Write back at you: Playing time is only a part of it with Randolph, Wright

December 21, 6:54 AMGolden State Warriors ExaminerMatt Steinmetz

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Anthony Randolph: Not exactly thriving 

Many commenters; one main topic …

Playing time or lack of it: Anthony Randolph and Brandan Wright.

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A’S IN 2009 WROTE: I don’t mind Rob Kurz getting minutes at PF when Wright and Randolph are ineffective and/or in foul trouble. Don Nelson coached it right this game. Gave them a shot, it wasn’t their night, ah, well. Kurz at PF I don’t mind, anything but small ball. I’m sick of small ball.

DAVE E. WROTE: You been out drinking with Tim K? All this psychology. Could it be that Nellie wants a guy on the court who makes less mistakes and it was Kurz? Who is he picking a fight with? A lame duck GM? Robert Rowell? Maybe Rowell agrees with him. I don’t know. I read the coverage of the Warriors and don’t get any smarter. I just enter this realm where sports interpreters are turned psychologists. Like they say, don’t give up your day job.

SWOPA WROTE: I’ll join the growing landslide opinion that the comment on Kurz’ minutes is an absolutely terrible take. It’s so bone-headed that if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you didn’t watch the game. … What would have been confounding is if Nellie had pulled Kurz during that.

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MS: In the days after the Warriors drafted Anthony Randolph, Warriors coach Don Nelson couldn’t stop gushing about him. I remember Nellie talking about how Randolph was the No. 4 overall player on the entire Warriors draft board.

And I remember Nellie talking about the overall Warriors draft being a great one. “Just terrific,” he said. "We really got a couple of players."

At that point, he was including Richard Hendrix, the team’s second-round pick _ since waived.

Rob Kurz is a player who deserves respect for finding his way onto an NBA roster. Whether he can stay in the league for more than just this year and for a coach other than Nelson remains to be seen.

I find it hard to believe that Kurz can have or will have any more of a productive career than, say, Brian Cardinal. Is there anyone out there who thinks Kurz will be more than a role player, at best?

Kurz played four years of college basketball at Notre Dame; Randolph played one year at LSU. Of course, Kurz is more ready than Randolph.

That argument is a sure winner, but it’s not really the argument. Nobody is saying Randolph is better or more ready than Kurz. We’re saying he’s going to be better and more ready than Kurz.

But it takes a coach _ and an organization _ committed to doing that.

Randolph is supposed to be a star down the line. That’s not what I say. It’s what Nelson says and it’s what he’s been saying since June.

Was this just another instance of Nellie talking big about a player whose warts he hadn't seen yet, not unlike Chris Webber, Mike Dunleavy, Anthony Morrow, et al?

You can’t have it both ways. You can’t say the kid is going to be a star and then forgo nurturing him as a player and person. Then on top of it begin to put it out there that Randolph isn't working hard, like Nelson did.

By the way, did anyone out there find it scary that Monta Ellis, in his first talk with the media in months, felt compelled to say giving encouragement to the young playes was one of the biggest things he could bring to the team?

When you talk up a kid one year out of college like Nelson did, then you owe it to him help him along.

If he’s not as ready as you thought he was or he’s not as skilled as you once believed or there are concerns about his attitude … so what? That’s what 19-year-olds are. All of those things.

Is it really a surprise Randolph is unhappy? The kid's confused, and who wouldn't be in his situation?

You don’t just let him sit over there because you might not like him as much now as you did when you first drafted him. You work with him.

It might not be fair to Kurz, but Randolph should be getting the benefit of the doubt. He's the one you invested the millions in.

Lastly, this isn’t just about Kurz getting more minutes than Randolph and Wright. It’s also about the way Randolph and Wright are getting coached as a whole and how it may affect them in the future.

Withholding playing time from a young player is all well and good if it’s accompanied by an understanding voice or caring hand. Not sure that’s really happening now.

I never said Wright or Randolph should be big-minute guys. But they should have been getting A CHANCE to get consistent minutes all season.

Those two should have been built into to every rotation in every game, penciled in for at least six to eight minutes a night. Period.

If they performed well, Nelson could go from there. If they didn’t perform well, then Nelson could have given them all the tough love he wanted. But at least it would have been after getting playing time, which always makes a chew-out more effective.

Again, the minutes are only a part of this.

This is about the whole way Randolph and Wright are being handled, and the very real worry that they're slipping away at a time when they should be very much in the fold.

About last night ...

Warriors 110, Charlotte 103 (Slideshow)

Warriors 110, Charlotte 103 (Recap)

Warriors 110, Charlotte 103 (Boxscore)

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