Marcus Lee’s titanic task against Melbourne United in NBL blockbuster at MyState Bank Arena

New JackJumper poised for mighty mission against Melbourne United centre in Hobart NBL showstopper.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 22: Marcus Lee of the JackJumpers in round four NBL match between Sydney Kings and Tasmania JackJumpers at Qudos Bank Arena on October 22, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

JackJumpers giant Marcus Lee will be a man on a mission when Melbourne United comes to town on Friday night with the 211cm American set to guard United superstar Jo Lual-Acuil Jr in an NBL show-stopper at MyState Bank Arena.

Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman says centres “JLA” and Ariel Hukporti are key weapons for United and, fresh off their sensational win over defending champion Sydney Kings on the road on Sunday, the JackJumpers are wary of Lual-Acuil.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 22: Jo Lual-Acuil Jr of United shoots during the round four NBL match between Melbourne United and New Zealand Breakers at John Cain Arena, on October 22, 2023, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)

He did not play in round three when the JJs beat United 80-75 but assistant-coach Mark Radford said the JackJumpers had the perfect match for the Melbourne centre.

“’JLA’ coming back is a massive in for them and a little bit different to deal with than [Melbourne centre] Rob Loe, but Marcus Lees is in our team for a reason,” Radford said.

“We feel he’ll be a really good match-up for him and a great test.

“He has played against Melbourne a couple of times this year already, and he played with them last year, so he certainly knows what they bring.”

HOBART, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 12: Marcus Lee of the Jackjumpers drives to the basket during the round three NBL match between Tasmania Jackjumpers and Illawarra Hawks at MyState Bank Arena, on October 12, 2023, in Hobart, Australia. (Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images)

Vickerman will use “JLA” and Hukporti as a tag team against Tasmania.

“For this next stretch we will share minutes between them and later work on how those two play together _ we’ll need more time to figure that out,” he said.

“They are both demanding of more minutes, but it’s a great one-two punch right now to have those guys subbing in and out for each other.”

After a head-knock playing against the Brisbane Bullets two weeks ago, Matthew Dellavedova was close to making a comeback against Tasmania.

“He’s gotten through individual training and done all of the concussions tests and got the tick-off, but he hasn’t gotten into contact work yet,” Vickerman said.

“We think he’s probably another week away.”

JackJumper Jordon Crawford’s scoring heroics against the Kings put him in the cross-hairs against for United.

“A lot of it was from the three-point line,” Vickerman said.

“We’re doing a good job with our rim protection with Ariel and Jo so we’ll be looking to get him off the three-point line and closer to the paint and make him have to make tougher shots there.

“He’s quick and he pulls back and make room for himself. We’ve done a good job scouting so far and hopefully we can put that on the floor.”