Team USA Scrimmage - Recap

I'm going to keep this one pretty short because it was more All-Star game than an actual game so there wasn't much to note as far as actual basketball being played.  Our own Anthony Randolph made an impact, although you won't read about it in the MSM, playing for the blue team, who I felt had less talent overall than the white team, but ended up winning the game 100 - 81 with a strong second half showing.

Starting Lineups

Blue Team

Brook Lopez - C

Josh Smith - F

Kevin Durant - F

Andre Iguodala - G/F

Russel Westbrook - G

 

White Team

Greg Oden - C

Jeff Green - F

Rudy Gay - F

OJ Mayo - G

Derrick Rose - G

 

Onto the player reviews ...

Blue Team

Anthony Randolph - 12 pts (on 4-8), 4 rebs, 1 stl, 1 blk, 1 to in 16 mins

AR started off looking a little meek and out of place (in his defense he was actually out of place because they had him playing the 5, backing up Brook Lopez and playing against Javale McGee.)  Unlike Summer League, he looked like he didn't feel like he belonged out there.  Sometimes I wonder if the kid really knows how good he is.   He ended up tweaking one of his fingers during play in the first half and had to have it wrapped, it seemed minor though and he continued to play through it.  After he got his feet wet a bit, he started to play like the AR we are all getting to know. 

He didn't have much of an impact in the first half, missing an alley-oop, picking up a loose ball for a dunk, and hitting a free throw, but he started the second half and really picked up then.  He was magnificent in transition, taking a rebound and a steal coast to coast and jamming it down over a defender (once was McGee, I can't recall who was the other, maybe Milsapp) drawing lots of oohs and ahhs from the crowd.  He also got back in transition on defense and stopped McGee at the rim as he tried his own monster dunk, getting a piece of the ball and it went flying off the rim. 

Randolph showed off some of his half-court skills too by crossing over McGee and pulling up for a jumper (he missed it), and pump faking McGee to get by him to the rim where he was fouled (he made both free throw shots.)  He ended the game with a step back three pointer, again over McGee.  Despite playing out of position against a bulkier opponent, AR pretty much punked McGee all game long, as McGee couldn't handle his quickness and his ball handling.  In my opinion, Randolph was the third best player on the Blue Team.

 

Brook Lopez - 18 pts (on 7-8), 4 rebs, 1 blk, 1 stl, 1 to in 22 mins

I never really watched much of the Nets this past year so this was really my first time watching Lopez play since his Stanford days.  He was definitely the best big man in the game.  His game has really matured.  He's cultivated some solid post moves and he's even extended his range, hitting a three in the game.  He was solid defending Greg Oden and managed to keep him out of the lane for most of the game.  He didn't rebound as well as I would have liked to see out of a big, but like I said it was pretty much an all-star game so you can't put too much stock into it.

 

Kevin Durant - 20 pts (on 5-12), 8 rebs, 4 ast in 23 mins

Offensively, he was the best player on the blue team.  His reputation for not playing defense though is well deserved (although only Westbrook and Ronnie Brewer really played any defense in this game.)  Until he learns to play defense, he'll always be a second tier star ala Carmelo Anthony (although Melo shined in the playoffs this year, so he may have put himself into the Kobe/Wade/LeBron discussion.)

 

Josh Smith and Thaddeus Young

Both lefty, tweener forwards, much like our beloved Anthony Randolph and all three were on the same team.  Watching all three of them play, I'd take AR over the other two any day of the week.  Smith plays on the perimeter way too much on offense and his shot is terrible.  Smith's defense and rebounding are very similar to AR.

Young appears stronger and possibly quicker than Smith and Randolph, and has a more polished offensive game than either right now.  However, defensively he's not even close to the Smith/Randolph pair, nor is he a good defender.

 

White Team

Rudy Gay - 27 pts (on 11-12), 4 rebs, 2 ast, 3 stls, 3 tos in 27 mins

and

OJ Mayo - 13 pts (on 5-16), 2 rebs, 4 ast, 4 tos in 23 mins

Between the two Griz members, they took and made nearly half of the shots on the white team.  I find it especially hilarious considering the Griz just added Zach Randolph, one of the biggest black holes in all of the NBA.  Let's just say that I wouldn't be surprised to see the Griz set a NBA record for lowest assist total in a season.  I also wouldn't be surprised to see Chris Paul rack up more assists next year than the entire Griz team combined.

Rudy Gay was at least ultra-efficient with his shots.  He ran out on the fast break a ton, picking up easy dunks, and drained 3-4 of his threes.  OJ Mayo on the other hand .... Mayo hit three threes in a row (on three consecutive possessions) and then went on to brick five in a row (with maybe one possession where he didn't take the shot in between.)

 

Derick Rose - 6 pts (on 3-7), 3 rebs, 2 ast, 4 tos in 28 mins

He was very unimpressive in this game, taking a deferential role to just about everyone on the court.  His speed is impressive and he has a wicked crossover, but his court vision isn't the greatest and he still turns the ball over too much.  He needs to work on extending his range out to the three point area or he's gonna end up facing the Rondo defense.

 

Greg Oden - 7 pts (on 3-6), 10 rebs, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 1 to in 24 mins

Oden looks to finally be comfortable with the knee and he was getting a decent amount of lift on his jumps and overall just moving better than I had seen him in years.  He is still raw offensively, but he should be able to make a major impact this coming season on the defensive end if he can cure his H(uman)F(oul)M(achine)itis.

 

The rest of the guys didn't really make a positive impression on me.  In fact, Michael Beasley, who was in the stands stood out more to me than some of the guys in the game with his half-time shooting antics and his overall "life of the party" attitude, yucking it up with AR, Derrick Rose and the rest of his class.

Las Vegas Summer League Review

This is a LONG post so get out your popcorn and let's begin.

(Disclaimer:  As a fervent student of statistics, I realize the folly of using small sample sizes to infer the outcome of future events, but it's all I have to work with.  These are just my impressions from what I saw, with my focus more on strengths, weaknesses and abilities, rather than the statistics and won / loss.)

(All statistics per game)

Anthony Randolph - 26.8 pts, 8.5 rebs, 1.3 asts, 2.2 stls, 3 blks, 3 tos, 61% FG, 74% FT, 33 mins, 4 games total

After starting out slow and showing the Randolph of old in flashes of the first game, he played the rest of summer league like he had something to prove and finally put it all together for a stretch, culminating in his dominating 42 point performance to momentarily grab the summer league scoring record.  To my golden-tinged eyes he was clearly the best player in summer league (definitely not Blake Griffin) and it was enough to impress the Team USA committee to get him an invite for the scrimmages taking place later on this week.

Offensively, he was hitting his 20 foot elbow jumper with a lot more consistency, but more impressively he was slashing to the hoop constantly and getting to the line at a tremendous rate.  He needs to work on his balance a bit, but if he can keep up his aggressive attacks and continue to work on extending his range, he will definitely be a force to recon with in the coming seasons.

Defensively, AR was more active than I have ever seen him, blocking shots, coming up with steals on the perimeter and pulling down rebound after rebound (except for the last game.)  He was aggressive throughout, but I was really impressed that over the course of the four games, he was able to control himself from falling for the pump fakes that caused him so much foul trouble in the regular season.

He started to show some flashes of leadership, as he kept encouraging Curry, despite his shooting woes.  He worked with Curry on positioning and running sets together and over the course of the four games, they built up some synergy and started working well together (the fast break they ran when Curry threw the off the backboard alley-oop to Randolph was ridiculous.)

Projection:  I think AR will be a major contributor this year and I see him as option #2 behind Monta on offense.  He's more efficient than SJax and much more versatile than Biedrins.  He needs to continue to play under control and he will need to retain his assertiveness when he's playing alongside the likes of Monta and SJax and not just defer to them and take a back seat.  He really needs to make his mark on the team defensively and on the boards though.  I'm not into projecting stats, so I'll leave that to someone else.

Anthony Morrow - 24.7 pts, 4.7 rebs, 0.3 asts, 0.7 stls, 3.33 tos, 61% FG, 50% 3PT, 100% FT, 36 mins, 3 games total

Morrow missed the first two games due a mild sprained ankle, but once he returned he was no worse for wear.  He started off summer league the same way he ended the regular season, shooting the lights out.  He ended the summer league with a record breaking 47 points and a standing ovation.

AM too was assertive, more so than I had ever seen him before.  He was much more consistent with his step back jumper and pull up jumper off the dribble than he was during the regular season.  He also took it to the hoop a little more than before and even showed a little bit of a post up game when he had smaller defenders like Collison on him.  He still needs a lot of work on his ball handling and needs to make pass / shoot decisions quicker, as he tends to get trapped a lot and consequently turns the ball over. 

Defensively, the effort was there, but his lateral quickness still isn't up to par, even against the lowly competition of summer league.  He could stand to work on some agility drills to help cut off dribble penetration.  He has added on some muscle, but he could use a little more to prevent the bigger SG's from posting him up.

Projection:  I see Morrow being a 20 - 30 min / game guy coming off the bench and providing offense.  His minutes will come at the expense of Bellinelli and Kaz, but he's making strides in his offensive game and he should continue to improve with more playing time.

Stephen Curry - 17.4 pts, 4.6 rebs, 4.2 asts, 2.4 stls, 0.4 blks, 3.6 tos, 33% FG, 35% 3PT, 89% FT, 34mins, 5 games total

The only really disappointing part about his game was the fact that he shot so poorly from the field.  He's getting labeled by the MSM as a "gunner", but if you actually watched the games, you would see that he's not taking bad shots (I can count the number of bad shots he took on one hand.)  The form on his shot is great, his release is quick and his history shows that he's a great shooter, so I'm not too worried about this 5 game stretch.  He was really impressive with the ability to get himself and others open shots, now he just needs to knock them down with consistency.

He did a great deal to impress me with his ball handling, court vision, passing, on-ball defense, and transition defense.  Admittedly, I didn't watch much of him this past year at Davidson (after watching him a ton during his sophomore season), so I was pleasantly surprised with his growth in all of those areas, transforming himself from a shooter to a playmaker.  The majority of his turnovers were from miscommunications with his teammates, rather than careless turnovers.

Curry really impressed me with his transition game.  He was relentlessly pushing the ball up court on both misses and dead balls and was spectacular at making outlet passes to get easy buckets for his teammates.  Curry was even better defensively, always balancing the floor and sprinting back to stop fast breaks for the other team, often being the only defending the hoop.

The areas Steph needs to work on are hitting his jumper off the dribble and creating off isolation situations in the late quarter / late game situations.  He needs to work on creating contact a little better off his drives and finishing the play while absorbing the contact.  He was able to get into the lane surprisingly well, but he towards the last couple of games, he wasn't able to successfully finish off the drives.

I would have liked to see him be a little more assertive at times directing the team, but I understand that he was deferring to AR and Morrow, who were the defacto leaders of the team.  If he wants to get significant burn at the PG position this coming season, he's got to work on being assertive even though he'll be playing with veterans and guys that have all been in the league longer than he has.  As a point guard, he's going to have to get the ball in the right spot for the team and sometimes that means SJax doesn't get the ball on the break to put up a three that makes us all groan.  He needs to be assertive enough that he's not intimidated by the other veterans and is able to do the right thing at the right time.

The reasons I'm so high on Steph are because of his high basketball IQ and his great work ethic.   He went from being a kid who only received one D-1 scholarship offer (from tiny Davidson), and worked himself into a lottery pick in three years time.  He improved his game significantly over those three years, adding more and more skills to his repertoire.  Now that basketball is his full time job, he should improve his game even more and hopefully he will continue working out with AR and AM and grow the chemistry that was budding during the summer league.

Projection: Don't be surprised if Curry gets the starting nod sooner rather than later.  I'm guessing that Nelson brings him along slowly and works him into the rotation, with Curry getting a chance start somewhere around December / January (more on this in a future post.)

 

Acie Law - 5.2 pts, 1 rebs, 2.8 asts, 0.6 stls, 1.4 tos, 46% FG, 89% FT, 17 mins, 5 games total

He was utterly unimpressive to both the coaching staff and myself, as after getting 32 minutes in the first game, he only sniffed the court when Curry was getting his breather.  He has decent court vision and above average ball handling, but his lack of confidence caused him to disappear from games completely.

One of my main complaints with Acie Law is that he seems to dribble without a purpose or a clear plan of attack.  Dribbling the ball is a means to an end, getting yourself an open shot or creating an open shot for your teammate.  Too many times I saw Acie Law dribble the ball around aimlessly and do neither.  You don't get points for dribbling the basketball.  If you did, Jamal Crawford would lead the league in scoring and would be an All-Star.

Projection: I don't see Law cracking the rotation with the return of Ellis and the emergence / growth of Curry.  Expect him to either get traded (if the Dubs are in the playoff hunt) to add another weapon before the trade deadline or just let his contract expire at the end of the year.

 

Jermareo Davidson - 2 pts, 2.2 rebs, 0.4 asts, 33% FG, 50% FT, 10 mins, 5 games total

It was really hard to gauge his game because he was totally out of shape and had no lift at all when he jumped.  He looked awful, but I'm going to attribute a lot of it to the injury.

Projection: He has a partially guaranteed contract for the coming year, but I'll be surprised if he makes the final roster cut.  Riley has been saying he wants veteran beef and just about any veteran will probably be ahead of JD.

 

Cartier Martin - 19.7 pts, 4.3 rebs, 0 asts, 0.7 stls, 0.7 blks, 2 tos, 44% FG, 25% 3PT, 80% FT, 29 mins, 3 games total

Martin started off the summer league season strong and was only slowed down by a shoulder injury that held him out of the final two games.  He played tenacious and scrappy defense and drew his fair share of charges.  He did a good job driving the ball to the hoop and getting to the line when he struggled with his outside shot.  One area he really needs to work on is his rebounding, as it's subpar if he wants to play the 3 in the NBA.

Projection: He has the best shot of any of the undrafted players to make camp, but with the Warriors already with 13 players on the roster (not including JD's partially guaranteed contract) and Riley looking for his beef guy, I don't see it being with the Dubs.  I think he did enough during summer league to warrant a team taking a shot on him, I just don't think there's enough room for him on the Warriors unless they do make a 4 - 1 type trade like the one bandied about for Stoudamire.

 

Joe Ingles - 3.2 pts, 4.2 rebs, 1.2 asts, 0.2 stls, 1.6 tos, 20% FG, 25% 3PT, 0% FT, 26 mins, 5 games total

I applaud his effort, but his production just didn't cut it.  I was expecting a lot from him based on what I had heard of him and came away really disappointed with his play.  His offensive game is like Troy Murphy, but with bad three point shooting and no rebounding (so draw your own conclusions.)

Projection: I don't think he caught the eye of anyone here in Vegas and I doubt he gets a camp invite anywhere.  He'll probably end up playing somewhere in Europe or back in his home of Australia.

 

Everyone else

I'll be beyond shocked if anyone else on the summer league roster gets a camp invite.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Golden Dubbies

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Golden Dubbies in which I discuss what I felt like were the best and worst of summer league.  Outside of the Dubs, I really only got to see guys perform 2 -3 times, so this part is more for fun than anything else.  I've named the awards after past / present Dubs for the sake of posterity (it being a GSW blog and all.)  I'm focusing on the rookies, since most know what the second year guys have to offer.

 

The Monta Ellis award (Most surprising / biggest steal of the draft)

Rodrigue Beaubois - 17 pts, 3.4 rebs, 3.8 asts, 1.4 stls, 0.2 blks, 3.6 tos, 48% FG, 42% 3PT, 67% FT, 26 mins, 5 games total

I knew next to nothing of Beaubois coming into summer league, other than that he was from Guadalupe and was discovered by former Dub MP2.  The best way I know how to describe his game is this:  Imagine if Anthony Randolph had a mini-me.  That would be Roddy.  His game is so raw right now, but if he is able to put it all together, he could some day become an all-star. 

He has a pretty decent three-point stroke, although he did put up way too many "heat check" shots for my liking.  He was able to get to the rim quite a bit, with a striking amount of quickness and speed.  Despite his size (he's barely 6 ft and 170ish lbs.) he was able to finish at the rim over much bigger players.  He has quite a bit of length for his size and he has tremendous athleticism (showing off his dunking repertoire in warm-ups.)

One concern I have with him is my perception of his attitude.  He seems to think he's much better than he actually is.  If he can learn a little humility and learn the intricacies of being a point guard from one of the GOAT's, in Jason Kidd, he could be a star.  If he doesn't, he could end up the next Gerald Green.

Honorable mention - Austin Daye / Dajuan Summers (Pistons) and Darren Collison (NOH)

 

The Corey Maggette award (Best scorer / Black hole)

Tyreke Evans - 19.2 pts, 6.2 rebs, 4.2 asts, 1 stls, 0.2 blks, 4.2 tos, 40% FG, 29% 3PT, 78% FT, 30 mins, 5 games total

Tyreke was a beast at getting to the rim and either finishing with contact or going to the line.  If you took DWade, took away his midrange / 3 pt game and added a few inches and pounds, then you'd have the 2009 version of Tyreke Evans.  His jumpshot needs a lot of work, or you're going to see defenders sag off him and dare him to shoot (like how Joe Ingles attempted to defend him.)

His defense was nonexistent in the games that I watched (the first three they played.)  He didn't show much effort at that end of the court.  However, he is a great rebounder for his position (if you consider point guard his position.)

I'm still skeptical that he can be effective running a team, as he doesn't have a very high basketball IQ, nor does he have very good court vision.  He still turns the ball over way too much, and his turnovers are more of the careless variety than some of the other PG's in this class.  I don't think he's ready to start at PG just yet, I think he's more suited to the Jason Terry / JR Smith role of coming off the bench to put up points.

 

The Anthony Morrow award (Best shooter)

Chase Buddinger - 17.8 pts, 2 rebs, 0.8 asts, 1 stls, 1.4 tos, 68% FG, 73% 3PT, 94% FT, 22 mins, 5 games total

I'm a little surprised that Chase didn't get more playing time considering how well he was playing.  His jump shot was the nicest shot in summer league, by anyone not named Anthony Morrow.  He is so athletic and such a great leaper that the release point on his jumper is so high that it's nearly impossible to block and / or get a hand in his face to contest.

He's able to create his own shot and was great coming off of screens.  He even showed off his ball handling in a few games when they played him at point forward.  With all of the injuries / uncertainty surrounding Houston, I'm fairly confident he'll make the team and be able to contribute right away.  He gives Houston some offense at the 2/3 position, because right now they have Shane Battier / Trevor Ariza, both of whom are top-notch defenders, but on offense they are mainly spot-up jumpshooters and can't create their own shot.

 

The Baron Davis award (Best playmaker)

Brandon Jennings - 14.6 pts, 2.6 rebs, 8.2 asts, 3.6 stls, 0.2 blks, 4.2 tos, 38% FG, 43% 3PT, 79% FT, 32 mins, 5 games total

I was excited to watch Jennings play, as I was on the draft Jennings bandwagon, up until Curry fell into our laps.  He was definitely the flashiest player on the court, and he seemed to be the most interested in getting his teammates involved.  His court vision is excellent and he seemed to build up a strong chemistry with their second round pick Jodie Meeks.  He does tend to go for the spectacular over the simple play a little too much right now, which upped his turnovers.

His jumpshot isn't quite as awkward as Evan's jumpshot, but he does need a lot of work on his mechanics.  From what I've seen, he needs to learn to jump straight up in air and square up his body to the basket to become more consistent.  Right now he tends to fade left/right/back unnecessarily (although I did watch him drain a three in Evan's grill with under 5 secs left in their matchup to seal the game for the Bucks.)

Defensively, he was surprisingly good.  Again, he goes a little too much for the spectacular play, which led to a high steal total (18), but also led to his man blowing by him and getting to the rim when he missed.  If he can learn to be a little more sound and not gambling so much, he could actually be a decent defender. 

He seems to be the antithesis of Scot Skiles though and I'm not sure how they'll get along.  If he's able to absorb what Skiles is trying to teach him and stop gambling so much (both with his passes and his defense) he could be a solid performer in the league.  His attitude is a huge concern though as he's already shown bouts of immaturity (tripping Jason Thompson in game, the Joe Budden youtube gaffes) which makes it hard to root for him.

 

The Stephen Jackson award (Best floor leader - I understand the mockworthiness of this naming, but I didn't want to give an award for most TO's or PUJIT 3's)

Jonny Flynn - 15 pts,  2.4 rebs, 7.4 asts, 0.8 stls, 5.2 tos, 48% FG, 59% 3PT, 91% FT, 28 mins, 5 games total

From the moment Jonny Flynn walks onto the court, you can tell this kid was born to be a leader.  He was also the first player I've seen that not only shook hands with the players before tip-off but also every single ref.  He was calling out plays, directing traffic and by far the most vocal player I saw during summer league.

He was able to find teammates in the right spot and generally did a fantastic job running the team.  He did a surprisingly good job with his jumpshot as well.  He did well getting to the line, but he could have done a slightly better job finishing in the lane.

His defense however, was a big disappointment, as he was touted as being one of the better defenders in the pre-draft workouts.  In one of the games I watched, Darren Collison absolutely abused Flynn on defense, blowing by him at will and racking up 14 points in the first quarter.  Had it not been for a foot injury that knocked Collison out of the game before halftime, Anthony Morrow may have had to sweat out his new record being broken.  To compare, Stephen Curry held Collison to 14 points for the entire game (on 14 shots) all of it done with Atchley and Prowell backing him up and defending the paint.  Flynn has the tools to be a good defender, he's strong and athletic and he seems to be trying, but it's just not there yet.  He was also quite lax on floor balance, letting the Hornets leak out on fast breaks all game long.

I would be much higher on Flynn if not for the situation in Minnesota right now.  With the whole Rubio deal still up in the air and the fact that they still don't have a coach, it's hard for me to say what kind of impact he'll have on the team.  If Rubio does come over this year, I don't see how the two of them compliment each other.  Flynn has a better outside shot, but both need the ball in their hands to be effective.  Both are born leaders and that's one of their major selling points.  Both of them on the court at the same time could have the same effect of having too many cooks in the kitchen.  Only time will tell how everything plays out there, but Flynn has done a lot to impress me.

 

The Tim Hardaway award (Best ballhandler)

Ty Lawson - 17.2 pts, 4.0 rebs, 3.8 asts, 1.2 stls, 2.2 tos, 45% FG, 50% 3PT, 85% FT, 31 mins, 5 games total

Speed kills and Ty Lawson has plenty of it.  He may not be the biggest, or the most athletic point guard out of this class, but he's a proven winner and he plays under control more than any other rookie PG I saw in summer league.  You'd think with his propensity to push the ball in transition that he'd rack up more turnovers than the other point guards who walk the ball up the court, but he's such a good ball handler and plays with such good pace that he managed one of the lowest TO numbers for a PG.

He seemed to start off slow in summer league, but really came into his own in the last three games.  He didn't have much to work with as far as teammates (although GSW's second rounder last year, Richard Hendrix was on the team) and that affected his assist numbers.  I think after the first couple of games, he decided to take matters into his own hands and his scoring increased, while still maintaining his efficiency.

He's in a good situation playing behind Billups and being brought along slowly.  He'll get to learn and still get decent playing time on a solid contender.

 

The Latrell Sprewell award (Best Perimeter / On-Ball defender)

Stephen Curry

(Homerism alert!) This one was a close call for me and the winner was a huge surprise for me.  It came down to Steph and Toney Douglas.  Steph comes out with a slight advantage for me based on his transition defense.  They both played against three of the same teams, but those teams didn't really have many perimeter threats (outside of Tyreke who wasn't guarded by Curry.)  Steph averaged slightly more steals and played the passing lane a little better.  He did a good job of containing dribble penetration and fighting through screens.  Curry held Darren Collison to his lowest output of the summer league and was the only one to really frustrate and slow down Collison, outside of a foot injury he suffered against the Wolves.

 

The Ronny Turiaf award (Best Interior defender - I know, I'm stretching things here)

Jeff Pendergraph - 10.8 pts, 7.6 rebs, 0.6 asts, 0.8 stls, 1.2 blks, 2 tos, 55% FG, 86% FT, 28 mins, 5 games total

This one might have been the toughest of all to pick, but not because of the reason that I struggled picking the perimeter defender award.  This one was so difficult because none of the rookie bigs stood out defensively at all.  I went with Pendgraph, because he did a fairly decent job manning the 5 spot for the Blazers summer league squad, even though he's a natural 4.  He did an adequate job rebounding the ball and managed to get a little more than 1 block per game protecting the rim.  He utilized his strength, balance and positioning to push people out of the paint and snag his fair share of rebounds.

 

The Andris Biedrins award (Best rebounder)

Blake Griffin - 19.2 pts, 10.8 rebs, 3.2 asts, 1.0 stl, 0.4 blks, 4.2 tos, 50% FG, 14% 3PT, 46% FT, 35 mins, 5 games total

Unlike the media and NBA big wigs that watched summer league, I'm not drinking the Blake Griffin kool-aid just yet.  There are a number of things that he does very well and rebounding is one of them.  He gets off the floor with extreme quickness and can bang with the best of the bigs.  He's as strong as advertised (I watched him push Thabeet out of the lane on transition switches) and he seems to be making a concerted effort to be a more vocal leader on the court.

He runs the court superbly and scored the majority of his points (at least the games I watched) off of transition opportunities.  There were even a few times where he would grab the board, outlet to a guard and sprint back down court to beat his man down and throw down an alley-oop.

His passing is also better than I expected, catching Mike Taylor a few times on the baseline under the hoop on back cuts.  He passed out of the double team quite well when it came.  He did tend to over dribble at times and since ball handling isn't exactly his strong suit, he ended up turning the ball over quite a few times trying to make moves off the dribble.

That being said, his half court game is in need of quite a bit of work.  He really only has half of a post move (I say half because it's not very effective since everyone knows it's what he's gonna do) where he does a spin back jumper.  Anyone that gets blocked three times in the same game by Greg Steimsma has a lot of work to do.  Right now offensively he is fairly comparable to Dwight Howard, in that everything that isn't a dunk or two feet from the hoop doesn't have much of a chance of going in.  I know he's been working on his jumper and adding range to his game (he did hit a three in one game) but he should concentrate on 10 - 12 ft and in for now and of course his free throw shooting, because right now Biedrins is better at both and that's not saying much.

 

The Patrick O'Bryant award (Most likely to be a bust - alternately the Ike Diogu award, or the Adonal Foyle award, or the Todd Fuller award, ok I'll stop now)

Hasheem Thabeet - 8.2 pts, 4.6 rebs, 0.4 asts, 0.2 stls, 0.8 blks, 2 tos, 45% FG, 72% FT, 25 mins, 5 games total

The saying goes that "You can't teach height. " Well I have another saying that I like to use and that's "You can't teach passion."  So while Thabeet has height in spades, the fact that he has no passion on the court has me believing that he will be joining the likes of Darko Milicic, Kwame Brown, Michael Olowakandi, etc. on the long list of bigs who have flamed out.   It's my opinion that the reason a lot of big men bust out is precisely because they don't have a passion for the game.  Because of their height, basketball chose them, not the other way around.  They aren't in the gym every day trying to obsessively improve their game (like a Kobe Bryant), they aren't gym rats that live in the gym (like an Anthony Morrow), and they don't have a love and appreciation for the game.  For them, it's a job.  For kids like Steph Curry, it's their life.

Thabeet looked completely lost on both sides of the court and looked very disinterested in being there.  He recorded the same number of rebounds as Curry did and only 2 more total blocks.  He did it in 7 mins / game less, but he's got a foot on Curry easy.  It was this total lack of effort that has me scratching my head as to why he was the second pick in the draft (until I remember that the franchise that drafted him is the one franchise that makes the Dubs FO look competent.)

Thabeet has some potential, but without the desire to be a great player (see: Randolph, Anthony) he will just be another in a long line of high draft pick bigs that are only known in trivia questions like "Who was drafted ahead of Michael Jordan?" or in Thabeet's case "Who was drafted ahead of Stephen Curry?" (no I'm not comparing Stephen Curry to Michael Jordan, but you get my drift.)

 

The Anthony Randolph award (Most likely to make your jaw drop, followed by a face palm)

Rodrigue Beaubois

Roddy earns a second award here and it's much deserved.  There were times where he'd pull up in transition and bury a three, followed up on the next possession by putting up a thirty footer that catches nothing but air.  He'd crossover his defender and drive it to the hoop and hit a reverse layup over a bigger defender, come down the next possession and throw the ball 4 rows into the stands without a teammate in sight.  It took AR the better part of a season to play under control and it took until this summer to play with more consistency, so I'll give Roddy the same leeway to see if he can start putting it all together.

 

The Rob Kurz award (Summer League MVP)

Jonny Flynn

This one came down to Flynn and Collison for me.  Conveniently enough, they both played each other and took turns torching each other.  Unfortunately, right before the first half came to a close Collison ended up driving to the hoop and injuring his foot.  At this point in the battle Collison was ahead and could have possibly won this award, but he went down and wasn't able to come back, therefore only playing 3 and a half games.  I could have been like the NBA guys and closed my eyes and said Blake Griffin, but I felt that Jonny had a much bigger impact on the games than did Griffin.  Griffin had more spectacular moments, but Flynn was in my opinion the more effective player.

Congrats if you made it all the way to the end!  I'll be back next weekend with a report on how Anthony Randolph does against the other young guns at the Team USA scrimmage.

Game 5 - GSW vs. New Orleans Hornets

The word of the day is Yessir.  If Fitz was at home watching this game, he was surely saying that over and over and over.  Two days after Anthony Randolph tied the summer league scoring record at 42, the other second year Anthony, Anthony Morrow one-upped him and put up a record breaking 47 points to lead the Warriors to a 104-84 victory.  This game capped the summer league action for the Dubs, in which they finished with a 4-1 record and some jaw-dropping performances.  All in all I would say it was a successful summer league session and the chemistry being built within Run R(andolph)M(orrow)C(urry) will only continue to grow over the offseason as they spend more time playing with each other.

Anthony Randolph - DNP CD

Word on the street is that AR is going to be invited to the Team USA workout next weekend here in LV.  That combined with his brilliant performance last game earned him a day off.

Anthony Morrow - 47 pts (on 18-26 FG, 7-8 3's), 7 rebs, 5 tos

With AR taking a day off, the offensive focus fell to Morrow and boy did he ever deliver.  He was extremely assertive, barking out sets, calling for screens and setting up the defense.  This was the most talkative I have ever seen Morrow on the court.

Offensively, he simply couldn't be stopped today.  We all know he has one of the purest strokes in the NBA and it was on full display tonight.  His game has really expanded as he was able to score off transition jumpers, pull up jumpers off the dribble, drives to the hoop, and even several post ups when the smaller Collison was guarding him. 

He was ultra efficient (70% from the field and 88% from three), but was even more so going into the last 4 minutes of the game.  The last 4 minutes or so of the game were truly comical as Morrow got closer and closer to the scoring record.  Everyone in the building was on their feet wanting him to break the record and groaned when anyone took a shot that wasn't named Anthony Morrow.  Between the crowd and the rest of his team, everyone wanted him to jack up any and every shot until he broke the record and although NOH knew that's what he was going to do, they still weren't able to stop it.  He did force up a few shots that he normally wouldn't take (thus lowering his still ridiculous efficiency), but he managed to break the record with time to spare and was pulled out of the game with under a minute to go, to a standing ovation.

Defensively he wasn't the greatest today, as his man Marcus Thornton did score 21 points, but he more than made up for it on the offensive end.  He did end up tied for the team lead in rebounds though.

Although he was able to utilize the dribble to get himself a little more space to put up his jumper and his ball handling is improved from last season, he still has a ways to go before he gets to be an average ball handler for a NBA SG.  Besides ball handling, he needs to do a little better job of handling double teams, as NOH was doubling the ball handler off pick and rolls and he struggled at times to get the ball to the open man, resulting in 5 tos.  His game is expanding and he's becoming more of a complete player though, which is all you can ask out of a youngster.

Stephen Curry - 9 pts (on 4-10), 4 rebs, 3 ast, 2 stl, 3 tos

Statistically this was Curry's worst showing in summer league, but he did so in the least amount of minutes he's played in all of the 5 games here.  I thought he did a good job running the team, although he was fairly deferential in the second half (he only took one shot - a three pointer at the end of the shot clock, which he made.)  I can't fault him for deferring to Morrow, when he was hitting every shot he put up, in fact that's the job of the point guard and that's exactly what he did.  He got Morrow the ball in a position for him to score, and even though it didn't show up as an assist, it was the correct decision from a playmaking standpoint.  He also did a great job running the pick and roll again, finding Atchley, Hunter, Davidson slashing to the hoop or spotting up for an open jumper.

Defensively, he did a great job again in the transition, often times being the only man back on a fast break, as NOH tried to push the ball a lot.  He ended up getting numerous fouls because no one else was running back to help him, but more times than not he prevented an easy basket with his hustle.  He held Darren Collison to 14 points on 14 shots, which was the lowest output of his summer league.  Overall, I'd say they played each other to a draw, both with low scoring, low efficiency nights and 1:1 ast to turnover ratios.

Joe Ingles - 0 points (on 0-7), 7 rebs, 2 ast, 3 tos

Well it was another disappointing night for Joe Ingles, which ended with him tweaking his ankle.  I love the effort that he gives on the floor, but his production just isn't there and I really can't see him getting a camp invite.  So long Jingles and thanks for the fish.

Acie Law - 9 points (on 4-7), 1 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 1 to

Tonight was Acie's best statistical night, but he really hasn't impressed me at all in the summer league games.  I'm not really a fan of his game (I'll go into more detail why when I do a review of the entire summer league later on) and I really don't see him getting much playing time during the regular season.

Jermareo Davidson - 4 points (on 1-2), 4 rebs, 3 tos

He really has no lift right now and is usually hobbling across the court.  I can't accurately gauge where he's at, but as of now it doesn't look good for him with only a partially guaranteed contract for the coming year.

Quan Prowell, Conor Atchley, Othello Hunter, Lawrence Hill

They all played adequately tonight, but I can't really see any of them getting an invite to camp.

Again, it's a short recap because it was another one-man show tonight.  I'll be back in a few days with a review of the entire summer league, including my thoughts on some of the other marquee rookies, and where I think the roster stands after summer league.

Game 4 - GSW vs. Chicago Bulls

Welcome to the Anthony Randolph show!  Staaaaarring Anthony Randolph! 

Fueled by a dominating offensive performance by AR (which tied for the highest scoring output in summer league history), the Dubs put away the Baby Bulls 95 - 83 despite a massive 40 -28 rebounding disadvantage.

 

Anthony Randolph - 42 pts (on 13-22), 3 rebs, 4 stls, 3 blks, 0 tos

Coming into this game, I felt like this would be AR's biggest challenge in summer league because the Bulls featured a frontline of their two physical first round picks, Taj Gibson and James Johnson.  From the very start of the game, AR played like he had a Sean May sized chip on his shoulder.  He seemed to take offense to all the banging that Taj Gibson was dishing out on him and he took it out the way he knows best, putting his full offensive arsenal on display tonight. 

This was the most aggressive I have ever seen AR play, both offensively and defensively.  He got to the line at a Dwayne Wade (circa the 2006 finals) rate (16 - 21 from the line) and seemed to be slashing to the hoop on every possession.  He did an excellent job finishing in the lane and managed some difficult and-1's, highlighted by the slam over Taj Gibson at the end of the first half that brought the house down.  Again, he was able to hit the 15 - 20 foot jumper pretty consistently, which makes him close to unstoppable, when he's also able to slash to the hoop at will.

Defensively AR was stellar on the perimeter, coming up with 4 stls, which led to several fast break attempts, including the off the backboard alley-oop from Curry to AR and the steal to seal the game in the fourth that resulted in a clear path foul.  He was also able to pull out several spectacular blocks, which has become the norm for him.  He did a much better job today of not falling for pump fakes and only leaving the floor after his man did.

The only thing that AR didn't do well tonight was rebound the ball.  Taj Gibson pushed AR around on the offensive glass, pulling down 7 offensive rebounds (12 total) compared to 3 defensive rebounds for AR.  That was the only chink in his armor tonight.

One thing he might want to work on is his balance.  His balance on his jumper seems off, which is why he's constantly ending up on his butt whether there's contact or not.

On a side note, the fans really wanted AR to break the scoring record and they booed Keith Smart for pulling him out of the game in the fourth quarter and were yelling at Curry when he didn't get him the ball on that last possession.

 

Stephen Curry - 10 pts (on 3 -15), 5 rebs, 8 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk, 4 tos

This was probably the worst Curry has played in summer league.  I think a lot of it has to be attributed to the fatigue of playing 4 games in 5 days, including back to back games, all of which he played heavy minutes.  There were several times in the game that Curry was visibly gassed, and had to pull himself out of the game.  His shots seemed to come up short most of the time and he lacked the explosiveness on his drives to the hoop that led to 3 out of 4 of his layup attempts getting blocked.

His FG shooting was the worst of his 4 games, but at least he managed to contribute in other ways.  He made a concerted effort to be a distributer and ran the pick and roll to perfection today.  The two-man game with AR was a thing of beauty, which they capped off with the off the backboard alley-oop.  The more they play together, the better they're making each other.  They seem to be building a good chemistry together and are constantly talking to each other during timeouts and dead balls, setting up plays and where each should be.

His perimeter defense was solid again, but he did have his share of lapses today.  He was a step slow on some of the rotations and allowed Demarcus Nelson to get into the lane more than I had seen from his man in the previous four games.  He was however tied for the team lead with 5 rebs.

 

Anthony Morrow - 10 pts (on 2-7), 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 tos

From the beginning of the game Morrow looked out of the flow of the game.  He was visibly frustrated at times (I'm not sure if it was at a teammate or himself) and never really got himself going.  He played heavy minutes yesterday and he is coming off an ankle injury so I won't be too harsh on him.  His threes weren't falling, he was getting trapped a lot and he was a step slow on defense.  I'll give him a pass for today and hope he's just working his way back into shape.

 

Joe Ingles - 10 pts (on 4-10), 5 rebs, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 tos

I guess the coaching staff had seen what they wanted to see out of Cartier Martin, because he didn't get off the bench today and Ingles got maximum burn (he played all 40 mins.)  He wasn't very memorable tonight, but that goes for anyone not named Anthony Randolph.  He had a really tough time guarding James Johnson (who impressed me being that it was the first time I had watched him play.)  I don't think he'll be making the team, but I do applaud his effort as he's constantly running around the court.

 

Today's recap is a little on the short side, but there really wasn't much else worth talking about in this game other than that Anthony Randolph guy ...

I'm looking forward to the NOH game because I think that will be Curry's biggest test of summer league, going up against Darren Collison.  I'm hoping the day of rest does him some good and he finds his shooting stroke again.

 

Game 3 - GSW vs. Det Pistons

D-E-F-E-N-S-E.  That was the name of the game tonight.  The Warriors dominated the second half of the game to finish with a 97 - 69 win.  This was one of the better team defensive efforts I have seen out of a Warriors team (yes, I know it's only summer league.)  Offensively it was a 4-man show again, with the return of Anthony Morrow.  Thanks to Blake Griffin playing in the other arena, I got to sit courtside right behind the Warriors bench, allowing me to hear the huddles and Keith Smart all throughout the game.

Keith Smart

I want to talk a little about Coach Smart, since I tried to listen in as much as I could.  He was just as active as the Warriors defense tonight, constantly teaching, encouraging, and correcting players all the way till the last second ticked off (literally - he was barking out defensive assignments up 28 with 24 secs to go.)  He seems to have the ear of players and he has a great rapport with them.  I know he's the team's "Defensive coordinator" and he really does stress that side of the court with the team, much more than the offense.

My favorite Keith Smart moment of the night came near the end of the third quarter when Jeremy Pargo drove into the lane and Connor Atchley met him, held up his hands and held his ground as Pargo barreled into him.  Atchley, backpedaled as Pargo hit him square in the chest and Atchley was called for a blocking foul.  Smart jumped up out of his seat and pleaded with the ref that it was a charge.  He then called Atchley over and laughingly said to him, "You gotta fall down on that."  I'm no advocate of flopping, but 1) Smart is right, and 2) I've never seen a coach teach flopping, so I found it hilarious.  Atchley sorta just smirked at Smart, gave him a high five and walked back on the court.

He also does a good job with AR.  Every time Randolph would push the ball on the break or catch the ball in the post Smart would calmly say "Under Control" to him over and over and it seemed to do exactly that.  If Don Nelson decides to walk away after this coming year, I think the Warriors should take a long hard look at Smart as he's impressed me a lot with this summer league squad.

Anthony Randolph - 21 pts (on 6-12), 10 rebs, 1 stl, 3 blks, 3 tos

I know my other recaps have been a little harsh on AR, but I guess it's because I was expecting a lot from him.  Today, I felt he finally put it all together and played in a dominant fashion.  He only played 25 minutes today (the game was already out of hand at the end of the third / start of the fourth when he was getting a breather), but he was extremely active and effective on both sides of the court.

The Dubs went back to the pick and roll with Curry and Randolph and the Pistons had a terrible time trying to stop it.  Randolph did a great job diving to the rim after the pick and all Dajuan Summers could do was foul Randolph (AR was 9-11 from the line and Dajuan ended up being the first summer league player I saw this year to foul out.)

Defensively he was the tone setter for the team.  He had several plays that were clear momentum shifters (that one block towards the end of the first half and the steal from Daye which he then slammed home.)  He spent more time in the paint today and only put up one three pointer, so I really have nothing negative to say about his game.

Stephen Curry - 23 pts (on 7-19), 7 rebs, 4 ast, 5 stl, 1 blk, 4 tos

Showing no ill effects of the tweaked ankle, he put together his most complete game as a Warrior.  Again, he struggled shooting from the field and he did make a couple mental mistakes (there were a couple of times he tried to force a pass into traffic that got picked off and he had that one "heat check" three attempt that he missed), but beyond that there wasn't much not to like about his game either.  I've talked enough about his decision-making, playmaking and shooting, so I'm going to focus on some of the areas of his game that I haven't already talked about ad nauseum.

On the defensive end, he did another great job as an on-ball defender and his transition defense was again superb.  He played the passing lanes beautifully and pilfered his man several times to end up with 5 steals for the game.  He even got a block on Sean Singletary 1-on-1 on a fast break, which got a lot of "Oohs" and "Aaahs" from the crowd. 

Something else that I haven't mentioned yet about Curry is his strength, which is extremely underrated (I am working on a longer post relating to this, that I hope to finish after summer league ends.)  There were several times where he ended up having to guard Austin Daye and Jonas Jerebko on switches off the 1/3 pick and roll and both of them tried to post him up to take advantage of their size.  Curry wasn't about to give up just because he was giving up 6 inches and 30 lbs.  He fought for position against both of them and ended up getting a steal from Daye on one possession and knocking the ball out of Jerebko's hands out of bounds on another possession. 

Offensively, he did a good job getting into the lane again and finishing or getting to the line.  He ran the pick and roll well, hitting Randolph a bunch of times and Atchley for an and-1.  He found a cutting Morrow on a beautiful pass and generally ran the team well.  One thing that I'm really liking about Curry is that he is constantly pushing the ball up the floor and putting the pressure on the defense.

He just needs to improve the consistency of his jumper off the dribble and he needs to do a better job at the end of quarter / game situation where they seem to ISO for him. 

Anthony Morrow - 17 pts (on 8-13), 6 rebs, 2 stl, 3 tos

Coming back from his ankle injury I was a little afraid that he would have a hard time staying in front of his man because he didn't exactly have great foot speed and quickness prior to the injury.  Boy did he prove me wrong today.  Not only on defense but also on offense. 

We all know he can shoot the lights out, which he did (not only in the game - I watched him hit ~30 three pointers in a row at the half-time break going from one corner of the court to the other, barely even grazing iron), but he also put together some nice drives and pull up jumpers off the dribble.  I remember a sequence of 3 possessions in a row at the beginning of the fourth quarter where he beat his man off the dribble and either drove to the hole or dished to an open teammate.

Defensively he was aggressive, along with the rest of the team.  He was able to stay in front of his man for the most part, and did a decent job closing out on shooters.  He came away with a few steals and had some scrappy moments where he was on the floor fighting for loose balls.

Cartier Martin - 18 pts (on 4-10), 5 rebs, 2 stl, 1 blk, 2 tos

He didn't shoot very well today, but he made up for it in many other ways.  He went to the line a ton (10-12) and was extremely active on defense.  He was matched up mainly with Austin Daye, who has about 6 inches on him, and Martin held him to 11 points on 5-14 shooting.  He was constantly pushing Daye out of lane on defense and closed out well when Daye drifted to the perimeter. 

He also picked up a few more charges on the Pistons (and was robbed of one when the refs changed their call.)  He's definitely a glue type guy that does all of the hustle / scrap type plays that don't show up in the stat sheet.  He's also a favorite of the coaching staff and based on his play so far I can see why.  I'm even more certain he'll get a camp invite after seeing how Coach Smart and the other coaches were talking to him.

Acie Law

I've been giving him a hard time in my other recaps, and though he didn't get much playing time today, I feel like today was his best showing.  He was much more aggressive today, particularly when Curry was getting a breather.  He also does a good job giving Curry advice and encouragement during time outs.  He's always the first to meet Curry on the court and give him a little talk before the huddle.  He also had a funny moment at the beginning of the third quarter when he jokingly tried to check himself into the game and walked by Coach Smart and asked him who he wanted him to replace.  Smart just laughed at him and other assistant coaches were cracking up.

Bonus Bits

Clipper Darrel was in the house tonight after the LAC game ended and he is apparently a Dubs fan, as he was heckling the Pistons.  When he came over from the other arena, Curry was getting a breather and Clipper Darrel tried to start up a "We want Curry" chant, and just as he got done with the first go round, Smart put Curry back in the game and Clipper Darrel yelled "THANKS."  Also in the house today, Marcus Camby, Don Nelson, and Mike Tyson ...

I took some pics today as well since I was so close to the action.  I'm not the best photog in the world and my camera sucks though but here's a link to the pics I got.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/coreyolis/sets/72157621425136662/

Game 2 - GSW vs. Sac Kings

(By request I separated it out into a new post rather than lumping it all into one)

In typical GSW / Sac fashion, this game was a high scoring, sparse defense, barn burner with the good guys coming out on top 98 - 95.   The Dubs however did do a better job on the boards today and finished the game much stronger than yesterday.  Anthony Morrow still didn't play, although he did warm up with the team and his ankle didn't seem to be bothering him like it was yesterday.  There were really only three Dubs players worth talking about in this game (the three combined for 82% of the Warriors points) and nothing that happened in this game that changed the first impressions that I got from yesterday.

Anthony Randolph - 24 pts (on 10 - 13), 11 rebs, 2 ast, 2 stl, 5 blks, 6 tos

Similar to yesterday's game AR put up another solid overall performance, with his share of highlights (that breakaway dunk and several massive blocks) and lowlights (pass off the ref was the most stellar turnover.) 

He was extremely impressive on the defensive end, bringing energy to start the beginning of the second half that (along with Curry's scoring) got the Dubs back into the game after a dismal first half.  His help defense continues to be superb.  He still falls for pump fakes way too much (he needs to learn to jump after the offensive player leaves their feet, not before) but I think he has the tools to become one of the best help defenders in the league (similar to Birdman for the Nuggets.)  The area of defense he needs to start working on though is his post defense and on ball defense.  Several times he was outmuscled in the post by Thompson or sagged off his man too much on the perimeter and let Casspi and Greene get wide open looks.

Offensively he was extremely efficient (minus the 6 tos), yet I really feel he can do even better than that.  His elbow jumper seems to be much more consistent and he did an excellent job slashing to the rim, however his post moves leave a lot to be desired.  If he really did gain 15 lbs of muscle, it's not showing in the games.  He was continually pushed around in the paint by Donte Greene, who isn't exactly known as a tough hard-nosed defender.  Maybe he can ask Brandon Wright to teach him a few post moves before BW gets shipped off?  I don't think he'll ever be mistaken for Amare, but even Lamar Odom and Rashard Lewis have decent post-up offensive games to take advantage of smaller defenders.

Don't get me wrong, he's still the most talented player on the court and he's playing well, but I guess I was hoping to see more expansion of his game with all the talk of his non-stop off-season workouts.

Stephen Curry - 29 pts (on 8-22), 6 rebs, 3 asts, 2 stls, 3 tos

After a dismal first half (0 for 8 shooting and 2 pts), in which he tweaked his ankle, Steph exploded in the second half / OT for 27 pts.  He continues to impress me with his ball handling and decision making.  He did drill three 3's in the second half, but surprisingly, he did the majority of his damage on drives to the hoop, resulting in either a layup or a trip to the line (sometimes both.)  He utilized his quickness and ball handling to blow by defenders at will and was able to finish numerous times amongst the trees.  He spent more time driving to the hoop in the second half than Jamal Crawford did all season long.  The really impressive thing was that he was that while the defenders weren't NBA quality (Jerel McNeal is no slouch but I doubt he makes the Kings team), the bigs that he finished over were (Jason Thompson is a starter and Donte Greene, Jon Brockman, and Omri Casspi all will be contributers this year.)

His defense was again adequate, but then again he wasn't guarding the Kings best perimeter guy (Tyreke.)  He was really good in transition defense, coming up with some key steals and deflections (I only remember one bad instance when he let Tyreke get around him for a layup.)  He also pulled down the third most rebounds on the team and did a much better job communicating with his teammates on switches and in transition.

He performed well in the clutch, scoring the go ahead layup and sinking two free throws to ice the game in OT.  The most impressive thing to me is his BBIQ.  His 3 assists weren't indicative of some of the great passes he made, particularly running the pick and roll.  He made some great passes to Connor Atchley and Othello Hunter off the p-n-r, but they weren't able to do anything with the passes.  I'm not sure why they didn't run the pick and roll or pick and pop with Curry and Randolph (as it was successful yesterday), but then again I didn't understand putting Joe Ingles on Tyreke Evans for the whole game when he continued to get torched.

Even though he didn't shoot well again (though his 8-14 in the second half / OT was a great improvement) he seemed to make the right decision with the ball the majority of the time.  It didn't seem like he was forcing shots, just taking them when he was open, even though he couldn't hit anything in the first half.  The only really bad shot I felt he took was the shot at the end of regulation, but he had to do something with the time running out.  The way he plays reminds me of a really good poker player.  In poker you want to get your money in good when you have the best hand, what happens after that is up to how the cards fall.  You judge yourself based on the decisions you make, rather than the results, because you can always make the right decision (taking the open shot / making the correct pass -> getting your money in with the best hand) and get the wrong result (missing the shot / not converting the good pass -> getting sucked out on.)  Judging him based on his decision making (something the Warriors are sorely lacking in), I think he did a stellar job today, and he's quickly turning me into a Curry fanboy.

The one area he really needs to work on is hitting his jumper off of one or two dribbles.  The majority of the jumpers that he missed were of that variety (and the majority of those were fairly wide open, off of screens.)  When he was able to set his feet, he was money.  He also does a good job at hitting PUJITs (pull up jumpers in transition.)

Cartier Martin - 27 pts (on 7-15), 4 rebs, 3 tos

Again Cartier continued to impress and fight for that roster spot.  He must have read my fanpost yesterday, because he came out today and proved me wrong and shot the lights out.  He was really aggressive on offense, hitting open threes and making strong drives to the hoop resulting in 10-11 fts and several and-1's.  He still looks like the only one that has a shot at making the roster.

Acie Law, Jermareo Davidson, Joe Ingles

I'll give JD the benefit of the doubt after reading the MT2 article about him being injured, because again he contributed nothing to the team, which was a bummer because I ran into his parents in the stands (at least I think they were his parents because they were both wearing Davidson jerseys and his Mom's one said "Mom" instead of Davidson.)  Acie Law really only got playing time when Steph Curry tweaked his ankle and went to the sidelines, and again didn't do much to impress me.  Joe Ingles got a ton of playing time (which I'm not sure is a good thing) and he continued to be anemic on offense (3 pts on 1-7 shooting.)  He spent the majority of his time on the court trying (unsuccessfully and inexplicably) to keep Tyreke Evans out of the paint.  He gets an A for effort, but a D for execution.  At least he contributed a little with 8 rebs.

Lawrence Hill, Jared Jordan, Quan Prowell, Conner Atchley, Lawrence Roberts, Jamal Sampson

Despite Conner Atchley's best Rob Kurz impression, it's still extremely doubtful any of these guys have a shot at the roster.

I think like a lot of people here, I was highly optimistic of the 2009 summer league GSW team.  A bigger, stronger Anthony Randolph?!  Improved Anthony Morrow?!  New man crush Stephen Curry?!  Highly touted Aussie Joe Ingles?!

Game 1 - GSW vs. Houston Rockets

Sadly, the GSW's started off the Las Vegas summer league like the regular season GSW's ended it.  Getting outrebounded by a LARGE margin (45 to 29), shooting terribly (37% from the field as a team), and falling apart down the stretch to lose to the Houston Rockets summer league team 73 - 69.

I know it's just summer league and the team aspects usually aren't even worth watching, but, the summer league team seems to have the same deficiencies as the big league team (including staying healthy.) 

Onto the player breakdowns:

Anthony Randolph - 20 pts (on 10 - 17), 10 rbs, 3 ast, 2 stl. 3 tos

Everyone by now has heard about the work that he's been putting in during the offseason and we're all excited to see how his game has progressed.  He put up a good stat line, but unfortunately if you watched the game you would have seen that his game hasn't quite made that jump that I was hoping for.  He was pretty much the same AR of last season.  One moment he's slashing to the hoop and catching an alley-oop from Steph Curry, the next moment he's dribbling into 4 guys on the break, losing the ball, and falling down.  The human highlight film / embarrassment real lives on. 

He played heavy minutes (33) and at times he was really winded and had to pull himself out of the game.  On the good side though, he was really aggressive on defense and was one of the few Warriors that were actually hustling to get rebounds / loose balls.  His ball handling seems to have improved, but his decision making still remains suspect (e.g. his traveling violation with 5 secs to go, when he probably should have put up the wide open 3 with the team down by 3.)  He needs to be more consistent and under control, at times it seemed like he was trying too hard.

Anthony Morrow - DNP (sprained ankle)

This was the biggest disappointment for me as I'm a huge Morrow fan.  He was limping around during the warm-ups so I'm not sure if he's going to suit up at all during the summer league, but for the Dubs sake I hope he does because they sure could use his scoring and rebounding.

Stephen Curry - 16 pts (on 4 - 14), 1 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 4 tos

His numbers were much less impressive than how I felt he actually played.  We all know he's a great shooter, so I'm not worried about the 4 - 14 shooting, I was mainly concerned with his ball handling, playmaking, and defense.  In the three areas that I was most concerned with, I think he faired very well.   In the first half, he mainly played off the ball and let Law be the primary handler.  Offensively he was fairly passive during the first half (I think he hit one 3 and missed a few other jumpers) electing to try and involve his teammates more.  In the second half however, they put him as the primary ball-handler and he started off the third quarter really aggressive, hitting two more threes and making several nice drives to the hoop, where he got fouled.

His shot is one of the nicest shots I have seen up close.  His release is so quick, that he usually gets the shot off before the defender can even react.  As a spot up shooter he's deadly.  However, like Morrow, he seemed to struggle putting the ball on the floor and pulling up with a jumper.  He did surprise me with his ability to get to the hole and get to the line though.

He showed flashes of his playmaking skills with several nice lobs and a well executed pick and roll with AR.  He did make a couple turnovers on poorly thrown lobs and entry passes however.  That kind of stuff will get better over time once he's more used to working with AR and others.

He did an excellent job pushing the ball in the second half and making the right decisions.  He played the most minutes on the team (35) and towards the end you could tell he was tired as all his shots that weren't even hitting the rim before, were all hitting short (including one free throw.)  I think he went 0fer the 4th quarter, which further lent to my feeling that he was getting tired.

His defense was what surprised me the most.  Don't get me wrong, he won't be mistaken for Raja Bell or Bruce Bowen, but he did an adequate job of staying in front of his man and not allowing dribble penetration.  He was active in the passing lanes, and ended up with a few steals.  Where he needs to improve though is his weak-side defense as he tends to help off his man a lot leaving them open for shots and he needs to communicate better (I say this is a team-wide problem though, not just him) as there were quite a few times when he would switch on a pick and the other guy wouldn't switch so there would be two guys covering the pick man and no one on the ball.

Overall it was a solid start.  His shooting will certainly improve, although it should be noted that he was defended a majority of the time by James White (listed 6-7, with mad hops.)  He may struggle getting his shot off against bigger guys like Kobe, etc. but against point guards and smaller SG's he shouldn't have a problem due to his quick release.  He's a lot more athletic and stronger than I thought and posseses quickness that I never knew he had.  He's got a great motor and like AR was one of the few Dubs who were fighting and scrapping the whole way through.

 Acie Law - 8 pts (on 3-6), 1 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 4 tos

I'm not gonna sugar coat it, I was pretty disappointed with Acie's performance.  He wasn't terrible by any means, but I really didn't even notice that he was on the court (and he was on the court for 31 mins.)  Other than the one nice pass to JD, the only other thing I remember about Acie was the *THUD* of his head hitting the floor at the end of the first half.  He was fairly unremarkable throughout the game and seemed to disappear completely in the second half.  I have a hard time believing he gets any more playing time than MWill  did last year.  Unless he improves dramatically, CJ Watson is still the #3 PG behind Monta and Steph.

Jermareo Davidson - 4 pts (on 2-6), 2 rebs, 0's the rest of the way

I was never a big fan of JD's game, but man he was terrible today.  His defense was non-existant (he made Joey Dorsey look like Dwight Howard), couldn't get a rebound to save his life (0 defensive rebounds) and generally acted like he didn't even care to be there, which isn't a good sign since he's fighting for a contract.  At least with Rob Kurz you got effort, which is more than I can say for JD brought today.  Unless he brings a ton more effort, don't expect him to be on the roster for this coming year.

Cartier Martin - 14 pts (on 5-11), 4 rebs, 1 to

For me, he was the biggest surprise of the day.  He played hard and scrappy, fighting for loose balls, stepping in for charges (I think he did it 3 times if I recall correctly) and playing some tough D against bigger guys.  His main weakness is his shot.  His shot is like the polar opposite of Steph's shot.  It's U-G-L-Y.  But, the rest of his game makes up for it.  Think a broke man's Ron Artest (minus the crazy.)  Right now I think he has the best shot at making the team, but his game is duplicated by KAZ (who is a much much better shooter) so I don't think he really fits on the roster, but the rest of these guys don't even belong in the NBA.

Joe Ingles - 3 pts (on 1-3), 0 rebs, 1 to

Behind the big 3, I was looking forward to seeing Ingles the most.  I had heard about him on the Aussie squad and was hoping he would be the 3 / 4 tough rebounder that the Dubs need.  I felt he had the best shot of all the undrafted FAs to make the team.

He ended up being the biggest disappointment of all for me today.  He was extremely tentative to the point where he seemed scared.  He was left wide open all day after the first three he put up was an airball.  He continued to get wide open looks and passed them up, which caused AR to yell at him *SHOOT IT*.  His ball handling was better than I expected (he played point forward a few possessions.)  His defense was not terrible, but he did look lost a few times.  His rebounding however was terrible (0 rebounds in 17 mins.)  He's going to need to improve that dramatically to have a shot at making the team.

Lawrence Hill - 2 pts (on 0-5), 7 rebs, 1 stl, 2 tos

In the limited playing time that he got, he did a great job hustling for boards.  Offensively he's terrible, but at least he gave the Dubs a second rebounder for the 10 minutes he was on the court to take some of the load off AR.

Jared Jordan, Quan Prowell, Conner Atchley, Lawrence Roberts, Jamal Sampson

They all got little or no playing time and none will realistically have a shot to make the roster.

Bonus Bits

Ronny Turiaf showed up halfway through the first quarter and sat behind the bench to watch and cheer on the kids.  Proving once again what a great teammate that guy is.

I sat around to watch the first half of the Sac vs. Det game to see Tyreke and the rest of Sac since GSW plays against them tomorrow.  They were extremely unimpressive, particularly Tyreke Evans.  I'm skeptical that he will be able to play the point in the NBA.   His court vision is worse than Monta's (several times Jason Thompson was running the lane or cutting to the hoop while Tyreke dribbled the ball into the floor and completely missed him - to the point where JT was getting annoyed.)  He reminds me of a quicker Corey Magette, with a MUCH uglier shot.  He bullies his way to the free throw line a lot, too bad he made like 50% of them unlike Magette. 

I'll save my conclusions until all five games have been played, but it was at best an inauspicious start for the Dubs.