Sporting capital set for huge weekend of hoops

Written by Melbourne United Media 

While everyone knows Melbourne is the sporting capital of the world, the upcoming weekend is set to showcase the amazing spread of basketball talent across the city.

It all starts on Friday, when the 11th annual Prahran Summer Jam kicks off, which will run through the weekend, before a historic night of hoops on Saturday evening.

Lauren Jackson and the Southside Flyers will play the first ever WNBL game at John Cain Arena at 6pm on Saturday night, all before United’s final regular season home game on Sunday afternoon, as well as an all-Victorian WNBL matchup in Parkville when the Melbourne Boomers host the Bendigo Spirit.

Speaking to the media about the weekend, United import Rayjon Tucker voiced his excitement about the festival of basketball activity taking place around the city.

“It’s great, we’re super excited about it,” he said.

“We’ve got Summer Jam, we’ve got WNBL games, we’ve got our last home regular season game… There's just a lot of things going on for all age groups to get down and see what’s happening.”

With so much going on, former WNBL player and Basketball Australia representative Tegan Cunningham echoed Tucker’s sentiments and added the importance of Saturday night’s game.

“It’s really exciting to have three days of action-packed basketball. Melbourne is the sporting capital so it’ll be good to have basketball all weekend,” she said.

“There’s never been a game at John Cain Arena, so to have one, especially for JL (Lauren Jackson) will be huge. We’re looking to hopefully sell it out but short of that we’re hoping to get 7,500 to attend.”

Having seen the growth of the league over his time in Australia, United Assistant Coach Darryl McDonald encouraged everyone to head to Saturday night’s game.

“It’s awesome (to have a WNBL game at JCA),” he added.

“You’ve got pretty much the greatest player to ever play, playing at John Cain Arena where they seat 10,000 people. Get over there and see them, take the opportunity to see Lauren Jackson.”

As the action leads into Sunday, all eyes will be on United’s sold-out clash with the Adelaide 36ers, which will decide whether Melbourne progress to the postseason or fall just short.

With the stage set for the all-or-nothing game, Tucker says he and his teammates are singularly focussed on their task and can’t wait to play in front of their home fans once again.

“It’s obviously a must win, so we’re going into the game with that desperate energy that we’ve been playing with… just try and get the job done and let the chips fall where they may.

“(Our fans) have been supporting us through the ups and downs of the whole season. To get back home for our last game at a pertinent time like this, it’ll be amazing.”

With tickets sold out for Sunday’s game, United fans can tune in via ESPN, or on 10 Peach and Kayo Freebies.

For more information about the rest of the basketball events around the city, click below.

Prahran Summer Jam

Southside Flyers v Sydney Flames

Melbourne Boomers v Bendigo Spirit