Marco Belinelli is officially a bust.
I had been a big fan of his when he was drafted and lit up the Summer League a year ago. He seemed like a dead-eye shooter. Instead, he turns out to be a streaky shooter with an unorthodox shooting form with no defense whatsoever.
Rather than working to improve himself in the Developmental League during the season, Belinelli sat himself on the bench and played less than inspired ball in the few minutes he was given to showcase himself.
Coming into this year's Summer League, I was expecting big improvements from Belinelli. Reports out of the Warriors' camp had him working at the Oakland facilities with Brandan Wright over the summer. I expected a leaner, meaner player; instead, he was the same old player as the previous year.
He had flashes of offensive brilliance in one game where he scored 30 points on his patented scissor kick fadeaways and lucky half court shots. But those shots are not guaranteed to go in during the regular season. He still does a fadeaway when a simple set shot would suffice.
The papers tout his passing which I could see is a talent of his; but, he seemed to go for the flashy pass all the time instead of the fundamental pass. Rather then making the entrance pass to the post, he would dribble around the perimeter and do no-look or behind-the-back passes. Although, the passes are entertaining to the crowd, they involve unneccessary risk.
The one thing that I have the most problem with Belinelli's game is his defense or lack thereof. Coach Nelson had stated repeatedly that Belinelli needs to play defense to get into the game during last season. When a coach who is not fond of defense makes a statement about a player's lack of defense, then that player must be horrific at it.
I was witness to Belinelli's brand of defense during the last two games of the Summer League. He would routinely let his man drive right by him, only reaching from behind in a desparate attempt to poke the ball free. The other coach would consistently attack Belinelli every trip down because he could not stop his man. Douby put up 40 points on Belinelli. Douby did so much damage, Coach Smart had to put Watson on Douby and move Belinelli to cover a no-name point guard.
With no desire to play defense and a streaky shot, Belinelli is a big fat bust. I would have no qualms of seeing Belinelli packaged in a trade for a competant NBA player before his stock falls flat among the GMs of the league.
Post new comment