Foes question Dellavedova’s physical screens on offense
Foes question Dellavedova’s physical screens on offense
You don’t have Matthew Dellavedova on your team for his opinion on the best surfing spots in Australia or his recipe for kiwitopped pavlova.
You use the Milwaukee Bucks guard for his muscle, strength, toughness, grit and as a bonus, his NBA playoff and championship experience.
The Bucks have gotten that and more from the 26-year-old fourth-year guard this season after he departed the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers for Milwaukee. And now he’s getting a little attention for more than his 7.6 points per game and 4.7 assists in the regular season. He also fulfills another less heralded but essential job: setting the screen.
Just as he set them for LeBron James in Cleveland, Dellavedova now sets up Bucks leading scorer Giannis Antetokounmpo expertly, which was evident in Milwaukee’s Game 1 Eastern Conference playoff victory
Thursday against Toronto, 97-83.
And Toronto isn’t happy about the way Dellavedova sets those screens.
“He did set 18 screens and we did look at them,” said Raptors coach Dwane Casey on Monday afternoon. “A lot of them weren’t legal.
“Now we’ve got to make sure we counter that and make the officials make a decision. The officials were saying that we’re not hitting (the screens) or running into them. We’ve got to make sure we have a confrontation, because he’s one of the great screensetters in the league, just like John Stockton was. There’s no disrespect by saying that.
“It’s a respect factor for Dellavedova that he does set hellacious screens.
“You look at them in slow time, and believe me, they’re moving, they’re grabbing, they’re holding . ... He has set a precedent with it and they’re not calling it. We’ve got to make sure we set screens the same way, and now we show the officials those videos.
“It’s a credit to him that he sets screens that way and gets away with it.”
Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan was asked about Dellavedova’s screens and said: “If you pay my fine, I’ll answer that question.
“OK, next question,” DeRozan said.
Dellavedova finished practice Monday at the Cousins Center about an hour before the Raptors’ comments were made from Toronto, so he talked candidly about his role as a screener.
“I think in the playoffs, my game is suited to that. Where there’s a lot on the line, it’s going to be even more physical,” Dellavedova said. “If you want to win, you’ve got to put your body on the line.
“Internationally the game is a lot more physical. The way they set screens, if you go under a screen internationally, the big man is going to roll you down in to the paint, so you really can’t go under any screens. Often times when I go back and play with Australians in the summertime, it’s a lot more physical.”
This is not a source of concern for him. It’s something he’s worked at to help free teammates. Basically, he’s going to get his guy open and see the screen through.
“Being a ball-handler all my life, coming off ball screens, I know what I like and what is effective,” Dellavedova said. “So I just do that as a screener: How the defender is playing, what the offensive player likes to do, where they are on the floor, where everyone else is on the floor. It all plays in to it.”
Of course, this comes at a cost. Dellavedova accepts his share of bumps and bruises every week for this dirty work. Asked if every screen he set was perfectly legal, this was his response:
“All people set illegal screens in the NBA,” Dellavedova said. “If you follow it to the letter of the law, the rule is that your feet have to be inside your shoulders. I mean big men are always kind of setting it wide. That’s just how it is.
“You have to be smart and adjust to what the refs are calling.”
The Raptors surely remember Dellavedova’s all-around play in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals last season when he set tough screens and made difficult passes to James.
Dellavedova will continue to set solid screens for his new all-star teammate Antetokounmpo during Game 2 on Tuesday night, and he won’t back down.
“They’re both special talents and special people,” Dellavedova said. “The way Giannis has improved his game from when he first came in to the league is unbelievable.
“He’s a big reason why I came here. Obviously, it was a tough decision to leave Cleveland.”
From coach Jason Kidd’s perspective, part of that growth has come from “Delly.”
“It’s tough when you have a small, a point guard, that sets screens, as many as he sets in a game,” said Kidd on Sunday. “He knows he’s going to get hit, being able to absorb that hit and he does it a lot.
“It can wear on you, but I think he’s someone who can take a hit. He understands sacrifice and his teammates appreciate that.”
“I think in the playoffs, my game is suited to that. Where there’s a lot on the line, it’s going to be even more physical.” MATTHEW DELLAVEDOVA, BUCKS GUARD