Friday, July 6
Posted by: Warriors PR (2:20 p.m.)

MARCO ARRIVES

Marco Belinelli made a wonderful first impression. Both with his attitude AND his playing abilities. Belinelli left Italy early on Thursday morning, making a nearly 20-hour journey that included two stopovers before finally landing in Las Vegas at 4:45 p.m. Less than three hours later, Belinelli was in the gym at Durango High School and ready to play at the Warriors’ Thursday evening practice session.

Several of the coaches told Marco to take it easy if he was too tired to participate. His reply to each was the same: “I’m OK. I’m a Warrior now,” he said while pointing to the WARRIORS printed across the front of his No. 18 practice jersey.


Marco Belinelli showed no ill effects from a transcontinental flight during Thursday's practice.
Belinelli is in the NBA now, and he was not going to let a transcontinental journey keep him out of his first practice … even it was in the summer league.

Once on the court, Belinelli made several plays that had the staff on hand, including Don Nelson and Mitch Richmond, smiling.

As reported, he can shoot. Belinelli has a knack for flying off screens and releasing his jump shot with lightning quickness. As reported, he is athletic. On a couple of occasions, he stepped in the passing lane to deflect a pass and take it down for a dunk and even finished one with an impressive leaning left-hander.

What has not been so widely reported is his passing ability. Marco made several needle-threading passes to teammates for layups. He also showed that he could drive deep into the lane and kick a no-look pass back out to the top of the key for a wide-open three-pointer.

It was only one practice, and it was only in a high school gym in Las Vegas, but Belinelli showed that he can play. He made a great first impression.

thanks for posting that 32. Good stuff!

I am excited about Marco

Me too!

I love his game. He can shoot, like every other Euro on the planet, but his athleticism is really the icing on the cake. And now they're saying he can pass, too? He sounds like the complete offensive package, to me.

I hope his defense isn't TOO BIG of an Achilles heel. Is it a bad sign that nobody's mentioned it yet?

From what I hear, he is more of an opportunistic defender. Probably not going to be a shut down type defender but he has good anticipation skills and hands which is pretty much how we play D anyway.

I think he will get burned some time, but will create many steals. He has pretty good size and really seems to be more athletic than a lot of Euro's so I think he can at least be adequate.

One of the things I like that are being said about him in several scouting reports is that he has an EXTREMELY quick release. He does not need much space at all to get his shot off

Yeah, every highlight video I see of this guy contains at least one 3-pointer where he's FADING BACKWARDS.

That's skill.

badabing8888 wrote:From what I hear, he is more of an opportunistic defender. Probably not going to be a shut down type defender but he has good anticipation skills and hands which is pretty much how we play D anyway.

I think he will get burned some time, but will create many steals. He has pretty good size and really seems to be more athletic than a lot of Euro's so I think he can at least be adequate.

One of the things I like that are being said about him in several scouting reports is that he has an EXTREMELY quick release. He does not need much space at all to get his shot off

This is what I've heard as well. He is going to be an average to below average on the ball defender and he isn't going to stop the other 2 guards in the league from getting their numbers.

He is, however, a great off the ball defender and steps into passing lanes with ease (as the article mentioned). To me this seems to fall in line with what the Warriors were doing defensively last year anyway - trying to create turnovers to get a possession differential versus a shooting percentage differential.

As for the rest I am just as excited for him as ever. This might've been the best draft for the W's since the JRich, Troy, and Gilbert 01 class . . . which would be fitting in its own way.

I am surprised about the #18 jersey, though. I have seen him in 23, 8, and 4 in all the mixes so I figure he'd go for one of those. 18 might be no indication to what he'll wear during the year, but I thought he'd aim for #4 since 8 is taken and 23 might be biting off quite a bit to chew on.

I chose the third option though I'd change it to - Maybe firepower off the bench for 15-25mins a game

Thunder wrote:This is what I've heard as well. He is going to be an average to below average on the ball defender and he isn't going to stop the other 2 guards in the league from getting their numbers.

He is, however, a great off the ball defender and steps into passing lanes with ease (as the article mentioned). To me this seems to fall in line with what the Warriors were doing defensively last year anyway - trying to create turnovers to get a possession differential versus a shooting percentage differential.

That sounds about right. That's the kind of player he was in Italy. An average defender than couldn't stop anybody but didn't suck too much. Doesn't matter. His offensive game will be the reason he earns minutes, not his defense.

I also picked the 3rd option, btw.