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It's My Life

Posted by Marco Belinelli on September 11, 2007, 5:10 p.m. ET

This has been very busy summer for me, playing NBA Summer League in Las Vegas to now the European championships in Spain. Playing in Las Vegas gave me a lot of confidence because I played very good in my first game when I scored 37 points. All the games were very important because I know the NBA style of basketball is different than European. In Italy and Europe, it's much different physically and mentally from American basketball. I am a person who likes to work and I think I have to improve. I have to improve my offense and defense. But I like to play. It's my life.

It would be a dream for Italy to win the European Championships. It is very important to play for my country because I am Italian and I want to play with the players on this team like Bargnani, Basile, and Soragna. Bargnani is very good player. Last year he couldn't play with the national team because he was the top overall pick in the draft. Playing for your country is especially important to European players. There is a lot of pride to wear the colors of your country on your uniform. There are so many teams in this tournament that are very good, like Greece, Spain and Lithuania. Some teams have one, two, even five players like Spain, who are playing in the NBA. These players want to play for their country. The Finals MVP Tony Parker is playing for France while the regular season MVP, Dirk Nowitzki, plays for the German National Team. Nowitzki is incredible, now especially, because he is MVP of the NBA. Now he is the top scorer in the European championship.

I started playing on high level for Italy last year in the World Championships in Japan. Playing against the U.S. and LeBron and Wade was my most memorable basketball moment. That game changed my life because I score 25 points. We lost, but that is a game I remember especially. But before last year, I played on Italy's under-20 national team.

In this tournament we haven't played really good. We won only two games against Poland and Turkey. But this team has a great coach, Carlo Recalcati, and for me and the team, it's important to play together. And for European players, it's one of the best experiences you can can have as a basketball player.