Ganot’s understudy becomes household name in NBA Finals

Weeks after a stopover in the city of Cleveland, the chants of “Delly! Delly!” still ring in the ears of Eran Ganot.

The novelty of the Hawaii coach seeing — and hearing — one of his favorite understudies become a national household name on the biggest of hoops stages hasn’t worn off just yet.

Although Matthew Dellavedova and his Cavaliers teammates came up short in their bid for an NBA title — falling to the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday — the emergence of the scrappy Saint Mary’s alumnus as a key player gave Ganot, and by extension the tight-knit Saint Mary’s hoops community, something to treasure.

“It’s a little surreal, I would say,” Ganot said. “But it’s great. He’s taken us all along for this ride.”

Ganot, now two months on the job in Manoa, endeavors to overhaul the culture of the Rainbow Warriors program to one embodying selflessness and hard work. And he’s been thrust a blueprint to show his players how to become just that in the form of the suddenly prominent Australian guard.

Ganot, a former assistant at Saint Mary’s, coached Dellavedova for three years at the small school in Moraga, Calif. The 6-foot-4 Aussie became the most decorated player in Gaels history, finishing as their career leader in points, assists, 3-pointers made and games played while leading his team to two NCAA Tournament appearances. He had his jersey retired in the rafters just one year after he finished playing in the Bay Area.

Dellavedova is not the only Saint Mary’s product to explode recently. In 2014, another former Gaels guard, Patty Mills, won a title with the San Antonio Spurs.

They are two of 16 Australians to pass through the Saint Mary’s program. UH, despite its relative proximity, hasn’t really tapped that market yet — something Ganot has already begun to change. UH announced on Sunday the addition of Auburn transfer Jack Purchase, a 6-foot-8 Australian forward.

“Every one of the Australians we had at Saint Mary’s was a hit,” Ganot said. “Obviously Delly and Patty will get a lot of the recent … hype, and rightfully so. But every other one we had at Saint Mary’s was a hit in terms of helping us on the floor, and they were all tremendous off the floor. They’re all about the right stuff, the winning, and we all have a lot of respect for the players and the type of people Australia is putting out. So there’s a fit (in Hawaii) obviously because of the proximity of them. We are the closest Division I university to Australia. And I’ve probably coached nine or 10 of those Australians. So they’re all close friends of mine and I think they’d be a great fit here.”

Hawaii fans may recall that Dellavedova, then a freshman, played against UH in the inaugural year of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in 2009. (He scored 12 points with three assists, three steals and three turnovers.)

Until recently, he was still a pretty well-kept secret, even as a second-year NBA pro.

An untrained eye — heck, even a trained one — might never guess at all what he’s already accomplished. Dellavedova doesn’t exactly look the part of an NBA prospect. He was under-recruited out of high school in the Victoria town of Maryborough. Later, he went undrafted into the Association, the most difficult way to latch on with an NBA team.

“I think he was always somewhat overlooked maybe because … he doesn’t have the wow factor in his appearance — I’m sure he’d tell you that,” Ganot said. “He’s not playing above the rim. But he’s one of those guys, there are some underrated qualities too. It’s not just his grit, toughness, intelligence, leadership.”

With each loose ball he won by diving to the floor with abandon in the playoffs, and with every seemingly improbable basket filling in for injured starter Kyrie Irving, “Delly” won over more and more fans.

Some watchers perceived Dellavedova as a villain for repeatedly getting tangled up with opposing players throughout the playoffs and making contact in loose-ball situations.

Former Rainbow Warrior guard Phil Handy, now a player development coach with the Cavaliers, scoffed at the “dirty player” notion the day after Cleveland was eliminated.

“You take a guy like Delly who’s a throwback, who’s an old-school type player, he’s going to stick his nose in there,” Handy said. “He’s just a hard-nosed player. Ball’s on the floor, he’s going to dive on the floor. Doesn’t matter who’s there. He’s one of those guys, man, he’s blue-collar and he works hard and he plays hard. I thought Delly did a tremendous job.”

During the Eastern Conference finals between Cleveland and Atlanta, Ganot, who was between stops on the mainland on May 26, attended Game 4 in Cleveland to support Dellavedova. Delly had already come up big; in the Eastern semifinals, he scored 19 points in a closeout game at Chicago in place of Irving. Then, with Ganot watching in the stands, he turned in his third straight game scoring in double figures against Atlanta. LeBron James raved about him. Ganot, who shares a Sept. 8 birthday with Dellavedova, congratulated him on the closeout win during the postgame celebration on the Cavs’ court.

Delly peaked in Game 3 of the Finals, when he turned in 20 points, four assists and five rebounds while playing effective defense on the Warriors’ MVP point guard, Stephen Curry. But over the next three games, Curry gradually found his shooting stroke and a worn-out Dellavedova couldn’t come up with the requisite stops and scores.

The 24-year-old Dellavedova, a restricted free agent, could still have a very bright future in Cleveland.

“It was just kind of unbelievable that it all unfolded like that and all the things that had to happen for that to happen, but it did,” Saint Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett said of the complete playoff run. “It was almost” — he paused — “like a movie.”

Ganot is quick to acknowledge Dellavedova was already a star in the making when he took a full assistant job with Bennett in 2010.

“I used to say this when I used to speak about him, which was an honor for me. … I have never been around a guy who was as competitive as he is, and yet had a genuine concern for other people,” Ganot said. “Usually there’s a disconnect.

“The Saint Mary’s bond is strong. All those guys, everyone who has been part of that program, players, coaches, know each other, look out for each other, communicate with each other. It was very much a positive, feel-good momentum deal around Moraga, and really around the Bay Area.”

Now he’ll try to find the Dellavedova of Manoa.