Could one of the all-time greats of Australian basketball be the answer to the Boomers’ recent struggles?

Four-time Olympian Matthew Dellavedova has played just 16 minutes across the Olympic tournament so far, but made every second matter. He scraps, he fights and battles for every possession. 

16 points down against Greece, Brian Goorjian turned to ‘Delly’, with immediate effect.

He had 2 rebounds, an assist, and a steal in just 7 minutes of game-time, playing a key role as Australia survived potential elimination and even pushed to claim an unlikely victory late in the piece. 

But it’s often the things he does away from the stat sheet, the intangibles, that said Dellavedova apart.

“Delly, I thought his impact when he came in just really changed the tempo of the game a little bit and kind of sped them (Greece) up a little bit to a spot where they didn’t want to be,” former Boomer Brad Newley said on The Gold Standard.

“Having been around Delly for quite a while now, as soon as that warm-up top comes off, you see him in his jersey, that’s his message to Goorj or whoever’s the coach, ‘get me out there’, and he was great.

“His minutes kind of turned the game around a little bit … who knows, maybe we see a little bit of him earlier next match?”

If Goorjian’s post-game praise was anything to go by, it could be time for more of a veteran presence, especially with Josh Green struggling from the field.

“That’s the reason we brought him (Dellavedova) here. If this thing gets nasty or it gets hairy and we lose our way, we know he’ll steady us,” the Boomers coach said. 

“We just thought from a defensive standpoint, to keep the pressure on, you bring him in there.

“We enhance our defence and we get through our system better.

 “We love him (Green), but he hasn’t got going. One of the things we talked about was the Delly factor … and now we’re 14 or 15 down, we had to make the move, tighten the rotation, bring Delly into it.”

Dellavedova played just 4 minutes in the Boomers’ win over Serbia prior to the Olympics, but gave plenty of bang for buck, with 3 points and 2 rebounds.

In such a massive, win-or-go-home match, does Australia call on a proven performer, an NBA champion and an Olympic medallist, before it’s too late? 

Australian Boomers v Serbia
Bercy Arena
Tuesday, August 6 – Tip-off from 10.30pm AEST
Watch: Live via Nine Network & Stan Sport
Scores & stats: Click here

Highlights, scores & game reports available via the NBL’s social media channels.