Australia’s FIBA World Cup campaign gets underway on Friday and it will be the first World Cup since 2010 without Matthew Dellavedova.
The veteran guard was cut from the Boomers squad as it was narrowed from 18 down to 13 ahead of the warm-up games in Melbourne.
But was 'Delly' actually in the initial squad plans?
Australian basketball great Andrew Bogut has revealed that Dellavedova was actually left out of the 17-man squad by coach Brian Goorjian.
Speaking on his Rogue Bogues podcast, Bogut heard that Dellavedova was told he would not be coming to the pre-tournament Cairns camp over the phone by coach Brian Goorjian – something the 32-year-old refused to accept.
“I heard that Delly was actually told not to come to Cairns camp,” Bogut said.
“I heard that Delly was basically not in the initial (17-man) squad a la Aron Baynes who got told ‘we’re not bringing you to the Cairns camp’.
“The conversation, with whoever called him to make that call, I think it was Brian Goorjian, and Delly was like ‘nah f—k that, I’m coming to the camp’.
“And they were like ‘no, you’re not in the squad’ and I guess there was a back and forth and Delly was just like ‘you’re going to have to look me in the face and cut me’. Basically, ‘I’m going to prove you wrong’.
“People will look at that like ‘what the hell’. I loved it. Obviously, there isn’t a lot of people with the currency to do that. If you’re a fringe guy that’s never made the national team, you can’t be doing that.
“But it was probably a tough thing for (Dellavedova). He’s been an integral part of the national team. Unfortunately for him the last few tournaments his body has burnt out mid-tournament.
“Like, the guy just plays himself to exhaustion and by game two or three he’s like cramping and literally bad, bad cramping every tournament because he just plays so hard.
“I think his age hurt him a little bit, but that’s just a little story I heard and into the mind of Delly, I thought it was great.
“I don’t know if you saw photos of him at camp, he was ripped. He took it personally and that’s the right mindset.
“I know he’s been on record saying ‘I don’t want to go back to the NBA’, I think he could’ve got another deal with Sacramento as the veteran leader in that locker room, the coach Mike Brown loved him.
“And he said ‘no, I need to play, I can’t just sit on a bench, even though the NBA is great I need to go’ and that’s why he signed back in the NBL because he wants to springboard that into making the Paris Olympics next year.
“I believe he went to the (Cairns) camp and did pretty well, but thought he wasn’t there anymore and that’s the tough decision Goorjian had to make and the same one he had to make with Baynes.
“(Baynes) didn’t have a great year (in the NBL) and the lift isn’t there and his legs aren’t there. I bet Baynes will have a great season in the NBL now with a great off-season, but that’s just a little tidbit that I heard.”
The Boomers have been drawn in a group with Germany, Japan and Finland for the FIBA World Cup.
They will take on Finland in Okinawa, Japan on Friday night.