That was fun. Although getting a lot more crowded than the last two years.
AR is really fun to watch. He does not duplicate Wright in any way at all. My favorite thing about him is his vision. He sees the floor very well and uses that skill not only to make good passes but to put himself in good position to rebound, block shots and take advantage of mismatches. It is very exciting when he takes a rebound or steal and immediately goes into attack mode. I could feel the tension in the crowd as we all waited to see what he would do. Some comments I heard. "I can't believe he is 6'9". " He looks like Chris Bosh".
A couple "non stat" things. In the 1st quarter he was leading the break and threw a no look bounce pass that slid by one of the "bench scrubs" who was not ready for it. (if he had caught it it was a sure dunk) It was not a perfect pass but a better player would have caught it. He was pissed. He slapped his hands, looked over at Smart as if to say "get this guy out of here", then took a somewhat nasty look at the player. He immediately checked that attitude and went back on defense. He also seems to like contact. He actually goes and looks for it and sometimes seems to try to use his elbows to get under the other guys skin. Got into a "wrestle for the ball" moment with Speights and actually yanked the ball from him as he fell to the floor. His "thin-ness" is not an issue at all. The coaches used him well. He brought the ball up when the mismatch called for it. Drove around bigger guys with no problem and pulled up over shorter guys who could stay with him. (Thaddeus Young guarded him most of the time.) I am not going to comment on his shooting yet. Two more games (for me)to go. He shot pretty well today. Relaxed and confident. His range is about 18 feet and in. (he missed one three pointer by about a yard and a half) I really like his little pull up jumper at about 12 feet. When he gets his defender backpedaling there is no way they can get a hand near him.
He is quite out of shape and seemed to tire fairly quickly. I don't think that will be a problem as he is quite "cut" and obviously takes care of his body. He is definately a 3. He needs space to operate in. Teams will try to crowd him. He reminds me in a wierd way of Montay. Fearless and skilled. Sometimes questionable in their decisions, but always aggressive.
Wright is a skinny 4. Very active and has a great feel for being around the ball near the basket. Got his hands on everything. His problem will be that bigger 4's will be able to knock him off his jump. Hopefully his long arms and quick first and second jump will make up for that. (he has an awesome 2nd jump.) He can't really play facing the basket. I think he will be an incredible garbage guy. He certainly has the physical tools and smarts to develop a "go to" move. I guess we are all hoping for the swing to the middle baby hook. It would be unstoppable.
Hendrix did not play. Hurt??
CJ was steady. Not quite quick enough to play allot of minutes but a very good player. A tough kid and a good defender. When he was in the game the score went in our favor. When he sat it went the other way.
Marco was OK. He played point for about two minutes and I thought he did OK. Good to know the coaches are thinking of that as a match up advantage. He seemed to play harder on defense this summer. Last summer he seemed to think the rep that the Warriors don't play any defense was actually true. Same ole same ole. Forced a few shots but you always think he is going to make them. Beautiful stroke.
Admunson is pretty good. Very active. He duplicates Hendrix and I think Hendrix is bigger and stronger. Who knows.
Speights is going to be good. Unlike Wright, when he goes up he does not get bumped off his jump. Explosive leaper. Lacking in offensive skills but should be a good player with his physical make-up.
Thaddeus Young was very fun as well. Very athletic and plays with a cool swagger.
No one else on the Warriors roster is worth writing about. Probably the worst group of non draftees I have seen in my 15 years of going to these games.