Marco Belinelli is putting on a clinic at EuroBasket with Italy
With all the hype and excitement surrounding German starlet Dennis Schroder’s performances at EuroBasket, it is easy to look past the other representative of the Hawks in this year’s competition.
Although he may not have donned the Atlanta Hawks jersey just yet, Marco Belinelli is certainly making Hawks fans proud by putting on a spectacular display thus far at EuroBasket with his Italy squad.
Playing in what some speculate could be his final games for the Azzurri, the 31-year-old from Bologna is showing the world that he still has plenty left in the tank to compete against the best in the world.
A representative of his nation since 2007, Belinelli will be eager to bid his farewell with a bang and hope to make it among the final stages of the tournament.
So far in group play the Italians are 2 for 2, beating Israel 69-48 and finishing off Ukraine 78-66. In both games, Belinelli has had an outstanding impact with key contributions leading the team to victory.
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Against Israel, Belinelli had a momentous night shooting from beyond the arc, going for 18 points, all of which were from three and came at a 75% success rate (6/8).
Of course, Hawks fans and NBA fans alike are well educated on the sharpshooter’s ability from deep, as he was the NBA Three-Point Shootout Champion in 2014, the same year he became the first Italian to win an NBA title.
Sit back and enjoy the absolute freight train that is Italy’s Marco Belinelli from deep in the official highlights of the game via FIBA.
And then as if his first outing wasn’t proof enough, Belinelli took the game by storm again in Italy’s second outing against the Ukraine.
Posting 26 points, he put Italy on his back to fly past Ukraine as former coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs looked on from the stands.
The Italians played with swagger against their eastern European opposition and Belinelli shined once again from downtown.
Schroder has his Germany team on a tear at EuroBasket this year, but Belinelli’s Italians are playing like they belong and the fans assembled in Tel Aviv are witnessing some magical basketball.
Final time suiting up for Italy or not, Belinelli is playing like a winner and will hope that the momentum that he and his team have built up so far will come to fruition.
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There isn’t much NBA action to talk about during the September slump, but Hawks fans can fill the void with some overseas ball featuring the point guard of the future in Schroder and the veteran mentor in Marco Belinelli as they use EuroBasket and preparation for the upcoming season.