Walker’s historically strong defensive weekend

Having entered the 2025-26 NBL season as a fresh face, Tyson Walker was an unknown entity to the majority of pundits and viewers around the league.

Now, with a 7-0 record under his belt to start his debut campaign down under, Walker has made it impossible not to notice his value as one of the league’s most well-rounded guards.

Across our pair of Round 5 victories, Walker tallied 21 points, 15 assists and 12 steals, while only turning the ball over four times.

Eight of his 12 steals came on Friday evening, which set a new club record, and are the second most in the modern 40-minute era of the NBL.

Now leading the NBL in steals per game (2.7), Walker spoke about how comfortable he is feeling with his new team.

“They (my teammates) just tell me to be aggressive and just do what I do,” Walker explained.

“I’m just trying to find the right time when to be aggressive, when to find guys, and when to get easy ones for myself so I don’t have to worry about my offence.

“The new thing for me is picking the ball up full court. I’d never done it that much, so it’s working out but other than that, it’s good.”

Looking at how the Michigan State product has performed thus far, Head Coach Dean Vickerman believes he will only improve as the season continues.

“Tyse is continuing to grow and grow as he understands the league, what we need from him as a point guard and how to get guys shots,” Vickerman said.

“That will be the biggest growth (area) for him over the year… and then be the pest that he is with his hand pressure up the floor and in the half court.

“We started a deflection chart and he’s been the highest in our group, he just gets his hands on basketballs.

“And then there’s the pace. I want him to use his weapon as much as possible, continue to push pace and put pressure on defence in the first six seconds of the shotclock and when he does that, we’ve been really successful.”

Walker and United will next hit the court when we head on the road for a Friday night clash with the Taipans in Cairns, before returning home for a blockbuster matchup with the Adelaide 36ers on Sunday 26 October from 2:30pm.

Tickets remain available at Ticketek.com.au