The Official Site of Anthony Randolph

Tue, Jul 1st 2008, 10:41

Golden State welcomes Anthony Randolph

On Monday the Warriors officially welcomed Anthony Randolph and fellow draft pick Richard Hendrix to the team with a press conference in Oakland. Warriors GM Chris Mullin and coach Don Nelson were both visibly excited about the prospect of Anthony joining the club and making an immediate impact.

“The more we watched him, the more we kind of fell in love with him,” Nelson said. “We watched about 20 guys, and when I got back I told Mullie … ‘I think I’d take that guy No. 1.’ As I looked at other guys in the draft, I certainly would have taken him in the top five.”

Despite being known for not giving rookies much of a chance to crack the lineup, Anthony figures to be in the Warriors plans as they look to incorporate their 1st and 2nd year players into the rotation more in the upcoming season.

“It was hard last year because we wanted to be a playoff team in the worst way, and we did everything we could to try and duplicate what we did the year before,” coach Nelson said. “The philosophy’s gonna be a little bit different this year. I’m gonna play the younger guys more, they’re gonna get their opportunities to grow. ... You’ll have to evaluate me more next season on how I’m bringing the young guys along, and not necessarily on the number of games that we win.”

View the entire press conference below: