Can Illawarra stop Gould rush?

Stopping the brilliance of Chris Goulding could go a long way towards the Illawarra Hawks winning their first championship in 24 years.

It seems a pretty obvious statement, but the statistics certainly backup that point.

Goulding has played against the Hawks twice in NBL25. In Round 6 and a game we'll all remember, he put up 15 final quarter points to lead his side to victory, in a fiery clash remembered for just about everything but the scoreboard. 

Barely two months later, in Round 17, Goulding went scoreless in the second half, as the Hawks ran away with a 22-point win.

CG43 is somewhat of a barometer for United's success. In games he's scored 19 points or more, Melbourne is 10-1. Move that points line up to 25, and they're undefeated in six games. 

The 36-year-old is in rare touch ... well, perhaps not so rare for a player of his quality. He hit 19 threes at 65 per cent in United's home wins over Perth in the Playoffs.

Find similar range against the Hawks and he's well on his way to a fourth NBL championship.

"Chris is very good with the ball not in his hands, just moving away from the ball, and what that does is it causes so many problems," Australian basketball champion Andrew Bogut told Basketball.com.au, quizzed on how the Hawks can stop Goulding.

"For opposing teams, because they're so panicked ... a lot of times Rob Loe, Marcus Lee, (Jack) White, they all get easy baskets, because everyone's focusing on Chris.

"So you gotta make him break the three, and what that means is you traditionally have to probably run wide over the three-point line and chase him downhill, try to funnel him towards the basket, because everyone knows if he scores 30 scoring all twos, (he's) much less, less efficient."

Damon Lowery backed the Hawks' backcourt to quell the star's influence. 

"They [Hawks] all know how to best guard Chris Goulding. Chris got off the chain against Perth almost every game, bar the second half in game two," Lowery said on NBL Now. 

"Against that tall back court of Illawarra, I can’t see it happening."

Goulding is sure to get attention from Wani Swaka Lo Buluk, who was nominated for the NBL's Best Defensive Player award this season, in what looms as a tantalising matchup. 

Whoever gets the edge in that battle, it could well prove the difference between the two best teams in NBL25.

Illawarra hosts Melbourne in Game 1 of the Championship Series on Saturday night from 8pm AEDT, live on ESPN.

Read more >> Andrew Bogut's keys to the NBL25 Championship Series