Gone are the days of Todd Fuller, Joe Smith, and even more recently, Mike Dunleavy. The Warriors got their guy on Thursday when they selected Anthony Randolph with the 14th pick from Louisiana State University.

Stud or Dud? by Adam Copeland

Randolph is a very lanky, athletic player standing in at 6'10 197lbs. Many Warriors fans seemed upset when they passed on Darrell Arthur who was still available at #14. While Randolph may help build a solid core of young players down the line, he has not faced tough competition in his 1 season in the SEC.

Consider this, his LSU Tigers finished the 07-08 season with a record of 13-19 including losing a string 8 straight games from December 29, 2007 to January 26, 2008. The only real competition that the Tigers faced last season were Washington, Arizona State, and Tennessee. In those 3 games Randolph averaged just 12.3 points and 8 rebounds per game. Not a bad mark for a freshman, but the numbers may be inflated because of a 21 point performance in the Arizona state game. He went on to score just 10 points against Washington and 6 points against Tennessee. The Tigers lost all 3 of those games.

I don't criticize the Warriors for taking Randolph, I do however, question what type of roll they will use him in. Don Nelson has a history of not playing rookies as was shown last year by the limited playing time of Brandan Wright and Marco Bellinelli. In college Randolph was used primarily as a small forward despite his height. He's not going to be a dominant rebounder early in his career because of his small frame. He had just nine games last season where he pulled down 10 or more rebounds. If he can develop a better outside jump shot and possibly a low post presence he could be a dominant force for the Warriors.

The Warriors seem to have found their core of the future in Biedrins, Ellis, Wright, and Randolph. If all continue to develop this could be a fun team to watch for years to come.

Randolph's Career Stats