With only two sleeps until our matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans at Rod Laver Arena, Dean Vickerman has touched on his anticipation to see his lineup battle with the collection of NBA stars.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the NBAxNBL Melbourne Series Press Conference this afternoon at Courtside Melbourne, Vickerman spoke about the significance of the contest, and how his players plan to slow down superstar forward Zion Williamson.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur guys are looking forward to it,\u201d Vickerman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn scout today, guys were talking about matching up on him and how we try to slow him down and contain him in any way. It\u2019s a great challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have this opportunity, it\u2019s going to be the best basketball experience for so many of our players, and our coaching staff is all from Victoria, so to have the opportunity to play this game (is great).<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you get a little older, the firsts don\u2019t come around as often so to be the first game in our state and in Melbourne, we\u2019re super excited about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williamson, who has averaged close to 25 points per game across 214 NBA appearances, has played alongside Australians such as former United forward Jack White and recent NBA Most Improved Player Award winner Dyson Daniels; older brother of Dash Daniels.<\/p>\n
The talented scorer outlined what he\u2019s hoping to get out of the battle with United, while heaping praise on Dash Daniels.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking to compete, we respect our opponents and whatever knowledge we can take away from these games and take back to the NBA, we\u2019ll definitely do,\u201d Williamson explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the film I saw on him (Dash Daniels), they\u2019re very similar (Dyson and Dash Daniels), especially defensively\u2026 Some of the deflections he\u2019s able to get when he\u2019s defending, it\u2019s simply incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n