Game 5 - GSW vs. New Orleans Hornets

The word of the day is Yessir.  If Fitz was at home watching this game, he was surely saying that over and over and over.  Two days after Anthony Randolph tied the summer league scoring record at 42, the other second year Anthony, Anthony Morrow one-upped him and put up a record breaking 47 points to lead the Warriors to a 104-84 victory.  This game capped the summer league action for the Dubs, in which they finished with a 4-1 record and some jaw-dropping performances.  All in all I would say it was a successful summer league session and the chemistry being built within Run R(andolph)M(orrow)C(urry) will only continue to grow over the offseason as they spend more time playing with each other.

Anthony Randolph - DNP CD

Word on the street is that AR is going to be invited to the Team USA workout next weekend here in LV.  That combined with his brilliant performance last game earned him a day off.

Anthony Morrow - 47 pts (on 18-26 FG, 7-8 3's), 7 rebs, 5 tos

With AR taking a day off, the offensive focus fell to Morrow and boy did he ever deliver.  He was extremely assertive, barking out sets, calling for screens and setting up the defense.  This was the most talkative I have ever seen Morrow on the court.

Offensively, he simply couldn't be stopped today.  We all know he has one of the purest strokes in the NBA and it was on full display tonight.  His game has really expanded as he was able to score off transition jumpers, pull up jumpers off the dribble, drives to the hoop, and even several post ups when the smaller Collison was guarding him. 

He was ultra efficient (70% from the field and 88% from three), but was even more so going into the last 4 minutes of the game.  The last 4 minutes or so of the game were truly comical as Morrow got closer and closer to the scoring record.  Everyone in the building was on their feet wanting him to break the record and groaned when anyone took a shot that wasn't named Anthony Morrow.  Between the crowd and the rest of his team, everyone wanted him to jack up any and every shot until he broke the record and although NOH knew that's what he was going to do, they still weren't able to stop it.  He did force up a few shots that he normally wouldn't take (thus lowering his still ridiculous efficiency), but he managed to break the record with time to spare and was pulled out of the game with under a minute to go, to a standing ovation.

Defensively he wasn't the greatest today, as his man Marcus Thornton did score 21 points, but he more than made up for it on the offensive end.  He did end up tied for the team lead in rebounds though.

Although he was able to utilize the dribble to get himself a little more space to put up his jumper and his ball handling is improved from last season, he still has a ways to go before he gets to be an average ball handler for a NBA SG.  Besides ball handling, he needs to do a little better job of handling double teams, as NOH was doubling the ball handler off pick and rolls and he struggled at times to get the ball to the open man, resulting in 5 tos.  His game is expanding and he's becoming more of a complete player though, which is all you can ask out of a youngster.

Stephen Curry - 9 pts (on 4-10), 4 rebs, 3 ast, 2 stl, 3 tos

Statistically this was Curry's worst showing in summer league, but he did so in the least amount of minutes he's played in all of the 5 games here.  I thought he did a good job running the team, although he was fairly deferential in the second half (he only took one shot - a three pointer at the end of the shot clock, which he made.)  I can't fault him for deferring to Morrow, when he was hitting every shot he put up, in fact that's the job of the point guard and that's exactly what he did.  He got Morrow the ball in a position for him to score, and even though it didn't show up as an assist, it was the correct decision from a playmaking standpoint.  He also did a great job running the pick and roll again, finding Atchley, Hunter, Davidson slashing to the hoop or spotting up for an open jumper.

Defensively, he did a great job again in the transition, often times being the only man back on a fast break, as NOH tried to push the ball a lot.  He ended up getting numerous fouls because no one else was running back to help him, but more times than not he prevented an easy basket with his hustle.  He held Darren Collison to 14 points on 14 shots, which was the lowest output of his summer league.  Overall, I'd say they played each other to a draw, both with low scoring, low efficiency nights and 1:1 ast to turnover ratios.

Joe Ingles - 0 points (on 0-7), 7 rebs, 2 ast, 3 tos

Well it was another disappointing night for Joe Ingles, which ended with him tweaking his ankle.  I love the effort that he gives on the floor, but his production just isn't there and I really can't see him getting a camp invite.  So long Jingles and thanks for the fish.

Acie Law - 9 points (on 4-7), 1 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 1 to

Tonight was Acie's best statistical night, but he really hasn't impressed me at all in the summer league games.  I'm not really a fan of his game (I'll go into more detail why when I do a review of the entire summer league later on) and I really don't see him getting much playing time during the regular season.

Jermareo Davidson - 4 points (on 1-2), 4 rebs, 3 tos

He really has no lift right now and is usually hobbling across the court.  I can't accurately gauge where he's at, but as of now it doesn't look good for him with only a partially guaranteed contract for the coming year.

Quan Prowell, Conor Atchley, Othello Hunter, Lawrence Hill

They all played adequately tonight, but I can't really see any of them getting an invite to camp.

Again, it's a short recap because it was another one-man show tonight.  I'll be back in a few days with a review of the entire summer league, including my thoughts on some of the other marquee rookies, and where I think the roster stands after summer league.