United's Road to Redemption

After their disappointing round two performance against Sydney, Xavier Rathan-Mayes says his Melbourne teammates are looking forward to hitting the road to take on Perth this weekend.

United slumped to a 20-point defeat to their traditional rivals, after scoring just 23 points in the opening half of basketball.

In that time the Kings went on a monster 26-0 scoring run to set up the win. Rathan-Mayes was one of a number of offensive weapons that were blunted by the Kings' defence. He scored just six points, mere days after dropping 33 with nine assists against New Zealand.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">? ICYMI - Xavier Rathan-Mayes dropped a cool 33 points alongside 9 assists and 5 rebounds on Sunday afternoon in his first official NBL23 game. <br><br>More of this on Sunday against the Kings! Tickets: <a href="https://t.co/PyWq3cGqXy">https://t.co/PyWq3cGqXy</a> <a href="https://t.co/rT3iK7XLhy">pic.twitter.com/rT3iK7XLhy</a></p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1577206892333387779?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“Perth is a tough trip, it’s a long trip,” Rathan-Mayes told RSN. “It’s a four, four-and-a-half hour flight for us.

“I think these road trips are good. They’re good to get [you] out of your normal routine and be on the road with your brothers. Our organisation and these guys have such a tight-knit bond that it’s always special to be away together.

“It’s something we’re looking forward to and playing in a hostile environment in Perth on the road is definitely something players look forward to as well.”

Although the disappointing result against Sydney is now firmly in the rear-view mirror, it has by no means been forgotten about, according to Rathan-Mayes.

He says the team isn’t getting carried away with the poor result so early in the season.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Not our day. But the United faithful were out in force today. See you back here next Sunday. ? <a href="https://t.co/FmJLVkZ11n">pic.twitter.com/FmJLVkZ11n</a></p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1579004008408416257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“Sydney is a great team and they do a great job of getting out in transition and putting pressure on you,” he said.

“Hats off to them … you never want to lose but it’s one loss. The sun comes up the next day no matter what.

“For us it’s about learning from the mistakes in that game and what went wrong … we obviously took a step backwards in the Sydney game, but we have some great veteran leadership on this team.

“We’re never too high with the good and never too low with the bad, and I think we’re trending in the right direction.

“Guys understand what we have to do in order to win.”

United take on the Perth Wildcats on Friday night, before returning home for a Sunday Hoops clash with the Tasmania JackJumpers.