NBL Abroad: Goulding Takes on 'Wemby'

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Just because the NBL is in its off-season, it doesn't mean the best players in the league are resting on their laurels and taking a break.

Stars of the Australian domestic competition are now competing all over the globe and getting important reps in ahead of NBL24.

Some of our best and brightest are on their way home following the culmination of numerous international seasons, including Melbourne United’s Chris Goulding – who took on consensus top NBA Draft prospect Victor Wembanyama’s Metropolitans 92 in the French LNB Pro A overnight.

Goulding’s Paris side was competing with league rivals Strasbourg and Graveline Dunkerque for the final playoff spot, and only a win would keep them in the running.

Wembanyama’s second-place Mets side proved too strong for Goulding and company though. Melbourne’s sharpshooting guard once again shot the ball to great effect to add 12 points and a pair of rebounds on four of nine shooting, but it wasn’t enough as Paris fell by just eight points.

NBL23 Perth import TaShawn Thomas added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Mets, while New Zealand’s Barry Brown Jr scored 12 points on debut for the side.

Former Breakers import Hugo Besson scored five points alongside Wembanyama, Thomas and Brown Jr.

DJ Mitchell’s playoff campaign in Poland has continued, and the Brisbane forward put together his strongest game in his stint at the club so far in the decisive playoff series win against Trefl.

In the fourth game of a potential five-game series, Mitchell added 14 points as Slask waltzed to a nine-point win.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="pl" dir="ltr">Kto odegra? najwa?niejsz? rol? we wczorajszym meczu? ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DumaMiasta?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DumaMiasta</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/plkpl?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#plkpl</a> <a href="https://t.co/Wq91A0VtTZ">pic.twitter.com/Wq91A0VtTZ</a></p>— WKS ?l?sk Wroc?aw - koszykówka (@WKS_SlaskBasket) <a href="https://twitter.com/WKS_SlaskBasket/status/1657670923921551361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 14, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Mitchell’s Slask side will now face Legia Warsaw at the semi-final stage of the competition.

Jo Lual-Acuil Jr has continued to absolutely dominate proceedings in Lebanon, and has led his Dynamo Lebanon side to a series sweep over Beirut Club.

Lual-Acuil Jr recorded more than 20 points in all three of his side’s semi-finals win, with two of those scoring performances coming as part of a double-double.

He also added four blocks in the decisive Game 3 win.

Dynamo will now take on Duop Reath’s Al Riyadi in the best-of-seven game finals series, starting May 20.

Sam Waardenburg struggled to impact proceedings in the first game of Riesen’s quarter-final series against Oldenburg, however his team emerged as 10-point winners in the first game of the series.

Mitch Creek is still injured in Puerto Rico, but his Mets de Guaynabo teammates Gary Browne and Tim Soares continue to prove integral to their team’s fortunes.

Browne added 22 points and 13 assists in the side’s most recent victory over Manati, while Soares added 17 points and eight boards in the same fixture.

Sam Froling and Alan Williams have both paid emotional farewells to their time in Japan, while Antonius Cleveland and Robert Franks have both finished their time in Israel.

Jack McVeigh’s time in Germany has finished on a high note after the JackJumpers forward helped his Heidelberg side not only avoid relegation to the country’s second division, but rise the table at the back end of the season.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It’s been a week since my 10 month season has finished.<br><br>Happy to say I’m already getting the itch to jump on the court and play some ones.<br><br>But rest is important.<br><br>So I’ll continue to take forced time off haha</p>— Jack McVeigh (@theJackMcVeigh) <a href="https://twitter.com/theJackMcVeigh/status/1657939757106888704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

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DJ Mitchell (Wroclaw Slask – Polish Basketball League, Poland)
vs Trefl – 6 points, 4 assists
vs Trefl – 14 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists

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Sam Waardenburg (Riesen Ludwigsburg – Basketball Bundesliga, Germany)
vs Oldenburg – 1 rebound

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Chris Goulding (Paris Basketball – LNB Pro A, France)
vs Bourg – 6 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist
vs Metropolitans 92 – 12 points, 2 rebounds

Jo Lual-Acuil Jr (Dynamo Lebanon – Lebanese Basketball League, Lebanon)
vs Beirut Club – 27 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists
vs Beirut Club – 23 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 blocks

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