NBL22: Melbourne United star Chris Goulding on his remarkable Throwdown fourth-quarter shooting blitz

Chris Goulding couldn’t buy a bucket. And then, he could, just at the right time for Melbourne United. Form is temporary, class is permanent.

It’s never hit and hope for Melbourne United marksman Chris Goulding.

Not even when he launches from the John Cain Arena carpark.

Goulding’s key bucket with 59 seconds left against South East Melbourne gave United the buffer it needed to take back-to-back victories in the Throwdown.

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The 33-year-old Boomers’ marksman is arguably the best shooter in the game, and playfully says it’s “disrespectful” when asked if his deep attempt was “hit and hope”.

“They switched (Phoenix big man) Zhou Qi out and he gave me some space and, at that point, I’d hit a few,” Goulding said, following the win.

“I’d felt good and I’m confident in that shot.

“If I’ve got that space, I’m going to take it, hopefully it goes in — it did tonight.”

Chris Goulding had no hesitation when he launched from very deep at the end of United’s win over Phoenix. Picture: Getty Images

He’s right. Watch Goulding warm up on John Cain Arena before games and he drains shot after shot from the Chemist Warehouse and Sportsbet logos. He’s done the same in games for years — in the NBL teams and for Australia.

Even after a rough trot, where he made just three of his last 18 three-point attempts and finished with single digit scoring in his past two games, Goulding exudes confidence.

And, after starting slowly against the Phoenix, missing a pair of deep tries, he knocked down three in the decisive last quarter — part of a 13-point explosion in the fourth.

United has a week to prepare for their multicultural round game with Adelaide 36ers next Sunday.

You can’t keep Chris Goulding down for long. Picture: Getty Images

Coach Dean Vickerman said his side learned a lot out of splitting their games against finals aspirants Perth and the Phoenix.

“You come out of those two games knowing the things you do well and the things that you need to improve on because both those games had finals intensity,” Vickerman said.

“We learnt a lot about ourselves.

“We’ve got some things to fix and a big part of that is playing 40 minutes and not having a quarter that we dry up a little bit right now.”