Recap
After over seven months, Melbourne United is set to return to the court in one of the largest season openers in NBL history. Led as always by captain Chris Goulding, Melbourne United will be hoping to get off to the perfect start in front of over 10,000 fans in sold out John Cain Arena. After missing the entirety of NBL23 with an achilles injury, Ariel Hukporti is back and ready to showcase his ability as one of the competition’s premier big men and he is coming off a dominant 19 point, 8 rebounds, 4 block performance to close the preparation period against Sydney. Melbourne United’s roster is one of the strongest collections of talent in recent memory. Six Melbourne United players are listed among the best 15 players in the league, which shows their super potential, and already shown that with 4 consecutive wins in the preparation period.
South East Melbourne has serious problems with absence in the season opener. The absence of the best players Alan Williams and Gary Bowne is a really big blow, plus new addition Gorjok Gak will also miss the opening round as he recovers from an ankle injury. In their last 5 friendly matches, they had 4 defeats.
I think that Melbourne United is a strong favorite in this match and should easily cover this line.