COMMENTI SU BELI @ NBA SUMMER LEAGUE 2007

Child's Play: Belinelli Makes It Look Easy

By Maurice Brooks
Posted Jul 7 2007 9:34PM


LAS VEGAS, July 7, 2007 -- Marco Belinelli is proof that not all big-name rookies suffer from a case of the jitters in their NBA debuts.

A day after the top two pupils from the class of 2007 received less-than-spectacular grades, Belinelli looked like the valedictorian of the NBA Summer League presented by adidas.

The forward, who was selected by the Warriors with the 18th pick of last week's draft, scored with the type of simplicity normally reserved for fathers playing one-on-one in the driveway against their young children.

In a performance that is sure to be talked about for many summers to come, Belinelli lit up the Hornets defense for 37 points. He connected on 14-of-20 shots from the floor, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range, to help the Warriors earn a 110-102 win.

Yes, he made a couple of layups and dunks, but it was his straight-out-of-an-instructional-video jumper that left the New Orleans defenders helpless.

In a small bit of irony, the media surrounding him after the game wanted to know about a shot he missed rather than the 18 (counting free throws) that he made.

With 50.3 seconds left to play, Belinelli missed one of two foul shots. That was the difference between being tied for second for the highest scoring game ever in Vegas summer league history and being tied for first. Keith Bogans scored 38 as a member of the Magic in 2004.

"I was not aware of what the record was," said Belinelli, who has played professionally for five seasons in Italy. "I wasn't trying to get a record or anything like that."

While his shooting obviously got all of the attention Saturday, Belinelli showed that he has other skills. He grabbed five boards and handed out a couple of assists in his 40 minutes on the floor.

"This was different than what I'm used to," Belinelli said. "There wasn't much defense. I like to play with a fast pace and I can also pass and rebound."

The ease with which the game came to him was reminiscent of another foreign-born player: Spurs star Manu Ginobili.

One can only wonder how much more efficient Belinelli can become with Baron Davis operating the Warriors' offense during the regular season.

Shortly after the game, Belinelli began climbing the bleachers in an attempt to chat with Golden State head coach Don Nelson.

He was stopped by a dozen fans who wanted the Warriors' new superstar to give them his autograph. After putting pen to pad, he finally made it to Nelson who had an ear-to-ear grin on his face.

It is only one game, but early returns say Golden State may have the steal of the draft.



Da: www.nba.com/summerleague2007/players/belinelli_070707.html.

Edited by Marco#7 - 19/7/2007, 11:47

Warriors' top pick, Belinelli, makes a quick impression

Janny Hu, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, July 8, 2007


(07-08) 04:00 PDT Las Vegas -- So rushed has Marco Belinelli's schedule been the last two days that the Italian import easily could have sleepwalked through his Warriors debut.

Instead, Belinelli delivered his own wake-up call Saturday, scoring 37 points in the Warriors' summer-league opener, a 110-102 win over the Hornets, to trump the previous night's unveiling of Greg Oden and Kevin Durant.

Belinelli had by far the best showing of any player in going 12-for-17 from the field and 5-for-7 from three-point range. At one point, he hit nine straight to delight the early afternoon crowd and the Golden State brass on hand.

"I told you he could play," coach Don Nelson said.

Belinelli played all 40 minutes despite arriving in town just about 40 hours before. He took a 16-hour flight from Italy to Las Vegas on Thursday night, went directly from the airport to the team's hotel to change and get his ankles taped, then on to a two-hour evening practice at a local high school.

None of that wear-and-tear showed during his first summer-league appearance. After missing his first shot, Belinelli ended the first half by making nine straight, including five three-pointers that seemed to get deeper and deeper with every launch.

His longest shot looked to be about a 30-footer, which didn't surprise those who have been practicing alongside him for the last day and a half.

"I knew he could shoot," said swingman Kelenna Azubuike, who had his 29-point game upstaged by Belinelli. "He's a good player."

Belinelli's shooting spree was reminiscent of Stephen Jackson's lights-out, third-quarter run during the Warriors' series clincher against Dallas. The newcomer set a summer-league record with 24 points at halftime and came one point short of tying Keith Bogan's all-time mark of 38 points.

Golden State's first-round pick (18th overall) also showed off his ability to create contact and scoring opportunities, many times in the same motion. He repeatedly leaned into defenders only to step back and swish a jumper, though he admitted afterward that finding the same success in regular games will be difficult.

"We'll see in the NBA season," he said.

At the very least, the Warriors appear to have plucked an NBA-ready guard who should help fill the scoring void left by Jason Richardson. Belinelli, 21, already has five years of pro experience in Italy, and Saturday's debut offered a peek at how the Warriors plan to use him next season.

The 6-foot-6, 192-pounder ran the point on several possessions, showing a willingness to give up the ball, and would have had far more than the two assists he was credited with had more of his teammates' shots fallen.

"The one thing about Marco is that he's played against men, so he can come right in," said assistant Keith Smart, who is coaching the summer-league squad. "There may be an adjustment on defending bigger guys, but we have different defensive schemes to get by that. He's a basketball player."

Prior to his Warriors debut, Belinelli was best known to stateside basketball fans for scoring 25 points and hitting a clutch three-pointer to help Italy eliminate Team USA during the 2005 FIBA World Championships.

It "changed my life because I scored 25 points in that game against LeBron James, against Dwyane Wade," he said. "This is my moment."

Belinelli has another three years left on his contract with Climamio Bologna in Italy, but he has easily negotiable buyouts after every season. Belinelli's agent, Sam Goldfeder, said he expected his client to sign with the Warriors as soon as his buyout is finalized in the coming week.


E-mail Janny Hu at [email protected].

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...SPG9BQT1R41.DTL

This article appeared on page D - 15 of the San Francisco Chronicle



Da: www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/07/08/SPG9BQT1R41.DTL&type=printable.

Azubuike eager to stick around

Janny Hu
Sunday, July 8, 2007


(07-08) 04:00 PDT Las Vegas -- Lost in Marco Belinelli's coming out party Saturday was a solid effort by Warriors incumbent Kelenna Azubuike, who strengthened his bid to return to Oakland next season with 29 points, six rebounds and two assists against the Hornets.

The former D-leaguer shouldn't be far from signing the first multi-year deal of his career after playing for the league minimum last season, and there's no debate as to which team he'd like to be a part of.

"I love Golden State," Azubuike said after helping the Warriors rally to a 110-102 opening win. "This is the funnest team I've been on, the best coach I've ever had and all that."

Mike Higgins, Azubuike's agent, made the rounds with Golden State officials and coach Don Nelson on Saturday and anticipated more conversations later this week. Higgins said his client is drawing interest from other teams, but as a restricted free agent, the Warriors have the right to match any offer he receives.

It appears more likely that the two sides will work out a deal this summer. "I'm not worried," Higgins said.

Perovic watches, waits: Though center Kosta Perovic still isn't officially signed, he looked every bit a Warrior in his team shirt and warm-ups after arriving from Serbia the night before.

Perovic, the Warriors' second-round pick in 2006, is closing in on a multi-year deal and will not play in summer league, but looked forward to beginning training camp this fall.

"I'm pretty excited," said Perovic, who took in the game with fellow Serb Zarko Cabarkapa. "It's always been my dream to come here and play in the NBA. I've been working really hard in Europe, we won the (Serbian League) championships, and now I'm ready."

Briefly: Top rookie Brandan Wright doesn't anticipate suiting up for the Warriors during summer league as he rests his strained hip flexor. "I probably won't play in this at all," he said Saturday. ... Center Patrick O'Bryant came on strong in the fourth quarter to finish with 10 rebounds and three points in 28 minutes while guard Pierre Pierce added 21 points. ... Second-round pick Stephane Lasme sprained his right knee by colliding with Josh Powell in the second quarter and did not return.


This article appeared on page D - 16 of the San Francisco Chronicle



Da: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file...SPG9BQT1SC1.DTL.

Nellie buzz on Belinelli: 'I think he's been sensational'

By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
(Archive)

Updated: July 12, 2007, 7:06 PM ET


LAS VEGAS -- If Bay Area folks want reassuring signals regarding Don Nelson's willingness to keep coaching the Golden State Warriors, this is where they should look.

This is where Nelson can be found daily, watching three or four games in one sitting.

This is where Nelson was seen and heard Monday night, laughing and huddling in the stands with Baron Davis as they took in a Kevin Durant show together.

This is where a Warriors rookie who was born to play in Nelson's system, according to Nelson himself, has generated more excitement than anyone at the NBA's sunbaked Las Vegas Summer League, Durant and Greg Oden included.

By now you've probably heard someone make the inevitable connection between Marco Belinelli and how his quick-trigger game is a Nellie Ball natural. Yet it should be noted that Nellie -- who has yet to publicly confirm that he'll be back on the Warriors' bench next season -- is making that connection, too.

Told by one reporter that Belinelli (pronounced Bell-LEE-nell-ee) has to be some sort of relative, Nellie chuckled and said: "I think it's going to work out real well for the both of us."

For starters, that would require Nelson to state his intention to return for the second year of a three-year deal in his second Golden State stint. Nelson refused again Monday to discuss his future, but sources close to the situation say that the 67-year-old wants his annual base salary of $3.1 million bumped to at least $5 million annually if he's to return for the next two seasons. Nelson made $5.1 million last season because of two $1 million bonuses, one for halting Golden State's 12-season playoff drought and another for getting the Warriors to the second round via their historic first-round upset of the 67-win Dallas Mavericks.

The Belinelli Factor, by contrast, is looking as solid as it can after a couple games at the Cox Pavilion on the UNLV campus. The Italian, taken No. 18 overall by the Warriors in last month's draft, announced himself with a stunning 37 points in Saturday's debut and followed that up Monday with 23 points in Golden State's 94-87 victory over Philadelphia.

"I think he's been sensational," Nelson said.

Belinelli didn't quite reach that stratosphere against the Sixers, needing 23 shots to get those points, but he continued to play with a poise and fearlessness to back up the Warriors' claim that they just might have snagged the most NBA-ready rookie available.

He's not your typical foreign-born rookie, true. Given his considerable experience back home in Italy, in a league long regarded as Europe's strongest, Belinelli arrived as a much more polished product than most 21-year-olds. But his 5-for-8 shooting from the 3-point line Monday, after a 5-for-7 spree of triples in the 37-point game, is atypical early success from deep for an overseas kid making the transition to the longer NBA shot.

As a teenager in Italy who earned regular playing time at a younger age than 2006 No. 1 overall pick Andrea Bargnani did, Belinelli was proclaimed by basketball officials and media experts in his country to be predestinato ... destined for greatness. No one is putting his NBA prospects in that category -- we haven't yet seen how this crafty 6-5 scorer will adapt physically and defensively to the NBA game -- but the famously hyperbolic Nelson has already seen enough, after two July outings, to declare that Belinelli has the ability to compete for spot minutes at point guard. Challenging Monta Ellis for the starting 2-guard berth left vacant by the deal that sent Jason Richardson to Charlotte is another possibility.

"He shoots the shot you don't expect," Nelson said. "He shoots it a little late, or he shoots it a little quicker than the [defender] expects. He'll surprise you how he comes off screens or when he back-cuts you. He's very unpredictable offensively, and that's what I like about him."

So much for the notion that unpredictable rookies are the scourge of coaches.

"This is one," Nelson said, "that doesn't make me nervous."

As for the notion that Nellie will ultimately decide he's not going to coach Belinelli ...

"I'm worried, but at the same time I'm not worried," Davis said during a break from his unexpected appearance to see Durant. "They'll figure it out. Everyone will play fair because it's a fair organization."

Davis didn't use the word fair by accident, since he's seeking his own contract extension from the Warriors this summer. Yet when asked specifically if Nelson's role in the Warriors' historic late-season surge merits an increase in guaranteed money, just one season into his original contract, Davis insisted: "He deserves it."


Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here.



Da: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/stor...marc&id=2931177.

Player with a Past: Pierre Pierce

July 10, 2007 12:25 PM


If you watched the opening days of Summer League, you saw a lot of jittery players, and that's no surprise: Many are in this setting for the first time in their lives. Just about no one performs their best when they barely know their coaches' and teammates' names.

The players aren't the only ones who are still learning names. When one of these newbies puts on a good show, people in the stands and on press row scramble for the hastily photocopied media guides the teams have distributed.

Plenty of people have been turning to the page that describes Pierre Pierce.

In his first two games for Golden State's summer league team, he is averaging an efficient 21 points per game on a mix of creative drives and a pretty longball jumpers. Sure, he's a little winded at times, and yes, he has been thinking shoot-first more than most point guards. But he has showed plenty of promise.

The media guide will tell you he was one of the best players in University of Iowa history, at both ends of the court. It says that he is from the Chicago suburb of Westmont. It says that there's practically no good reason this guy wouldn't be a good NBA player. He's 6-4, and has no major flaws ... certainly nothing is guaranteed when you're an undrafted player trying to make the NBA, but every scout I have talked to thinks Pierce has a very real shot at making the league this year.

Judging by the buzz in the Cox Pavilion's section 119, the roped off section of the stands where the basketball minds tend to congregate, it seems that if the Warriors don't invite Pierce to training camp, another team will. And it won't be a mystery why. Even though his conditioning is still coming along after an extended period with a subpar exercise regimen, Pierce can play either guard position, has a good handle, and defends hard.

What's more, he's showing signs of being exceptionally responsible and coachable: He brought his father with him to Las Vegas, he says he is not going out on the town because he wants to be well-rested for the games, and he talks like this about playing for the Warriors: "I'm just really fortunate they gave me this chance," he says with humility. "I'm just trying to learn every day in practice."

The media guide also says that the Pierce was not drafted, which is a little odd, and he last played basketball in any organized fashion in 2005.

So, um, where was he? And why was he undrafted?

The Past
There's something the media guide is not telling you, and if you are not a big college basketball fan, or don't live in Iowa, it may be a little shocking.

The reason Pierre Pierce has not been playing elite basketball is because he was serving time for the second of his two sexual abuse-related criminal offenses.

Here's an Associated Press account of his story from October 2005:

Former Iowa basketball star Pierre Pierce was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for assaulting a former girlfriend at her apartment last January. The 22-year-old player wept as he hugged his parents and relatives after he was sentenced.

Moments later, he was handcuffed and escorted a block down the sidewalk to the county jail.

Reading from notes, Pierce apologized to the victim and blamed himself for what happened.

"Not a single day goes by that I don't think about how things could have been different," Pierce told the judge. "Truly, deep down in my heart, I am sorry for my actions."

Pierce pleaded guilty in August to third-degree burglary, a felony, and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, false imprisonment and fourth-degree criminal mischief -- all misdemeanors.

In 2002, Pierce was also charged with third degree sexual abuse, but plead guilty to a lesser charge and eventually had the incident expunged from his record. He is reportedly on probation until 2010, and when asked if he is free and clear to travel the nation, and to Canada as an NBA player, Pierce can't say for sure, and refers the question to his lawyer. This is a man who is still very much in the grips of the legal system after a serious conviction.

Makes you wonder -- what do you have to do to get uninvited from the NBA?

The Present
Pierre Pierce walks into the lobby of the Mandalay Bay casino and hotel in a Warriors t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers. He smiles easily, and extends his hand for the shaking. Except for a bloodshot left eye -- which met the wrong end of a teammate's elbow in practice -- he is as clean cut as they come after recently cutting off his cornrows.

There are people who want to make excuses for Pierre Pierce. (As the story goes, predominantly white community, tired of athlete misbehavior in football and basketball at the University of Iowa, was in no mood for a black player maltreating a white girlfriend, which some say led to aggressive prosecution.) He is not one of them.

Some of what he has to say about his eleven month incarceration at the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility, which was followed by close to eight months when the 24-year-old was not allowed to leave Iowa for his parents; Illinois house, which is home for now:

It has been really difficult for me. I just knew that one day I would get an opportunity to play for a spot in this league, and I just tried to stay focused on that.

It just felt great to be able to get out there and play basketball. Finally in May I got a chance to go back home and see my family in Illinois.

In Iowa, I couldn't really work with the best trainers and I couldn't play against the best competition. In Illinois, I'm close to Chicago and I can train with the best, like Tim Grover.

Just being home, the last six weeks, it has been good. It has been really good for me. The loss of freedom & It definitely humbled me. Made me wiser as a person. I made mistakes, and being locked up makes you really look forward to getting an opportunity to show you learned.

I read a lot of books. I also worked, on the recreation staff. I set up softball games, refereed basketball games. I even gained some respect for referees. That's a difficult job.

I have learned from my mistakes, definitely. I understand about taking responsibility for my actions. And personally, where I am right now, I never want to go back to that place again. Hopefully people can forgive me for those mistakes, and see me as the person I am, on and off the court.

And here we join Warriors GM Chris Mullin wrestling with the ethical dilemma of the 2007 Summer League.

Is it wrong to give Pierre Pierce a high profile job? Mullin sounds sincere when he says he has wrestled with that question.

"Someone was really hurt by what he did," says Mullin. "He might have ruined someone's life. I'm not discounting that. If people were upset that he is playing for us, I would understand that. I'm not saying it didn't happen. I'm not condoning what he did.

The key to Mullin's decision, however, was hearing the kinds of things that Pierce said to Mullin directly. "I met with him and his dad," says Mullin. "They were both 100% ready to admit that he had done wrong, and they did not pretend that he hadn't. And they seemed like people who were ready to learn and move on. Talking to them made me comfortable enough to feel like it was an OK thing to do to give him a chance."

When you listen to Pierre Pierce talk, it seems to be an insane argument that the world would somehow be better, or safer, or more fair if, instead of playing basketball on TV, he were bagging groceries or clerking in a law office or whatever it is he'd be doing. Not that the way one acts in the lobby of a hotel for a half-hour is the best window into one's soul.

But for what it's worth: if there is a more ready smile in the NBA, I can't recall it. He appears to be sincere, and remarkably unguarded. He has all that stuff (for instance, a supportive two-parent family, a high GPA in high school) that society tends to associate with stability and success. And he just does not come across as someone with a lot of emotional baggage.

On the other hand: if an elite athlete is in a situation where he has the opportunity and inclination to do wrong & he SHOULD be worried that getting caught could ruin his career, right? The spotlight of the NBA is bright, and it is right that teams not celebrate the worst people around. Surely there are some crimes after which you should not be considered employable in the NBA, right?

I asked Mullin what crime a player could have on his record that would simply be too much. What past is too much to prevent a future on Mullin's team? Murder?

His answer may surprise, but it is not without its wisdom. Pierce is the beneficiary of Mullin's blatant refusal to define anyone strictly by their past.

"I would always be willing to at least meet with someone," replies Mullin. "I always hate to pre-judge people. I like to find out for myself. So I did my homework. He's a player the organization has been watching for years. We have talked to people who have coached him, people who were around in Iowa. I have made some bad decisions in my own life, and people were there for me. After meeting him, it felt OK to take it day by day and see what happens."

Mullin says that the mandate to Pierre Pierce, at least as long as he is in a Warrior uniform, is to be a good person, and a good player one day at a time. How will that turn out? We'll see.


Golden State Warriors, Pierre Pierce



Da: http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-26-2...rre-Pierce.html

Guard gets yet another chance
Warriors give Pierce a look

Janny Hu, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 10, 2007


(07-10) 04:00 PDT Las Vegas -- Pierre Pierce is about to find out what happens when a troubled athlete makes a mistake, gets a second chance, blows that, then is fortuitously handed a third.

Pierce, the former Iowa basketball star, is less than a year removed from an 11-month prison term. He has been convicted on charges related to sexual assault twice in a three-year span, and according to the provisions of his latest sentence, must remain under probation until 2010.

He is here at the invitation of the Warriors, who are intrigued enough by his potential -- and undeterred by his past -- to offer a summer-league spot and see what the guard can make out of his admitted final lifeline.

"I've had two opportunities -- there is no more room for a mistake for me," Pierce said this week. "My margin for error is slim. Very slim. I know that."

The 24-year-old speaks with a maturity and thoughtfulness that belies his extensive rap sheet. After starting for the Hawkeyes as a freshman, Pierce was charged with third-degree sexual abuse in 2002 and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault. Because he had no prior history, his record was eventually expunged.

But an even uglier mark soon took its place. In 2005, after being allowed back onto Iowa's basketball team, Pierce admitted to assaulting his former girlfriend at her apartment. He pleaded guilty to felony burglary and three misdemeanor charges, including assault with intent to commit sexual abuse.

Pierce, the Hawkeyes' leading scorer at the time, was kicked off the team and handed a two-year prison sentence, of which he served nearly a full year. He says he spent his time behind bars reading, playing chess and hoping for another shot at his NBA dream.

His first high-level basketball game in 2 1/2 years came Sunday with mixed results. The Warriors are trying him out as a point guard, and though Pierce scored 21 points on 7-for-15 shooting, he also had three turnovers against three assists.

More often than not, he looked for his own shot first and his teammates second. And since one of those teammates was hot-shooting guard Marco Belinelli, who hit nine in a row at one point, Pierce's lack of passing was glaring.

Yet he followed up with a solid game Monday, finding Belinelli for his second three-pointer of the afternoon and later leading the fastbreak off a steal and dishing off to Belinelli for another three. He finished with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists in 33 minutes in the 94-87 win over the 76ers.

"You see the flashes, but having been out for a while, he has to play catch-up," assistant coach Keith Smart said. "His body, conditioning-wise, the speed of the guards he's playing against -- these are all big adjustments for him now."

Prior to this week, Pierce's basketball activity mostly had consisted of solo workouts, first in Iowa upon his October release from prison (he was ordered not to leave the state for seven months), then in suburban Chicago, when he finally was allowed to return home.

He hasn't followed any formal strength and conditioning program since his release from prison, though he spent three weeks working out with noted athletic trainer Tim Grover in Chicago before joining the Warriors.

Todd Ramasar, Pierce's agent, said Golden State was the only team that showed consistent interest in Pierce.

At 6-foot-4, he has the size the Warriors love in point guards for their defensive schemes. Coach Don Nelson had also scouted him for Dallas when Pierce first entered the 2005 NBA draft, and Smart was a former teammate of then-Iowa coach Steve Alford.

Golden State even inquired about bringing Pierce out to Oakland for an audition during this past season, but was denied by his probation officer. Now that the paperwork has been cleared, the hope is that Pierce will play well enough in summer league to earn a training camp invitation -- if not with the Warriors, then with another NBA team willing to take on a player with a dubious past.

"It's pretty obvious that teams may shy away, but as teams get more familiar with him, see what type of performer he is ... He's paid his debt to society, so it's really just the opportunity for him," Ramasar said.

"Everyone deserves a chance to go back out to society and prove they can be responsible," Pierce added. "That's all I'm asking for, is the opportunity. And I'm just grateful for this summer league and that Golden State has given me this chance."


E-mail Janny Hu at [email protected].

This article appeared on page E - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle



Da: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...SPGJ9QTJCS1.DTL.

Halfway through, time for our Vegas awards show

By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
(Archive)

Updated: July 11, 2007, 12:35 PM ET


LAS VEGAS -- We've reached the midpoint of the NBA Summer League at UNLV, with Tuesday's six games completing Day 5 and five days' worth of games to go.

So . . .

Sounds like a good time to take Stein Line stock of what's been happening on the court . . . as opposed to the considerable action in the stands at what league organizer Warren LeGarie likes to call the NBA's answer to baseball's winter meetings.

My favorite Trail Blazer: LaMarcus Aldridge

Greg Oden almost got the sympathy vote now that his struggles to cope with a sinus infection and tonsil problem will require a tonsillectomy Saturday, leaving Oden with some underwhelming totals from his first NBA experience: 19 points and 19 fouls in two games.

Almost.

Fact is, even Oden would insist that we vote for Aldridge . . . if he were still here. It was Oden, after all, who unexpectedly pinned a "beast" tag on the slender ex-Texas Longhorn over the weekend. Not the sort of tag Aldridge is used to.

Yet it's clear that Oden's new frontcourt partner -- who didn't look nearly this confident a year ago, when Aldridge was Portland's top-two pick in Vegas -- has been the Blazers' best player. I was pretty worried for Portland when I saw Aldridge get knocked around last year, but he has returned with a considerable combination of self-belief and constant energy while averaging 21.0 points and 11.0 rebounds through three games. Plus he never gives the impression that he's above summer-league duty, which easily could have been the case after Aldridge rebounded from the shoulder trouble that plagued him here last July to make the All-Rookie Team.

(Honorable mention: Brandon Roy. Word is that Roy badly wanted to play for the Blazers' summer squad again, even after his near-unanimous Rookie of the Year season, but his bosses apparently urged Roy to rest as a health precaution. How antsy is he? During Oden's second game, I saw Roy hiding a ball and dribbling it below his knees while watching from the Blazers' bench.)

My favorite import: Marco Belinelli

It's simply impossible not to pick the Italian. He's become such an instant favorite with the Vegas crowds -- averaging 25.0 points through three games and generally commanding Best Player So Far status from coaches and personnel types in attendance -- that most of his misses from outside are met with a disappointed groan from fans.

Ever since that 14-for-20 shooting spree in Belinelli's 37-point opener, the locals apparently think that Golden State's No. 18 pick is supposed to make every shot.

"But he's not just a shooter," said one Western Conference executive. "Don't be mistaken. He had [Philadelphia's Rodney] Carney isolated at the top of the key, beat him with a super crossover and finished at the rim over two people. He's going to fit right into the way Golden State plays. And he's not as bad defensively as people thought. Philly tried to iso him a few times in that game and he did a decent job."

Yet I insist on a Yi mention as well, even though he has struggled unimaginably from the field (26.1 percent) while averaging 13.8 points in four games for team China. His movement, if not quite mechanical, seems a little strained at times to me, but Yi knows what to do with the ball and hasn't backed down in his new environment. When you add up Yi's size, youth and his smooth, high-release, high-arching jumper -- and when you remember that China still doesn't have a single guard who can make the game easier and thus make him look good -- you start to understand why the Bucks were willing to draft a guy they're not even sure they can get to Milwaukee.

My favorite vet: Jason Maxiell

From the moment I got my first up-close access to him at the 2005 Vegas Summer League, I've been a big Maxiell guy. That was before anyone knew he could succeed in the NBA as an undersized power forward, back when the Pistons were equally unsure.

Now?

He's shed 25 pounds since last season, after getting his first meaningful playoff minutes for the Pistons. That means he's lean and mean in '07, attacking the rim and banging bodies with his usual ferocity . . . even though Detroit didn't demand that he slim down or that he play on its summer team for a third straight year.

My favorite project: Cheikh Samb

I can still remember standing near a boisterous group of Knicks summer-leaguers around this time last year. They were snickering at the sight of Samb, the No. 51 pick in the '06 draft, who wasn't yet carrying 200 pounds on a 7-1 frame.

"The Somalian Ben Wallace," chortled one Knick.

One year later? It's not exactly widespread knowledge that Samb is actually from Senegal, but we can tell you that the snickering has stopped. Samb took care of that by adding the 25 pounds Maxiell dropped to start filling out a bit and by returning from a year in Spain with a surprising scoring touch to complement his considerable shot-blocking potential.

Strength and stamina remain sizable concerns, but I'm told it's increasingly conceivable that Samb will wind up on the Pistons' roster next season, working closely with famed Detroit strength coach Arnie Kander. With a D-League affiliate in Fort Wayne, Ind., Samb wouldn't have to travel far if he can't get minutes with the Pistons.

My favorite Laker: Coby Karl

The reflex answer, if you had surveyed the stands after the Lakers' first game, would have been [URLhttp://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=4297]Javaris Crittenton[/URL], after several successful slices to the rim by the point guard from Georgia Tech in his 18-point debut.

But I'm going with the sentimental choice -- cancer survivor Coby Karl -- because it's not just a sentimental choice. Karl happens to look rather solid already, emerging as the glue guy for the Lakers' summer squad.

He's a late bloomer, but he's also blessed with hoops smarts and proven toughness after overcoming what he's faced already in life at 24. If you can also shoot with the range Karl is showing here, you're going to stand out in the summer league.

Another system player for Phil Jackson in the Luke Walton mode? Could be. Big guards who can pass and move have a future in Jackson's triangle offense, which has never relied on traditional point guards.

Said one falling-in-love West exec: "He should have been a late first-round pick. He's going to play in this league for a long time."

My favorite battle: Kyle Lowry vs. Mike Conley

Lowry is ahead on points at present, but one interesting theory I'm stealing from an Eastern Conference personnel man is that these two could form Memphis' answer to the T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon combination in Toronto.

There will be nights, in other words, when you don't know which guy is better until the game unfolds.

Or perhaps new Grizzlies coach Marc Iavaroni will find a way to play them together.

My not-so-favorite development: James White's struggles

It's too early for full-fledged disappointments. The only true disappointment I've seen in Vegas so far was the unspeakable sight of a young man bringing a bag from McDonald's into an In-N-Out Burger on Tuesday afternoon, something I've never witnessed in 25 years as an In-N-Out zealot. He ate his McDonalds while his dining companion enjoyed the most sumptuous burger in the history of fast food. It was the epitome of sacrilege.

Anyway . . .

If anything else has troubled me -- apart from the fast-approaching reality that we won't be getting Oden vs. Durant on Sunday night -- it's Flight White's poor showing with San Antonio.

The champs still hope to inject their rotation with athleticism and White is getting a prime shot to impress them after basically spending a year as an apprentice, learning the team's culture. There is a great deal of curiosity in San Antonio, given White's dunking reputation, about what he can do in game situations and what he has learned.

The answer, sadly, appears to be not much.

My favorite shooter: Belinelli

No contest. Again.

But I should note that my favorite rookie from the class of '06 -- Houston's Steve Novak -- just got here. And I haven't seen him play yet, because the Rockets' only game so far conflicted with Tuesday night's China-Knicks game.

So we'll see . . . although Novak (gulp) shot 1-for-7 on 3-pointers in his debut.

It's a big summer for Novak, too, since he barely played for Jeff Van Gundy after wowing folks in Vegas last summer with his ability to get his shot off and drain 3 after 3.

Novak again brings good size and a quick release to the desert. Every team in today's NBA, furthermore, loves the idea of a 6-10 forward who can stretch the floor with Novak-type range. Yet Novak knows he won't get more playing time next year, under Rick Adelman, if he can't figure out how to stay on the floor defensively. It hasn't happened yet.

My ultimate favorites: Pape Sow, Ralphy Holmes and Lior Eliyahu

No mystery to this list. Sow and Holmes are the only Cal State Fullerton alumni on the 22 rosters in Vegas. Eliyahu is the Maccabi Tel-Aviv forward drafted No. 44 overall in 2006 and acquired by the Rockets, who's now hoping to become the first Israeli to actually play an NBA game.

Eliyahu just got to town, so you can expect to hear more about him later. Lots more, actually. He's the best hoops athlete Israel has ever produced and I desperately need the pick-me-up, with my two Titans off to, uh, slow starts.

After missing all of last season with Toronto thanks to a freak neck injury suffered during a 2006 summer-league practice, Sow struggled mightily in his debut with the Suns. Otis George is the non-roster forward who has Phoenix intrigued early.

Holmes, meanwhile, has yet to get a minute from the Lakers . . . and appears on their roster as Randy Holmes.

My Rookie of the Year favorites: Greg Oden and Kevin Durant

C'mon, people. You know the disclaimer we cite at summer league every year: It's dangerous to get too excited or discouraged about anything that happens in this environment, where the defense, teamwork and refereeing are all so sketchy.

Remember?

Oden's summer might have ended before it started and Durant might be shooting 9-for-36 from the field, but one veteran personnel man chided me before I could even ask for his assessment of the draft darlings so far.

"Even when Durant misses, his shot is so damn gorgeous," he said. "Their time is going to come. These are 19-year-old kids playing against men for the first time."


Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here.



Da: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/stor...marc&id=2932441.

Jul. 12, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Patience golden for rookie
Warriors like what they see from Italian guard Belinelli

By STEVE CARP
REVIEW-JOURNAL NBA SUMMER LEAGUE SCHEDULE


Two years ago, Marco Belinelli said he wasn't ready for the NBA.

He stayed in Italy, playing in Serie A, the country's first division, and in the Euroleague.

Now he finally has come to the United States -- as Golden State's first-round pick in last month's draft -- and based on his shooting in the NBA Summer League, Warriors fans might be saying he is well worth the wait.

Belinelli, a 6-foot-5-inch guard, has been the talk of the league this week. He's averaged 24.3 points in three games for the Warriors, who are 2-1 entering Friday's game against Seattle at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"I like the way they play," Belinelli said of the Warriors' wide-open style. "Their type of play fits my game. This is the kind of game I like to play."

The 21-year-old can create his own shot and can hit a shot when open.

In his first appearance for the Warriors, he had 24 first-half points against New Orleans and finished with 37, hitting 5 of 7 3-point attempts. He then scored 21 against Philadelphia and 15 against San Antonio.

"The competition here is good," Belinelli said. "But I know there are better players I will go up against."

Belinelli began playing professionally at age 16 for Virtus 1934 Bologna, only to leave two years later for Virtus' rival, Climamio Bologna.

He drew the wrath of Virtus fans, but Belinelli said that made him mentally tougher. He also grew stronger physically.

"I wasn't ready physically" for the NBA, Belinelli said. "So I stay in Italy and I wait."

As Belinelli waited, countryman Andrea Bargnani headed to the NBA with Toronto as the overall No. 1 pick in 2006. Bargnani had a strong second half last season, helping the Raptors make the playoffs.

The Warriors, who had been tracking Belinelli since he turned pro, selected him this year with the No. 18 pick.

"It's hard to tell why he was still around when we picked, but at this point, does it matter?" Warriors vice president Chris Mullin said. "The fact is, he was still available, and I've always liked him. I thought he was more than a shooter. He makes plays, and the game comes easy to him."

Warriors coach Don Nelson is enamored by Belinelli and the possibilities he brings to a high-octane offense.

"I like guys who know how to play, and this kid can play for anybody," Nelson said. "I know he's a great shooter, but he can do other things, and we may be able to use him some at the point. He has a very high basketball IQ."

Players have a lot of freedom in Nelson's system, and Belinelli should get his share of shots.

"You can't be a great scorer unless you have a lot of confidence," Nelson said. "I'm not going to take away his confidence."

Belinelli doesn't lack for confidence. He said he thinks his game is suited for the NBA and credits his time in Europe for preparing him.

"The Euroleague, it's very good competition," he said. "There's many very good players.

"It is your job, so I tried to learn as much as possible and get better."

Nelson said Belinelli's defense needs work. But the coach isn't complaining, because the Warriors think Belinelli could be the steal of the draft.

"I'm in a good situation," Belinelli said. "I'm glad I waited to come to the NBA."



Da: www.lvrj.com/sports/8451937.html.

Warriors deal with summer of love

Scott Ostler
Thursday, July 12, 2007


The Warriors were flying high in Las Vegas, looking like a summer-league dynasty.

Until their third game.

"The dreams of an undefeated summer league ended on Tuesday," reads the blog on the Warriors' Web site, posted after the team's 90-80 loss to the Spurs' wannabes.

The Warriors' dreams collapsed like a house of cards in a back-street casino where the dealers have hacking coughs, the Keno girls look like your grandma in fishnets and even the water is watered down.

This is the true test for the "We believe" believers. Will the fans hang with their team in the depths of its one-game summer-league losing streak, when Marco Belinelli's en fuego jumper suddenly is cold as the dice in a dead man's hand?

Now let's take a deep breath.

The Warriors made it to the second round of the playoffs and created a new set of expectations and, yes, dreams. Some might call them hallucinations.

It's still a limited team, which picked up some new limited players, but there's reason to believe next season's Warriors won't necessarily have to sink back into the primordial ooze of the lottery, their current summer slump notwithstanding.

The crazy part of all of this is that people know and care about what the team is doing in July. Usually the only interest this time of year is reading the Warriors' injury reports from Vegas. This year, Warriors fans are talking basketball.

Belinelli is still creating some serious buzz in the desert, because nobody plays well in his first NBA summer-league game, and Belinelli lit it up for 37 points in his debut (then tapered off with games of 23 and 15 points).

The No. 18 draftee is outplaying the Solid-Gold, Can't-Miss Draft Picks, No. 1 Greg Oden and No. 2 Kevin Durant. Seattle's new coach P.J. Carlesimo, trying to quiet the rumbling concern over Durant's early play (5-for-17 shooting in his first game), has been pointing out that Tim Duncan, in his NBA summer-league debut, had his rear end handed to him by Greg Ostertag.

Nobody's even bothering to find a present superstar who opened his summer-league career with a bigger thud than Oden, who, in his first two summer games for the Trail Blazers, committed 19 fouls. He must be using nunchakus. His first-game line was six points, two (two!) rebounds and 10 fouls. Portland fans must be weeping with anguish.

The point is that Belinelli, the 18th player drafted, has what few NBA rookies have: cool. He has been playing good-caliber pro ball in Italy, long enough to earn a pension. He flew 20 hours from Italy to Vegas, stepped off the plane in wraparound Euro shades and started shooting from the tarmac.

Some experts are comparing him to Manu Ginobili, probably because they both have charming accents and Roman noses. From what I hear, Belinelli isn't (yet) the slasher Ginobili is, but Marco's got the shooting skills and the range. And the knack.

Always on the move, coming off screens, Belinelli could be a Rip Hamilton type, which would make nobody in Oakland unhappy, and would make the drafting firm of Nellie & Mullie reek of pure genius.

Belinelli (pronounced Bell-LEE-nell-ee) handles the ball well and passes nicely, too, even in the me-me summer league, so he could be a fit as a backup, or even a starter, at either guard position.

Sure, we're all getting overly excited about what so far amounts to one light-up-the-gym summer- league game by Belinelli, but this is a momentous summer league, what with the NBA's rookie crop of superstars-in-training, and the huge buzz still lingering from the Warriors' season. And Belinelli, in personality and style of play, seems as if he belongs in Nellieland.

This summer-league season is so big that even Baron Davis made an appearance, sort of like Bob Hope when he made those tours to entertain the U.S. troops in far-flung lands. It's never too early to start bonding with the new guys.

The Warriors' other first-rounder, forward Brandan Wright, isn't playing yet, nursing a hip flexor he strained three months ago. Presumably, the Warriors have Wright on an upper-body weightlifting program, because in predraft physical evaluations, he couldn't bench-press his sneakers.

There are other concerns. Don Nelson is still holding out for a raise, and he continues to wear Aloha shirts in Las Vegas to remind Chris Cohan that he (Nelson) has one foot in his Hawaiian retirement estate.

Many Warriors fans still are coping with the disillusionment of discovering that Nelson isn't that mystical NBA version of Mary Poppins, but actually does this coaching thing for money. (In the movie, Nelson will be played by Dick Van Dyke.)

Even the fans who don't begrudge Nelson his attempt to parlay an inspiring season into a pay raise are hoping it all gets handled soon so we all can return to the fantasy world of Warriors basketball.


E-mail Scott Ostler at [email protected].

This article appeared on page D - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle



Da: www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/12/SPG4RQUM229.DTL.

Bailey making most of opportunity
Ex-Bruin comes back from Europe to star for summer-league team

Contra Costa Times
Article Launched: 07/12/2007 03:07:07 AM PDT


LAS VEGAS -- Toby Bailey has carved out a nice little career over the last seven seasons in Europe, winning championship rings in Belgium and Greece.
But when the player best known for dropping 26 points as a UCLA freshman against Arkansas in the 1995 NCAA title game returns home to Los Angeles, few people are impressed.

"Everybody's like, 'What are you doing now? Why aren't you in the NBA?'" Bailey said. "You get tired of hearing that after awhile. So I'd love to get back one more time and show everybody that I still have it."

The Warriors are providing what may be Bailey's last chance to do that. So far, he's taking advantage as best he can.

Although Bailey -- whose 32nd birthday looms on the calendar in November -- is the elder statesman on Golden State's Las Vegas Summer League team, he is averaging 11.7 points per game on 54.2 percent shooting.

Bailey said he's "twice as good" as he was in his previous NBA stint, which lasted 73 games for the Phoenix Suns from 1998-2000. The most obvious improvement in Bailey's game is in his 3-point shooting. After going 3-for-15 from distance for Phoenix, he's 7-for-9 in three summer-league games with the Warriors.

This marks the first time Bailey has come back to the United States to play since a summer-league stint with the Boston Celtics three or four years ago. That situation was the last in a string of failures that left Bailey disillusioned with the process.

"Even if you do real well in practice, that wasn't going to increase your playing time," he said. "After you do that for a couple of years in a row, you just think, 'Man, maybe there isn't a fair shot.' You might be a little too old. You might get discouraged."
The success of Matt Barnes, another UCLA alum, at cracking the Warriors' roster last season after being a training camp invitee helped motivate Bailey's return. Not that Bailey, who was a senior with the Bruins when Warriors point guard Baron Davis was a freshman, is expecting to be carried along by his school ties.

"This is the NBA," Bailey said. "There's no real favorites like that. ... They're not going to keep me around just because I played for UCLA. There's a lot of ex-UCLA players out there."

Perovic getting closer

Kosta Perovic, the Warriors' second-round draft choice in 2006, said the last hangup to his multiyear deal with Golden State is working out the terms of his buyout with his European team, Partizan Belgrade, and that he expects to sign within a week.

The 22-year-old center wouldn't specify how much the buyout could cost but did say it was worth more than the $500,000 the Warriors can contribute to the cause.

"I knew ever since it was my idea to come here that I was going to have to pay from my pocket for a buyout, so it's nothing new for me," said Perovic, who could only look on at the Warriors' optional workout Wednesday because of his contractual status.

Perovic, who was drafted when Mike Montgomery was the Warriors coach, said he succeeded at improving his foot speed over the past year after seeing Golden State's new pace under Don Nelson.

He plans to come back to California -- either to Oakland or Los Angeles -- at the beginning of August to ramp up the work on his game, with emphasis on tightening up his footwork and building upper-body strength.

That means Perovic won't be able to participate with the Serbia and Montenegro national team in the European Championships, scheduled for early September.

That decision angered team czar Dragan Kapicic, who pilloried Perovic and another player who pulled out, calling their choices "a shameful attitude to our nation."

Perovic stood by his decision.

"I told them my story, which is the truth: 'If I want to play basketball on a high level, I have to get prepared for fighting with guys here in the NBA, because the NBA is a bigger challenge than Europe,'" Perovic said. "I have to work on myself and take a risk."

Off glass

Golden State had been expecting to scrimmage against Portland this morning, but the Trail Blazers canceled the session, so the Warriors will practice instead.


-- Geoff Lepper



Da: www.contracostatimes.com/warriors/ci_6356840?nclick_check=1.

mbt shoes salehttp://www.cheapmbtshoes2013.com/ mbt online shop