» Joe Alexander

  • Oct
    18

    There’s no denying it: Anthony Randolph has star power. The only question is how quickly he can learn to harness it.

    Friday night (Saturday afternoon in Beijing), Randolph looked a bit like the NBA’s answer to Amy Winehouse. To be sure, there were lapses in judgment (the traveling call for no good reason and the wild, off-balance 17-footer come to mind), but there were also plenty of instances of an incandescent raw talent on display.

    Foremost on that list — even better than the ridiculous hops that led to putback dunks or the defensive rebounding, which has historically been such a weak point for this franchise — was Randolph’s shot-blocking ability.

    He had four on the night, the first three in rapid succession during a 2 1/2-minute stretch of the first quarter.

    Randolph kept his feet when Bucks rookie Joe Alexander — who was selected six spots ahead of Randolph in June’s NBA draft — tried to shake him on the box, and totally snuffed Alexander’s 5-footer.

    He zoomed in as a weakside help defender when Andrew Bogut tried to flip up a hook shot, and quickly deposited that attempt behind a row of camerapeople arrayed along the baseline.

    Finally, he blasted a scoop runner from Luke Ridnour as though this was beach volleyball and he was trying out to be Kerri Walsh’s new partner. The ball crossed midcourt on its first bounce, whereupon Corey Maggette scooped it up for a breakaway dunk.

    Last season for the Warriors, of the nine players who got more than 400 minutes on the floor (i.e., at least 5 per game), Andris Biedrins was the most prolific shot-blocker at 2.17 per 48 minutes. This year, he could easily end up fourth behind Randolph, Brandan Wright and Ronny Turiaf. And that would be fantastic news for Golden State.

    ** As much as I liked several things Wright did at the offensive end Friday, the fact that he was one of the Warriors’ worst scorers on the +/- scale (-8, tied with Richard Hendrix) for a second consecutive game is a little worrisome. Wright did not seem comfortable defensively when matched up with Alexander. I think we’ll see is Randolph playing against smaller guys he doesn’t have to worry about defending in the low block, while Wright gets the heavier defensive assignments.

    ** Anyone who thinks Al Harrington is not going to play is deluding themselves. He’s the only power forward the Warriors have who…

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