Moody battles laceration in Warriors’ California Classic loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — Less than five minutes into his 2022 California Classic debut Sunday at Chase Center, it looked like Moses Moody’s night was going to be cut short. Literal.
Moody suffered a cut to his left eye at 7:22 a.m. in the first quarter of the Warriors’ Summer League game with the Los Angeles Lakers, a 100-77 loss. With blood coming down, Moody was forced to go to the locker room. He got two stitches and went back to the floor with just over eight minutes left in the first half, with a tan bandage over his left eye.
What was most frustrating to Moody came as a surprise. It wasn’t his sight that was affected. It was the return of the disgusting nicknames.
When Moody suffered a black eye on one elbow early in his start against the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 1, the rookie continued to hear the jokes of his older teammates. Now they are back.
“It sucks because I just removed my nicknames after it happened earlier in the year, but they all came back,” Moody told reporters. “Call me ‘Bar Fight,’ ‘Captain Jack.’ They’re all coming back.”
The 20-year-old, expected to make a big leap in Year 2 and see a bigger role next season, started out as the Warriors’ facilitator and felt the game out. He went to work on his return in the second quarter, finishing the first half with a game-high nine points and one turnover.
Eleven seconds after his first bucket, Moody took over an attack on the other side of the floor. That’s part of the fact that the Warriors are so intrigued by the No. 14 overall pick in the 2021 draft. He’s already a pro’s pro.
Moody doesn’t play like someone who was a teenager two months ago, nor does he present himself as a teenager.
The Warriors starting grid consisted of Moody, Lester Quiñones, Justinian Jessup, Gui Santos and Selom Mawugbe. Other than Moody, that’s two second-round draft picks, two unwritten players, and no one with any NBA experience. Contrary to what he was used to at Chase Center, Moody was a victim of his environment.
He went scoreless in the second half, missing all five of his shots and turning the ball four times. Moody shot 3-for-11 from the field and 1-for-4 from deep. His minus-24 was the worst for both sides and lower than any plus-minus he produced as a rookie — in the regular season and the playoffs.
“For Moses in particular, I’d definitely say a little bit about that,” Warriors California Classic coach Seth Cooper said when asked if Moody’s turnover was more a result of not being used to his teammates more than he was. something else. “His handling of the ball, his decision making, his reading skills, his comfort level, everything – the more he is in those situations where now other teams are trying to knock him out and get him to the point where he can’t catch the ball, that’s something he I haven’t really faced it all year to be the center of the team offensively, I think it was a bit of everything but the more he does it the more comfortable he will be.
“We’ve all seen that he was able to do all the plays. We wouldn’t put him in those situations if we hadn’t seen him do it in training sessions and know that he is completely capable and confident doing them.”
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Quiñones, the Memphis product that signed the Warriors to a two-way contract on draft night, scored 19 points and added five rebounds. He shot 6-for-13 overall and 3-for-6 on three-pointers. Last season, as a junior for Memphis, Quiñones shot 39 percent from a 3-point range.
That’s a name to watch out for, but Moody’s development of his overall game will continue to top the Warriors’ Summer League to-do list.