There are certain players that All-Star Games just aren’t designed for. It’s not a knock on that player. In fact, in some cases it’s a complete compliment.
Matthew Dellavedova’s game is predicated on in-your-face defense, efficient passing and general disruption of the opponent’s offense. Anyone who’s ever watched a game over All-Star Weekend has never seen any of these things.
On Friday night, the Wine and Gold’s sophomore guard suited up for the World Team in the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn – becoming just the third undrafted player to appear in the game since the event’s inception in 2000 (joining Anthony Morrow and Jeremy Lin). And he helped lead his World Team score the upset over Team USA – taking the 121-112 victory.
After falling to the Bulls in Chicago to wrap up the season’s first half, Delly – along with his fellow All-Star Weekend participants, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving – arrived into New York area early Friday morning. And by Friday night, the Maryborough, Australia native was back on the hardwood.
For the first time since the contest’s beginning back in 1994, the game matched 10 American players against 10 international players, with Delly and Utah’s Dante Exum representing the Land Down Under. And on Friday night, Delly posted four points, four boards and a pair of assists in 17 minutes off the bench.
After the game, Dellavedova talked about teaming up with his fellow Boomer.
”It’s been really cool to see (Exum) progress throughout the year, said the 6-2, 200-pound point guard. “And I think to have two Aussies on the court for something like this, it was pretty cool. And he tried looking after me so I could get a bucket in the second half, so I’d like to thank him for that.”
And because it’s All-Star Weekend, the soft-spoken Dellavedova even took the opportunity to add a little levity into his postgame interview. When asked if there was any English spoken during team huddles, he responded: “There was a little bit (of English) thrown in there. A few guys speak common languages. And me and Dante were speaking a bit of Australian together so no one could understand us.
This year, the second-year guard from St. Mary’s has appeared in 38 games with the Cavs, averaging 4.3 points and 2.8 assists per contest. He also leads the Wine and Gold in three-point percentage (.416) and assists-to-turnover ratio (3.00).
Delly missed his only three-pointer on Friday night and assist-to-turnover ratio – as previously stated – isn’t exactly a coveted skill over All-Star Weekend.
As a rookie, Dellavedova saw action in 72 games – starting four and tallying double-digits in 13. By this time last year, he was a fixture in Cleveland’s rotation, posting a team-leading +70 plus/minus number. And over this past summer, before joining his Boomers in the FIBA World Championships, averaged11.6 points, 4.6 boards and 4.6 assists in three Summer League contests.
Dellavedova is the 24th Cavalier to appear in the game – through its many forms. Kyrie Irving was the game’s MVP in 2012, Daniel Gibson took top honors in 2008 and, ten years earlier at All-Star Weekend in New York, Zydrunas Ilgauskas became the only international player (before Minnesota’s Andrew Wiggins on Friday night in Brooklyn) ever to be named MVP.
The format produced a relatively tight contest on Friday night. The World squad led by a deuce after the first half, 69-67. But Delly’s squad pulled away in the closing minutes to steal the win and tip off the Weekend.
“I think (the format) obviously makes the game pretty competitive at the end,” concluded Dellavedova. “I’ve played against a lot of those guys in the Juniors growing up, so it was good to get to know them a little bit as well.”
With the Rising Stars Challenge out of the way, the Weekend’s action begins to ramp up. Kyrie Irivng takes on a stacked field in the Three-Point Shootout back in Brooklyn on Saturday night, and he and LeBron will suit up for the East squad in the 64th annual midseason classic on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden.