7/4/07

More Like One in a Million

The Warriors summer league roster was released today, so I thought I'd chime in with some quick thoughts on everyone involved.

Kelenna Azubuike: Proved himself to be a more than adequate garbage time player last year. He owned the D-League and clearly doesn't belong there, so if the Warriors don't have a place for him I'd like to see him hang on somewhere. I'd bet on him coming back as an end of the bench guy, though.

Toby Bailey: As a diehard UCLA fan up until the age of 18, this one made me about as happy as I could possibly be. He went from freshman sensation to disappointment (mostly based on that awesome freshman season) quicker than anyone I can remember. I'm shocked he's still trying to make a roster and hope he lights it up.



Alpha Bangura: I have no clue who this is. He went to St. John's, so I'm guessing he did a secret handshake with Mullin and got a roster spot. The fact that he has a Transformer name shows that the Warriors consider enjoyability even when it's a summer league team.

Marco Belinelli: A favorite of this site since we first watched his YouTubes weeks ago. I wish summer league games were televised.

Brian Cusworth: Again, no idea who he is. But he went to Harvard, which makes it awesome that he gets to ride the bench with Alpha Bangura.

Jerry Dupree: I really hate USC, so I can't approve of this one at all. No more comments.

Nate Funk: Now, this is a guy I can get behind. Terrific college scorer with almost no chance of becoming a regular NBA player. But his name is Nate Funk, so who really cares.



Stephane Lasme: Like I said in the draft recap, I liked this pick if only because he has the chance to be a solid shot blocker and rebounder off the bench.

Mindaugus Katelynas: Won't pretend to know who this is. He went to Tennessee-Chattanooga. Again, only the Warriors would have random summer league players this tremendous.

Patrick O'Bryant: I'd bitch about players they could have drafted instead of him, but when you look at that draft, you realize that most of the first rounders won't become good players. Still a shitty pick, of course.

Pierre Pierce: Got kicked out of Iowa for a bunch of problems with the law, the last of which involved an altercation with a former girlfriend. He spent 332 days in jail and was released in September. I appreciate the team giving him a second chance, but who knows if he'll ever get his head on straight. Lord knows he has the talent; dude was the leading scorer on a better-than-usual Hawkeyes team.

Carlos Powell: Was NIT MVP one year for South Carolina, a team that won back-to-back championships (and almost made it a third). Not something you want to do, exactly.

Josh Powell: Good value for a throw-in in the Pacers trade. Not a worldbeater by any stretch, but shows enough ability to stick for a few years. Cheap, which is good.

Brandan Wright: Full post coming soon (hopefuly by the time I go to bed Wednesday), but here's the short story. Unreal floor runner for his size, leaping ability (more the speed of it than anything else) is unquestionable, raw as shit, needs to develop a jumper, think he can have an effect on the boards even though he needs to put on weight. Despise that he still wears braces. Of the guys we could have traded for in the lottery (i.e. not named Durant or Oden), I put him as the second or third best option behind Al Horford and maybe (but probably not) Corey Brewer. Likes to wear funny motion capture suits.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mindaugus Katelynas won the College Slam Dunk Contest his senior year. He's from Lithuania and played in Italy the last year or so. I'm from Chattanooga and saw him play often for the 2 years he was at Tenn-Chatt. He's a work horse under the basket and always came up with big shots, no matter who they were playing. Hope he makes with the Warriors or another NBA team.

Ty Keenan said...

Ah, I remember watching that and now the memories are rushing back. This is even more evidence of the team's greatness.