due to injuries, and he played very well. He’s also a scrappy defender (who flops a lot lol) but he can get under your skin for sure

I’ll just throw this out there and get it over with. People that want attention talk about the raptors, because lets face it we have the biggest internet fan base. Is that what is going on now? A bit of bitterness and a reason for a few thousand extra hits?

Anyways you’re obviously just a hater (seeing as how you have that picture saved just for such instances) but I dont mind. Means we are doing something right.

Much as some unbiased warriors fans have already pointed out, this was nothing more than a steal. Nelli and Marco were feuding and our golden child colangelo came in with a fist full of cash and an expiring contract knowing you guys were stacked at that position and turned lead into gold.

Face it, Marco is not a scrub and addresses one of our most pressing needs. I dont know if you think Morrow is a scrub or not, but imo they are both good young players.

But then again, your article did get me here and I created an account, so you’ve succeeded in your quest for more viewership by dissing the most active nba community on the internet.

Anyways you have a decent team, but no need to be bitter because we stole bello for nothing and have had an otherwise magical offseason.

Some of us are really pissed of like me because i know Marco is going to produce for you guys. For all the Raps fans who aren’t familiar with our front office or our coaching, Don Nelson is senile. Once he decides he doesn’t like a player thats it, theres almost nothing they can do at that point and they basically either will ride the bench for a few years like Belli did, or he will tell them to get traded or they gonna get waived. Belli has a lot of potential, I hold him in higher regard then Anthony Morrow because he is simply a more rounded player. Dont get me wrong i love Anthony i just don’t see what everyone else does. He cant create for himself, he cant play defense or pass as good as Marco. Marco is the type of player who is at his best with the ball in his hands, this is why he never got a chance to shine with us. Everytime he would get these opertunities he was probably so nervous that Nelly was gonna take him out he couldnt just play basketball like he was capable of. I think he should start for the Raps, hes better then Antoine Wright, Better then Demar Derozan right now, and since you guys didn’t get Delfino I think hes the best bet. I just want to clear up that Atma really hates on Belli but he doesn’t speak for all of us, I think hes got great potential and the Raps is the best place for him at this point.

Anyways enjoy this season Cannucks cause next season were coming for Chris Bosh, and if that happens Belli will be the least of my concerns. :D

Arguing over larger internet fanbase? How very Urkel of you.

Not that I care, but where is this claim even coming from? Your’e sbnation site looks as barren as much of your country. (No offense to its creator.)

And then there’s Belinelli, who hit five 3-pointers in yet another strong game as a starter since Nelson removed his training wheels this month. Belinelli also had a career high-tying six assists and solid defense, inciting the sellout Oakland crowd to chant “Rocky! Rocky!” in homage to the Italian second-year pro’s resemblance to Sylvester Stallone.

Hah, that was the only part of this game I remember now, the Rocky chants. I think it was at the end of the game, when he was trying to make his free throws.

I totally believe you. I knew some LA Faker fans back then that would argue vehemently that Devean George was the next Scottie Pippen

I remember awhile back Devean George made a big name for himself in the summer league, but maybe I’m only remembering that because I lived in SoCal at the time and was surrounded by LA Faker fans who hilariously tried to convince me that George was the next Shawn Marion (true story).

1. The game against the Raptors was not an anomaly. Marco was in the middle of a stretch where he was getting more consistent minutes, starter minutes actually, and he was doing decently well. I think that stretch was the best we saw of Marco. He had some hot nights, but also some really cold nights. But at the very least, nobody was yelling at him to sit back down on the bench, unlike Jamal Crawford.

2. The Warriors were overloaded with guards, so minutes were sparse. I think the original problem Nellie had with Marco was that he couldn’t defend. To Marco’s credit, he did improve his defense, earning praise from Nellie and Keith Smart about it. I can only guess that Marco’s next problem was not following his defensive assignments…? Or his rebounding assignments…? If only we had a spy in the Warriors practices to find out. I don’t know if Marco couldn’t fit into Nellie’s system, or if Marco’s skills don’t translate well into the NBA. Anyway, we’ll find out after he’s played for the Raptors next season.

3. Marco has complained about not getting minutes before, but as far as being a locker room distraction, he doesn’t seem like one. At least, none of our local writers have hinted at this that I can remember.

4. He’s not a bad defender any more. Nellie joked on the radio that when Marco first played, he couldn’t guard anyone, not even Nellie or Tom Tolbert (local radio host, former NBA player), basically saying he couldn’t even guard old guys. He’s not Shane Battier’s hand-in-kobe’s-face-when-he-shoots, but he’s willing to be physical and pester. His most memorable game was vs Celtics, when he harassed Ray Allen into fouling out, and also drew the ire of Kevin Garnett. Some say Marco’s a flopper, but I don’t remember Marco being a blatant flopper, certainly not like Fisher and Ginobili. And just to show I’m not blind to flopping on the home team, I consider Maggette a blatant flopper.

I love how you call Canada our unarmed neighbours to the north.

When alot of Canadian soldiers are dying for us in Iraq. Real classy.

I know it was meant as a joke but that’s not funny at all.

Actually it’s more so Afghanistan. You still get the idea

Hmm…this turned into one of the worst front page discussions I’ve seen. Way too many pointless arguments.

To actually discuss the point – Belinelli is an incredibly bad rebounder, and that’s very unlikely to change. He’s a good shooter, and he’s shown some ability to score efficiently. He doesn’t bring much more than that at the moment, but maybe he can improve the rest of his offensive game. Defensively, when he’s putting the effort in, he can do more than most of our team, which isn’t saying anything. He’s not a great defender, but he isn’t terrible, either. Overall, given his age and inexperience, he’s probably a nice player for the Raptors to pick up. With some development he can be a solid bench guy, but it’s probably unlikely he’ll ever be much more than that. Good pickup for the Raptors, because why not? Not much of a loss for the Warriors.

       I understand this is a Warriors page but I read some negative comments about Bargnani above which amounted to his re-signing in Toronto as bad for Toronto because he could not rebound.
        As someone who has watched the Raptors game in and game out since Bargnani was drafted and previous to that, I can say his defense and rebounding were awful for the first half of his first year, and have improved gradually since then. His defense is now at the age of 23 slightly above average(surprising I am sure to those who only know him by reputation) and his rebounding slightly below average (not worse).
        His stats in rebounding will never show his improvement completely as he is positioned on the perimeter so much on offense and in years past even would guard more agile players on defense, which took him away from rebounding position. His rebounding last year was inconsistent, not consistently bad. He still has a Pau Gasol frame of mind, a more skilled and finesse type game, like Okur even, and needs to be reminded to focus on rebounding. Different from all of his offensive abilities that are still developing, rebounding is not a natural skill for him.
         Overlooked is his defense, still a work in progress, but already he is a quality defender who can move his feet to guard quicker players and yet has the size to guard big men on the interior and average over a block a game which will probably only increase.
         Fact is that if he lost his ball handling ability and his jump shot he could probably have the ability to average about 8 or 9 rebounds per game in the NBA, instead of the five and a half with the maximum of about 7 or so he will work his way up to.
         Another fact is scouting for other teams have said how much they think of his game and most other teams in the NBA would want this guy on their team. if his game was the same but he was not seven feet tall then he would not get this type of criticism, even so what he would bring to a team would be the same. He developed quite quickly (by any realistic measure) into someone special last year when he was given the starting spot and the fact Toronto gave him a long term deal is only a good thing for Toronto. He will be a premiere offensive starter in the NBA for years who will bring a lot to Toronto, even if not in the form of improving greatly their stats in rebounds, and that is and will be completely obvious to anybody who watches or watched last year Raptors’ games regularly with an open mind.