Truth About It» Marco Belinelli is‘European Sneaky’, at least according to Nick Young

Limbs get tangled all the time in the NBA. But for some reason, when it involves tangled arms, you can depend on a two things: arms from two opposing players will become inexplicably intertwined so fast that you’d think elastic were involved, and the result is going to be tension filled until there is separation.

Sometimes the tangles and locks are unintentional. Sometimes the maneuver is enacted by a foe with the simple intent of getting under someone’s skin by quite literally, getting under their skin … knowing that referees are more likely to see and respond to retaliation rather than the instigator’s act. And the instigator can be an offensive or defensive player.

Such an instance happened in the waning minutes of Saturday night’s game versus the Hornets. Nick Young had just made a shot with 1:36 left in the fourth, still keeping the Wizards just outside of striking distance at what would be the final tally, 92-81 New Orleans.

On the other end, New Orleans was trying to run a play to get a bucket. The Hornets’ resident Euro (Italian), Marco Belinelli, in an attempt to gain leverage and separation from Young before going off an off-ball screen, grabbed Young high. Their arms locked, mostly through Belinelli’s initiation, who then tried to rip through and get away from Young. Locked limbs then went into awkward positions and before you knew it, the players were facing off belly to belly.

Young didn’t seem to appreciate Belinelli locking into him and ripping through his arms. Teammates came to the rescue and the players were separated … no harm done. It was Young, however, who was called for the foul, appearing in the ref’s mind to hinder the movement of the offensive player.

When asked about the incident after the game, Young said:

“Oh yea … you know, Europeans … you know, sneaky moves … but {chuckles} that’s my guy, Marco. We came in together, I’ve seen him a lot, you know, pre-{game/draft?} workouts and all that. You know, it’s just a misunderstanding … that’s how he play.”

Let’s hear Nick say it directly:

Oh those sneaky Europeans.I hear ya Nick… and so do JaVale McGee’s family jewels. Let’s take a look at exactly what I’m talking about in pictures…

Here, Belinelli is attempting to sneak to the basket, Euro style, while Andray Blatche gets out his way, presumably so McGee can block the shot.

So now, McGee is getting American sneaky and blocks Belinelli’s shot.

This is where Belinelli retaliates with the European sneakiness of flailing his limbs and making a direct palm-slap connection with McGee’s jimmy.

…Which sent JaVale crumbling to the ground, where he rolled around, etc. for a long time.

A really long time… McGee eventually had to check out of the game for a while.

Sneaky, indeed.

In a related incident, here’s Hilton Armstrong in an arm lock with Trevor Ariza. This one ended with an understanding of the situation, a calm separation and a pat on the butt exchanged between the players.

Source