2k6-2k7 REPORT CARD: Kelenna Azubuike

Swish

"Mully called me on New Years' Eve and asked me if I liked sambuca, and I said 'Yeah,' " Nelson recalled. "And he went out there and signed this guy, Azubuike.

"I thought it was a drink and he was talking about a player."

The mid-season D-League pickup is back for another year. Good thing too because I think most Warrior fans loved his hustle and heart. He didn’t get much playing time, but he showed enough to the Warriors to earn himself a 2 year contract.

He showed a lot of heart out there even in blowouts and when the game didn’t matter. That’s gotta count for something right? In that time, he showed that he’s aggressive and active on defense, can rebound well for a guard, and shoot at a decent percentage. He averaged 16 minutes per game over the season but most of that came when Baron was injured. In March he averaged 10 minutes and in April just 5:30 per night. That’s quite a drop off from February where he averaged 24 minutes per game when Baron and JRich both were injured. So here’s the question, even if you think he’s got potential to be a good player, how many minutes do you play him per game? Every minute you play him is a minute taken away from Baron, Monta, Belinelli, and even Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes. So I’m conflicted. I want to see him play and blossom as a Warrior, but I also don’t want him to take precious minutes away from the development of Monta and Marco (the future M&M backcourt?). Barring injuries, I see him playing only about 10 minutes per night, probably less. He’s nice insurance just in case one of the guards gets injured but not quite good enough to knock one of them out of a spot. I’d love for him to prove me wrong though.

I usually save these for after the jump, but I was looking around for Kelenna highlights and found some of his Kentucky dunks. I know it's from a few years ago but I hadn't seen it before. I apologize if this has been posted before. I gotta tell you, he's got some SICK dunks. Things that I didn't know he could do. Lots of power and nice hangtime.

Time to grade his performance last year after the jump...

Kelenna came up with one of the nastiest blocks of the year. This one ended up with JR Smith running away with his tail between his legs. It's one of those blocks that makes you jump out of your couch in disbelief. It's not on youtube, so you'll have to download it but, it's well worth the download.

JR Smith...DEnied

The Kabuki Warriors Highlight Reel

Adam Lauridsen (Fast Break)

Grade: B
Kelenna gets graded on a special system, like some kid who jumps from the 2nd to 3rd grade in the middle of the year. When the Warriors were having trouble putting 8 healthy bodies in jerseys, Azubuike stepped up and played like he belonged. I'm very excited to see how he develops over the summer, particularly if we lose Pietrus and/or Barnes.

Fun Score: 4
Has the best name on the team to yell at the top of your lungs.

Atma Brother #1

Grade: B
With the 2006 Draft class being an all time worst, the Warriors essentially got an extra lottery pick by plucking Kabuki from the D-League. Kelenna didn't play all that much, but whenever he did get a chance I always walked away intrigued with his solid all-around efforts. I'm pretty curious to see how he pans out during the next 2 to 3 years in the league.

Fun Score: 8
Did you see that block?! It's the complete opposite of Adonal's shot heard around the world.

DJ Fuzzylogic

Grade: B-
B- = Incomplete. The former NBDL superstar has a cool name which makes for great nicknames. Although playing sparingly, he apparently already had better skills and savvy than the lottery picked veteran wingmen in front of him (Dun and Pietrus). Hopefully more minutes this year will let us know whether his NBDL and Summer league dominance is a fluke or for real.

Fun Score: 8
Gor the name

Fantasy Junkie

Grade: C
You know, given more time, I think this guy can ball. He'll be a good 7th or 8th man on a team because he can shoot, he's tough (JR Smith block!), and I don't think he ever gets tired.

Fun Score: 5

Hash

Grade: B+
Kabuki! What a great D League pickup! Unfortunately we didn't get to see a ton of Kabuki's game this year but he showed nothing but promise in the time he spent on the court. I see Nellie making more of him this coming year.

Fun Score: 8

YaoButtaMing

Grade: C+
One of my favorite Warrior player. Azubuike impressed the hell out of me every time he was on the court and I never understood why he didn't play more.

Fun Score: 6

Overall Grade: B-

Next year I’d like to see him do less cheering and more playing