How good can Melbourne be?

Melbourne United are absolutely flying in NBL24. Eight rounds and 12 games into the season they’ve lost just one game in regulation, and are currently sitting pretty on top of the ladder with a 10-2 record.

The terrifying thing for opposition teams is the entire United roster has been fit for a total of just 47 seconds this season. Jo Lual-Acuil Jr, Matthew Dellavedova, Ian Clark and Luke Travers have all spent time on the sidelines, and they’re all set to be rip-roaring ready to go for Round 9.

United’s star starting five is supplemented with one of the deepest – on paper – benches in the NBL. NBA champion Ian Clark and exciting Next Star Ariel Hukporti are leading a bench unit that could rival the quality of other starting fives in the competition.

NBL legend Derek Rucker believes this Melbourne team has the potential to be one of the greatest ever seen in Australian basketball.

“If they go 24-4 and dominate the NBL finals I’d think about putting them down as one of the strongest teams in NBL history, up there with the 1997 Melbourne Tigers ... the 2007 Bullets,” Rucker said on NBL Now.

“Those teams are the pinnacles of this competition. If this team can go strong I’m thinking of putting them right there in that category.

“Dean Vickerman is willing to play those young guys which makes me look at all the other coaches around the league and say ‘where is your manhood? Why are you so afraid to put people out there to do what you’re supposedly training them to be good at?’.

“I had never heard of Campbell Blogg until two weeks ago, and in another game Kyle Bowen had 16 rebounds, I did a deep dive on this guy, because I hadn’t heard of him either.

“It’s about the system, it’s about the infrastructure, it’s about your values and what you instil on a daily basis into your players and what’s important.”

Despite the quality nature of Melbourne’s roster and its swathe of league-leading players like Travers, Lual-Acuil Jr and Travers, Chris Goulding is undoubtedly the head of the snake.

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The 35-year-old headed to the free throw line to ‘MVP’ chants against the Sydney Kings, and is currently averaging 18.7 points per game – a mark that is only bettered by his historically good 2014 season with the Tigers.

“CG43 is Russell Crowe in Gladiator. He’s the leader of this team,” Damon Lowery said.

“He’s the one that even when they’re locked up he galvanised the rest of the prisoners to galvanise the rest of the prisoners to go and kick some ass. John Cain Arena is the coliseum and CG43 is Russell Crowe.”

Derek Rucker – while disagreeing with Lowery’s Gladiator reference – seconded the former Illawarra Hawk’s opinions on Goulding’s status as the benchmark of this United side.

“I do agree with you in terms of leading those troops. Sunday they were done, they were cooked. Sydney built a strong lead in the first half and even in the second half it looked like they were still in control,” Rucker added.

“There’s something special about being able to captivate an audience, not just any audience – a full John Cain Arena against Sydney. I’m not sure if in the regular season it gets bigger than that.

“Chris, he’s a top eight all-time three-point shooter. 6000+ career points now, [three]-time championship winner, bronze medal winner, you’re talking about now probably one of the top 15 careers in Australian history.”