The rookie campaigns for Marco Belinelli and Brandan Wright could not have started and ended on more different notes last season. While Wright missed all of summer league to rest a sore hip, Belinelli wowed an entire Las Vegas gym by swishing nonstop three-pointers in his debut in July.
The shooting, though, only eroded from there. Belinelli fired blanks once the regular season started, and by the time Wright ascended the Warriors' rotation, it was Belinelli who was on the inactive list.
"The first few games when (Stephen) Jackson was out, I played like 10 , 15 minutes, but I didn't play a lot after because I know that I didn't shoot well,"
Belinelli said Thursday. "It's terrible, because you're working hard and you enjoy it when the ball goes (down). It sounds good and it's incredible when you score."
"I think I'm ready now."
Belinelli certainly looked the part after another lengthy workout at the Warriors' practice facility. Gone is the baby fat that outlined his body last season, courtesy of daily, three-hour sessions with Golden State's coaches and trainers.
Belinelli and Wright have been staples here over the last three weeks, starting their days around 10 a.m. with on-court drills before moving on to strength and conditioning work.
Coach Don Nelson wants his younger players to be a bigger part of the rotation, which is just fine by the pair. Wright is fully healed from the groin injury that cost him the final four games of the regular season, and he has been working on his shooting - both mid-range and trailing three-pointers - as well as his ballhandling.
A month from now, he and Belinelli will headline the Warriors' summer league contingent, with Wright looking to expand his game and Belinelli out to prove that he's more than a one-game wonder.
"Yeah, I remember, everybody remembers,"
Belinelli said of his 37-point debut. "It was incredible because the first three or four minutes, nobody passed the ball to me because the style of basketball is different. You want to score immediately, you want to run. Then when I scored my first basket, everybody passed the ball to me. ..."
"It was too much (hype), probably, because the start of the season was difficult."
The Warriors will be participating in two summer leagues next month to help them get ready. After a five-game stint in Las Vegas from July 11-19, the team will head to Salt Lake City for four games.
Wright, Belinelli and C.J. Watson are slated to participate, as well as this year's first- and second-round picks - assuming they are not part of any trade.
It's the closest the Warriors can get to replicating the NBA atmosphere during the summer. And despite Nelson's insistence that Wright and Belinelli will get their opportunities, Wright knows nothing is guaranteed.
"It's going to really be up to us to get out there and play, and prove we can play,"
Wright said. "If you're not playing well, you're still not going to play."
Azubuike opts out: Guard Kelenna Azubuike has joined Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins in the restricted free-agent market after opting out of his contract. Azubuike, who would have made the league minimum of $797,581 next season, is in line to receive a modest salary bump after averaging 8.5 points and 4 rebounds.
"I think everybody would hope that it would get done early,"
said Mike Higgins, who represents Azubuike and Watson. "But I don't envy them, because they have a lot on their plate. Just like with any team, they only have a certain amount of dollars to spend, and a lot of guys to sign."
