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I've watched a couple of games and it looks to me that Belinelli is a big problem in this team (as usual as of late). His shot selection and decision making are really poor. He comes off his NBA season, where he was just a role guy, thinking that he can deliver the same stuff he used to do back in Bologna, but that's not possible. That was way too much time ago, he's not used to it and he's not effective at all. He could be really useful sticking to balanced shots and creating off the dribble for his teammates, but I'm a bit pessimistic about his willingness to sacrifice his appetite for shots.
Meanwhile, Gallinari seems to struggle a little bit to get his opponents off the dribble as he used to do back in Milano, and against Macedonia he settled for too many jumpers IMO. Don't make me wrong: he's a great shooter, but this team would really benefit from other different offensive options. I liked how aggressive he was in the second game, against Bulgaria. Anyway, I guess his NBA game style and physical work might have hurt his slashing ability a little bit, although I'm still not sure about this.
The PG issue is a concern because, without a dominant playmaker, Belinelli takes more decisions, which is bad for the team. If he settled down, it wouldn't be such a big problem given the quality of the big three. I like Hackett, even if he's not the answer to the team problems, but he brings physical presence and a reasonable offensive option.
Vitali (I used to love him) looks like a former player. He has no confidence in his playmaking abilities and his jumper is off. He's useless at this point, I'm afraid.
It's sad to see how Italy struggles to produce those smart, hard-nosed and ultra-competitive players with loads of character that used to be a trademark for this country, and that would perfectly compliment the current team stars. I guess it's a matter of having such a decimated domestic league. Anyway, I was in Bilbao a week ago watching the medal games at the U20 EC, and I was almost touched by Moraschini, who looks closer to that old Italian mold. Too bad he's not that true playmaker this NT needs so bad.
Meanwhile, Gallinari seems to struggle a little bit to get his opponents off the dribble as he used to do back in Milano, and against Macedonia he settled for too many jumpers IMO. Don't make me wrong: he's a great shooter, but this team would really benefit from other different offensive options. I liked how aggressive he was in the second game, against Bulgaria. Anyway, I guess his NBA game style and physical work might have hurt his slashing ability a little bit, although I'm still not sure about this.
The PG issue is a concern because, without a dominant playmaker, Belinelli takes more decisions, which is bad for the team. If he settled down, it wouldn't be such a big problem given the quality of the big three. I like Hackett, even if he's not the answer to the team problems, but he brings physical presence and a reasonable offensive option.
Vitali (I used to love him) looks like a former player. He has no confidence in his playmaking abilities and his jumper is off. He's useless at this point, I'm afraid.
It's sad to see how Italy struggles to produce those smart, hard-nosed and ultra-competitive players with loads of character that used to be a trademark for this country, and that would perfectly compliment the current team stars. I guess it's a matter of having such a decimated domestic league. Anyway, I was in Bilbao a week ago watching the medal games at the U20 EC, and I was almost touched by Moraschini, who looks closer to that old Italian mold. Too bad he's not that true playmaker this NT needs so bad.
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