NBA stars Mills and Dellavedova could bring Gold to Australia – Coach Lemanis
Could bring home gold
Australian Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis believes that NBA players Patty Mills of the San Antonio Spurs and Matthew Dellavedova, who was recently traded to the Milwaukee Bucks after winning the NBA Championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers last season, could deliver the gold medal in the Rio Olympics to the country.
Foxsports reports Lemanis believes the backcourt of Mills and Dellavedova can lead his team to play aggressive defense that “disrupts” the game and moves the ball around before taking “intelligent” shots.
Mills and Dellavedova both came off the bench for their respective teams and contributed vital minutes that resulted in winning the NBA title for their respective teams.
“I have had the benefit of seeing them play together a bit, certainly at the London Olympics which was Delly’s first tournament experience, and the chemistry was great,’’ Lemanis said. “Then they played in the past two Oceania series and it is one of our real strengths.”
Lemanis also said that both players can carry the ball for the team, which makes it hard for other teams to disrupt their offense and cause trouble in the backcourt.
Mills and Dellavedova will make Australia’s offense flexible and unpredictable, and allow their defense to force turnovers.
According to The Herald Sun, Dellavedova has been labeled as dirty in the NBA because of his don’t care attitude hustle on the court. That hustle, though, has earned him admiration from around the league.
Mills, who is in his third Olympics, led Australia in scoring in Beijing then topped the entire scoring averages in London, highlighted by a desperation three-pointer against Russia.
He is excited to develop his on court chemistry and relationship with Dellavedova.
Mills went to the same school as Dellavedova in the United States and their respective teams won two of the last three recent NBA titles.
“We can work well together,” Mills said.
