NBA - Belinelli outburst leads to change In Fortunes
OAKLAND (NBA) - Less than two weeks ago, Marco Belinelli spoke of his distrust for Golden State Warriors coach Donn Nelson and expressed his hope of being traded. The Italy national team guard felt betrayed by the franchise as he appeared to be headed for a second straight NBA campaign with little or no playing time. Far from getting ...
OAKLAND (NBA) - Less than two weeks ago, Marco Belinelli spoke of his distrust for Golden State Warriors coach Donn Nelson and expressed his hope of being traded.
The Italy national team guard felt betrayed by the franchise as he appeared to be headed for a second straight NBA campaign with little or no playing time.
Far from getting upset by the comments that appeared in the Italian press, the California outfit appears to have taken Belinelli’s remarks to heart and granted him his wish of playing time and the 22-year-old has taken advantage.
In the last five games since the outburst – two of them Golden State triumphs - Belinelli has averaged almost 14 points per game.
He had 19 points, six assists and four rebounds in 31 minutes on Monday when Golden State lost 109-98 to high-fliers Orlando.
Despite Golden State’s struggles, Belinelli can at least feel more secure in his NBA future.
"I am truly happy," Belinelli said.
"I wanted to play so much after being stuck a year and a half mostly on the bench.
"I have always been convinced that I'm an NBA player but when you don't play, people can begin to doubt that. Now I believe I have answered those who thought otherwise.”
Belinelli had to make the very difficult decision to stay in America last summer to work on his game instead of representing Italy in EuroBasket qualifying.
He made the sacrifice because of his desire to solidify his place in the Warriors’ squad.
"It's further proof that training pays off,” Belinelli said.
“I had to turn down the national team in the summer doing exactly what the Warriors asked of me and finally, I am being rewarded."
Belinelli wasn’t in action on Tuesday night, and neither were Italy’s other two NBA players.
Andrea Bargnani’s Toronto Raptors didn’t have a game while rookie Danilo Gallinari sat out another game for the New York Knicks with a sore lower back.
Pau Gasol of Spain was told to take the night off by the Los Angeles Lakers medical staff because of pharyngitis but LA prevailed 116-114 over the Knicks.
Boris Diaw of France finally tasted victory with his new club, the Charlotte Bobcats.
Diaw, who joined the Bobcats along with Raja Bell in a trade from Phoenix, had 15 points, four assists and seven rebounds in Charlotte’s 110-101 win over Chicago.
Young Frenchman Nicolas Batum had 12 points, six rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot as Portland won 109-77 or Sacramento.
China center Yao Ming scored 32 points and Tracy McGrady scored 20, pulled down 14 rebounds and handed out 10 assists as the Houston Rockets beat Denver 108-96.
The Los Angeles Clippers won their battle of struggling teams by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 98-88.
Team USA guard Chris Paul of New Orleans had 18 points, nine assists and came up with five steals to lead the Hornets past Memphis 91-84.
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