Preview: Perth vs Melbourne (Round 3)

Thursday, October 12, 2023

Another chapter will be written in one of the NBL's longest standing on-court rivalries, but the question remains - how will Luke Travers be received by Perth fans?

Friday, October 13 at 9:30pm AEDT | RAC Arena

Watch: Live on ESPN via Kayo Sports - International viewership details
Box scores: Download the free NBL App

Melbourne and Perth are both part of the logjam of teams that is entering Round 3 of NBL24 with a 2-1 record, however superior percentage means United sit pretty atop the table, while the Wildcats are languishing in fifth.

Corey Webster’s game-winner for the Wildcats last season will sit at the forefront of United’s memory heading into this clash, especially because that was the result that doomed Melbourne to totally miss out on the NBL23 post-season.

United will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing Round 2 defeat to Tasmania, where it looked to have the game locked up, before Milton Doyle led the JackJumpers on a 20-3 run in the fourth quarter, and a five-point win.

The Wildcats played just once in Round 2 and beat Adelaide by seven points. Alex Sarr’s trio of late triples has seen him surge as high as pick two in Bleacher Report’s latest 2024 NBA mock draft.

Perth
82-75 win over Adelaide
99-110 loss to South East Melbourne
101-95 win over Tasmania

Melbourne
75-80 loss to Tasmania
82-74 win over Adelaide
82-7 win over South East Melbourne

Kristian Doolittle
The late pre-season signing of Kristian Doolittle seems to have fallen under the radar in NBL circles, and the Japanese B. League D3 champion has sensationally told The West Australian that he’s not happy with his own performances in the season so far.

Doolittle has been learning on the run for John Rillie’s side, averaging just 3.7 points per game in his three games for the side so far.

He also went scoreless in the win over Adelaide.

That being said, Doolittle is providing an extra element of defensive bite into a Wildcats lineup that already features plenty of offensive weapons. If he can keep the score ticking over it would add another element for opposition defences to worry about.

“I was definitely hard on myself after the last game. Nobody wants to miss every shot they take, but my coaching staff let me know I impacted the game in different ways and not be too hard on myself. As I go forward I’ll keep in mind that not everything is based on scoring.” – Kristian Doolittle via The West Australian.

Kristian Doolittle

Luke Travers
The homecoming king is returning to his former kingdom on Friday night, and the reception Luke Travers receives from the Perth faithful offers one of the more intriguing side-stories of the upcoming round.

Travers had become synonymous with Perth during his time there, and he evolved from a development player into one of the most exciting talents in the NBL while there – along with being drafted to Cleveland.

While it didn’t seem like a wholly acrimonious exit, the fact Travers went to Melbourne will have felt like a slap in the face to some of the most rusted on Perth fans.

Regardless of how he’s received, there will be more pressure and emotion in this clash than any other this season for Travers, so it will be interesting to see how he performs under that weight of expectation.

It’s like when you see an ex-girlfriend and you still kind of love her. I think they’re going to boo him and give him a hard time, but it’s going to hurt them doing so. Luke Travers is a tremendous talent, he’s off to a pretty good start with Melbourne Untied, but these types of situations are where he needs to excel.” – Derek Rucker on NBL Now.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Started the 4th with an LT SLAM ?<br><br>? ESPN via Kayo Freebies | 10 Peach & 10 Play<a href="https://twitter.com/luke_travers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@luke_travers</a> <a href="https://t.co/RXZHd0a0KL">pic.twitter.com/RXZHd0a0KL</a></p>— Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1710874946334073045?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Bryce Cotton vs Chris Goulding
There’s absolutely no doubting Chris Goulding and Bryce Cotton are two of the biggest stars in the current NBL landscape, and with the massive amount of success they’ve experienced with their respective sides over the years, they both have runs on the board.

However, neither have quite lived up to their own lofty standards this season, with Goulding in particular not only struggling to get involved on Melbourne’s offence, but the Boomer is consistently being targeted by the opposition on the defensive end.

While the sample size of three games is admittedly small, Goulding is averaging his least points per game in a season since the 2011-12 campaign with Gold Coast, and shooting at his lowest clip since the 2007-08 season with Brisbane.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">How often do you think about Chris Goulding triples?<br>I'd say about weekly<br><br>? ESPN via Kayo Freebies | 10 Peach & 10 Play / <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisGoulding43?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChrisGoulding43</a> <a href="https://t.co/yYd4t4tMAS">pic.twitter.com/yYd4t4tMAS</a></p>— Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1708335581309333913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Cotton is in a similar boat. The sample size is equally as small, but his averaged of 15.7 points per game in NBL24 is the lowest of his NBL career by 4.2 points per game, and he’s shooting a touch above 35 per cent, when he’s never had a season below 40 per cent.

We’re three games into the new season, and we’re talking about two of the all-time greats off a small sample size, so those numbers should be taken with a pinch of salt, but can these two genuine NBL legends pick their game up and become the game-winners we all know they can be?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">So nice we had to show you twice ?<br><br>An up-close look at Bryce Cotton’s crazy no-look assist from Round 1 ?<br><br>Cotton and the <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PerthWildcats</a> are back in action tonight against the 36ers from 9:30pm AEDT on ESPN via Kayo ? <a href="https://t.co/1LcF33LBOJ">pic.twitter.com/1LcF33LBOJ</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1710177237952286862?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Since the start of NBL20 Melbourne has recorded a 77.8 per cent win rate (7-2) at RAC Arena. All other visiting teams combined have won just 28.6 per cent (16-40) of games in that same timeframe.

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Luke Travers battling with Melbourne's Rayjon Tucker for a rebound in NBL23.