipped with to deal with this.

“He is the guy who is the differential point with the rest of the league. You need him to be really good. You need him to be able to check the other bigs in the competition, including someone they face this Friday night, Isaac Humphries.”

Bigger picture, while they suffered two tough losses in Round 11, Rucker still doesn’t believe it's time to panic for United.

“They're structurally super sound, and they know how to win basketball games, but they're going through something right now in their last eight games,” he said.

United travels to Adelaide on Friday night to end their two-game losing streak against the new league leaders, the 36ers.

That top of the table clash tips off at 7.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.