Kingfanpaul
Starter
"25 points on 5-for-6 shooting from behind the arc in just 24 minutes of action"
http://www.nba.com/kings/blog/belinelli-lights-msu-exhibition
Marco Belinelli leads Italy over Michigan State
- Thread starter Kingfanpaul
- Start date
"25 points on 5-for-6 shooting from behind the arc in just 24 minutes of action"
http://www.nba.com/kings/blog/belinelli-lights-msu-exhibition
Exhibition game.
Sac.Kings
All-Star
I saw this yesterday and I thought it must have been a fake video or fan-made at the very least so I just skipped right over it.... in my defense, national teams don't face college teams on what you would call a regular basis. Regardless, I almost feel as Bellinelli should start. He offers a lot more than what Ben can offer in terms of creativity on offense, passing, and vet savvy. Also, Ben did well with Collison last year at the PG spot, maybe he would feel more comfortable off the bench and if he plays himself back into a starting role, the better off we will be. Our defense would take a hit (though not much because I don't think Ben is a good defender yet and is even worse at team defense), but it would give us an extra ball handler out there.
King Baller
All-Star
I have a feeling Rondo agrees with you.
The Hammer
All-Star
Mama... THERE GOES THAT MAN!!!
Sac.1989
Starter
there will be games where we absoutely light teams up from deep this season. Its been a rare occourance in the past years and we have been on the recieving end many a time but i can not wait for us to go off this season from deep. I remember when we beat the hell out of Boston in Sac a few years ago. What a game that was to witness. Even Jimmer rocked up.
Sac.Kings
All-Star
To be relevant in most games against most teams in this era, you have to be at least respectable from deep, if not outright good. Look at Memphis for example, a great team, but can't hit the 3 consistently. In the playoffs, teams just packed the paint against them and respect to them, they made it to the Conference Finals anyway. It's the reason why they couldn't beat the Warriors though, they couldn't shoot at all. Had they had a real threat from downtown (at least 1), I think they could have beat the Warriors (along with Conley being healthy).
Wow...I have no clue why, but I never thought of Ben playing with Collison if he were to come off the bench. You sir, are a genius.
I think keeping Ben on the starting lineup would probably be the best for his development. He's around guys who won't force him to score and he can just be a catch and shoot player.
We saw the Warriors promote Barnes to 6th man in his 2nd year. He looked really bad. I feel like that could be the same case for Ben if that was done.
Belinelli is the better SG, but I think he might fit off the bench a little better. At least with him, we'll know that he can and will consistently knock it down from 3. We will depend on him. If Ben is in the starting lineup, his deficiency will be hidden behind Cuz and Gay.
Sac.Kings
All-Star
I don't know if you are being sarcastic or genuine in the first bolded part, but if you are being sarcastic, you are barking up the wrong tree
As to the second bolded part..... you wouldn't possibly mean hidden just like the last two years right... behind the same two guys? Hear me out. Ben has had 2 years, and I admit he has improved (who wouldn't improve after that first season), to show that cohesion with that first unit. In the early part of this past season, I thought he finally figured it out. He was shooting well and really tried on defense, to varying degrees of success, but still tried. However, with the collapse of our team, his game collapsed just as hard. Clearly, there is an association with that, but it's not like he is our superstar. His game shouldn't fall off that much. He is our spot up shooter, the wing guy on fast breaks, and our designated "defender." He should be relatively consistent, but he isn't. He's still all over the place and has been top 3 worst starting SG in all of the league for 2 years running. I want to see him improve because he can/might/will be huge for us at some point or another, but this season is so huge for us that I really cannot bring myself to rely on him.
At this moment in time, Bellinelli is better. He's not even 10% the athlete McLemore is, but he is wiser, stronger, better at shooting, passing, dribbling, and understanding the team game (he's a former Spur, the literal icon of team basketball this decade). If we plan on being serious about making the playoffs, those open threes that Ben loves to miss need to be makes. Marco does that very very well. If Marco starts, Ben would feel absolutely no pressure to perform and we can rely on him for stretches, instead of the entire game (which he has not been ready for). We can mold him from the bench and if benching lights a fire under his butt, then we will only benefit. He is our SG successor, so he will play, but I am not sure having him start is the smartest thing to do.
King Baller
All-Star
I'm just glad Belinelli is on the Kings! How long has it been since the Kings have had a three point contest winner who plays significant minutes?
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
um...when did this take place? Most colleges are just starting their terms right now. I'm not even sure if its legal for them to have their basketball teams together and playing/practicing yet.
As for Bels lighting them up, I mean, of course. People forget that even the bad NBA players were stars in college. And Bels is a good NBA player. Throw in what I assume was the shorter line, and that's like shooting a FT for him.
As for Bels lighting them up, I mean, of course. People forget that even the bad NBA players were stars in college. And Bels is a good NBA player. Throw in what I assume was the shorter line, and that's like shooting a FT for him.
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randymoss1881
Starter
I like this video better
If Ben takes another step and can get to 38-39% shooting from 3 on 5 attempts our small ball lineup would be leathal. A lineup of Rondo, Belinelli, Ben, Gay, Boogie will kill teams that go small teams that can't guard DMC and don't have a SF to hurt us. Having that type of spacing for DMC/Gay will kill a lot of teams that don't have a guy to pinish us for playing Ben at SF. I think Karl will go with this lineup a lot.
Teams like Atlanta, Boston, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Detriot, GS, Houston, Indiana, LaL, LaC, Milwaukee, NO, NYK, Philly, Pheonix, Portland, Toronto, and Washington. That's 20 teams who we could use that lineup up because they don't have a PF and SF to hurt us with. 20 out of 30 teams is huge.
PurpleHaze
All-Star
Beli-nel-lee!! and Bel-ah!! In Italiano say enthusiastic game broadcasters back to the home country.
King Baller
All-Star
As part of a stretch of international exhibition games, Michigan State’s college basketball team has been facing off against various European teams. This past Saturday, MSU took on Italy who overpowered the Spartans en route to a dominating 90-69 victory. - from kings.com
William Blake
Bench
It's actually more common than one would think. My local team (Italian 3rd division) has played with some colleges over the last couple of years, every time around this period.
Nooo not sarcastic at all. I just never thought of it that way... Pretty weird and stupid, I know. Anytime I thought of Ben coming off the bench, I imagined him as our 6th man and it made me cringe. I completely forgot that he would be playing alongside Collison.I don't know if you are being sarcastic or genuine in the first bolded part, but if you are being sarcastic, you are barking up the wrong tree
As to the second bolded part..... you wouldn't possibly mean hidden just like the last two years right... behind the same two guys? Hear me out. Ben has had 2 years, and I admit he has improved (who wouldn't improve after that first season), to show that cohesion with that first unit. In the early part of this past season, I thought he finally figured it out. He was shooting well and really tried on defense, to varying degrees of success, but still tried. However, with the collapse of our team, his game collapsed just as hard. Clearly, there is an association with that, but it's not like he is our superstar. His game shouldn't fall off that much. He is our spot up shooter, the wing guy on fast breaks, and our designated "defender." He should be relatively consistent, but he isn't. He's still all over the place and has been top 3 worst starting SG in all of the league for 2 years running. I want to see him improve because he can/might/will be huge for us at some point or another, but this season is so huge for us that I really cannot bring myself to rely on him.
At this moment in time, Bellinelli is better. He's not even 10% the athlete McLemore is, but he is wiser, stronger, better at shooting, passing, dribbling, and understanding the team game (he's a former Spur, the literal icon of team basketball this decade). If we plan on being serious about making the playoffs, those open threes that Ben loves to miss need to be makes. Marco does that very very well. If Marco starts, Ben would feel absolutely no pressure to perform and we can rely on him for stretches, instead of the entire game (which he has not been ready for). We can mold him from the bench and if benching lights a fire under his butt, then we will only benefit. He is our SG successor, so he will play, but I am not sure having him start is the smartest thing to do.
I agree with almost everything you said, but I think if we have Ben on the bench, it might put more pressure on him to score. We need bench scoring. If we take a look at it right now, our bench consists of: Collison, Casspi, Acy, and WCS/Kofus. We need consistent scorers for our 2nd unit. It's been proven time after time, that benches are one of the most crucial parts in a team. I like a lot of those guys up there, but the only consistent scorer is Collison. Omri is always a mixed bag. I'd feel much much more comfortable with a proven scorer on our bench. That's where Belinelli would come in. The bench never plays for long stretches, so if we put Ben in and he's his inconsistent self, we'll already have wasted possessions with him just missing shots. I think we have to hide him in our offense where we only rely on him for spot up shooting. If he plays on the bench, he's instantly the 2nd-3rd scorer. If he plays on the starting lineup, he's the 4th-5th guy.
Hiding his deficiencies a little bit.
ForlornKing
Starter
I like Ben when he's looking to score and has more of a green light. Fan of bringing him off the bench.
I believe I read on the Wildcats forum I frequent that Arizona is doing an Italian tour next season.
Maybe European tours are exempt from certain NCAA regs?
Chicken Chaser
Bench
2:40 in the exhibition game video, are you kidding me?
