Maryborough’s Matthew “Delly” Dellavedova will captain Australia’s men’s basketball team for the first time as the Boomers begin their World Cup qualifying campaign this week.
Most important points:
- Bendigo sports stars are causing a furore on the international sports stage
- Basketball players Matthew Dellavedova to captain Boomers as Dyson Daniels is called up to the NBA
- Swimmers Col Pearse and Jenna Strauch enjoy success at the World Championships
The former Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks player will lead the Boomers when the team plays China in Melbourne on Thursday night.
Dellavedova, who plays for NBL team Melbourne United, said it would be difficult to face China twice in the next week.
Daniels is ‘a great boy’
The Boomers squad will feature six players on its debut with Dellavedova among the more experienced players.
Meanwhile, another Central Victorian Dyson Daniels has made a big hit in the sport in the US.
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Dellavedova said he sent a few texts to Bendigo’s latest basketball esport after being drafted in Friday’s NBA Draft.
A 19-year-old point guard, who stands at 6 feet 11 inches, was picked up by the New Orleans Pelicans at pick number 8 to bolster his defense.
“It’s a very tough competition, physically and fast,” said Dellavedova.
“And as you can see, with the different NBL players being drafted, it’s really well respected around the world and it just gets better year after year.
“It’s unbelievable to go so high in the draft.
“But I think the prospects for his career in the NBA and then with the Boomers are more exciting. I know he has a passion for playing for Australia.”
Sporting goods stores say they expect Bendigonians to buy NBA jerseys from Dyson Daniels when they are released in August, ahead of the new NBA season starting in October.
His design marks the latest in a string of international sporting triumphs for Central Victorians after Bamawm swimmer Col Pearse won two silver medals at the World Para Swimming Championships in Portugal.
Swimming talent makes waves
The Paralympic was second in the men’s 200m S10 individual medley and the 100m butterfly.
Pearse made headlines in 2020 when at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, he and his family turned the dam on their dairy farm into a swimming pool and used milk bottles as lanes.
Pearse said the Portuguese city of Madeira was similar to Bendigo.
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“It’s like 200,000 people, a small island, good weather, good pool. Really great people too,” he said.
“We all said it kind of felt like a holiday apart from the days when we were racing where we had to turn it on and do the whole recovery process and the feeding.
“We went for a walk along the beaches, went to a cafe and had a Portuguese cake and a cup of coffee.”
In other results, Bendigo’s Jenna Strauch took silver in the women’s 4x100m medley at the World Swimming Championships in Budapest, Turkey.
Strauch, along with teammates Kaylee McKeown, Brianna Throssell and Mollie O’Callaghan, finished with a time of 3 minutes 54.25 seconds.
The Dolphins star also took silver in the 200m breaststroke.
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