Bogut: Delly's impact won't be measured by a points tally

Kings great and former NBA star Andrew Bogut has warned fans not to judge Melbourne United debutant and NBA recruit Matthew Dellavedova by his points tally. 

Delly makes his NBL debut for the reigning champions Melbourne United against the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings at Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday.  

Bogut, who played 13 seasons in the NBA before returning to play in the NBL with the Kings, said this week fans should judge Delly differently when reviewing performance. 

“I don’t think he will be concerned about his stats being the be-all and end-all, it will be about winning games,” Bogut said. 

“He’s not going to be the star putting up mind boggling numbers when you pick up the stats sheet, but I think he will very influential in terms of winning games.” 

Delly’s return to the NBL has been much anticipated just as Bogut’s return to the NBL was in 2018. 

While the expectation is significant around Delly, Bogut is mindful the NBL remains a tough, world-class league even for someone the class of the 2016 NBA champion and Olympic medallist.  

“Everyone’s different. I put a lot of pressure on myself (in the NBL return),” Bogut said. 

“The NBL can tend to overhype the NBA stuff, but you can’t come into this league and expect to put up 20 (points) and 20 (rebounds) just because you are an NBA player. 

“Delly will no doubt have the responsibility of guarding (Jaylen) Adams or one of our better players and he’s a real interesting piece of this game. "

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As much as he is keen to see his old friend Dellavedova, Bogut is also keen to see the new-look Kings perform under head coach Chase Buford. 

“There is a lot of unknowns for us,” Bogut said of the Kings. 

“We’ve got Jordi (Jordan Hunter) out which is tough, but our rotations will be interesting.  

“We have a very deep roster and everyone will be intrigued to see who Coach Buford starts with and who is playing big minutes off the bench.” 

A crowd of around 10,000 people is expected at Qudos Bank Arena for the double header with the Brydens Sydney Uni Flames. 

The Flames tip-off at 12.30 pm against the UC Capitals and the Kings tip-off at 3 pm against Melbourne United.   

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