First-half assessment on Randolph's first start: From so-so to not very good

January 10, 8:16 PMGolden State Warriors ExaminerMatt Steinmetz

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Let's be honest, it's a lot about Anthony Randolph and how he handled his first start _ against the Blazers Saturday night at the Rose Garden. Well, onto it ...

Warriors down six (55-49), but gave up way too much late. Really limped in. Anyway, to Randolph:

Was he perfect? Hardly. In fact, he was pretty unimpressive all in all. Most of the time Randolph plays, he usually does something that makes you notice _ whether good or bad.

Not in the eight-plus minutes he played in the first quarter ... before picking up three fouls. He did later.

You would hope Randolph would know better than to pick up two quick ones _ in the game's first two-and-a-half minutes _ in his first NBA start.  That just set the night up for him to be on the defensive, which he was.

And then get No. 3 with 3:51 remaining in the first quarter, which sent him to the bench (without gripe from Randolph, media or fan probably) for the remainder of the half.

But, that's likely where some nuance about "NBA ready" comes in. Coach Don Nelson probably believes "NBA-ready" means being able to play extended minutes without getting into foul trouble.

Maybe Randolph's not there. Maybe Nelson knows that. Who knows?

Now, you've got to like the way Randolph can push the ball up the floor in semi-transition. He had a nice opportunity early in the game with numbers and pushed it into the foul line area before taking an elbow jumper.

It was an OK decision _ a missed uncontested jumper _ all in all, except that he had an open Marco Belinelli on the other side of the court, a touch behind the play but coming, and in a position to do some damage after a teammate already had taken a defender through.

Still, Randolph deserves credit for being on the floor as the Warriors opened up a 15-10 early lead, one built on defense, believe it or not. Hey, numbers are numbers, and the Blazers had only 10 points through eight minutes.

Now, his second stint wasn't as nearly uneventful. It was too eventful, and consisted of a little tutelage at the hand of LaMarcus Aldridge, who scored three times and in a variety of ways after Randolph was put back in late in the second quarter.

It got worse when Randolph picked up foul No. 4, after Aldridge went by him on a drive. It almost seemed as if Randolph didn't think he was going to get back into the game in the first half and had checked out a little bit.

If so, shame on him because he wasn't sharp in appearance No. 2. But that again is probably part of the whole ... "What exactly is NBA-ready?" question.

 ... By the way, we know about Jamal Crawford's shortcomings, but with a boisterous crowd and nothing going on at the offensive end, it's kind of nice to know he can do a little shake-and-bake and get you, if nothing else, a good look at an 19-footer.