Monday, August 9, 2010

Italian Raps Light Up Eurobasket Qualifying

Marco Belinelli and Dr. Drea both had big games yesterday in the Eurobasket qualifiers, as Italy beat Finland (stop laughing) 82-73. Bargs and Nelly both started, and each contributed in a big way to their team's success.
Bargnani is clearly comfortable as the focal point of Italy's offense, playing 30 minutes and contributing a team-high 24 points in very efficient manner (9/17 FG, 2/4 3PT, 4/5 FT). He contributed a team-high 5 rebounds as well (not even 60 total rebounds in the game) and a game-high 3 blocks. Hopefully Eurobasket will give Andrea some solid experience as an offense's number-1 scoring option.
Belinelli is also a key component of Italy's offense, and he did not disappoint, playing 35 minutes and showing a very nice all-around game: 15 points (5/9 FG, 3/6 3PT, 2/2 FT), game-high 5 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals. Hopefully he can continue to be a factor beyond just scoring, and if he can he'll be a great weapon off the Raptor bench.

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