Marco Belinelli

Marco Belinelli
No. 3 – Sacramento Kings
Position Shooting guard / Small forward
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1986-03-25) March 25, 1986
San Giovanni in Persiceto, Italy
Nationality Italian
Listed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight 195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 2007 / Round: 1 / Pick: 18th overall
Selected by the Golden State Warriors
Playing career 2001–present
Career history
2001–2003 Virtus Bologna (Italy)
2003–2007 Fortitudo Bologna (Italy)
2007–2009 Golden State Warriors
2009–2010 Toronto Raptors
2010–2012 New Orleans Hornets
2012–2013 Chicago Bulls
2013–2015 San Antonio Spurs
2015–present Sacramento Kings
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Marco Stefano Belinelli (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmarko beliˈnɛlli]; born March 25, 1986) is an Italian professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected 18th overall in the 2007 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors and became the first player born in Italy to win an NBA championship when he won one as a member of the San Antonio Spurs in 2014.

Professional career

Europe (2001–2007)

Belinelli played in the Italian Serie A and the Euroleague for Virtus Bologna and Fortitudo Bologna. In 2005, aged nineteen, he won the Serie A title with Fortitudo.

Golden State Warriors (2007–2009)

After being selected #18 in the first round of the 2007 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors, Belinelli scored 37 points in his first NBA Summer League game against the New Orleans Hornets, going 14-on-20 from the field, including 5-on-7 from behind the arc,[1] adding 5 boards, 2 assists and 1 steal to help the Warriors earn a 110–102 win. His performance is tied for second for the highest scoring game ever in Vegas summer league history, behind Keith Bogans' 38 scored as a member of the Orlando Magic in 2004. Belinelli finished his Summer League scoring an average of 22.8 points per game in 4 games with the Warriors, before returning to Italy to be part of the Italian national team for EuroBasket 2007. On December 19, 2008, he scored 27 points, in a game the Warriors lost to Atlanta Hawks.

Toronto Raptors (2009–2010)

Belinelli as a Toronto Raptor in 2009

On July 30, 2009, he was traded to the Toronto Raptors for Devean George,[2] joining Italian national squad teammate Andrea Bargnani. He played his first NBA game as a starter for Toronto on February 2, 2010 against the Indiana Pacers.

New Orleans Hornets (2010–2012)

On August 11, 2010, he was traded to the New Orleans Hornets for Julian Wright.[3]

After 2010–11 season, he became a restricted free agent. On December 13, 2011, he signed the $3.4 million qualifying offer to stay with the Hornets for one more year.[4]

Chicago Bulls (2012–2013)

On July 24, 2012, Belinelli signed with the Chicago Bulls.[5] Since joining the Bulls, Belinelli developed a reputation of being a clutch player, hitting shots that include a game winning shot against the Celtics in overtime while falling down, a go-ahead layup against the Detroit Pistons after Joakim Noah saved the ball from going out of bounds, a game-winning lay-up with 20 seconds remaining against the Brooklyn Nets, and a 3 pointer to give the Bulls a 1-point lead with 5 seconds remaining in a game vs. the Utah Jazz. Belinelli and Joakim Noah each scored 24 points in a game 7 victory over the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs.[6]

San Antonio Spurs (2013–2015)

On July 11, 2013, Belinelli signed with the San Antonio Spurs.[7]

On January 2, 2014, Belinelli scored a career-high 32 points in a 101-105 loss to the New York Knicks.[8]

Belinelli also won the Three-Point Contest at the 2014 NBA All-Star Weekend in New Orleans, beating Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards at the second attempt in the final after Beal equaled Belinelli's score in the initial final round.

In his first season with the Spurs, Belinelli posted career-highs percentage-wise on field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free-throw percentage.

In Game 3 of the 2014 NBA Finals against the defending champion Miami Heat, Belinelli hit a crucial 3 pointer in the third quarter that put San Antonio's lead back to double digits after a ferocious Heat rally that evaporated San Antonio's 21 point half-time lead to a mere 7 points. Upon winning the 2014 NBA Finals, he became the first Italian player to win an NBA championship.

Sacramento Kings (2015–present)

On July 13, 2015, Belinelli signed with the Sacramento Kings.[9] On December 30, 2015, he scored a season-high 28 points in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.[10]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
† Denotes season in which Belinelli won an NBA Championship

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2007–08 Golden State 33 0 7.3 .387 .390 .778 .4 .5 .2 .0 2.9
2008–09 Golden State 42 23 21.0 .442 .397 .769 1.7 2.1 .9 .0 8.9
2009–10 Toronto 66 1 17.0 .406 .380 .835 1.4 1.3 .6 .1 7.1
2010–11 New Orleans 80 69 24.5 .437 .414 .784 1.9 1.2 .5 .1 10.5
2011–12 New Orleans 66 55 29.8 .417 .377 .783 2.6 1.5 .7 .1 11.8
2012–13 Chicago 73 27 25.8 .395 .357 .839 1.9 2.0 .6 .1 9.6
2013–14† San Antonio 80 25 25.2 .485 .430 .847 2.8 2.2 .6 .1 11.4
2014–15 San Antonio 62 9 22.4 .423 .374 .848 2.0 1.5 .5 .0 9.2
Career 502 209 22.8 .430 .392 .819 2.0 1.6 .6 .1 9.4

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011 New Orleans 6 6 28.8 .365 .308 1.000 .8 .7 .8 .0 9.7
2013 Chicago 12 7 27.1 .411 .340 .879 2.9 2.6 .4 .0 11.1
2014† San Antonio 23 0 15.5 .444 .421 .955 2.3 .8 .1 .0 5.4
2015 San Antonio 7 0 16.6 .513 .467 .846 1.9 1.4 .3 .0 9.3
Career 48 13 20.2 .425 .383 .903 2.2 1.3 .3 .0 7.9

International career

Belinelli has played for the Italian national team. He competed at the 2006 FIBA World Championship and scored 25 points against the United States in preliminary round play, averaging 13.5 points per game for the rest of the tournament.

He was called up to the squad that would take part in EuroBasket 2015 to start on 5 September.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ NBA.com : Summer League 2007
  2. ↑ "Raptors Acquire Belinelli From Golden State". NBA.com. 2009-07-30. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  3. ↑ "HORNETS ACQUIRE BELINELLI". NBA.com. 2010-08-11. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  4. ↑ "MARCO BELINELLI SIGNS QUALIFYING OFFER". NBA.com. 2011-12-13. Retrieved 2011-12-14.
  5. ↑ "Bulls sign guard Belinelli, formerly of Hornets". NBA.com (Turner Sports Interactive, Inc.). July 24, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
  6. ↑ Bulls at Nets, May 4, 2013
  7. ↑ Spurs Sign Marco Belinelli
  8. ↑ Carmelo Anthony, Knicks stun Spurs in San Antonio
  9. ↑ "Kings Sign Rondo, Belinelli, Koufos". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. July 13, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Sixers surprise Kings for 2nd win in 3 games". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. December 30, 2015. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Italy take their dream roster to Berlin". FIBAEurope.com. 2 September 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marco Belinelli.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 05, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.