Preview: Melbourne vs Illawarra - Round 5, NBL24

Friday, October 27, 2023

Melbourne and Illawarra have both already registered wins in Round 5 - but who can make it a clean sweep of their weekend?

Sunday, October 29 at 2pm AEDT | John Cain Arena

Watch: Live on ESPN via Kayo Freebies | 10 Peach and 10play - International viewership details
Box scores: Download the free NBL App

Melbourne and Illawarra have both already won in Round 5. The Hawks won a heart-stopper over Cairns on Thursday, while United held off Tasmania on Friday.

Hawks coach Jacob Jackomas declared the win over Cairns as “a relief”, but called on his side to make winning a habit as the season progresses.

Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman took charge of his 300^th game in the win over Tasmania, and has the best winning record of anyone to coach that many games in the competition aside from former Illawarra coach Brian Goorjian.

Matthew Dellavedova will remain absent from United’s roster, as he continues to recover from concussion.

Melbourne
90-82 win over Tasmania
97-88 win over New Zealand
101-91 win over Illawarra

Illawarra
84-83 win over Cairns
91-101 loss to Melbourne
80-89 loss to Adelaide

Kyle Bowen
United has a level of quality coming off the bench most other NBL sides can only dream of, and while Jo Lual-Acuil Jr once again stepped up in a big way for Melbourne in the win over Tasmania, it was the shooting of Kyle Bowen that helped lay the bedrock for a big victory over the proclaimed ‘title favourites’.

Bowen has been switching between the backup power forward and center positions so far this season, and the return of Lual-Acuil Jr to the active roster has allowed him to play more minutes at the four spot and start to showcase his unconventional but effective jump-shot.

It looked like Tasmania’s scout indicated an ability to leave Bowen open and – much like Matt Kenyon in Round 3 – the JackJumpers were made to pay for the disrespect.

Bowen finished with a career-high 17 points on 7-11 shooting against one of the top defences in the competition, including 3-5 three-point attempts.

Maybe Jacob Jackomas and the Hawks will realise it’s not a great idea to leave the Saint Mary’s product unmarked on the arc.

“Kyle Bowen came out and needed to prove to some teams in this league that he can really shoot the basketball. They gave him some opportunities, he knocked them in and then just kept going as well. Huge night for him.” – Dean Vickerman following the win over Tasmania.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kyle Bowen & Ian Clark are leading the way with 17 points each. <br><br>? ESPN via Kayo <a href="https://t.co/AKJiDrL85d">pic.twitter.com/AKJiDrL85d</a></p>— Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1717843606609052124?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Tyler Harvey
Is there a more clutch player currently in the NBL than Tyler Harvey? Time and time again he’s single-handedly willed Illawarra back into games over the last three seasons – and he nailed another incredible game-winner against Cairns to back up his effort against New Zealand in NBL23.

Harvey has come under considerable criticism during the Hawks’ poor run this season for his shot selection and an apparent inability to involve teammates early in the shot clock, but he was back to his best in the final few minutes against Cairns to lead Illawarra to an unlikely and heartwarming win.

Jacob Jackomas has already spoken about the wave of relief that win has provided his side, but if Illawarra is to become a force this season, Harvey needs to step up in that fashion more often.

“I turned around to my assistants and said that’s why we have him – in that space he always gives us a chance. I’m happy for him too, he takes a lot of the brunt of the blame and it’s good people can be reminded of how special he is a the end of the clock.” – Jacob Jackomas following Tyler Harvey’s game-winner against Cairns.

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Sam Froling vs Jo Lual-Acuil Jr and Ariel Hukporti
Jo Lual-Acuil Jr has been coming off the bench since his return to action for Melbourne United, but against Tasmania he pressed his case for why he deserves recall to the starting five.

That’s no knock on the performances of Ariel Hukporti though – the Next Star was equally as impressive as the former MVP nominee in stretches of the win over Tasmania, and the pair proved to be uncontainable one-two punch for the JackJumpers – who had both bigs Marcus Lee and Fabijan Krslovic in foul trouble.

Sam Froling pulled together one of his best games of the young season in Illawarra’s win over Cairns, and dominated Sam Mennenga, Sam Waardenburg and AK Gak in the paint, however the one-two punch of Hukporti and Lual-Acuil Jr has already proven too much to handle for the Hawks this season.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">JLA is having his way ?<br><br>The big fella is up to 13 points and eight boards at the half ?<br><br>Catch the second half live on ESPN via Kayo ?<br>? <a href="https://t.co/8oeQ1SEtRb">pic.twitter.com/8oeQ1SEtRb</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1717835668867473896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

When these sides met in Round 4, Hukporti starred with a 21-point, 10 rebound double-double, while Lual-Acuil Jr finished with 12 points in just 15 minutes of action.

Froling, on the other hand, scored eight points on 3-12 shooting and pulled in five boards.

Froling has shown flashes of his ability to be one of the best centers in the NBL, and why he’s a genuine Boomers prospect for the upcoming Olympics. This United pair will represent and incredible test of his mettle.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Now that’s how you start a game ?<br><br>Catch all the action live on ESPN via Kayo ? <a href="https://t.co/S6ypezEwcS">pic.twitter.com/S6ypezEwcS</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1717462492174270956?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Shea Ili recorded a career-high eight assists last time these teams met, while Ariel Hukporti recorded a career-high 21 points. The Hawks are also the worst defence in the NBL and are giving up an average of 96.3 points per game.

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