Why Clark elevates United from good to great

Ian Clark has won almost everywhere he’s gone as a professional player. He was a member of the historic 72-9 Warriors, the 2017 champion Warriors, and the NBL22 champion Kings. Now, he’s in Melbourne, and Derek Rucker believes the 32-year-old holds the key to United’s title hopes.

Melbourne face crosstown rivals South East Melbourne on Thursday night, and they’ll be looking to complete a clean regular season sweep over the currently fourth-placed side.

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United managed to overcome the Phoenix in Round 7 without the services of the Tennessee-born guard, largely thanks to immense performances from Chris Goulding and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr.

Clark has since recovered from injury, making his return to Melbourne’s active roster in its Round 10 dispatching of Brisbane, and Rucker believes his presence elevates Melbourne’s level from beatable to almost unopposable.

“Melbourne United look really good and the key is Ian Clark,” Rucker said.

“That guy changes them from a team that is beatable at times – I’m not saying they’re not the championship leader without him – but when he's in the lineup, there’s no one else that can go with them.

“Tasmania would have the play at the highest of highest levels to beat Melbourne over a five-game series. South East Melbourne have their hands full and there’s no way I would bet against United in this matchup.

“He just looks like he’s at ease with himself, he’s content from a basketball perspective, and he’s got immense talent, he’s got a high basketball IQ, he’s patient, he knows exactly what his role is.

“I’m always talking about fit – whether it’s coaching fit, playing fit – this fit for Ian Clark may be better than what he was in at Sydney where they won a championship. I just think the vibe, everything suits him perfectly and the guy continues to perform at a super high level.”

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Melbourne was forced to rebound last week after a surprise loss to Cairns in Round 9, but United sent a message to the rest of the competition with a thorough dispatching of former assistant coach Justin Schueller’s Brisbane side.

The 35-point margin equaled the biggest win by any team of the season so far, and Melbourne’s stingy defence right until the end of the game restricted the Bullets to just nine points in the entirety of the final quarter.

“Last Sunday, when Melbourne United played Brisbane, Melbourne United would have beaten the Celtics that day,” Rucker said.

“That’s how convinced I am that Dean Vickerman was going to have those guys ready. That’s just a bad matchup for Brisbane, I don’t think Brisbane should be too upset about what happened – you’ve got to put that one away.

“South East Melbourne, one of the best games of their season so now it comes to the Throwdown and how does this all come together?”

The clash between Melbourne and South East Melbourne tips off on Thursday night at 7:30pm AEDT.