Toronto Raptors: Marco Belinelli, A Shooting Star

Marco Belinelli, the 18^th pick of the Golden State Warriors in 2007, came to the NBA at the age of 21 after 5 professional seasons in the top division in Italy.

Belinelli was highly coveted by the Raptors who were reported trying to obtain an additional draft pick to select him.  No deal materialized and the Italian player fell to Golden State.

Contrary to ESPN’s Hollinger scouting report that states “Belinelli … Euroleague translations predicted: … a decent scoring rate with a bad shooting percentage”, both Brian Colangelo and Maurizio Gherardini knew this kid could shoot!

In Belinelli’s last 2 seasons playing for Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna in Italy, Marco averaged 14 ppg and shot 52% for 2 and shot 7 threes per game making 37.5% of them.  Scouting reports described Belinelli as being able to hit threes from anywhere on the floor.

Marco Belinelli has been described as a good ball handler with a good first step and the ability to finish at the rim.  An excellent catch and shoot player and effective off the curl with beautiful form on his high arcing shot.  He can also score with a hand in his face when he’s hot. Marco has good court vision and the ability to make difficult passes.

But Belinelli has not shot well off the dribble and sometimes shows poor judgement in his shot selection.  He should be a good defender with his lateral quickness and long arms and he does get steals, but he seems to lack the necessary focus so far.

In his first year with GSW, Belinelli never made it out of Don Nelson’s doghouse.  Despite an amazing summer league where he averaged 22 ppg, Marco couldn’t crack a bench deep in wing players and ended up playing in only 33 games for an average of just 7 minutes per game.   The only bright spot being Belinelli did hit 39% of his three pointers.

The depth at Golden State’s wing position didn’t change but the next season did provide some opportunities due to injury and personal issues.  In the 42 games Belinelli got to play, he managed 8.9 points, 1.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 0.9 steals in 21 minutes.  He also kept up his three point shooting percentage at 39.7%.

Last year, Belinelli ranked 8^th in scoring amongst rookie and sophomore shooting guards.

Nelson finally gave Belinelli a real chance to play in the middle of the season.  For 20 games between December 6, 2008 and January 11, 2009 Belinelli played an average of 29 minutes per game.

During this time he averaged 13.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3 apg and 1.1 steals.  His 2 point shooting averaged 47.7% and he shot 3 pointers at 37.6%.

Toronto fans should remember how he burned the Raptors for 23 points and 6 assists connecting on 5 of 8 from 3 on December 29.

Unfortunately for Marco, he turned an ankle on January 11 only saw significant minutes after this while Monta Ellis was away on personal leave at the end of February.

For that 20 game stretch last season, Marco Belinelli’s scoring averaged more than any other rookie or sophomore shooting guard except Eric Gordon and O.J. Mayo.

One thing is certain; the Toronto Raptors have picked up a shooting guard who can score the ball!