Why didn't Randolph play more games? Was he injured a lot, or were they dnp-cds?
Tim I think it's because in NY he showed up in the peak of "STAT IS THE MVP" era when Mike D was giving Amare ridiculous minutes and New York fans temporarily lost their mind and thought Amare was "better than Bron".... there were nights when Amare got 42+ minutes at center and Gallo and Wilson Chandler were getting close to 40 minutes as well. They just weren't playing Randolph. Subsequently, a lot of people speculate that Mike D burned out Amare during that period... he probably SHOULD have been giving some more minutes to the bench. He had an 8 man rotation and usually only one big was getting spot minutes off the bench. In their defense they DID win 13 out of 14 during Feltonsanity... so maybe they thought it could last. Example box score:
http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=301208018And then of course when he played in Minnesota they had several other bigs that required minutes over Randolph. I usually think that's a poor excuse, but this time it actually makes sense. When your stating PF is Kevin Love and your bringing the #2 pick (also a PF) off the bench... there probably aren't a heck of a lot of minutes for Anthony Randolph. And I don't know how much this actually plays into it, but it's fair to mention that Darko and Beasley were two of the 3 highest paid players on the team... some of it may have been political. But bottom line, Kevin Love is ridiculous and Derrick Williams is likely going to end up an outstanding player as well.
Ya know... I get it that people right now see that we have a "lot of bigs", but it doesn't sound like Fab Melo is anywhere close to being ready to play NBA basketball. The dude is going to take the Kendrick Perkins route where you spend your first couple seasons on the bench and the d-league. I get that we think Sullinger is a poor man's Carlos Boozer, but we'll have to wait and see. THere's not guarantee that Bass comes back (don't we want to sign-and-trade him for OJ Mayo?)... Greg Stiesma is an alright bench player... Are we certain that Anthony Randolph wouldn't find minutes on this team? He's been in the league for 4 years and is very capable. I say there's definitely room for him.
Really considering the lack of opportunity he got, I think his numbers are pretty solid. He managed to lead the team in blocks. 7.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1 block... 47% shooting... 76% from the line. Only 15.2 minutes per game. That's solid. The kid is definitely talented, has 4 years under his belt and is less than a year older than Fab Melo. It does sort of remind me of when JO couldn't get playing time as a 21 year old on the jailblazers, because they owed minutes to Sheed, Pippen, Sabonis, Detlef, Brain Grant, Kemp, Whatever... A little bit like that.
Then again, maybe he's just a bad player.
Bill Simmons use to rave about Randolph as a rookie. Here's what he wrote about Randolph back when the 19 year old was doing his thing:
Q: YES! YES, YES, YES!!! Please write about Anthony Randolph! I've been telling people about him all year long. There's never been an NBA player with his size and skill set. Ever. He's a looong 6-foot-10, runs like a gazelle, has great hops, and can handle the ball. Love it. As an added bonus, he looks like he's constantly crying or really getting his feelings hurt. He's fascinating. I get genuinely giddy any time the Warriors are on, for him alone. Can you please let America know about Anthony Randolph?
-- Aaron, Chicago
SG: He's one of the most breathtaking rookies I've seen in person -- ever -- for all the reasons you just described. There has never been anyone quite like him. He's like a cross between Josh Smith and Lamar Odom, only if you fed him 10 Red Bulls and told him right before the game, "If you can make 10 things happen during the 10 minutes you play tonight, we will quadruple your salary and you will start for the rest of the season" ... and then he does just that, but the coach reneges on the promise so Anthony has a near-crying meltdown on the bench. That's every Anthony Randolph game. I caught him once and, in the span of two hours, he made three "MY GOD!" plays and broke down on the Warriors' bench because Nellie wouldn't put him back in, followed by an assistant consoling him through an entire timeout like Randolph was a third grader who got in trouble for something he didn't do, then had a meltdown and got kicked out of class. It was riveting. The odds of me missing another Clips-Warriors game for the next five years are 10,000-to-1.
One other thing: There hasn't been nearly enough made of how screwed up the Warriors are right now. Their front office and ownership situation is a world-class mess. Their coach has been in "I'm Keith Hernandez" Mode since the 2007 Dallas upset and looks like he's actively trying to get fired. They have two young players everyone loves -- Randolph and Monta Ellis -- only they've been antagonized to the degree that it might affect them long-term. In Randolph's case, how can a lottery team not play a talent like Randolph 35 minutes a game? What the hell is going on here??? For some reason, the only media member who seems to care is Tim Kawakami. I don't get it. If I were a Warriors fan, I would be organizing protests outside the arena complaining about Randolph's playing time. It's insane. Imagine if Chicago was 16-50 and played Derrick Rose 10 minutes a game. Would you think that was weird? You would, right? Welcome to Anthony Randolph's world. This is the single weirdest subplot of the 2008-09 season, narrowly edging Zaza Pachulia's bacne.
Highlight videos are lame, but I wouldn't mind seeing him run a fast break with Rondo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z85vHk5cc98
Topic: T-Wolves make Beasley & Randolph UFA (Read 14372 times)