Plenty of intrigue surrounded the Golden State Warriors' first Summer League game in Las Vegas this afternoon, as rookie Anthony Randolph was poised to make his debut alongside sophomores Marco Belinelli and Brandan Wright.
Randolph didn't waste any time electrifying his new fans and coach, finishing with a team-high 30 points and 8 rebounds on 12-18 shooting. Warriors head coach Don Nelson, who plans to watch every Summer League game, was most impressed with what he saw from Randolph in this first contest.
"In a Summer League game, we haven't even gone to him and he has 16 points," Nelson told HOOPSWORLD at halftime. "He can defend, he's very competitive and wants to be good. He's got all the qualities – long and probably going to end up being a terrific player."
For his part, Randolph gave plenty of reasons for Nelson to be excited about his future. His skillset is notably vast, looking very fluid with the ball in his hands as he looked to either create for himself or set up his teammates. "I just try to model my game after every big man that can handle the ball and make plays" Randolph told HOOPSWORLD after the game. "So I watch a lot of tapes of Lamar Odom, Tayshaun Prince, guys like that."
A lot has been made about his thin frame, but Randolph was willing to consistently go inside the paint and bang around for rebounds or blocked shot opportunities; he did, however, miss far too many easy shots around the basket, mostly put backs after an offensive rebound and struggled to hit a three-pointer, missing all three of his tries.
One of Randolph's consistent strengths throughout the game, though, was his ability to pull up for a quick jumper after shaking his defender. For such a large man, Randolph showed tremendous fluidity and skill with the ball in his hands, which was one of the traits scouts loved about him as he left college.
"It felt good just coming out here," Randolph told HOOPSWORLD after the game. "I was having fun and playing just like I was out on the park somewhere."
During the game, Randolph got some treatment on his calf and hamstring, but he dismissed any injury concerns. "I'm good," he said, "I was just sitting down too long."
The Warriors' other rookie, though, wasn't able to go today. Richard Hendrix had to sit out, resting a strained left quad, but he is expected to play later in Vegas.
On the sophomore side of things, both Belinelli and Wright played solid games in relatively new roles for each of them.
Wright finished the game with 17 points, 4 blocked shots, and 7 rebounds, a solid and efficient showing for the young big man. "I'm just trying to be the glue person on this team, trying to keep it together," Wright told HOOPSWOLD after the game. "Grab rebounds, block shots, get deflections, be flying around and score baskets – just a little bit of everything."
To get consistent playing time during the season, though, there is a lot for Wright to improve upon. He admits that he has gotten stronger, showing some growth in his arms after having a good month of training with the team in June. But he knows he needs to provide the Warriors with a presence down in the paint.
"I'm trying to keep this team tough down low," Wright said. "Rebounding was the issue the last two years, so have got to get it going."
Sporting a beard ("like Baron Davis," he said), Belinelli continued to show how much he likes the nets here in the Cox Pavilion, knocking down a couple of threes and finishing the game with 14 points and 5 assists off of his 5-14 shooting. Forced to handle the ball a bit more than he's used to, Belinelli showed some point guard skills but doesn't plan to back up Monta Ellis at the point during the season.
"I think that I'm a shooting guard," he said. "But I can take some rebounds and take the ball and go up court. I can create some things for my team if I do my best."
Nelson told HOOPSWORLD that the point guard spot is secure with Monta Ellis. "If he wants to be a great player, he has to be a point guard," Nelson said. "It's not what I want, it's really what he's going to end up being. I project that would be best for him. We're going to definitely play him there." Nelson added that he felt Ellis had really improved with the ball in his hands over the season and felt that he had a better understanding of the offense.
The Warriors face off against the Dallas Mavericks' Summer League squad on Sunday. Stay tuned to HOOPSWORLD for all your Summer League news and information as we talk to players, coaches, and executives from around the league.
