Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Vegas Stuff: With Randolph, Warriors can make 'big' plans

Random stuff from the NBA summer league in Las Vegas, per your request:
* Golden State big man Anthony Randolph has been the Shaquille O'Neal of the summer. Or at least, Randolph has looked like a young O'Neal in Vegas. Randolph may not be overly physical like Shaq, and he's nowhere close to as dominating in the low post, but he sure has been putting up O'Neal-like numbers. As we all know, it's only summer league -- but the bottom line is Randolph looks athletic, passionate, skilled and best of all, big. That translates well to any level of competition, and heavens knows, the Warriors could use all of the above.
* The 6-foot-11 Randolph tallied a Vegas-record 42 points in a game against Chicago a couple of nights ago, then told NBA.com he was disappointed he only grabbed three rebounds. "That's not good for a 6-11 guy to only have three rebounds," he told Art Garcia, and amen to that. So in a game against Houston, Randolph yanked down 10 boards (to go with 20 points).
* None of this is to say Randolph is the second coming of O‘Neal -- or even Amare Stoudemire. But his performance in Vegas should make it easier for Warriors fans to deal with the fact Stoudemire isn't likely to be traded to their team. With Randolph and center Andris Biedrins (and even forward Ronny Turiaf off the bench), the Warriors frontcourt is getting more reliable by the season.
* This has been a crazy summer of NBA free agency, as the league is making almost as much news in July as it did in January. (Rumor has it baseball held its All-Star Game the other day, just in case you didn't notice.) But with stars like O'Neal, Vince Carter, Rasheed Wallace and eventually Allen Iverson switching uniforms, summer play has been a bit overshadowed as well. It's too bad, because there have been a lot of young guys giving their teams hope for the future -- even if no one seems to notice.
* Now that I've stepped off my soap box, you should also know that second-round pick Chase Budinger is looking like someone who may be able to contribute immediately. And the agile swingman out of Arizona sure will get every opportunity in Houston. Ron Artest is gone, having signed with the L.A. Lakers, and Tracy McGrady stands a good chance to be moved, too. And Artest and McGrady just happen to play the same positions as Budinger (as does veteran Shane Battier). Couple that with the fact Budinger is averaging 16 points on a remarkable 66 percent shooting from the field in Vegas (including 62 percent on 3-pointers), and you have to think the young man will get every opportunity to play.
* Yes, I know the Rockets signed Trevor Ariza, who also plays the same position as Budinger. But we're talking about a guy who averaged a career-high 8.9 points per game last season. So Ariza is hardly a lock to play all 48 minutes every night.
* Back to the Warriors. All eyes, of course, have been on lottery pick Stephen Curry, the wildly popular guard out of little Davidson. As I wrote last time, Curry has been OK. He hasn't struggled to get off his shots -- he's just struggled to make them. Through four summer games, Curry is averaging 19.5 points, but shooting a miserable 31 percent from the field.
* Back to the Rockets. Keep an eye out for 2008 second-round pick Joey Dorsey, a 6-8 forward who has been playing center on Houston's summer team. Dorsey played in just three NBA games last season, as Rockets coach Rick Adelman couldn't find minutes for him in a frontcourt that included Yao Ming, Chuck Hayes and Carl Landry. But with Yao expected to be out for most or all of next season, minutes will be available.
* Dorsey isn't going to score much at this level (he's averaging 9.7 points per game in Vegas), but he is one of those guys who's willing to do the dirty work near the rim, a la Landry. Through three games, Dorsey is grabbing 14.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots.
* Two big men who were once expected to be regular NBA contributors and are now clinging to their careers are playing for Toronto's summer team: Center Patrick O'Bryant (Warriors, Boston) and power forward Paul Davis (L.A. Clippers). Former journeyman point guard Smush Parker is also playing for the Raptors.
* As for Raptors first-round pick DeMar DeRozen ... the 6-7 forward is looking good with averages of 16.3 points on 47 percent shooting through four games. He's had two games of 20 points and another of 15, displaying a real know-how when it comes to getting to the basket and finding ways to put the ball in it once there.
* Milwaukee rookie Brandon Jennings hasn't sold me on his statement that he's better than Ricky Rubio (a stance he has since backed off) -- and I'm not exactly sold on Rubio to begin with. But Jennings has looked pretty doggone solid in Vegas.
* Jennings is a 6-1 point guard who bypassed college to play pro ball in Italy last season, and has been compared (favorably and otherwise) to Minnesota's Sebastian Telfair. And so far, Jennings has proven that he does indeed have potential, with averages 15 points, 8.5 assists, and most impressively, 4.2 steals per game.
* Of course, as one scout told me, "No way does Jennings average that many assists during the regular season." When I asked why, the scout simply said, "Because the Bucks' regular-season team isn't as good as their summer league team." He was only half-joking.
* Reader Marc Donald writes, "What do you think of No. 1 overall pick Blake Griffin (Clippers) after two summer games?"
* Dear Marc, the same thing I thought about Griffin during the college season -- he'll be a solid NBA contributor for a long time, a steady big man who will play well in all areas and have a big night from time. But he has a long way to go before we start talking about the All-Star Game.
* Other top summer performers: Nick Young, G, Washington (26.5 ppg); Andray Blatche, C, Washington (24.0); Eric Gordon, G, Clippers (21.5); Dante Cunningham, F, Portland (21.5); Darren Collison, G, New Orleans (21.0); Adam Morrison, G/F, Lakers (20.8); George Hill, G, San Antonio (20.5); Othyus Jeffers, F, Dallas (20.5); and Marcus Thornton, G, New Orleans (20.5).
* Don't worry, I had barely heard of Jeffers, too -- but I can tell you I love watching this guy. He's 23-years old, played college ball at Illinois-Chicago, and despite standing 6-5, his natural position is power forward. He spent last season with Iowa of the D-League, where he averaged 21.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.1 steals in 47 games. But as Draft Express noted, Jeffers has a "great build, an outstanding wingspan, and phenomenal athleticism," and is "very explosive around the rim and possesses an outstanding first step." Basically, this guy is gonna help somebody.

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