Bruising battles helping to build brilliant bigs

While Melbourne United have had to battle with player availability throughout their NBL24 preseason, the limited numbers have forced some of their young stars into different roles.

This has been the case for 22-year-old forward Kyle Bowen, who signed with United with the intention to spend the majority of his time playing the power forward position.

Now however, with Jo Lual-Acuil Jr sidelined with his wrist injury and replacement big-man Rob Loe yet to arrive in Melbourne, Bowen has found himself battling with Ariel Hukporti at the center spot.

Speaking on The Extra Pass podcast, Bowen revealed that he has loved the opportunity to test himself against one of the league’s best young stars.

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“I think it’s a blessing in disguise for both of us,” he said.

“I obviously expected to come in here and play a lot more of the four but I think me playing the five, especially against someone like Ariel is a great experience for me in the sense that the NBL is a physical league, there are going to be a lot bigger guys than Ariel.

“I wouldn’t say there’s going to be many lob-treats like Ariel but there’s definitely going to be guys as strong as him so learning to play against that, not being flustered by that physicality is something that I’m really embracing.

“It comes down to ‘iron sharpens iron’ and I think I’ve been really good for Ariel as well… I think he’s on the precipice of a really good year and hopefully he does because we’re going to need him for sure if we’re going to make a championship run.”

Both Hukporti and Bowen contributed well in United’s pair of recent preseason games against Tasmania, averaging XX and XX points respectively.

As excitement builds towards the start of United’s NBL24 campaign, the time is now to lock in your seat for each and every game at John Cain Arena!

Premium, Gold and Silver full-season memberships are already sold out, so make sure you don’t miss out and Bring The Blue today.