Sport
14 March, 2024
Delly in with a shot of earning NBL ring
Matthew Dellavedova will have the chance to add the National Basketball League (NBL) title to his glittering resume after Melbourne United progressed to the best-of-five grand final series on Wednesday night. United will now face the Tasmania Jack...
Matthew Dellavedova will have the chance to add the National Basketball League (NBL) title to his glittering resume after Melbourne United progressed to the best-of-five grand final series on Wednesday night.
United will now face the Tasmania Jack Jumpers across the next two weeks as they seek their third NBL title after their name change from Melbourne Tigers in 2014.
Dellavedova played a crucial role in United’s 100-94 victory over the Hawks in the win-or-go-home third game of their series, collecting 11 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals, but more crucially, finishing with the best plus-minus on the floor with 19, underlining his impact which went beyond stats in his 34 minutes on the court.
Dellavedova’s impact as a leader on the floor did not go unnoticed when the game needed to be won, making some big plays down the stretch.
He set the tone early by grabbing a big offensive rebound before laying in a contested floater while fouled, creating a three-point opportunity, and later in the game, he would also make his mark, hitting a crucial shot to end the third quarter, while also preserving United’s lead when Illawarra were pushing to keep their season alive with a crucial offensive rebound with 22 seconds left.
United head coach Dean Vickerman, speaking to nbl.com.au after the game alongside Dellavedova, showered him with praise for his leadership.
“There was a will and a desire from us tonight and ‘Delly’ really drove that over this series and again made mention to the guys at shootaround today if you put your hard hat on, win loose balls, and we were much better in the rebound stakes tonight,” he said.
“When he came back to us this time we knew his body was even better than last time we saw him. He talked to me and said ‘I’m going to be so much better than last time I played at United’, and he has lived up to that.
“He sees people in front of him and he finds a way to go ahead, get to the rim and make great decisions. His leadership through this series, his desire, he did it with actions and with words, so credit to him.”
Dellavedova will now have a chance to add the NBL title to the title he won in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers, as well as his Olympic bronze medal from the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021.
The first game of the best-of-five series will be played on Sunday afternoon at 4 pm, with games scheduled for March 22, March 24, March 28 and March 31.
United will come into the series having finished four games ahead on the ladder, but with a 1-2 record against the Jack Jumpers throughout the season.