Boo who? Vickerman says Delly deserved better

Matthew Dellavedova might have expected a warm welcome on his old home floor, but instead he was met with boos. The Sydney Kings guard had the perfect response, playing a key role in ending Melbourne United’s unbeaten run, and his former coach wasn’t happy with how the crowd treated him.

Dellavedova came close to leading United to a championship last season and even claimed the Larry Sengstock Trophy for Championship Series MVP, but that counted for little among some home-state fans at John Cain Arena on Monday night.

The reaction only fuelled the NBA champion and four-time Olympian. After hitting just three triples all season for Sydney, he nailed four in this game, finishing with 12 points and 7 assists as the Kings handed United their first defeat of the season.

Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman said he didn’t enjoy hearing the boos from parts of the sold-out Melbourne Cup Eve crowd.

“No, I never think booing is a good thing, especially for a guy that gave everything for our club,” Vickerman said.

“I certainly didn’t enjoy that.”

Kings coach Brian Goorjian wasn’t bothered by the boos from the home fans, and said he’s fine with it if it helps bring out that level of performance.

“I was pumped really, because usually it’s me when we go places. I just absolutely get barbecued in Adelaide or wherever, so it was nice to have somebody else,” Goorjian said.

“But what I like is coming into the NBL right now and playing in environments like this. In my speech we didn’t talk about Delly, we didn’t talk about the crowd or any of that. The Delly thing wasn’t discussed.

“The thing with a guy like that, and with all these pros, is that the more people get on them, the more they respond and the more they produce. He had a blinder tonight.”

Dellavedova’s teammate Tim Soares, who contributed 6 points and 8 rebounds in the victory, echoed those thoughts.

“I hope they boo him again,” Soares said. “Of course we supported him, and we showed that in Adelaide backing up KD (Kendric Davis). I don’t think we took as much pride in that in the first game as we should have.

“In this one, we brought a lot more physicality which I think dictated much of the game. It was about making sure we were here to compete tonight. That was the biggest thing, and for sure we wanted to do it for Delly as well.”