Tyrepower Profile: Sam Short

Ballarat local Sam Short is back at Melbourne United for another NBL season, recently re-signing with the Club as a Development Player.

Impressing early on during the last campaign, the 22-year-old Guard will be looking to build on last season where he featured eight times for United.

Along with the rest of the squad, he has been hard at work at practice as he looks to build his size during the off-season.

“Having conversations with the coaches, I’ve just been continuing to work on my body,” he told Melbourne United Media.

“They’ve been really happy with how that’s been progressing so far – other than that I want to become a consistent shooter and become a lockdown defender to find ways I can impact the game.

“The role I want to target is backup point guard, being versatile to defend multiple positions. As a player in my position, it is about working on all those skills, but looking ahead to the future it’s about working on my shooting.”

Short has heaped praise on the overall makeup of the NBL21 squad, highlighting just how tight knit the group are heading into the new season.

He said there was plenty to get excited about for fans when it comes to team camaraderie and combinations on the court.

“It’s almost like we’ve had this group together for a few years, the way we’ve been gelling is pretty incredible,” he said.

“In our five-on-five sessions, the ball is just flowing. Having the regular guys, they can really lead the team and then there’s the new guys that have been outstanding so far coming in.

“It’s certainly very exciting.”

Like teammate Jack White, Short had a decision to make in his early years of basketball – make the move over to the US and play college basketball or stay at home and look to sign a development contract in the NBL.

But unlike White, who played for Duke University, Short opted to stay at home and continue building towards signing his first professional contract.

“I was always tossing up between going to college or staying here in Australia,” he said.

“For a long time, I always thought college was the way to go, but it sort of got to a point where I wasn’t heavily recruited being in Australia and I’m a bit of a homebody – I didn’t really think I could go over the US and give it my all because I’d always want to come back.

“I just said I didn’t want to go to college. From there, it was only a few weeks later when I was with United.

“I’m pretty happy with how it has worked out.”

With the NBL fans awaiting news about the upcoming season, Short is adamant to focus on the job at hand, but the motivation has always been to do it for the Melbourne United fans.

“At the end of the day we play for Melbourne, it’s what we want to do as Melbourne United; win a championship for our fans.

“We’re all keeping everything crossed that we can get as many fans as possible into Melbourne Arena.”

With the Victorian Government recently announcing yet another step toward a COVID-Normal Melbourne, now is the time to sign up as a Melbourne United member.

The support of Melbourne United members has never been more crucial for the club, so make sure you Stand With Us for NBL21.

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