Waardenburg pumped to make United debut

Following a four-year stint with the Cairns Taipans, Sam Waardenburg has landed in Melbourne, ready to step on the court for United for the NBL27 season at John Cain this Saturday. 

In an interview with SEN’s Dwayne Russell, Waardenburg outlined the decision making process that brought him to Melbourne, how he’s gelling with his new teammates and his goals for the campaign as a whole. 

“We are all in heavy and have title and championship hopes and aspirations, and we can see it building each and every day, so it's super exciting for sure,” Waardenburg explained. 

“It's an exciting year. They've (Melbourne United) obviously put a really good team together and already, just our preseason, these last six weeks, you can see the connection that we have, and the potential that this team has as well.” 

Waardenburg is coming off two productive seasons for Puerto Rican side Indios De Mayaguez, where he averaged just under 16 points per game.

Looking to leverage the talent around him to create scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates, the 27-year-old said it hasn’t taken long for everyone to get on the same page.

“When you get on the court, we have really intelligent and experienced guys who have played, you know, the highest level of basketball around the world, and when you have that kind of experience and intelligence, things kind of click pretty quickly,” he said.

“(It’s) pretty easy to integrate with all those guys on the floor. First time really interacting with Joe (Ingles) and Cole (Anthony), but they're great leaders and great teammates, so that's pretty easy. 

“Obviously over the few years in the NBL I had my run-ins with CG (Goulding), but it's great sharing the floor with him now and seeing the amazing things he does both on the court and behind the scenes as well.”

Looking ahead to Saturday’s blockbuster season opening game against the Adelaide 36ers, Waardenburg broke down his excitement to be taking the court as a member of the home team inside John Cain Arena with the crowd on his side.

“It’s going to be an awesome opening game… You have a team on the other side who were in a Championship series last season, so they’ll be at the height of their game, especially with a lot of returning guys so I think it’s a great challenge for us.

“I think it’s exciting for someone like me in a new environment to go out to John Cain Arena and have all those fans cheering for me this time, not against me.

“Hopefully we can get those seats filled and have a sold out crowd for the first game, that’d be super exciting.”

The only way to make sure you’ve got a seat to watch every Sam Waardenburg game inside John Cain Arena is by becoming a Member today! 

Melbourne United’s collection of NBL27 Full Season Memberships are available NOW!

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