The third Warriors' summer league game against Charlotte was—well, unimpressive is the word that comes to mind.
The game went back and forth, but since it didn’t matter the whole feel of the game was thrown off. The Warriors had a big lead, then trailed before ultimately winning on their late free throws.
Marco Belinelli was once again the most productive Warrior, but didn’t really have much impact beyond scoring. He made a few nice passes, but had just one assist to four turnovers.
His value was in scoring, which he did from near and far. Unlike previous games, Belinelli played with a little more restraint, letting shots come to him. Overall he had 30 points, only missed six shots, and was perfect on nine free throw attempts.
He also stared down Bobcats forward Marcus Slaughter after Slaughter shoved him while in the air. Belinelli then shook off apparent elbow pain to nail both of his free throws. The attitude can’t hurt.
If this game is any predictor, it would point to Belinelli becoming an off-the-bench scorer, who scurries around the court like Ray Allen and Rip Hamilton, minus their ability to wear out opponents. His defense is still downright awful at times, and could hurt his chances for seeing the court_though that hasn’t stopped a number of Warriors in the past.
The biggest disappointment of the night was easily Brandan Wright, who just seemed passive the whole game. In the first two contests, Wright’s contributions were quiet but still had an effect.
Beyond a nice late-game dunk and a really smooth mid-range shot, Wright did nearly nothing. He had no blocks and only five rebounds despite playing 34 minutes. This setting does not exactly suit Wright’s skills, but it’s still worth noting that he struggled.
The man who was supposed to be feeding him the ball, C.J. Watson, spent most of the game pounding the ball into the ground on the dribble or shooting free throws after being bumped. It seemed like most contact in the lane was called and almost every hedge attempt on a screen resulted in a whistle.
All this resulted in 16 trips to the free throw line for Watson. He had seven assists, but still didn’t look like he was initiating much offense.
This might be related to the fact that the Warriors seemed to not be running much of an offense at all. There were practically no off-ball screens and very few of the on-ball ones were set with much authority.
On the injury front, Anthony Randolph did not suit up, due to the ankle injury he suffered in the last game. Richard Hendrix again failed to make it onto the court because of a quadriceps injury.
Gurad Anthony Morrow looked good, hitting all his shots and scoring 11—but doing little else. DeMarcus Nelson may have ended his shot at a training camp invite by shooting 1-for-5 from the free throw stripe. Guards under 6’3” need to hit their free throws, and Nelson just didn’t.
The biggest take-away point from this game was that not much can be taken from it. No one looked good. There were lazy passes and sloppy ball-handling all over the court.
No one could even hold on to a rebound, with the ball often tipped multiple times to no advantage. Throw in a few traveling violations and players stepping out of bounds, and the game was a complete mess.
In other news, some Warrior fans are getting far too excited about summer league. Randolph is not a sure All-Star, and Wright won’t head to the D-League. Calm down, people, and enjoy the games.
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