potential bobcat from europe

[123together]

i was looking at nbadraft.net and there was a very intriguing prospect from europe named Marco Belinelli and he was compared to ray allen. he could potentially be a long term answer at shooting guard for the cats. what do you guys think.


here's a scouting report

Strengths: Despite his age he plays the game with maturity and intelligence, and has a great deal of experience Ball handling ability is top notch as he can lead the fast break or take opposing guards off the dribble Belinelli is one of the best shooters off the dribble anywhere in his age group Even more impressive is that he needs little time to get his shot off thanks to his ultra quick release Moves extremely well without the ball using an assortment of cuts and fakes to get open Works very well off of picks and screens where he is superb off the catch and shoot Possesses legit three point range Mechanically he does everything well no matter if he is off balance he always keeps his body fully squared Defensively he possesses great anticipation skills and quick hands which enable him to disrupt passing lanes Does not get intimidated by pressure situations nor when facing physical defenders Mid-range shooting has improved as he is starting to fuse this with his long range shooting and slashing ability . Extremely coachable player who has a solid work ethic Athletically he shows solid leaping ability and quickness A great finisher in the open court

Weaknesses: Defensively he may struggle to defend more athletic shooting guards as his lateral quickness is average at best Tends to get caught up in shooting from the perimeter instead of driving the lane and drawing fouls. Should concentrate on becoming more aggressive using his athleticism to attack the basket Ball protection is a work in progress as Belinelli can get careless with the ball Does not make much of an impact on the glass Needs to continue to work on conditioning as he shown the tendency to get worn down as the season progresses Court vision leaves a little to be desired Doesnt convert shots when contact occurs on his drives due to his lack of upper body strength Belinelli can go through streaky periods where he struggles with shooting consistency

[dvdbumpus]

Sounds similar to Matt Carroll with the offensive and Defensive end.

[CaptainCrunch]

yeah he has future bobcat written all over him he is a good player and would be a nice fit here in charlotte, nice scouting 123

[dvdbumpus]

On nbadraft.net he's projected to go #10. I don't see us getting him unless we nab Toronto's pick. It also has Marcus Williams going #11. If I had my choice between the two, If there was a video of him, that'd be awesome. But based on availabilty, if we did get the Toronto pick, it'd be the best shooter available.

I do like what his profile has to say, however.

[Dead_Real]

He has ups looks like an excitng player.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=KyPYO0L6_6U

[tamburello]

Belinelli? No thanks. He's a very overrated player in my opinion. Very inconsistent shooter, and only shoots.Some stats about him. (http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?clubcode=for&pcode=BCN) His inconsistency may be healed, but we already have Adam and Matt, so he'd be a wasted pick.

If we really have had to select from Europe, I'd have selected Tiago Splitter (http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?clubcode=bas&pcode=CBY), but he is projected as a mid or late first rounder. He's poor man's Joakim Noah.

[dvdbumpus]

The name Joakim Noah should never be mentioned on these forums. BLECH!


Splitter may be a good player, but he always returns to his native league and never enters the draft.

[123together]

no doubt about joakim noah. he's like okafor except his offense consists of nothing but put-backs and the recipient of many good passes. he can do relatively little on offense by himself.

[Dead_Real]

As of right now I'm looking at Haseem and Marcus Williams still.

[ziggy]

Belinelli? No thanks. He's a very overrated player in my opinion. Very inconsistent shooter, and only shoots.Some stats about him. (http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?clubcode=for&pcode=BCN) His inconsistency may be healed, but we already have Adam and Matt, so he'd be a wasted pick.

If we really have had to select from Europe, I'd have selected Tiago Splitter (http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?clubcode=bas&pcode=CBY), but he is projected as a mid or late first rounder. He's poor man's Joakim Noah.

Tamburello, Have you heard or seen Ricky Rubio. Although hes probably at least 3 years away from wearing an NBA uniform, according to this (http://www.truehoop.com/international-basketball-69799-learn-the-name-ricky-rubio.html) he is going to be THE next European phenom.

[tamburello]

The name Joakim Noah should never be mentioned on these forums. BLECH!


Splitter may be a good player, but he always returns to his native league and never enters the draft.

Splitter had contract buyout problems for two years in a row, so he wasn't able to enter 2005 and 2006 Drafts. But his contract expires this summer, so he has no longer a contract problem and 100% will enter the draft this year.


Tamburello, Have you heard or seen Ricky Rubio. Although hes probably at least 3 years away from wearing an NBA uniform, according to this he is going to be THE next European phenom.
Yes, I heard his name a lot, his euroleague stats (http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?clubcode=JOV&pcode=LFW) doesn't shine except steal average, but I also read an article about him and he looks solid. But still tooooo young.

[dvdbumpus]

The name Joakim Noah should never be mentioned on these forums. BLECH!


Splitter may be a good player, but he always returns to his native league and never enters the draft.

Splitter had contract buyout problems for two years in a row, so he wasn't able to enter 2005 and 2006 Drafts. But his contract expires this summer, so he has no longer a contract problem and 100% will enter the draft this year.


Tamburello, Have you heard or seen Ricky Rubio. Although hes probably at least 3 years away from wearing an NBA uniform, according to this he is going to be THE next European phenom.
Yes, I heard his name a lot, his euroleague stats (http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?clubcode=JOV&pcode=LFW) doesn't shine except steal average, but I also read an article about him and he looks solid. But still tooooo young.


Excellent research. I had heard a rumbling of contract disputes but I didn't realize they were true, let alone dealing with him.

[tamburello]

I'm sorry for some confusing infos about Splitter. I gave some wrong info. He declared himself eligible for three times(2004,2005,2006), he withdrew in 2004 because he didn't feel ready, and in 2005 and 2006, he withdrew before deadline because of contract confliction. He enters draft this year but just because of his age, 22, 2007 is his last chance to be drafted. And his contract will expire in 2008, not 2007. So the team drafted him will have to buy his contract out. But since there isn't a defined buyout amount/option on his contract, the drafting team will have to negotiate with TAU.

But his team TAU Ceramica Vitoria is known for their reluctance in buyout incidents. For example before the start of this or last season, San Antonio Spurs wanted to add Luis Scola, whose rights are held by Spurs. But as I heard, TAU wanted 8 million $ to release him. As I read, TAU are preparing to demand 5 millons to release Tiago. That makes Splitter a risky choice for teams like us. But I think teams like San Antonio or Phoenix will make him a late first round pick as the worst case scenario. Because they have no hurry to add a quality young player to the roster. But teams like us need immediate effect.

[ziggy]

I believe that Tiago Splitter would also duplicate what we have since we are loaded up at the power forward position.

[tamburello]

Tonight I watched Marco Belinelli against my Efes Pilsen, but man how on earth people can make him a lottery pick? He really has bad shot selection, low percentage, and is one-dimensional. He shot from 3 pt range more than 2 pt'ers. Even if he has potential, I believe he's toooooo raw.

I don't think I'm a good young prospect observer. But now he looks really bad, he's even so low for European basketball, I can't dream him playing against NBA shooting guards.

Ricard Rubio is a steal-freak. Tonight he stole 4 balls in 22 minutes. He has 3.8 steal average in only 19 minutes(Euroleague stats). Better to remind that he is only 16. Also keep your eyes on his teammate, Rudy Fernandez. He averages 16.1 points in 23 minutes, his shooting percentages are eye-popping. He deserves to be a lottery pick, contrary to Belinelli.