As a long off-season comes to a close, Ballarat born-and-bred Sam Short says he isn't nervous for the start of his next NBL campaign.
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Short, 21, says the only thing surrounding him is excitement ahead of Melbourne United's season opening 'Throwdown' against new franchise South East Melbourne Phoenix.
"I'm really excited, I don't think it's nerves anymore," he said.
"It's been a pretty long preseason so for the regular season to be right here it's really exciting."
Ahead of the first ever meeting between the two Melbourne teams, Short says it feels special to be a part of what he believe could be Australian basketball's next great rivalry.
"It's pretty special, it's obviously something the league wanted to introduce with the inception of a second Melbourne team.
"At the moment no one is really sure what to expect from the game but hopefully we can have a near sold out Melbourne Arena and turn this thing into a rivalry."
There will be some familiarity in the match-up for Short, as the Phoenix boast fellow 2019 Miners standout Deng Acuoth.
Short believes sharing the court with Acuoth would be tremendously special as the pair look at establish themselves in the NBL.
"From my perspective it's going to be great to hopefully be out there on the court at the same time as Deng... to know we shared a whole season together in Ballarat and now to be going up a level and be sharing the court is something we're both really looking forward to."
Entering the final year of his developmental deal with Melbourne United, Short has made it clear he wants to remain with the United beyond this season and is ready to showcase what he can do on the court.
"I think it's pretty well documented that at the end of this year I'd love to be brought into the full roster, but again it's going to take a whole year of development and staying ready for my opportunities."
The United and Phoenix will clash at Melbourne Arena on Thursday evening from 7.30pm.
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