Sydney united in beating Melbourne: Bogut

BASKETBALL: Andrew Bogut almost joined Melbourne United in the off-season, so he believes it’s only fitting he gets a chance to end their championship defence.

Bogut is bursting with enthusiasm about taking on United in tonight’s blockbuster semi-final at Hisense Arena.

The former NBA champion views United as the benchmark and a team the “little brother” Kings are trying to emulate to take their mantle.

“And the only way to do that is to get through Melbourne and beat the s--- out of them,” Bogut said.

“Obviously they are going to try and do the same thing.

“It will be a competitive series. They are the pinnacle of basketball in Melbourne.

“All the kids support United and that is great to see.

“You still see a lot of NBA jerseys, but you definitely see a lot more Melbourne United jerseys now.

“We are trying to build that in Sydney and we are kind of the little brother in the fact that is what we are trying to be.”

Sydney faces a tough task beating United in Melbourne but Bogut said the Kings are ready to cause an upset.

He believes the team’s drought-breaking win over United in round 17, which snapped a 10-game losing streak, is significant heading into the semi-final.

“I think just mentally,” he said of finally beating Melbourne.

Bogut said the Kings can also take confidence from the fact their four games against United this season have been close.

“We were right in all of those matches, so we are not really too concerned,” he said.

“We just needed to know that we could finish off games better against Melbourne because they don’t stop.”