The Throwdown's Battle Within the Battle

An intriguing battle within the battle is emerging ahead of Sunday's Throwdown between Melbourne United and the South East Melbourne Phoenix – the battle that’s set to occur within the paint.

As both sides approach this contest, they have vastly different options to play at the five spot. While the Phoenix have the fully fit crop of big, strong, crash-and-bash traditional centres in Zhou Qi and Dane Pineau backed up by the powerful Alan Williams, injury to Ariel Hukporti and makeshift centre Jordan Caroline will see United once again have to be creative with their line-up.

Veteran combo-forward David Barlow backed up Isaac Humphries in United’s pair of Round 5 wins over Illawarra and Perth, while experienced wing Brad Newley saw more minutes at the power forward position.

What United gave up in size and power in those contests, they made up for with the added versatility their small-ball line-ups provided

Phoenix head coach Simon Mitchell says the vastly different styles could create problems for both teams.

“Obviously Barlow at the five creates a different matchup for us,” Mitchell said. “You’ve got Brad Newley seeing minutes at the four and you bring some speed onto the floor as well.

“If you want to crossmatch Barlow and say ‘we’ll put the four on him and we’ll put the five on Newley’, Newley’s going to blow by guys. Really creative matchup problems, huge matchup problems for both sides really.

“We’ve got the big guys, they’ve got the mobile guys, they’ve got the shooters, and we’ve got the guys who play close to the basket. We’ll see how it runs.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&quot;Big Flex, Big Sauce&quot; - <a href="https://twitter.com/Liam_Santa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@liam_santa</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> <br><br>Watch live &amp; free ? 10 Peach &amp; 10play | Live on ESPN2 via Kayo &amp; Foxtel <a href="https://t.co/5Hdcrm4eNk">pic.twitter.com/5Hdcrm4eNk</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1586613503716077570?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

United may have an extra body to call upon just one week after the return of point guard Shea Ili, with natural power forward Mason Peatling closing in on a return to the court.

Peatling is yet to take to the floor in NBL23 after suffering injury while playing for Knox Raiders in NBL1 South.

“There is some chance that Mason Peatling plays this game as well so that would be a great add if we were able to put him back in our big man rotation,” Melbourne United head coach Dean Vickerman said.

“We’re really pleased with the way Barlow’s defended both fours and fives as well, and David Okwera has been outstanding also. We’re going to expect a lot from those guys.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">David Okwera is having a block party tonight, and all the <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PerthWildcats</a> are invited ???<br><br>Catch the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> action live on ESPN via Kayo Sports + ESPN ? <a href="https://t.co/1SEqeLhUZJ">pic.twitter.com/1SEqeLhUZJ</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1587021063447228417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“We knew once we started to get some bodies back that things could start to turn around fairly quickly. We saw the impact that Shea Ili had in short minutes the other night.

“Everyone’s roles changed a little bit but now they’re getting back to what we recruited them for, but now they’re starting to fill out their roles well.”

United host the Phoenix in the first Throwdown of the NBL23 season on Sunday afternoon at 4pm AEDT.