Melbourne Young Gun Shines in Scrimmage

Photo: Melbourne United Media

First year pro Flynn Cameron has hit the ground running in his first training session with Melbourne United, with the 22-year-old New Zealand international taking to the the court for a 3x3 scrimmage with some of his high-profile teammates.

Cameron has arrived in Melbourne following the culmination of a five-year collegiate career at DePaul University, then UC Riverside, and only returned from California once he finished his schooling commitments.

The son of New Zealand basketball legend Pero Cameron played alongside Chris Goulding, Jo Lual-Acuil Jr and national teammate Shea Ili in United’s practice session – whom he spent the majority of the session being defended by.

“You want to test yourself against the best and, in my opinion, he’s the best defender in the southern hemisphere,” Cameron told MU Media of Ili.

“He’s built that reputation, so going at him is only going to improve my game. He definitely got the better of me on some plays, but that’s only going to make me better.

“It’s all part of the game, I was never going to hold back.”

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United coach Dean Vickerman left impressed with Cameron's performance. 

“There’s a competitive spirit in him about wanting to win every possession,” Vickerman said.

“What we saw today, with Shea being one of the elite guards in our league and seeing him and Flynn match up and go against each other, we were very impressed with what he was able to do on both ends.

“He’s a physically strong big guard who can defend one-through-three and offensively he was pretty sharp today.”

Shea Ili. 

Cameron’s teammate Jo Lual-Acuil Jr is one of a number of NBL24 talents set to suit up in the NBA Summer League ahead of Melbourne’s season-opener against local rivals South East Melbourne on Thursday, September 28.

For the full story head to >> Cameron shines in first day of practice