Yeah you like that? It pretty much means no way I'd want the Warriors to trade Belinelli to the Nets.
Nooooo!! Bellinelli is going to light it up in this league. I know it. Let's have some patience. Discarding him after less than two years is like the NFL. You need to develop your own talent and give it time.
2 Guards are a dime a dozen. If you can upgrade another position by getting rid of your #3#4 2 guard on your roster, then you do it.
Gotta agree with that. Beli is nice but if hes a desired asset and trading him can improve the club I'd have to do it. We're not talking Randolph or Wright here, Beli is ok but unlikely to be a franchise-changer. Its kind of like when we traded Diogu. I think we all liked Diogu and wanted to wait it out and see if he can become a good player but ultimately we had to trade him with our shitty contracts to improve the team. Many said that his success would determine who won that trade, he ended up being a bust and Nellie/Mully probably did the right thing for the team in trading him away. Plus this is a SG we're talking about. They really are a dime a dozen, especially under Nellie. Beli cost us a first round pick but look at our roster. Jackson = undrafted, Monta = second round, Azu = undrafted via D-League, Morrow = undrafted FA, Demarcus Nelson = undrafted FA, CJ Watson = undrafted via D-League. Beli does have some things going for him- good jumpshot, solid handle (IMO but I know some people knock his handles though), good passer, improving defender. Ultimately though I'd be surprised if he turned out to be a starter in the NBA. If Mully/Nellie decide its worth it to trade him then I'd trust their judgement. Is it really going to kill us to trade off a SG who's buried 4 or 5 deep in the depth chart? Especially if it means upgrading somewhere else (since we're loaded at SG)?
I like Rocky. I liked Rudy (Fernandez) better though. I kind of wish the Warriors chose him instead. Marco is most likely an NBA player. I am not so sure a starter. But this is just not a great place for him, especially if Morrow emerges. But then again, he may just end up being another Jiri Welsch. But I have higher hopes for Marco, but you never know.
He's got a lot of potential and he's almost a complete shooting guard (everything from dribble, shoot, pass, quickness, basketball smarts). He just needs to pick his spots, take high % shots, and make it so Don Nelson can't take him off the floor. It's also difficult when other guys aren't giving you the ball.
I agree. He could easily pull what Morrow did the other night. Belinelli just needs to make the most of his limited opportunities and get longer groups of minutes. He's also got to continue playing defense well, try to manufacture an offense not limited to the 3 point arc, and to MAKE his free throws. I think his below 80% free throw shooting is highly suspect for a player of his skill. It shows either lack of mental toughness, he doesn't practice enough, or he's got no shot consistency or accurate feel for how the free throw is supposed to be shot. Earl Boykins could make them with his eyes closed and he could make them down the stretch. I'd figure Belinelli, a pure shooter and highly regarded euro prospect, ought to be able to handle the free throws with his eyes open and be a closer. His rival for playing time, Anthony Morrow, shot something like 85%+ career free throw shooting and he's got more willingness to step into a deep two pointer. Those qualities have me believing that Morrow has the better feel and instincts for the basket from anywhere than Belinelli. Belinelli better step it up soon before the undrafted rookie turns him into Patrick O'Bryant who was another high upside, talented C who never got much of a chance to play through his mistakes.
I like Rudy Fernandez. He's a pretty active, all around player. I think two guards are a dime a dozen, but tall, quick, very well skilled ones are hard to find. If you get a good two guard, it's like having an extra star point guard and it just makes the offense work, especially for C's and inside scoring power forwards. If we want to find the best example of a pure two, it's got to be Ray Allen back in his prime (he's a shoot, pass, drive, and he can even defend a little). If we didn't have Sjax our offense basically falls apart because none of our "shooting guard" sized players are really shooting guards and we're non-existent on point guards. Azubuike can't shoot very well from deep (he's an inside player who abuses weaker shooting guards and because he looks to go inside a lot he tends not to find his teammates very much) and Mags is pretty limited to the same power guard type of game, although he's obviously better in a lot of ways. (both are small forwards stuck playing 6'5, 6'6 matchups and they don't make others better like Sjax would). The only real shooting guard seems to be Sjax because he plays in between a point and a small forward. If we can get Belinelli more minutes, I believe he's going to help the offense similar to Sjax (perhaps like a Brent Barry or Mike Miller type of guy who can shoot, pass, and handle the ball). I think if Bel can pick his spots, increase his scoring versatility, and get confidence, the offense can run very well through him since he is a prototype shooting guard. BTW, I'm not knocking on Azu or Mags. Their role is to be the guy who can take it inside as opposed to settling for jumpshots. The power guard tandem is something I really like on this team and it helps get us in the free throw bonus. Plus Azu and Mags are by no means soft, they rebound against bigger opponents, they get whacked in the face, they drive in traffic taking a lot of b.s. no calls when they're getting fouled, they take punishment. I respect their toughness and their role on this team. If Belinelli can take it inside and develop a highly developed midrange offense game like Mags, Sjax, Randolph, Watson he's got to be in.
Just a small correction. Stephen Jackson was actually drafted in the second round by the Phoenix Suns, but he was waived. I think Ike was a bust only because he was too injured to play. The guy had some game for his size. Also, I don't think we're loaded at shooting guard. Shooting guard to me implies that we have somebody who can handle point guard type of duties and actually shoot the ball well from anywhere. Demarcus Nelson shoots free throws worse than our starting center and has the range of a squirt gun, Azubuike shoots more line drives than major league ball players knocking singles (which means no good chance for the ball to go in the hoop if slightly off). Plus Azu is like Mags in that he takes it inside he tends not to pass much. Monta is too small for full time shooting guard and might not be ready for pure point guard type of duties. I'd have to say if Morrow proves to be a useful player, he's our best shot at a real shooting guard, but I haven't seen his game except for that 37 point, 10 rebound performance. I don't know what his other tendencies are and if he's even a pure two. Otherwise, I think Belinelli is our best shot thus far. Our starting two should be at least 6'5 who has a complete game like Sjax or Joe Johnson or Ray Allen and doesn't always need the ball to be effective. He's got to be the Brandan Wright/Biedrins version of a shooting guard. No plays, just find him (from what I noticed both Belinelli and Morrow make themselves available). Also, if the shooting guard has got the ball, he's got to take initiative like Sjax running point. We didn't see that stuff from Dunleavy, who was supposed to do those things for us, and he got shipped out. The reason was because he couldn't shoot for us and he wasn't assertive enough. I think that both Belinelli and Morrow don't have that problem, but it's the question of who is the more creative scorer/playmaker who can do positive team things consistently.
We still don't have an athletic swingman who can handle the ball and make passes. (I just went to a coaches clinic and the speaker said he hated labels, "1, 2, 5, etc.", because they were players; he'd take 5 1s who could play rather than the set.) I like SJax and Azubuike but they cannot dribble fast and in traffic. Using the Allen example, he had high assist totals throughout his career (around 5 I think).
