Vickerman closely eyeing United’s developing stars

Across the NBL24 season, Melbourne United’s biggest strength was the side’s depth, with the regular season champions always able to confidently go to their bench when necessary.

A key pair of reserves last season were rookie duo Flynn Cameron and Kyle Bowen, who each found themselves injected into games at big moments.

Now playing big roles in the NZNBL and NBL1 respectively, Head Coach Dean Vickerman says he has been encouraged by the growth he’s seen from each of the young stars.

“Every season we complete our exit interviews and you go over the things that our guys did great, and the things that they need to work on,” Vickerman explained.

“We’ve been continually watching our younger guys who have been playing really strong basketball over the offseason so far.

“For Flynn, going back to New Zealand and playing a big role as a key scorer on a team featuring guys like Mitch McCarron and Sam Froling has been important, because that’s a role we can see him slotting into in the NBL.

“As a two-guard that can slide down to the one, we felt like this was the perfect situation for him. He’s been put in big moments already and this is a team that expects to be contending for a championship, so getting to be a part of those games will be good.

“Kyle Bowen has been similar playing at Knox, playing extended minutes and working on the parts of his game that will help him be even more effective in the NBL.

“Being able to get up four or five three-pointers a game and feel comfortable with his jumper is something we wanted to see, as well as the creation for his teammates; we saw him nearly pick up a triple-double on the weekend, which is really encouraging.”

Playing with the Taranaki Airs, Cameron ranks second on the team in scoring and assists, playing a well-rounded game that has helped his side to a top-4 ladder position.

Closer to home, Bowen leads the Knox Raiders in rebounding, while ranking in the top five for scoring, assists, blocks and steals.

Looking at how they can continue to develop heading into their second seasons, Vickerman believes this time spent playing big minutes across the offseason will pay dividends come NBL25.

“I thought they both had great rookie years, I think it’s easy to forget that this was both of their first full pro seasons.

“Going deep into the finals is something that I know will have helped them heading into the offseason, knowing that they need to continue improving if we want to win a championship.”

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