Marco Belinelli working on becoming complete player

Marco Belinelli’s mission was not only to take advantage of his expanded role on Team Italy, but also hone his skills for the Hornets, or whatever NBA franchise the restricted free agent plays for next season.

“I’m a shooting guard, but at the same time I want to do everything,” said Belinelli, 6 feet 5, 200 pounds. “I want to shoot the ball, pass the ball, play defense. I want to be a complete guy.

“I worked this summer on my body because I need to be bigger in the NBA. But I don’t want to lose my balance and athleticism. I am thinking about what I need to do to win a game.”

In the five games at the European Championship, Belinelli was Italy’s third-leading scorer, averaging 12.0 points, a team-best 3.2 assists, with 2.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals.

But Belinelli, like last season with the Hornets, struggled with his shooting. He shot 34 percent from the field and 28 percent on 3-point attempts in Europe. Last season, Belinelli averaged 10.4 points in his first season with New Orleans after being obtained in a trade with the Raptors. He started 69 games.

“I want to be able to do everything. I want to be more of a defensive player,” said Belinelli, who was drafted 18th overall by the Golden State Warriors in 2007. “I want to score more. I want to penetrate and find my teammates.”

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Italy Coach Simone Pianigiani was impressed with Belinelli’s performance.

“For me, his stats are not important, but more his personality on defense and talking and understanding and playing to feed the other players, because he has the talent to pass and help on rebounding,” said Pianigiani, who also coaches Montepaschi Siena, one of the best club teams in Europe.

“He can do a lot of things on the court. And he will be really important for Italy in the future. We need the players to do a lot of different things on the court. And he understands that.”

Pianigiani gave Belinelli the freedom to do a lot of things, playing at times at each guard spot and even at small forward.

“For sure he’s getting much better every day,” Pianigiani said. “He’s allowed to play everywhere. And that’s good for him. He’s a guy who loves to play basketball.”

Belinelli, however, said he is far from a finished product.

“Really, I still need to work on everything,” Belinelli said. “I’m only 25 years old. I’m young. But I want to be the best.”