http://esports.lv/basketbols/nba/18022008-...i_spele_savadak The interview is in his native language, I got the gist translation from another board. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Basically Andris is telling that Marko currently is too week on defense and that's why he will never get consistent playing time under Nelson! Marko is working out with conditioning trainer, which mentioned that he has never lifted weights before!</div>
Cool beans. Everyone knew he was kind of undersized for the nba and wasn't really strong like Jamaal Crawford or Ray Allen was. And most nba finesse type shooters above 6'4 are a bit soft on D anyway. I can't think of one 6'4"+ pure shooter that actually plays D. I guess you could say Kobe Bryant because he can be a shooter. Other than that, I hoping Belinelli can prove to be a threat beyond the arc, from midrange, and from the charity stripe. If one of those things is missing, he's not really a shooter in my book. Think about all the times Dunleavy and guys like Adam Morrison bricked at the foul line. There's just no excuse really. I'm just not believing that Belinelli will ever be decent to good defender. He'll probably be more like how Brent Barry, Ray Allen, and Mike Miller is. It's just very average or below average. But the nba needs guys who can shoot. It's been the American national teams' problem for a few years now until Redd and Mike Miller joined the team (with added playmakers like Kidd). We got scorers, but no shooters. That's why a lot of them unathletic, undersized Euros end up beating us and we wondered why in the past. Well enough rambling. I hope Belinelli works out for the Warriors, because besides Jackson/Croshere, I don't think we got any all-around shooters. It'd be nice if Bel could develop into one.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MikeDC @ Feb 19 2008, 02:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Jamal Crawford would have been blown over by a stiff wind his first couple years in the league </div> Yeah, I could believe that. Crawford was something like 180 lbs for a 6'5 guy. If a shooting guard weighs that much at that height, they got no choice to try and play point guard in the nba. Remember that Rudy Fernandez guy that got drafted by the Suns and then had his rights traded to the Blazers? The guy is supposedly 6'5-6'6 and he weighs 170 something. Damn. That guy would get worked in the nba against smaller and bigger players. He's supposed to be one of Europe's best nba prospects for a guard similar to how Bellinelli was.
It just goes to show you why it's difficult to develop a shooter in the nba. it's not as difficult as a big man, but the guy has to have the right tools to begin with. with belinelli, let's hope his putting on some muscle and getting into better condition does the trick for him. marco's the same height as ray allen, but allen has got about 10 - 15 lbs more muscles and conditioning.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (jason voorhees @ Feb 24 2008, 04:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>It just goes to show you why it's difficult to develop a shooter in the nba. it's not as difficult as a big man, but the guy has to have the right tools to begin with. with belinelli, let's hope his putting on some muscle and getting into better condition does the trick for him. marco's the same height as ray allen, but allen has got about 10 - 15 lbs more muscles and conditioning.</div> We'll see how Marco develops, but I think Hollinger was right about this guy so far in terms of stats. He needs to work on his all-around game because teams take away some of his best tools. I would like to see this guy develop as a midrange shooter before he takes any other shot. Shots off the screen for instance can be made inside the three point arc. Plus, I want to see how he does shooting off the dribble. Only Ellis seems to master that, Baron is not really a shooter to be considered reliable on an easy play. Sjax doesn't do that well if he has to put the ball on the floor first, which is why if he drives, the ball is kicking out or he's going to the hole for a foul or a layup. Maybe all of that will come when Belinelli works on that physical conditioning. He's still a young player, he's mentally mature and he's a high basketball IQ type of player. Those are guys like Mullin likes and I tend to like them as long as they got strong physical attributes as well. With Belinelli, he's long, he's got pretty good quickness in the open court, and he can leap real high. Defensively, he just seems to play ballhawk when he's not quick or strong enough to stay on the guy. He'll get beat laterally on the drive angle or when the guy gives a little handcheck to create separation. The upside in all of this is you got a guy who can shoot off balance, he's very quick coming off screens and catching the ball, he's got a very good, quick shot release with an above average wingspan. He's got the ability to pass and drive so he'll offer the real deal shooting guard role as opposed to power guards like Azu and Jrich who couldn't fit in with other players when the other small forward did the same job role. Like, how does the ball move from other positions if there isn't another passer and shot creator besides the point guard and guys stand around waiting for the play rather than trying to get open to receive the ball?
