The energy fuelling United's win streak

All eyes were on Cole Anthony on Saturday night, and he put on a show. But it was Josh Oduro’s dominance inside, once again, that sent the real message to the rest of the NBL.

After an eventful week, there was plenty of focus on how Anthony would conduct himself when Melbourne United hosted the Brisbane Bullets at John Cain Arena. He answered by shaking off three early fouls to play a major part in a 120-92 win.

He was at his efficient best too, with 32 points and 6 assists in just 20 minutes on 13/14 shooting from the field and 6/6 from the foul line.

Yet even that wasn’t Melbourne’s most imposing performance. Oduro continued his powerful form at centre with 28 points, 14 rebounds and 2 steals on 11/15 shooting, and he dominated his matchup with Tyrell Harrison.

The numbers only tell half the story. In his 31 minutes, Oduro completely nullified the Bullets big man, holding Harrison to 5 points, 5 rebounds and 4 turnovers on just 4 shot attempts.

There was plenty for coach Jacob Chance to like in a fourth straight win, but nothing more than his two imports combining for 60 points, 17 rebounds and 7 assists.

“I think we’ve been building nicely and we’ve had 55 practices now, which seems like a lot, but it really isn’t, and it takes a long time to build that collective understanding of each other and how you get other people open,” Chance said.

“We just keep celebrating the selfless acts, seeing his (Oduro’s) screening, Sam Waardenburg’s screening, Cole getting off the ball and making good decisions, and I haven’t seen many box scores with two guys at that volume going 24/29 from the field.

“We’ve done a good job all year of just taking what the game gives us. We’ve seen different coverages, and our mindset is play what’s in front of us with great spacing, and we’re fortunate to have a lot of different advantages on the floor.”

Oduro also fed off Anthony’s energy, and liked everything his teammate brought to the floor.

“I mean, Cole’s been great and you look at him today, I think that’s exactly what we want from him and I think he’s going to continue to do it,” Oduro said.

“Oh yeah, most definitely, it (Cole’s energy) gets me going and I love to see Cole at his best, and I love to see him passionate.

“Sometimes there might be a little bit of rub with the other people, but it’s OK. I’ve got Cole’s back no matter what.”

Melbourne now travels to Adelaide on Thursday to play the 36ers from 7.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.