This was published 7 years ago
Melbourne United play waiting game on Chris Goulding's ankle sprain
By Roy Ward
Melbourne United can't be sure they will have star guard Chris Goulding for their trip to league-leaders Adelaide 36ers on Thursday night.
Goulding was told to sit out the second half of United's 106-88 loss to Illawarra Hawks in Wollongong on Saturday night after spraining his ankle in the first half.
Injury doubt: Melbourne's Chris Goulding suffered an ankle sprain in the game against the Hawks. Credit: Getty Images
The Hawks' win ended Melbourne's five-game winning streak and showed how valuable Goulding is to the side rated as a title contender alongside the Sixers, whom they thrashed 104-73 on New Year's Day.
It turned out several of the Sixers players were battling a gastro bug ahead of that game and they have since bounced back with wins over Illawarra and New Zealand so the home side will be primed for Thursday night's game.
United had no further information on Goulding's injury on Sunday with tests expected to be completed on Monday before a decision is made on his availability for Adelaide.
Melbourne also have a home game against Cairns Taipans on Saturday night so will want to have Goulding but the risk of doing more damage to his already troublesome ankles could force them to be cautious.
United coach Dean Demopoulos said after the loss in Wollongong his side hadn't been prepared for the Hawks' physical defensive pressure.
"They played terrific basketball, beat us to the punch from the beginning of the game," Demopoulos said.
"Bevo [Hawks coach Rob Beveridge] had his team prepared, I did not.
"It happened this time. They were much better than we were and we have got work to do.
"His team was prepared to win, my team wasn't for whatever the reasons."
The Hawks had 27 visits to the foul line on the night making 25 of those attempts, while Melbourne only shot 13 free throws making nine of them.
Melbourne did still drive to the basket but were noticeably unhappy to not receive as many foul calls but Demopoulos wouldn't be drawn into the discrepancy in attempts.
"Usually the more aggressive team, the one that plays better, gets more foul shots," Demopoulos said.
"Game in, game out this league is a snake fight and if you let your guard down you get bit.
"We have to make sure we make the most out of these next games, that we play each and every possession and see where it takes us."