By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

On the strength of a blistering summer-league debut, Marco Belinelli was an instant fan favorite at Oracle Arena last season.

This year, he plans on earning his adulation.

After a rookie season that never lived up to the promise of the 37-point barrage he unleashed in the desert, Belinelli took stock of his performance — a mere 240 minutes on the floor, 38.7 percent shooting, far too much time modeling Italian fashion on the bench — and spent the summer retooling his game. He spent several extra weeks in Oakland, transforming flab into muscle, honing a seldom-before-seen defensive edge, and trading the panache of that patented leg-kick follow through in favor of improved balance and consistency on his jumper.

The results? Belinelli is the Warriors’ leading scorer through three exhibition games, capped off by a 22-point, six-assist performance against Oklahoma City on Saturday that moved Don Nelson to call it “his best game that I’ve seen.”

“I think it’s different because this is my second year, and I’m not a rookie,” Belinelli said via phone Wednesday morning from Guangzhou, China, where the Warriors were readying to play the Bucks at 8 p.m. (5 a.m. Pacific time). “Everything was new for me, the coaches, the players, the type of the game. Now, I know the coaches, what the coach want from me. . . . I know I can help this team. I want to play.”

Whether he’ll get to do that is still an open question. Nelson said last week that Belinelli is still third on the depth chart at shooting guard, behind incumbent Stephen Jackson and third-year reserve Kelenna Azubuike. But if Belinelli keeps putting up efforts such as the one he had Saturday, he could alter that equation.

“Marco, he’s coming back with a chip on his shoulder,” Warriors forward Al Harrington said Saturday. “Not only did he show it to you today, he shows it to us every day in practice. He’s been very productive. We’re proud of him. It seems like he’s really focused in on taking care of his body, and obviously you know he can shoot the ball. He just had to get his confidence back, and it seems like he’s rolling, so we just need to keep pushing him, and everybody needs to keep encouraging him.”

The numbers are encouraging enough in their own right. Belinelli is shooting 56.5 percent, 62.5 on 3-pointers, and seems to have found a way to balance getting his shots off quickly while no longer sacrificing accuracy.

“I worked a lot (over the summer) for my defense and for my shot,” Belinelli said. “Last year, my balance was not good every time. My shot’s better, I’m more balanced. And I can defend. I can be one of the good defenders.”

The Thunder’s Kevin Durant should be able to attest to that. The reigning Rookie of the Year, all 6 feet, 9 inches and 215 pounds of him, was forced into 12 misses in 16 attempts by Belinelli, who was giving up 4 inches and 23 pounds in the battle.

Belinelli admitted that it’s easier at this point for him to try and defend a bigger player looking to utilize that advantage in terms of bulk, rather than chase a quicker point guard around the floor.

“I worked a lot with my feet, I think that it’s very important,” Belinelli said. “Don’t jump on the fake. You have to stay down with the legs and stay aggressive. That’s most important on defense; you have to be ready mentally and with the legs.”

Belinelli was one of only three players who didn’t grade out well defensively in Golden State’s victory over Portland last week — the others were since-released Dion Dowell and reserve point guard Marcus Williams — but he turned that around against Oklahoma City and ranked as one of the Warriors’ best defenders after that win. That’s emblematic of the player he wants to be: More than just a gunner.

“I don’t want to be a guy to come in, make some shot and (then) sit,” Belinelli said. “I want to be a defender, be aggressive, make a pass, be a leader.

“I want to be perfect.”

Contact: geofflepper@48minutes.net