MVN - Most Valuable Network

Dub’s youngsters ready for summer foes

This year’s summer league team presents a very different scenario than the last one. In 2007 many of the more unknown players had a chance to make the team and a high percentage of the contract players stopped playing after a few games.
In contrast this year there are five players who are all but guaranteed to make the team, two who have a shot and the rest are basically playing to be seen. The top five will likely start and give fans a chance to see new players and developing ones.

Hendrix, Wright, Belinelli, Watson and Anthony Randolph are those top players and, hopefully for viewers, should get a lot of court time. Wright and Belinelli are expected to step into the rotation next season. Dominating a few summer leaguers and rookies would be a pretty nice way to start that.

For Hendrix and Randolph this will be their first work against NBA competition (sort of). Randolph’s handle will be of special interest because his ceiling gets much higher if he can slash to the basket. Hendrix’s rebounding will also warrant attention since he might be on the short side.

This summer season, however, will be most important for C.J. Watson who is fighting to be the top reserve at the Warrior’s thinnest position. He was a dynamite D-leaguer but never asserted him self as a consistent reserve point guard. If he shows more in terms of running the offense Mullin might be willing to go into the season with Watson and Monta at point guard (though he is still working the market for another option).

On the roster there are really only two players who could fight their way onto the Warriors. Mykal Riley is a sharp-shooting swingman with poor handle and little defensive skills. The addition of Maggette takes means less room for 6’6” players but spot-up 3-point shooters always seem to carve out roles on teams.

DeMarcus Nelson could make the team on defensive skills and athletic ability alone. He is a good finisher and is capable of exciting power dunks but his jumper will need work. He is under 6’3” but a 6’10” wingspan combined with good coaching and a defensive mindset give him the potential to make a team as a fourth defensive guard. Golden State can always use more defensive players so they will likely give this Oakland-native a long look in the coming weeks.

The Dubs well be participating in both the Utah and Las Vegas summer leagues, so that means more time for these players with coaches and more games for fans to take in. 

 

Roster

20 Louis Amundson F 6-9 225 12/7/82 UNLV 2
18 Marco Belinelli G 6-5 192 3/25/86 Italy 1
11 Dion Dowell G/F 6-7 205 6/11/85 Houston R
35 Richard Hendrix F 6-9 255 11/15/86 Alabama R
31 Robert Kurz F 6-9 232 3/5/85 Notre Dame R
12 Reggie Larry F 6-6 225 10/20/86 Boise State R
28 Jamaal Moore G/F 6-6 195 7/6/83 Rice R
25 Anthony Morrow G 6-5 210 9/27/85 Georgia Tech R
21 DeMarcus Nelson G 6-4 200 11/2/85 Duke R
4 Anthony Randolph F 6-10 205 7/15/89 LSU R
10 Mykal Riley F 6-6 185 7/14/85 Alabama R
33 Tamar Slay G/F 6-8 215 4/2/80 Marshall 3
23 C.J. Watson G 6-2 175 4/17/84 Tennessee 1
32 Brandan Wright F 6-9 205 10/5/87 North Carolina 1
6 Ian Young G 6-3 200 9/27/81 Auburn R
Coach Keith Smart

 

Schedule

Las Vegas

Friday, July 11 vs. Philadelphia 76ers (1:00 p.m. PDT)

Sunday, July 13 vs. Dallas Mavericks (3:00 p.m.) on NBATV

Tuesday, July 15 vs. Charlotte Bobcats (7:30 p.m.)
Friday, July 18 vs. Sacramento Kings (7:00 p.m.) on NBATV

Saturday, July 19 vs. Toronto Raptors (3:00 p.m.)

 

All Las Vegas games can be watched online.

 

Utah

Monday, July 21 vs. New Jersey Nets (1:15 p.m. PDT)

Tuesday, July 22 vs. Dallas Mavericks (3:30 p.m.)

Thursday, July 24 vs. NBA D-League All-Stars (1:15 p.m.)

Friday, July 25 vs. Atlanta Hawks (10:00 a.m.)

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 1:58 pm and is filed under 2008 summer league. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.