Chris Goulding urges teammates not to slacken off after Melbourne United’s win over Perth Wildcats

MELBOURNE United guard Chris Goulding has challenged his teammates to maintain the rage after Sunday night’s NBL win over ladder-leaders Perth.

Damian Martin of the Wildcats fouls Chris Goulding of United during the NBL Match Melbourne United versus the Perth Wildcats at Hisense arena in Melbourne on Sunday 27th December, 2015. Picture: Mark Dadswell

MELBOURNE United guard Chris Goulding has challenged his teammates to maintain the rage after Sunday night’s confidence-boosting NBL win over ladder-leaders Perth.

United, which holds a 12-7 win-loss record, had dropped seven of its past nine games leading in, but the 92-87 victory means its mid-season form slump may now be behind it.

Goulding, who top-scored with 27 points against Perth and six three-pointers, said the side must now maintain the same level of intensity in the backend of the season.

“It (the win over Perth) shows we’re not broken or anything like that, and we can still play at that level and play the way that is needed to win in this league,” Goulding said.

“Now it is about sustaining that over however many games we have left.

“We need to bring it in practice and transfer that over to games.

“We saw against Perth that if you play like that, it’s not guaranteed you’re going to win every game.

“So that’s got to be the baseline; you’ve got to play like that and hopefully you win more than you lose.”

Chris Goulding scored 27 points in United’s win over the Wildcats. Picture: Mark Dadswell

Third-placed Melbourne will on Wednesday night meet the bottom-placed Kings in Sydney.

The Kings have had a forgettable season, although they scored a big 96-81 win over Melbourne at Hisense Arena earlier this month.

Any team can beat anyone in this league and United coach Dean Demopoulos said that is why his side must turn up each game.

“We brought the juice (against Perth), and that is the foundation for everything you do in athletics,” he said.

“You have to come with the energy and the effort and it has to be unrelenting.

“It has to be consistent, constant and at a high level to win at a high level.

“The longer you do that for, the better off the outcome usually.”

Originally published as Chris Goulding urges teammates not to slacken off after Melbourne United’s win over Perth Wildcats