Marco Belinelli slowly making his mark on the Chicago Bulls team – NBA News
Marco Belinelli is slowly making progress in his new role with the Chicago Bulls, and is looking forward to getting himself accustomed into the new system and the philosophy of head coach Tom Thibodeau so that he can start contributing to the success of the team.
Belinelli, who was brought into the Bulls during the summer, after they parted ways with much of their bench from last season, had a good night against the New Orleans Hornets on Saturday night even though his team lost. He scored 13 points, shot 50 percent from the field and was 2 of 6 from three point range.
“The first couple of games of preseason, I was maybe nervous or not ready to play. But that's the past. I didn't score that well against the Hornets. I still was 2 of 6 on 3-point shots. I can be better on that. I want to work on that every day,” said Belinelli about his performance on Saturday night.
Belinelli is slowly making an impression on Tom Thibodeau, who believes that not only is he a good shooter, but he is also improving on his playmaking as well as defence skills.
Belinelli and everyone else in the league knows that in order for a player to play on Thibodeau’s Bulls roster, they cannot compromise on defence. Hence, Belinelli has been working hard on his defensive assignments and trying to improve his overall defensive game so he can enter the game without compromising the defensive strategy of the team.
"Everybody knows if you want to play, you have to play defence," said Belinelli.
Besides Thibodeau, Belinelli has also started making a good impression on his teammates, who are realizing that there is more to his game than just perimeter and spot up shooting, and are giving him the opportunity to show other areas of his game.
“A lot of people label him as a catch-and-shoot guy, but he's better at making plays and setting guys up. You see it here and there. And the more comfortable he gets with the plays, he'll try to do more of that,” said Luol Deng, starting forward of the Bulls.
Tags: