How Clark can transform United

Saturday, October 7, 2023

"He was pretty close to being ready in Adelaide, so we think he’s going to be pretty unrestricted."

We’re yet to see championship winning guard Ian Clark in Melbourne uniform for a regular season game, until today.

The 32-year-old missed United's season-opener due to a hamstring injury sustained during the Hungry Jack's NBL Blitz.

But now, he's back and ready to fire in front of a sell-out John Cain Arena crowd.

“He [Clark] was pretty close to being ready in Adelaide, so we think he’s going to be pretty unrestricted in the way that we can play him,” Vickerman told United Media.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Back-to-back sell out games to start the season combined with huge membership numbers have us poised for one of our biggest ever seasons in NBL24. Thank you to everyone for their support so far ?<br>More ??</p>— Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1710087315325104288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Clark’s maturity on the court has seen him play in championships with both the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and the Sydney Kings.

His experience can't be understated in a group with a mix of proven stars and emerging talent.

“Flynn Cameron and Tanner Krebs really supported that role well [in Clark's absence], and probably our starting guards have played too many minutes, at this time. So hopefully everyone drops a few minutes with Ian coming back,” Vickerman said.

“That can allow us to keep the intensity that we’re trying to keep defensively, and that will hopefully keep people a little bit fresher to shoot the basketball – which we haven’t done outstandingly yet.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ICYMI - This guy is back in for this Sunday's game. Make sure you're there for his official Melbourne United debut.<br>There's about 30 tickets left: <a href="https://t.co/SjpoxN1ddV">https://t.co/SjpoxN1ddV</a> <a href="https://t.co/XXUfms0W7l">pic.twitter.com/XXUfms0W7l</a></p>— Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1709780152761135410?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Another returning basketball star, Matthew Dellavedova, spoke on Clark’s presence.

“Really skilled, high IQ, good hands on defence. Just a really smart player than can shoot the ball so I think he’s going to help us a lot,” Dellavedova said.

Dellavedova has been extraordinary on his return to United. He's fitter than ever and with a point to prove, after missing the Boomers squad for the FIBA World Cup.

The 33-year-old guard was reminded of the chip on United's shoulder from the NBL22 semi-final series – which saw the Tasmania JackJumpers knock Melbourne from the race to the crown.

Dellavedova says despite a strong start, the Melbourne squad wouldn't be getting ahead of themselves.

“It’s a new season now and we’re just focused on trying to get better. We’ve been able to pick up two wins so far, but I feel like there’s still a lot of room for improvement as a team, as we continue playing together,” he said.

Vickerman also provided an update on Jo Lual-Acuil Jr, who is on the comeback trail from a wrist injury.

“Jo [Lual-Acuil Jr) is ticking along in the progress that we see. There’s still a couple of weeks' worth to get done there still.

“He [JLA] has some things to tick off, he continues to see how he pulls up and how the wrist pulls up.”

United host sthe JackJumpers on Sunday in their annual Grassroots Game at 2pm AEDT. You can watch the game live and free on ESPN via Kayo Freebies, 10 Peach and 10 Play.