Listening to Reggie Miller, Chris Webber and Kenny Smith kick dirt all over Delly, to the point where Miller ad Webber actually laughed when Delly was (intentionally) kneed in the face in a loose ball situation later in the game, had me thoroughly disgusted. I do not understand what these guys are looking at.
The Korver play is a non-issue, flat-out. Anyone who can actually sit here, watch the whole play (not the tiny snippet they chose to show over and over during the telecast) and tell me that he intentionally dove at Korver's leg? I call them a liar or stupid.
The guy had the ball poked away from him, it was rolling toward the opponent and he dove to try and regain possession. It was a hustle play in a key sequence during a freaking playoff game. The only other option was to watch it roll to the opponent.
While less clear, upon even a semi-close inspection, Delly was being hooked as Horford -- a guy who only outweighs him by 60 pounds -- attempted to either make it look like Delly was fouling him (most likely the case) or just to take Delly out of the play as it looked like the Cavs could have started a fastbreak. Delly lost his footing and made a late attempt to shield Horford from the ball.
Horford came with the elbow because he was frustrated, both by the fact that his team is about to be swept and that this little, unathletic guy has been so effective against them.
The Gibson play is the only one that Delly actually did deserve a "T" but there was nothing dirty about it. Annoying? Sure. But that's one of his roles and he does it well, obviously.
It makes me wonder what Miller, Webber and Smith were attempting to accomplish by mudslinging for literally hours on Delly. I'm not sure if it was simply disappointment that the Hawks aren't able to make a series out of this, being disgruntled that the Hawks' best player was ejected, or a complete misunderstanding of what it really takes for the guys around the world who aren't born with the athleticism that they were.
Diving for loose balls, scrapping for every inch of the floor and backing down from no one are the reasons Delly is able to make basketball his living.
I thought it was sort of telling that by far the two best basketball players on the panel -- Shaq and Chuck -- sided with Delly completely. Those guys, despite their natural gifts, also were relentless on the floor, backed down from no one and scrapped for every inch. That's why they understood what Dellavedova is trying to do and also probably one of the major reasons why they were legitimately all-time great players, unlike the other three.
I'm also disappointed that the Hawks are taking this route out of the playoffs. Instead of playing as hard as you can (which to their credit they did tonight) and gracefully bowing out when it inevitably came up short, they're choosing to exit stage laugh whining and crying. The Bulls were easily the second best team in the conference and you didn't hear this kind of stuff from them, because they understand physical basketball.
Watching the Hawks play in this series after what we endured against the Bulls, maybe I shouldn't be surprised that this level of intensity, effort and physicality is foreign to them.
Quite a long rant, but I had to get that off my chest. Delly doesn't deserve the way this narrative is beginning to play out and it was refreshing to see LeBron get his back passionately.
