There’s not much to see on the drives through Maryborough or Cleveland, where the excitement peaks at either the Gold Panning Championships or the National Sports Collectors Convention.

But drive slowly… if you’re lucky, you might catch a glimpse of one of the best underdog stories of the NBA playoffs. You might’ve heard about him. His name is Matthew Dellavedova and he’s been getting his “Patty” on of late.

If you’re resigned to judging players by dunks, crossovers and box scores then you’d probably walk away from Dellavedova. If anything you’d probably notice his hunched running style and unorthodox shooting stroke. Heck, if you’re not looking at Delly at just the right moment and in just the right light then you might be wondering, what does he actually do on the court? Or at least that’s how the Cavaliers Twittersphere read for most of the regular season.

But not anymore.

Delly is nobody’s darling, but his unlikely rise to the NBA’s grandest stage is not surprising to anyone who has ever coached him.

“Dellavedova’s performance on both ends of the floor… I’m speechless,” Mike Brown said last season after Dellavedova blanketed Bradley Beal. “For a rookie to step in like that… he’s a winner. He’s done it all training camp. He’s done it his whole life, done it with the Australian Olympic team and he did it for us tonight. It was a heck of a job.”

You’re groaning. I get it. You’re thinking ‘that’s cute, but this is the NBA – the best league in the world.’

“He’s a little bit Neanderthal in how he goes about his business, but he’s for real,” Former Aussie Boomers Head Coach Brett Brown said last year. “Matthew Dellavedova is a winner. He’s not glamorous. But he’s effective and a helluva teammate.”

Starting to make sense?

“Every good thing that happens to that guy, he deserves,” David Blatt said earlier this season. “Matty worked his way into being a good player. He is purely a function of outworking everyone, all of the time. When he gets his chance, he gives you all he has.”

An hourglass was set on the table the second Delly nabbed a spot on the Cavs team last season. After all, he was already 23, had played four years in a small collegiate program, and boasted limited upside. His shelf life was meant to be meeting its expiration when Cleveland welcomed home LeBron James and traded for Kevin Love. Simply, contending teams tend to exhibit little patience for nurturing a young role player. And yet, in spite of people stumbling through his surname, and everything else, Delly has struck important minutes in the season’s most critical games.

Booming the “I’m not even supposed to be here” catchphrase has become a popular narrative-building ploy in today’s sport. And indeed it can have many different connotations, but it ultimately captures Delly’s basketball journey the best.

I mean, think about it: He’s a pale skinned, goofy-looking kid from Maryborough who wasn’t even favoured to make the Boomers’ squad in 2012. Had he never played pick-up ball with Mike Brown’s son, he might never have nabbed a training camp invite in Cleveland, which means he’d never have led the Cavs in minutes in a crucial game two win against the Bulls, or broke a franchise record for the most assists (9) by a reserve player in a playoff game.

At the end of Game 4, Delly was entrusted to deliver the inbounds pass to LeBron for the game-winner.  On time and on target.

I have rolled my eyes at the Dellavedova hate all year – but last Saturday was too good. In a strange way, when Taj Gibson, Jimmy Butler and Aaron Brooks took turns roughening Delly up in the third quarter it was a kind of you’ve made it moment.

Delly matters in this series. That physicality – however minor – isn’t left for the designated mop-up duty guy. Everyone knew that the Bulls-Cavs series was going to be a war, but very few could have guessed that Delly would outplay the Bulls back-up PGs (Brooks and Kirk Hinrich) in the backcourt battle.

Let that marinate while you consider this tweet:It’s an impossibly fascinating moment for a player seemingly no one picked to crash St Mary’s records, start at the Olympics while still playing freakin’ college ball and pinch a spot on an NBA roster. And it’s doubly fascinating because the undrafted Aussie has managed to outlast Cleveland’s last three top-five picks on the roster.

His value is in the details. Sure, he can be passive in the pick-and-roll and lacks some off-the-bounce spice, but he’s a neat compliment to LeBron, Kyrie Irving and JR Smith, who all need the ball in their hands. There’s something to be said for lacing the roster with guys who’ll stay in their lane, diligently hustle back on defense, embrace the dirty work and get the team into its sets. Cory Joseph (San Antonio), Nick Calathes (Memphis) and Hinrich agree.

The playoffs are a different beast, we hear it every year. It’s where rotations shorten and inexperience unravels. And yet, here is the undrafted Delly consolidating his spot in a tight eight-man-rotation and playing his part in beefing Tristan Thompson’s next contract:

As star-driven as basketball can be, this series feels like it will come down to which overlooked role player can hit more open jumpers. Delly’s contributions so far have surprised most casual fans and NBA analysts. Some might think his recent all-round play is not sustainable, but I find myself reverting back to what Brett Brown said last year about the Australian:

“…he’s for real, Matthew Dellavedova is a winner.”

Dellavedova has the It Factor – those undefined intangibles – that resonates more deeply with coaches and teammates than with fans.

Traditionally, the Australian athlete thrives on physical confrontation, deflects praise, isn’t particularly athletic, plays with an edge and a strong team sense, and, perhaps most important, comes out of obscurity to be the nation’s underdog hero. Sound familiar?  Maryborough’s finest.