Rookie Anthony Randolph Scores 30 Points in Debut

It's all in this thread Shape.
http://sportstwo.com/forums/GSW-Summer-Lea...20&start=20

I wouldn't get my hopes hope. Belinelli had a great summer league last season, but never got to play.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Run BJM @ Jul 12 2008, 06:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Legacy @ Jul 12 2008, 05:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I wouldn't get my hopes hope. Belinelli had a great summer league last season, but never got to play.</div>
Yeah I'm trying not to get my hopes up about his production for this season but he really did surprise me. One advantage that he does have over Belinelli is that hes tall and athletic. Belinelli did get plenty of opportunities to prove himself at the beginning of the season but he clanked every shot he put up. And if hes not scoring hes not even really worth having out there because hes a liability on defense. Randolph can find ways to force himself into the rotation by defending, blocking shots, and rebounding well. Hes tall/athletic enough to have some impact right away if he proves that he can play some defense. Once he gets the playing time from scrapping, defending, mixing it up, etc. then the offense will come.

I'm excited to see how he does the rest of summer league.
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Well hopefully both Marco and Randolph will be providing some production off the bench for the Warriors next season.

The thing about Randolph that RunBJM brought up is that Randolph is perhaps more capable of not only providing other stats like rebounding and blocked shots, but it sounds like he can score in many various ways and there is no telling how good he may become if he becomes a decent outside shooter too. He seems able to attack the rim, pull up for the jumper, and such. With Marco, I am not so sure if he has the penetrating ability to become a bigger threat. I hope he does though. I think Marco has a shot at being a good player. I also see him having a shot at being another Jiri Welsch (which is not good at all).

 

Totally different players, IMO. Belly had already played professional ball for several years in Italy. His game is more polished and steady. However, he is not an athletic freak like Randolph. He is a good ball handler and outside shooter. He has some offensive moves but as was already mentioned in the NBA right now he is mostly catch and shoot -- which, with Nellie, is hit-and-miss.

Randolph, on the other hand, is only 18 and only played on year of college. Yet, he is an athletic freak. What 's most interesting, however, is that his game is already polished and dynamic. He's a natural. He has star-potential and he plays with swagger. I've been saying this whole time that, despite what every one says, he's already NBA ready. Biedrins was stumbling around in his own shoes, still growing, his rookie year. Randolph is already shaking-and-baking and moving like a guard. Only he's 6'10" going on 7 feet soon.

I think Nellie will be playing Randolph in year 1. I think he'll get more PT this year than Belly. I think he'll start some games, too.

 

Randolph could be a star if he can lead the way defensively as well. I'm hoping he's more on the Kevin Garnett side and can grow to 6'11, 235 lbs. That would be sweet. We'd have Wright and Randolph who could be stars if they develop right.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Custodianrules2 @ Jul 13 2008, 02:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Randolph could be a star if he can lead the way defensively as well. I'm hoping he's more on the Kevin Garnett side and can grow to 6'11, 235 lbs. That would be sweet. We'd have Wright and Randolph who could be stars if they develop right.</div>

If either of them can become a Chris Bosh, Jermaine O'Neal, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki...yeah, we'd be set. Yes, I named Dirk and I know he can't play D, but I'd be happy if one of them became as good as him on offense.

 

I think both have a chance to shine. Wright is the more traditional inside PF player, he could be a solid shot-blocker, rebound, put-back guy for 10-15 years, not getting a huge contract but producing well throughout his career.

However, I still cannot believe Randolph slipped to #14 for GS because he has superstar potential. He has an attitude, a swagger, and the game comes natural to him. This may sound WAY premature, but think Baron Davis in a 6'10" - 7' frame. Believes he can dominate any given night, knows he is the main attraction, and loves to shine in the spotlight.

That's the type of player Randolph could be. He could play PG for the Warriors if he wanted to. IMO, his ceiling is higher than KG. Because he has all the physical gifts but for some reason the universe put this little shake-n-bake guard inside this freakish spider-like body. What an amazing combination. Watch out, folks.

 

I think you guys might be blowing this out of proportion a little bit. Anthony Randolph is a damn good prospect, but he's just that - a prospect. You have to remember, it's the summer league. He's playing against rookies and people fighting to ride the bench for any team that wants to take them. If he can go out and do what he did today against NBA competition, I'd be impressed.

The other thing to point out is he's still VERY raw. He's a twig that, because of his scrawny and weak frame, will get pummeled by physical PFs in the NBA, yet he's not quick enough to play the three, nor does he have the offensive ability at this point.

While I think he can be good, it won't happen this year. I view him as an Andrew Bynum-esque project. He's going to take a few years of grooming, but he has worlds of ability.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Moo2K4 @ Jul 14 2008, 03:05 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I think you guys might be blowing this out of proportion a little bit. Anthony Randolph is a damn good prospect, but he's just that - a prospect. You have to remember, it's the summer league. He's playing against rookies and people fighting to ride the bench for any team that wants to take them. If he can go out and do what he did today against NBA competition, I'd be impressed.

The other thing to point out is he's still VERY raw. He's a twig that, because of his scrawny and weak frame, will get pummeled by physical PFs in the NBA, yet he's not quick enough to play the three, nor does he have the offensive ability at this point.

While I think he can be good, it won't happen this year. I view him as an Andrew Bynum-esque project. He's going to take a few years of grooming, but he has worlds of ability.</div>

No, not all these guys. Pretty much just me. Pin it on me

BTW I know Tyrus Thomas went to LSU as well but even he is not a close comparison. Thomas is a kind of bench player big-man for the Bulls -- while Randolph has the potential to be a superstar...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Run BJM @ Jul 14 2008, 03:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (AlleyOop @ Jul 14 2008, 02:28 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I think both have a chance to shine. Wright is the more traditional inside PF player, he could be a solid shot-blocker, rebound, put-back guy for 10-15 years, not getting a huge contract but producing well throughout his career.

However, I still cannot believe Randolph slipped to #14 for GS because he has superstar potential. He has an attitude, a swagger, and the game comes natural to him. This may sound WAY premature, but think Baron Davis in a 6'10" - 7' frame. Believes he can dominate any given night, knows he is the main attraction, and loves to shine in the spotlight.

That's the type of player Randolph could be. He could play PG for the Warriors if he wanted to. IMO, his ceiling is higher than KG. Because he has all the physical gifts but for some reason the universe put this little shake-n-bake guard inside this freakish spider-like body. What an amazing combination. Watch out, folks.</div>
Interesting that you say that, I was just reading this article with some very interesting quotes regarding Randolph as a point forward:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>For all the impressive ways that rookie Anthony Randolph scored his 30 points on Friday, a botched play was among his standouts. The Warriors' forward was driving to his left when he delivered a behind-the-back pass to cutting teammate Louis Amundson, who couldn't quite finish his shot.

No points were scored and no assist netted, but Randolph's knack for playmaking is making coach Don Nelson take notice.

"He needs development, but it looks like he'll eventually be able to be a 6-10 point forward," Nelson said. "There's a good common sense to his game. He wants to be good and there's a lot of good stuff going on there."

That might be the best way of approaching the resume Randolph will put together during his summer-league slate. The Warriors know that exhibition games against NBA wannabes are not a measuring stick for in-season success, but they are plenty comfortable in letting the 18-year-old experiment here.

As the final seconds ticked down in Golden State's opening win over the Sixers, a team with returnees Brandan Wright, Marco Belinelli and C.J. Watson simply put the ball in Randolph's hands and cleared out.

Randolph, isolated against Jason Smith, took the Sixers' big man off the dribble, drove to the basket and ended up with an and-1.

"He's got a lot of skill," Nelson said. "He can handle, he can pass, he can block shots, he can score."

He will try to do all that again today as the Warriors continue their five-game slate against Randolph's hometown Mavericks.

On Friday, he looked at ease driving to his left and right and finishing with both hands, but it's his passing skills that are particularly intriguing for Nelson, whose love of hybrid point-forwards is unabashed.

Though Randolph was officially credited with just one assist, he spent ample time bringing the ball up the floor and leading the break - something he says has been the case since high school.

"I always wanted to be a point guard," Randolph said. "I was too tall to play, but in my mind, if you asked me, I would've said I was a point guard."

As with most newcomers, defense will be a concern, especially against bigger, stronger NBA veterans. And to that end, Randolph is tag-teaming with Wright to learn the Warriors' system.

"I'm trying to teach him everything I know, the terms and stuff," said Wright, who is also playing in his first summer league after sitting out last year with a sore hip.

"It's nice to have somebody out there, you can ask," Randolph said. "It's very different, because you have to play team defense in the NBA. In college, it's more manning down, so it's just getting out of the habit of just guarding your man."

The Warriors, who plucked the LSU freshman when he slipped down to the 14th spot in the draft, will be patient. Nelson, who may have finally found a rookie contributor, said he likes Randolph's competitive fire.

Then he offered some constructive criticism.

"Tell him to run back on defense," Nelson said.

"I'm going to try," Randolph answered with a smile.</div>
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../SPRC11OEDI.DTL

Crazy how Nellie can see so much potential in a player and all the other GMs don't. Definitely glad hes on our side when it comes to the draft. As for his potential, I agree with you its extremely high. I didn't expect Randolph to be so ready from day one and to have such dominating perimeter skills. I knew he had the handle, the passing ability, and a mid-range J but I didn't know he could dribble penetrate so effortlessly, hit pull up mid-range shots like its nothing, and really dominate games. That's what I saw from him in game one and in the first quarter of game 2 before the injury (he had 9 points in the first quarter before he got injured, finished with 11). I see some T-Mac in his game because, like you said Alley Oop, hes got that small guard type of game in a 6'10 frame and hes got the handle and passing, point forward potential, etc. I've heard some say Lamar Odom with more killer instinct. I've even heard 6'10 Monta Ellis which is making more sense to me now- much quicker than guys his size, great athlete, nice mid-range shot, etc. I'd say he could be a mix of all three. Even with the Odom/T-Mac comparisons, this kid seems to be mentally tougher than either of they are and doesn't seem to crumble under pressure. Its really exciting because to be honest, I didn't think he had the potential to become a superstar, I thought Randolph would be a very good glue player who can do a little bit of everything as his best case scenario.

When healthy I saw him absolutely dominate games, mind you this is as an 18 year old and in game one going head to head with Thad Young nearly the entire game. Hes still raw and will need a lot of refinement but he is loaded with potential.
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What an interesting read. I think the most fun thing about the Warriors board is typing out something according to my intuition. I knew from the moment I watched Randolph in college that there was a little-kid PG in there somewhere--though I had never heard him say that in an interview. Thanks for sharing, Run.

 

I haven't seen Randolph play much. From the highlites I've seen I was impressed with his ability to get to the hoop. He is very good at that. However looking at his stats, it seems to me that he has a long ways to go to be playing a guard position for a serious amount of time. He has a pretty dismal assist to turnover ratio. But I will take it one step at a time with Randolph - see if he can be the 6th man for the team, see if he can be a starter for the team, then I guess I'll be better able to see if he can be an all-star or what not. But with the way he seems to be progressing this summer, maybe it will not be long until he is a starter. Maybe he'll even be starting in the first game of the regular season. Who knows? I guess he has the potential and ability.

 

Funny that you mention Tyrus Thomas, because this is how he was getting talked about when he came out of LSU. Everyone was saying he's got tons of offensive potential while the ability to have Ben Wallace defensive abilities. So far, neither of that has been true.

I'm not saying Anthony Randolph will fall into the same spot - to be fair, expectations will be a lot lower for him based on draft position (#4 compared to #14). He's a kid that's oozing with potential, but it's just a matter of living up to it. And quite frankly, I'm not gonna give him too much credit yet. Like I said, this is still JUST Summer League. He's playing against other rookies and players fighting for one of those final roster spots on any random team that's willing to pay them.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Moo2K4 @ Jul 14 2008, 09:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Funny that you mention Tyrus Thomas, because this is how he was getting talked about when he came out of LSU. Everyone was saying he's got tons of offensive potential while the ability to have Ben Wallace defensive abilities. So far, neither of that has been true.

I'm not saying Anthony Randolph will fall into the same spot - to be fair, expectations will be a lot lower for him based on draft position (#4 compared to #14). He's a kid that's oozing with potential, but it's just a matter of living up to it. And quite frankly, I'm not gonna give him too much credit yet. Like I said, this is still JUST Summer League. He's playing against other rookies and players fighting for one of those final roster spots on any random team that's willing to pay them.</div>

Exactly. Gotta keep us Warriors fans in check

I am excited at the potential and to see if it pans out or not. I do like his innate dribbling ability...that opens up a lot of options for a player's development.

 

Lol, I love Nellie. He is a pretty unique coach. Randolph at "point forward" should at least be an interesting experiment to watch.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kensaku @ Jul 14 2008, 12:43 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Custodianrules2 @ Jul 13 2008, 02:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Randolph could be a star if he can lead the way defensively as well. I'm hoping he's more on the Kevin Garnett side and can grow to 6'11, 235 lbs. That would be sweet. We'd have Wright and Randolph who could be stars if they develop right.</div>

If either of them can become a Chris Bosh, Jermaine O'Neal, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki...yeah, we'd be set. Yes, I named Dirk and I know he can't play D, but I'd be happy if one of them became as good as him on offense.
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Bosh doesn't really play much D either. But I'd take anybody that can get to the foul line and block a few shots while in the process of scoring 20ppg. Plus Dirk + Bosh have some post game so their size ain't totally useless like a Zarko, Murphy, or any other tall face-up shooter that primarily create separation from a defender using only jab steps. Compared to Murphy at 6'11 who didn't block very many shots, didn't really post up against smaller opponents, and didn't really head to the foul line. Didn't really pass either. Bosh + Dirk = 3-4 assist per game (they clearly make others around them better). Randolph and Wright are prospected to be very good passers when they got vision of receivers (as with all young players they need to develop a wider court sense so they can execute plays as a distributor).

We'll see how Randolph goes... He's one of these players who has incredible upside, but also has red flags. And in red flags I mean he has a huge chance to be a bust. There are some guys in the league who just don't fit any true positions or don't have consistent games. Now clearly he's better than Zarko Cabarpaka (who I like), but he could fall out of the league because you never know about these tweeners... he could be too slow to guard SF's and too weak to guard PF's and that could affect offense and defense if he can't take the body bumps... that puts him in Dunleavy/Zarko territory for now unless the guy is functionally a lot stronger and retains his quickness as he gets older. I think he is functionally stronger than Dun and Zarko so he's probably going to be better than expected once he hits a real nba game, but probably not as polished fundamentals wise. So he could get yanked if he's not being very bright/smooth out there. But Randolph might be pretty bright/smooth for his age. There are some pluses about a guy who is instinctively/naturally good, but isn't very polished. Take for instance Monta Ellis. The guy is naturally basketball smart as a scorer and he's very creative for somebody that wasn't a coach's son or never went a top basketball program in college. He's a quick learner and instinctive players can get a lot better than somebody that needs time to get it together.

Also, a good thing I like about Randolph is he can score with either hand. Some guys in this league have no finesse with the opposite hand so Randolph has the potential to keep his shots from being altered if he can do the little things like go reverse on a layup and use the rim to stymie a shotblocker. His ability to use his off hand already increases his potential to score inside. That I really like.

When it comes to Wright and Randolph comparisons, one guy is more efficient than the other I believe. Wright hardly takes bad shots or does anything risky offensively. Randolph has the potential to just explode a lot more than Wright, but in the process he can take some pretty bad shots. Wright is the inside player whose back to the basket game is pretty polished. Randolph scores mostly off the dribble and has some post game. I think they can both compliment each other since they are two separate roles on this team. One guy could be like a Chris Bosh/Shareef Abdur Rahim while the other could be like a Lamar Odom/AK47 type guy. All those guys mentioned above do almost everything pretty well, but they play very differently.

One more thing... Gerald Green was supposed to kick ass and he did some really nice things during SL, but he wasn't even highly regarded once he got into the league. His upside was supposed to be like Tracy McGrady, but he probably is more like Qyntel Woods. So I'm not saying Randolph or Wright will be super great, it's just their upsides and highlights lead us to believe they could be that good. But being good means being consistent, not screwing the team over with mistakes, and stepping up when the team needs it.

 

Nice posts guys. I'm getting excited about the Randolph/Wright front court.