United Getting the Band Back Together

NBL22 ended in heartbreak for Melbourne United, but they’re getting the band back together for another run at the title.

The landscape of the NBL has shifted dramatically in the past 24 hours. Chase Buford is out of Sydney, and Matthew Dellavedova is back in Melbourne. Suddenly, the race for the NBL24 title looks as even as it ever has in the off-season.

Dellavedova has joined star centre Jo Lual-Acuil Jr in returning to Melbourne for the upcoming season, Ariel Hukporti has returned to fitness and will be ready to take the floor again, while a raft of players still remain at the club from that fateful campaign.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Should we ask <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnCainArena?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JohnCainArena</a> to install a light beam out front for NBL24, <a href="https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SacramentoKings</a>? <br>Delly is locked in for the next two seasons, which means two more seasons of this hustle that we know and love ?<br><br>Make sure you don&#39;t miss a minute of the action: <a href="https://t.co/Fx6HpA8gEN">https://t.co/Fx6HpA8gEN</a> <a href="https://t.co/RglvEFFgmD">pic.twitter.com/RglvEFFgmD</a></p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1658603439902052352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

With Dellavedova coming into the side for NBL22, and Jack White and Lual-Acuil Jr poised to make huge leaps forward ahead of the campaign, United entered the season as one of the favourites for the title, however they fell at the final hurdle to the surprise packet JackJumpers in Game 3 of the semi-final series by just three points.

With Chris Goulding a late omission from the side due to injury, Josh Adams scored 30 of his team’s 76 points to lead Tasmania past the fancied Melbourne side.

Brad Newley played in that Game 3 defeat to Tasmania, and he’s excited to be able to run it back with some of the same teammates to put those demons to bed.

“That was a tough one for us to handle,” Newley reflected to NBL Media.

“We lost Chris basically the day before a massive game and some of us didn’t perform the way we wanted to in that final game.

“We were one game off playing in a Championship Series – that’s how close we were – and then the team basically disbanded for a year.

Ariel Hukporti leaves to court following Melbourne's elimination from NBL22.

“To have those known and consistent players back, and even adding other recruits like Luke (Travers) and Tanner (Krebs), these guys are just going to add to our depth across the board.

“It’s an exciting time to be at Melbourne United and I’m just looking forward to having everyone here.”

Before the signing of Dellavedova, the addition of Lual-Acuil Jr back into the fold was head and shoulders the biggest signing the side had made thus far.

After a season in China with the Nanjing Tongxi Monkey Kings, the South Sudanese international will return to the NBL as one of the heavy favourites to take home the league’s MVP award. After all, in his last season here he finished third in the race for the award behind Jaylen Adams and Bryce Cotton.

Whether it be a second championship, another MVP calibre season, or potentially both, such a high-profile return to the competition represents the incredible rise Lual-Acuil Jr has undertaken over the course of his career.

His rise, Newley says, isn’t at all down to luck or chance.

“He’ll do whatever it takes to get the team over the line,” Newley said of his teammate.

“His growth to get from where he was early in his career … it was looking like it wasn’t going to work out for him, but he stuck it out.

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“He got through college, spent a year overseas in Israel, and then came to Melbourne as a sixth man, and now he’s arguably a top three or four player in this competition.

“Jo is the perfect example of sticking at it and proving the non-believers wrong.

“There’s no secret to it. He’s in at Hoop City every day and he just wants to get better and better all the time. It’s just great to see him be rewarded and it’s so good to have him back with us.

“He gets up and down the floor, he’s very mobile and pairing him with Ariel is pretty exciting. I’m really excited to get back out there and play with him.”

The place in which Melbourne’s roster sits heading into NBL24 is totally different to where it was last year.

Following that heartbreaking defeat to the Tasmania JackJumpers, each of Lual-Acuil Jr, Dellavedova and White elected to take up international offers that were on the table.

Yudai Baba and Caleb Agada also left, and Hukporti suffered an Achilles tendon rupture at the Blitz. It was a side in flux.

Now though, the side’s local contingent looks all but set in stone.

Dellavedova, Lual-Acuil Jr, Newley, Travers, Goulding, Shea Ili, Flynn Cameron, Tanner Krebs, and Kyle Bowen make up nine of the possible eleven fully rostered players the club can take into a season – alongside Next Star Hukporti and development players Campbell Blogg and Zac Triplett.

“I’m sure Dean will be happy but I know what he’s like, he’s a workhorse,” Newley said of his side’s roster build.

“There’s no way he’s sitting back and thinking ‘I’ve got the team’.

“What’s going to important for us as a group is we’ve got the players – now we need to put it into action.

“There’s going to be times when we’re missing a lot of our senior players with World Cup duties and overseas commitments where it’ll be up to guys like myself and the other role players to keep the engine rolling.

“Dean trusts us, and we’re looking forward to getting into that process.”

Melbourne will face local rivals South East Melbourne in the opening game of the NBL season on Thursday, September 28.