NBL: Hisense Arena now a fortress for Melbourne United

HAS Hisense Arena quickly become one of the toughest road trips in the NBL?

Melbourne United v's Townsville Crocodiles at Hisense arena. 20 November, 2015. Melbourne Australia. Melbourne United's Chris Goulding try's to fire up the crowd after making a three pointer. Picture : George Salpigtidis

HAS Hisense Arena quickly become one of the toughest road trips in the NBL?

The argument can be mounted with Melbourne United’s ballooning crowd figures – up almost 40 per cent on this time last year – translating to a stack of wins this season.

A season-high crowd of 9399 packed out Hisense Arena on Sunday when Melbourne scored an 89-86 win over Adelaide 36ers in point guard Nate Tomlinson’s 100th NBL game.

It has been a graveyard for visiting teams with Melbourne winning eight of its nine games at home so far this season.

“I think every team does (feel more comfortable at home), but especially here,” United coach Dean Demopoulos said.

“It feels a little different that way.

“It feels like there’s a little bit more of a home court feel.”

United’s win over the 36ers was one it had to get after it dropped four of its past five previous matches.

Melbourne controlled most of the match on Sunday before withstanding a Jerome Randle-inspired comeback to score the victory.

The home side’s outside shooters did some damage, but the offensive work of big man Majok Majok also made a big difference in the front court.

First-year Melbourne coach Demopoulos said the group remains a work in progress.

“We made some shots early in that game (against Adelaide) and having a presence inside helped also,” he said.

“We wanted to go inside out as much as we could, but it is a double-edged sword if you don’t make foul shots, especially in clumps as you lose your rhythm sometimes.

“We’re arriving at a balance in this journey that we’re taking here and we’re growing.

“We’ve having a few ups and down, but I’ll take the downs we have with this group in relation to the ups.”

Melbourne faces a huge test next up against the second-placed Wildcats in Perth on Thursday night.

“Our next game is always our biggest game, no matter if we win or lose,” United guard Stephen Holt said.

United’s next home game is against Sydney Kings tomorrow week.

Originally published as NBL: Hisense Arena now a fortress for Melbourne United