Cameron excited for “special” Sunday match-up

When Flynn Cameron left Melbourne United for the Adelaide 36ers in the off-season, this Sunday’s game was pencilled into his calendar.

It will be the first time the 25-year-old comes up against his former side, walking back into John Cain Arena, a venue he called home to start his professional career.

While there will be a lot of eyeballs on the game as the competition’s top two sides go head-to-head, for Cameron, there’s an excitement about coming up against friends and former teammates at a very familiar venue.

“It's definitely something that's special to me,” Cameron said after training on Tuesday.

“Obviously I want to beat my old side. I’ve still got a lot of close connections there and still a lot of relationships and friendships over there, so I think it’ll be a great game.

“(We) definitely (focus on the) process, game by game, but because they're undefeated, I'd say they've got more pressure on them.

“We're slowly building. Obviously, five and one so we're taking the game-by-game, trying to get better each day.”

United is currently 7-0 with a game on Friday night against Cairns before Sunday’s match-up.

Cameron played 67 games in United colours, and was there last season as they went through to the Grand Final series, eventually falling to Illawarra

Yet he’s comfortable with his decision to hop the border chasing more minutes.

“I see a lot of similarities throughout our talent and our work ethic and we’ve just got to keep chopping wood, carrying water each day,” Cameron said of the similarities between United and the Sixers.

“I'm real happy about my decision (to change clubs) but obviously you take it game by game.

“I just want to want to win games.”

So far, the signs have been good and Cameron is being spoken about as one of the competition’s most improved players.

The extra game time in Adelaide has seen him average career highs for points (12.8), rebounds (4.5) and assists (3.7) so far in NBL26.

And he puts that down to the trust he’s received from Head Coach Mike Wells.

“He's got a lot of trust in me, and I think we've built a relationship over this past before the season, during the winter break,” Cameron explained.

“But I think he’s got a lot of trust in all of us to be honest.”

Wells is leaning on him this week, seeking any insight he can provide into how to limit United’s many threats.

“After training, we just kind of got on the whiteboard and he was picking my brain about how he thinks they'll defend us and, yeah, we're just creating clarity, so we can create a picture for us to break down this upcoming week and come up with a game plan.

“I mean, everyone in the league knows Chris Goulding, knows who he is, but we also know who Milton Doyle is.

“They've got great shooters all across the board, Tanner Krebs, so obviously, that's a key focus taking them off the three point line, but we’re also cautious of their playing ability as well.”

While it has only been six games this season, Cameron is flourishing under the guidance of experienced players like DJ Vasiljevic, Bryce Cotton and Zylan Cheatham.

He admitted being in awe, seeing Cotton land 53 points against Cairns on the weekend, and was not concerned about other players not contributing as much to the scoreboard.

“It was pretty insane, obviously,” Cameron said of Cotton’s showing.

“I haven't been a part of a team that's had a player drop 50 in an NBL game so obviously that was surreal.

“To be honest with you, I didn't realise until it was like the last two minutes of the game where I looked up and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, we got to keep getting him the ball’.

“I don't think we're too reliant on him. Obviously, if the man's hot, you got to get him the ball because he's cooking.

“It's just what's working for us at that time and in that place but obviously, we're a new team. We've got a lot of depth, and we're ready to show up.”

They’ll be hoping to show up at John Cain Arena at 2pm ACDT on Sunday.