Milwaukee Bucks 2016-17 Season Review: Matthew Dellavedova
By Adam McGee
The Best of Dellavedova
An obvious appeal to acquiring Dellavedova was his experience of contending for and winning a championship. As the Bucks try to develop their own winning culture, the importance of players with meaningful NBA experience is always going to be pivotal in readying the young players for the road ahead.
Experience doesn’t always naturally equate to leadership, though, and perhaps it was because he was coming from a team with so many obvious leaders that leadership wasn’t necessarily on the top of everyone’s list of what Dellavedova would offer the Bucks.
As the season progressed, the Australian’s leadership qualities became more obvious, though.
It became a regular feature of post-game interviews to hear mention of Dellavedova’s brand of leadership or communication on the floor, with the guard even taking on one of the roles of team captain during the postseason.
On the floor, Dellavedova’s leadership was also evident from the way in which he directed traffic. Although Milwaukee’s guard rotation is lacking in a number of departments, Delly’s ability to communicate and get his teammates to their spots is a valuable skill.
Lacking any kind of dynamic change of pace limits Dellavedova’s overall playmaking potential, but he fits the mold of a sensible floor general relatively well.
An area of strength for Bucks guards this season was taking care of the ball, and Dellavedova was no different. Matthew Dellavedova’s assist to turnover rating of 2.68 ranked 28th in the NBA among guards who played at least 10 minutes per game in 50 games or more. Malcolm Brogdon and Jason Terry also made the top-30.
Delly is never going to be a flashy playmaker or dominant scorer, but he does the kind of things you want a role playing guard to do for your team’s more skilled players.
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