The underrated stars in Melbourne's rise

Kyle Bowen and Flynn Cameron are proving two of the more exciting emerging NBL talents with Melbourne United.

Bowen earned the start in the win against Adelaide with Jack White sidelined due to a calf injury, and was instrumental with plus-17 to his name in his 27 minutes and some vital time matching up on Montrezl Harrell.

Cameron's initial opportunities came earlier in the season when fellow Kiwi Shea Ili missed three games, and he has continued that since, including knocking down a career-high seven three-pointers on Sunday.

"With Jack White being out of the roster for this game, with what KB showed us against Perth in the second half with the defence that he played and the way he connected on offence, it meant it was a no-brainer for him to start and play big minutes," Vickerman said.

"I looked at the box score at half-time and he was plus-20 when he was in the game and that's what he does. He helps our both ends of the floor execute really well and he did a good job."

Bowen himself just focused on trying to do the one percenters to help his team.

"The group and Dean gave me a lot of confidence and obviously Whitey is such a key and impactful player on our team," Bowen explained.

"He is relentless with rebounding and all the little things that he does, so I was just trying to do those little one percenters that I pride myself on and it wasn’t perfect, but I gave it a great effort and I'm proud of what I was able to do."

Cameron is starting to make an impact on the offensive end, hitting the scoreboard regularly in recent weeks. 

He put up back-to-back 18-point games against Illawarra and Cairns while playing some terrific defence, scored 20 against New Zealand in as many minutes, and then stepped up again on Sunday.

With Ili in foul trouble during the second half and then ending up ejected, Cameron caught fire spectacularly to finish with 21 points on 7/11 from three.

"Flynn Cameron made some big shots in that fourth quarter and he's just shown all throughout this year when there's opportunities for him to step up and he gets extra minutes, he's really grabbed them," Vickerman said.

"Combo guards are so important in this league with all the pressure and disruption that comes around, so that's exactly where he sits right now.

"He can be a point-guard and he can really score the ball, which is the thing that is his true weapon, and then who he can guard because he has the ability to go to point guards, to go to threes and even to switch onto a four with his strength as well. He's really versatile at both ends of the floor."