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Prediction #4
Posted on | October 16, 2009 | No Comments
MARCO BELINELLI WILL EVENTUALLY BE IN THE TOP 3 IN VOTING FOR 6TH MAN OF THE YEAR
My first long term prediction. It’s doubtful it will happen this year and it’s provided that both Belinelli and DeRozan stay with the Raptors for, at least, the next three years.
Belinelli is the perfect 6th Man of the Year candidate. He’s a game changer. Jack may be a perfect 6th man, because of his versatility and his all around game, but he rarely does anything that makes you stand up and notice. He’s my vote for the player that other teams made the biggest mistake in not trying to sign. He’d be perfect in Cleveland, or New Orleans, or Denver, or especially Miami (if they weren’t so set on clearing cap space for next summer).
Belinelli has the type of game that you notice, however. In many ways, he’s incredibly similar to Manu Ginobili. They’re both fearless 6′5 SG’s who can handle and pass as well as many PG’s, shoot from anywhere on the court, and have a Pete Maravich-type of game that can drive a coach crazy one minute and win games the next. Both are also the types of players, who shoot without conscience, that winning teams often need. Neither is going to shy away from taking the big shot or making the big play, and both a talented and smart enough to make it. When watching Ginobili his first season in San Antonio, I immediately recognized he was exactly what the Spurs needed. I hate making comparisons between players, because they so rarely are accurate, but the similarities are striking.
Now there are a couple of things that Ginobili does that Belinelli, so far, has yet to do. And that’s getting to the line at a high rate and rebounding the ball. This preseason, however, Belinelli certainly has shown the ability to do both. He’s got a knack for getting to the rim, and has attempted at least 4 free throws in 3 of the preseason games. He’s also got such great body control that he often avoids the defender in favour of trying to get up a better shot, when drawing a foul might be more beneficial.
His play in the preseason hasn’t been great. He’s shooting an anemic 38% from the floor, and only 21% from beyond the arc, but the guy is too good of a shooter and too confident to continue at that clip. He’s probably trying to hard to impress and show Golden State made a mistake. When he relaxes and gets more comfortable, he’ll end up being the Raptors’ most explosive scorer off the bench.
Now why, if he’s going to be so good, would he not start. Well, for one thing, you have to look at the Raptors roster. Bosh, Bargnani, Turkoglu and Calderon are rarely going to struggle to score. It’s going to be one of the things they do really well. Then you look at the bench. Jack, Evans, Johnson, Weems, Wright and Nesterovic. Only Jack is a guy who can get points without depending on others. Belinelli would be the Turkoglu of the bench. The guy who can make something out of nothing and score if needed, or even if he doesn’t need to. He’s such a good ball handler and initiator, it would be a waste to have him play a lot of minutes with both Calderon and Turkoglu.
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