Golden State Warriors’ rookie not fazed amid Summer League shooting struggles

It was another up-and-down performance from rookie Brandin Podziemski as the Golden State Warriors lost a tough overtime game in their latest Summer League outing against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old, taken with the 19th overall pick in last month’s NBA Draft, displayed his playmaking knack with another seven assists to go with his 10 in a near triple-double display against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.

Golden State Warriors’ rookie Brandin Podziemski isn’t overly fazed by his current shooting struggles, vowing that he’s put the work in to see them fall.

However, Podziemski again struggled shooting-wise in  similar fashion, finishing with just three points on 1-for-10 shooting against the Mavericks. He had 10 points on 3-for-16 shooting against the Pelicans, and prior to that had outings of 3-for-10, 7-for-14, and 4-for-9.

While the 6’5″ guard has struggled with his jumpshot throughout five Summer League games to date, he took to Twitter in the aftermath of Wednesday’s game to try and arrest fears of a long-term problem.

Podziemski shot 43.8% from three-point range in college with Santa Clara last season, an element that’s failed to translate in the brief opening to his NBA career. He had an opportunity to win the game for the Warriors in the ‘race to 97’ overtime period against the Mavericks, only for his cutting layup attempted to be blocked before Braxton Key won it with a putback dunk on the other end.

Golden State battled back to force overtime, having trailed by nine points with four minutes remaining in the fourth-quarter. A Kendric Davis three with ten seconds remaining forced overtime, but the Warriors fell agonisingly short in the ensuing period.

Two-way guard Lester Quinones again led Golden State with 31 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Gui Santos had 17 points and 10 rebounds, joined in the double-double category by big man Reggie Perry who had 20 points (7-for-9 shooting) and 17 rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench.

Podziemski will look to bounceback in Golden State’s final Summer League game against the Houston Rockets at 4PM PT on Thursday. The game will taken on extra intrigue as the Warriors face Cam Whitmore, a player they controversially overlooked for Podziemski with their first-round pick.