Delly’s hard work paying off says DMack

Coming off perhaps the best individual performance of the NBL22 season so far, all eyes are on Boomers guard and NBA Champion Matthew Dellavedova.

Looking to do whatever he could to help extend United’s winning streak to six games, Delly went off against the Illawarra Hawks on Sunday afternoon, scoring 33 points while knocking down seven triples.

While his shooting numbers coming into the contest weren’t particularly strong, Assistant Coach Darryl ‘DMack’ McDonald says he knew it was only a matter of time until the star guard had a performance like Sunday’s.

“He puts the work in, that’s the thing,” he said.

“This guy works, you just know eventually it’s going to come good for him.

“I think in the Illawarra game, there was a little extra motivation going against the national team coach (Brian Gorjian), but I just like the fact that his confidence is always high. Some of those shots never looked like missing.”

Delly joined United Captain Chris Goulding as one of the three players this season to knock down seven three-pointers in a game.

DMack added the threat of Delly shooting the three-ball well moving forward is going to be a big facto in helping Melbourne march towards another strong season.

“If he continues to shoot like that, his scoring ability is going to go a long way for us.

“I think we need him to be that guy to step up and provide that extra scoring punch. He carried us yesterday… It was unbelievable.”

Despite his scoring outburst, Delly never looked past his role as a facilitator, finding his teammates for great looks on his way to eight assists.

Currently sitting second in the league in assists per game, DMack praised his ability to be a “coach on the floor”.

“He sees things before they happen, like great point guards do.

“He’s always done that. His ability to run our offence, know where guys are, and put guys in positions to score is huge for us.”

Delly’s next opportunity to help United extend its winning streak to seven will come on Saturday on the road against the Adelaide 36ers.