Putting Moses Moody's California Classic Debut in perspective

Lester Quiñones was the standout for Game 2 as Moses Moody and Gui Santos worked on different aspects of their game.

When Moses Moody knocked down a three from a step or two beyond the arc with 2:30 left in the first half of the Warriors’ game against the Lakers yesterday, it was sort of a glimpse of what we might expect him to become.

A court spacer who can pick his spots within the flow of the offense and keep defenses honest. 

But for the majority of the game, it felt like Moody was working on expanding his game by looking to attack the defense off the dribble on almost every touch. And it’s probably safe to assume that was the plan. 

It’s not at all uncommon to see second year players come in and be laser focused on working on a particular aspect of their game. Based on what Warriors summer league coach Jama Mahlalela has said to NBC Bay Area, that’s exactly what we saw from Moody in the Warriors’ loss. 

“We want to add some nuance to their games while also trying to perfect the things that will keep them on the basketball court. The ability to catch and shoot, to attack downhill. Those are some of the basics that we really want to fine tune.”

Moody finished with with 9 points on 3-for-11 shooting, 5 turnovers, 3 assists and 2 blocks. So, to put it generously, his stat line wasn’t great. But it does help to put the game in the numbers in a developmental context. Take, for instance, those five turnovers – three were on solid drives and kicks that Selom Mawugbe just dropped, one off a botched handoff in traffic from Gui Santos, and the other was off an offensive foul call when he drove strong and the defender just bounced off of him. In other words, you could easily ignore all five of them. What’s important there is that Moody was taking risks off the dribble, which is nice to see for the second year guy. 

Alex put it nicely in the comments in the thread: 

If there's one thing you could criticize Moody for this game, it seems like he came in wanting to focus on bullying his way to the rim, and didn't adjust when the refs showed they were going to call every ounce of contact, even when the ball is blocked first.

So would you like to see Moody put up dominant numbers and get this team a win in a meaningless game? Sure. But as a first game in summer league, we saw two to three good things: 

• Moody looks a bit more confident creating off the dribble. 

• The mistakes he made were mistakes of aggression, which is nice in summer league. 

• He’s not shying away from contact against weaker competition. 

There’s just not much definitive that you can take away from the game, but it’s also not a disaster. Let’s hope he was just getting his feet wet and we see a little bit more next game. 

GSWCBA @gswcba

Moses Moody comes over to the sideline during a stoppage to dap up Juan Toscano-Anderson

Santos struggles in second game 

After a huge first game, Gui Santos’ developmental challenge in Game 2 was running the offense as the point guard for most of the time he was on the floor. And it felt like that explained his more pedestrian performance as much as anything else. 

Santos finished with 7 points on 3-for-7 shooting and four turnovers – rough night for a guy who went toe-to-toe with a lottery pick in the game before. 

Santos continued to demonstrate poise with the ball in his hands, but he wasn’t quite as decisive in getting to the rim as he was when he was playing from the wing. He did show the same balance and control on a couple of drives here and there, but in true summer league fashion the Lakers were clearly keying in on Santos and Moody when they had the ball and they just weren’t able to get much going. 

With not much going right for Santos on offense, it was a little easier to focus on his defense in Game 2. He’s capable, but he’s making minor mistakes like overplaying on denials or being caught flat footed here and there. 

UneasySquirrel23 summed up his defense in Game 1 and a lot of it still probably applied to Game 2. 

UneasySquirrel

Santos needs to get in a little lower stance defensively, rotate a little more actively, and keep his hands up more off-ball, but I liked how his feet and hands were active when guarding the ball, and while he floated occasionally when playing off-ball D, he also fought very hard and well over a lot of screens (except one in the 4th, where the guy dead-legged him from the looks of it).

One play in (I think?) the second half stuck out, where his guy sprinted from one corner to the other along the baseline and curled around a screen in the corner, and Gui was sprinting right there with him, came around the screen about as fast as his man did.

Really like the kid. And he was chatting and smiling with the officials, he’s got the kind of charisma you want in a young player that’s trying to convince them to develop him here (plus, there’s a lovely Brazilian brunch place in Santa Cruz that I dearly hope hasn’t closed its doors, he should try it).

Quiñones finds his rhythm 

Lester Quiñones had a game-high 19 points on 6-for-13 shooting and 5 rebounds. Known for his 3-point shooting, Quiñones was 3-for-6 from beyond the arc. He also got the Warriors started with the first shot of the game, a pull-up jumper a couple steps inside the arc.

Golden State Warriors @warriors

Lester Quiñones shining in his second Summer League game for the Warriors 19 PTS 5 REB 1 STL

Madeline Kenney of the East Bay Times summed up his performance.

East Bay Times @EastBayTimes

Undrafted guard Lester Quiñones scores 19 points in Warriors’ second California Classic loss

bayareane.wsUndrafted guard Lester Quiñones scores 19 points in Warriors’ second California Classic lossA former Memphis star led the Warriors in scoring Sunday evening in their loss to the Lakers at Chase Center.