Delly to play here in WC qualifier

MANILA, Philippines - From all indications, it looks like Milwaukee Bucks guard Matthew Dellavedova will play for Australia when the Philippines hosts the Boomers in the last game of the first round of the FIBA Asia-Pacific home-and-away World Cup qualifying tournament on July 2 next year as the NBA season will be over by then.

Dellavedova, who’s in town to promote the sports shoe and apparel brand Peak, said he’s looking forward to returning here to play “and maybe, do some tourist stuff as well.” Dellavedova flew in from San Francisco with his wife Anna and manager Bruce Kaider last Thursday night. They leave for Bangkok tonight then travel to Australia before flying back to the US at the end of next month. 

The Philippines, Australia, Chinese-Taipei and Japan are in Group B of the FIBA Asia-Pacific qualifying tournament. The teams play each other twice in a home-and-away series. The top three finishers advance to the second round where they engage the top three teams in Group D which is composed of Iran, Kazakhstan, Qatar and Iraq in another round of home-and-away games. Seven teams will advance from the qualifiers to the World Cup in China in 2019.

“The new qualifying is going to be interesting to see how it works with the NBA guys just because I think we’ll only be available for one of the windows,” said Dellavdova who represented Australia in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and the 2014 FIBA World Cup. “I’ll catch up for coffee with our national coach Andrej Lemanis in a couple of weeks. Andrej’s done a great job with our team. It’s going to be a new challenge (to play in the unified FIBA Asia-Pacific zone) because Asia plays a different style of basketball with a lot of quickness and speed. It’s going to be fun seeing different parts of the world. I know everyone loves basketball in the Philippines and that’s why I’m excited to be here. It’s fun playing in atmospheres like that.”

Australia used to battle only New Zealand for the ticket to represent Oceania in the Olympics and the World Cup. Now, the battlefield has expanded. “I’ve got a lot of great memories of battles against New Zealand, all the way from the U19s,” he said. “It was something we always had to prepare well for. They’re tough and physical.” Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams, who is from New Zealand, recently said he’ll join the Tall Blacks in the FIBA Asia/Pacific qualifiers when the NBA season is done.

Dellavedova, 26, said he remembers playing against Gilas in an invitational pocket tournament in Antibes, France, before the World Cup in Spain in 2014. Australia led, 47-42, at the half and went on to win, 97-75. Dellavedova and newly signed Boston Celtics forward Aron Baynes scored 17 points each while Utah Jazz guard Dante Exum had 11. Andray Blatche paced the Philippines with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

“Andray was tough to guard and did a really good job with the national team,” he said. “The Philippine offense was really smooth with a lot of shooters spacing the floor, a lot of driving and kicking the ball and multiple drives. You have to sit down and guard your man one-on-one because once they start driving and kicking and if you have to start chasing, it’s going to end up with an open three. You just have to get back, set the defense, really sit down and guard one-on-one if you allow dribble penetration.”

Dellavedova, who left the Cleveland Cavaliers after three seasons to sign a four-year $48 Million contract with the Bucks in 2016, said it was always his dream to represent Australia in the Olympics. “I grew up in a small country town and I remember watching the Olympics for the first time,” he said. “Playing for my country is something I don’t take for granted. There are millions of people in Australia who would love the opportunity to play in the Olympics. I know I’m very lucky. We have a great group of guys on the national team, some of my best friends. I always love playing for Australia.”