When Is Enough, Enough?

This article was originally posted on Fanbase.

When I think of the 2009 season for the Warriors, it brings back terrible memories. It reminds me of the year 1994. Let me create the parallel for you.

In 1993, the Warriors traded the rights of their first round draft pick Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway (and some future draft picks) to the Orlando Magic for the rights to Chris Webber. For the Warriors, who were more "little engine that could" than truly good basketball team, this was a match made in heaven. Chris Webber gave the Warriors a post presence that they hadn't seen since the days of Nate Thurmond. But he was also athletic and could run, fitting into Don Nelson's uptempo style.

Even though those Warriors lost in the first round of the playoffs, 1994 looked bright. All-star point guard Tim Hardaway was coming back from injury and the team would be at full blast. But Webber and Nelson couldn't get along. Supposedly, Webber didn't like playing center. He didn't like Nelson's backhanded criticisms. And he didn't like the Bay Area because he feared earthquakes. For a guy who called himself "The Big Bad Wolf", he sure came off as a pansy. But that's what happens when you're completely catered to since you were in the 8th grade.

Nelson was the adult here. He could've changed up his style to accomodate his new meal ticket. But something just didn't vibe between the two guys. The Warriors even traded for center Rony Seikaly so that Webber wouldn't have to play the five spot. It's too bad they had to trade Billy Owens, one of Webber's best friends on the team, to get him. The miscommunication here was very transparent. Webber was traded to Washington and soon thereafter, Nelson was gone too. You've heard about the curse of the Bambino? Ok, I won't go that far.

It would take the Warriors thirteen years to get back to the playoffs after the Webber/Nellie debacle. Thanks to a shrewd move by Chris Mullin to steal Baron Davis away from the New Orleans Hornets, the Warriors were back in business. In 2007, the Warriors became the NBA's most fascinating team to watch and upset the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the NBA playoffs. The Mavs were the number one seed in all of the playoffs, but behind Davis, the Warriors were the story. Who was also apart of the Oakland revival? Well, none other than Don Nelson. Mullin's other shrewd move was to talk Nelson out of retirement to replace Mike Montgomery as head coach.

In 2008, the team won 48 games and just barely missed the playoffs. I believe 48 wins is the highest number of wins for a team to ever miss the playoffs. Though Jason Richardson was traded before the season for rookie power forward Brandan Wright, the rest of the group was still there. Monta Ellis came into his own and Andris Biedrins was continuing to improve. All they had to do was resign Davis, and the group would be ready to run again and they'd be able to add another young piece to the mix.

But the Warriors couldn't resign Davis. Though Chris Mullin was the man technically making the moves, the word on the street was that team president Robert Rowell was the man behind not resigning Davis. He thought that Davis was asking for too much money and for too many years. Nellie was also seemingly behind some of the personel moves and Chris Mullin was being pushed aside. There's your thanks for giving your old coach the keys to the car Mully. All of a sudden, everything that was so good was about to turn terribly bad.

Monta Ellis didn't help the matters by ruining his ankle playing pick up basketball and then lying about it. And all of a sudden, the Warriors were throwing money at broken down players when the one player they deemed broken down was the guy who lead them to their resurgence. Gilbert Arenas and Elton Brand said no. Plan F, Corey Maggette said yes.

How can a franchise who made all the right moves just two years prior become the laughing stock of basketball again? Well, they can do so by not learning from their own mistakes. They created the blueprint for all franchises to see how not to deal with your superstar athletes. They showed that when you give your head coach too much power, he can start tinkering with things based on who he likes personally and who he gets along with to make his job easier.

Nellie's had help in destroying their franchise twice now. Even if they have exciting young players like Ellis and Anthony Randolph, the management isn't right. The object should be to win as many games as possible, while also getting the younger guys to step in when you need replacements.

I've been here before. It wasn't fun the first time. And it's even more annoying going through it again. When is enough, enough?

Webber photo from Wikicommons
Nelson photo from miles5226

Who Is The Most Disappointing Bay Area Athlete Ever?

This was originally posted on Fanbase.

Ever since Barry Zito's recent failure of a start against the LA Dodgers, I started to think about Bay Area athletes who have brought the most disappointment.

With that horrid contract that pays him $18.5 million this year and one that ranks him 12th in all of baseball as far as total value, Barry Zito is a very disappointing player. In his two years as a Giants' pitcher, he has twenty one wins and thirty losses. The last time he had a sub 3.80 ERA was 2003.

I started to think about other disappointing Bay Area athletes.

I can think of three who played for the Golden State Warriors immediately.

Chris Webber was the golden child for one season, feuded with coach Don Nelson (does this sound familiar?), and then forced a trade. The golden child was gone. He was one of the most talented power forwards in the history of the NBA, had a very good career, but did it in another jersey.

Latrell Sprewell went from fan favorite to one of the most hated players in the history of Bay Area sports in all of six years. I guess that's what happens when you choke your coach. But at least Spree became an All-Pro with the team. He brought his lunch pail to work nearly every day, but it just didn't end very well.

Joe Smith was the number one draft pick in the same draft that also featured Kevin Garnett. Smith was actually a really good rookie, but by his second year, forgot what it was like to play defense, stopped rebounding and decided to become a jump shooter. By his third year, he was gone.

With the 49ers, one player immediately came to mind. Alex Smith was the first pick in the entire 2005 draft. It was a pick that Mike Nolan and the 49ers' brass couldn't whiff on. They didn't only swing and miss. They swung and missed so hard that they dug themselves into a hole. But Smith was a rookie. He hadn't played a down in the NFL and everything we expected about him was based on a college career and everything the 49ers were selling us about him.

I didn't think there was a player who I could despise as much on the field as much as I despised Chris Webber on the basketball court. He and Don Nelson were just as equally to blame for their selfishness, and they both destroyed what was an up and coming franchise.

Barry Zito hasn't done that. He was brought in because the Giants were trying to save face. They didn't want to be known as Barry Bonds' team anymore. They wanted to find a new identity. So a lot of this isn't even really Zito's fault. But what is his fault is that he's now one of the worst starting pitchers in the National League.

Who is most disappointing? Because of what it meant to me as a high school basketball fan, I'll still go with C-Webb. He was going to be one of the greatest athletes in the history of the Bay Area. Zito never had that responsibility. He just has to take the ball every five days and give the Giants a chance to win. But he didn't help destroy an entire franchise. That responsibility goes to Webber.

Tim Hardaway - The Golden Years

In 1986-1987, the Golden State Warriors made the playoffs and upset the Utah Jazz in the first round thanks to players like Sleepy Floyd, Purvis Short, and Joe Barry Caroll. But a year later, Don Nelson would replace George Karl as coach, and Floyd and Carroll would be traded for Ralph Sampson. They'd go from being a playoff team one year to only winning 20 games the next.

After drafting Mitch Richmond in 1988, the Warriors now had two-thirds of what would become Run TMC. Richmond joined sharp shooter Chris Mullin, making one of the more dependable offensive twosomes in all of the NBA. Richmond was the rock. Michael Jordan once called him one of the toughest match-ups of his career. Mullin was the veteran and someone who led by example, showing dedication and effort after nearly squandering the early part of his career with personal issues. In 1989, Nelson drafted someone who would fill out the remaining piece Run TMC. Tim Hardaway brought the free spirit and toughness of someone who spent his early days playing in the playgrounds in Chicago. And he also brought a wicked crossover.



When the Warriors drafted Hardaway out of the University of Texas at El Paso in 1989, one of his main roles was to stop Kevin Johnson. Actually, if I remember correctly, one of the first questions that Hardaway was asked after he was drafted was if he could stop KJ. I think his response was a simple, "Yeah." Johnson had destroyed the Warriors in the playoffs in the 1989-1990 season. Johnson was one of the quickest players in the league and was pretty much unstoppable facing the likes of Winston Garland. But it wasn't really Garland's fault. No one was stopping KJ in those days. It made sense for Don Nelson to draft Hardaway, who may have never stopped KJ, but sure made it hard for KJ to stop him.

Hardaway was easy to like. He played the game with a smile on his face, but with a chip on his shoulder. He was measured at 5'10, but would always claim to be six feet tall. If you tried to call him Timmy, he would remind you that his name was Tim. But you could call him by his nickname Tim-Bug, or just Bug and he'd be fine with that. He was one of the most competitive players in the league, but he allowed you to see the joy on his face when he was playing the game he loved.

Hardaway averaged nearly 15 points a game and dealt out nearly 9 assists a game in his rookie year. The only reason he didn't win the Rookie Of The Year award is because a man by the name of David Robinson was a rookie that year as well. Even though Hardaway energized the team, helping them lead the entire league in scoring, they didn't make the playoffs and finished with an under .500 record. You could argue that Hardaway's sophomore effort might've been the best of his career. He averaged nearly 23 points per game to go along with 9.7 assists per game and the Run TMC triumvirate together averaged nearly 73 points combined per game. The Warriors upset the San Antonio Spurs and David Robinson in the first round of the playoffs, but lost to the LA Lakers in five games in the second round.

Hardaway was quickly becoming one of the best and most exciting young players in the game. He was known for his great first step and also for his crossover dribble. It was originally called the "killer crossover" and somewhere along the lines, it was then dubbed the "UTEP 2 step", which I always thought was lame. The crossover was sick and he was getting to the hole at will. He had an awkward jump shot which came out of his hands like a knuckle ball, but he didn't need it very often early in his career. He was taking guys to the hole.

Before Hardaway's third campaign, Don Nelson broke up Run TMC. He traded Mitch Richmond to the Sacramento Kings for rookie Billy Owens right before the new season was about to start. With Owens, Nelson saw a versatile guy who could get up and down the court who had some size and could pull rebounds and then run the break himself. Even though the trade wasn't all that popular with the fans, you couldn't argue with the results. The Warriors won 55 games in 1991-1992 and Hardaway's third year was comparable to his second. He increased his scoring and assists, but he started to take more outside shots, hurting his shooting percentage along the way. But his his body was already starting to slowly break down. Even though the Warriors were one of the NBA's dandies, they would be upset by a hungry Seattle Supersonics team in the first round of the playoffs.

The following year was a bad one for the club as the injury bug bit them hard. Owens, Mullin, Hardaway, and Sarunas Marciulionis would all miss significant time with injuries. There was a bright spot to that 1992-1993 team. His name was Latrell Sprewell. With Sprewell, they finally had someone who matched Richmond's defensive intensity and he was athletic enough to be good on offense, even though he didn't have very many offensive moves. He just flew past and jumped over guys. Hardaway and Sprewell were going to be one of the best backcourts in the league.




The following year, the Warriors traded for the draft rights of Chris Webber. Webber would bring a certain dynamic that the Warriors hadn't had since the days of Nate Thurmond. He was going to be a dependable post scorer, a tough rebounder, and someone who put fear in the other team. As a power forward, he had the talents to be one of the all time best. But Nelson had him playing center because he was athletic enough to, but also because he didn't have anyone else. With Webber at center, Owens at power forward, Mullin at small forward, Sprewell at shooting guard, and Hardaway bringing up the rock, the team was going to run and not too many other teams would be able to stay with them.

But just as the basketball gods giveth, they also taketh away. Hardaway would miss the entire season after tearing his ACL in training camp. The Warriors would never get to see their dream fivesome on the court at the same time. With Avery Johnson as the point guard, the Warriors won 50 games and Sprewell came into his own. Webber didn't have dominating statistics but he was a game changer. It didn't matter in the playoffs though as they were swept by Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns. Webber and Nelson weren't geting along and Webber didn't want to play center. He also didn't want be on the West Coast. Nellie was able to trade for Rony Seikley so that Webber didn't have to play center, but that only made it worse because he traded one of Webber's best buddies in Owens to do so. Owner Chris Cohan backed Nelson and gave him the ok to trade Webber to the Washington Bullets for Tom Gugliotta and some draft picks. It would go down as the darkest day in franchise history.

Hardaway returned from injury the following season and he his stats were ok, but he wasn't himself. He wasn't driving to the basket as much and heaved up over 7 three-pointers a game, which was eye opening because his game was all about quickness and getting to the basktet. By shooting so many three-pointers, it showed a small dent in the armor of one of the most confident players in the league. He couldn't get to the basket as easily anymore. Even though Webber and Owens were gone, a lineup of Hardaway, Sprewell, Mullin, and Rony Seikley should've been good enough to compete for a playoff spot. But Hardaway wasn't 100%, Mullin only played one-fourth of the season, and Seikley was a disappointment. Nelson quit, leaving Warriors fans with neither Nelson or Webber, which was terribly frustrating since it was both of their egos that caused the problems in the first place. There was also some discontent between Hardaway and Sprewell. While Hardaway was away, Sprewell became the go to guy. There was a bit of an alpha dog struggle in the backcourt when Hardaway came back from injury.

I remember reading Slam magazine and Hardaway and Sprewell were the focus of the cover story. They acted like they were the unstoppable backcourt that they were expected to be. Hardaway even said that Sprewell was like Mike (Jordan) except he just had smaller hands. But they didn't get along or play all that well together and the Warriors only won 26 games. Hardaway was traded the following year to the Miami Heat.

Hardaway only played 5 1/2 seasons with the Warriors (he sat out one full year) and played 6 years with the Heat. And even though he was in the playoffs with the Heat consistently and even helped them get all way to the Eastern Conference finals in 1996-1997, he's far more famous for being one of Run TMC. It was because he helped ignite a suffering franchise and was a part of one of the most entertaining teams in the NBA in the 90s.

While his reputation suffered late in his Warriors career because he was the old dog and Sprewell was the new dog, I never felt that it was deserved. You only need to look at the 1992-1993 season when Hardaway stepped aside to allow Magic Johnson to start in his place in the All-Star game. Johnson was out of the league after contracting the HIV virus, but had won the popular vote. Hardaway was probably the best point guard in the league. It was Hardaway's year to shine, but he knew Johnson's accomplishment was bigger than the game. And when Magic thanked him, he looked like a kid in a candy store. That's how I remember his style too. He played basketball like he was a kid in a candy store.

Thanks to sportsecyclopedia for the timeline.

http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba/goldst/gswarriors.html

Blame It On The Boogie

Don't blame it on the sunshine
Don't blame it on the moonlight
Don't blame it on good times
Blame it on the boogie.

Tim Kawakami wrote in his blog today that Monta Ellis might be close to telling the Warriors to either love him, or leave him alone.

If he feels his recovery is coming along, Ellis could say by mid-December: Either void my deal or trade me, your choice, because I’m never playing for a franchise that would do this to me after I admitted my mistake and was ready to accept singular punishment.

That Ellis judgement is a very live possibility.

And there are teams that would take Ellis, if his deal was voided (basically, a release) or if the Warriors shopped him for trade.

I understand why the Warriors would feel like they were lied to. Well, because they were lied to. I understand that contracts have clauses and you're not supposed to do things that you are forbidden to do in your contract. That's all gravy. But 22 year old people make mistakes. Where's the forgiveness? Because the fans have already forgiven Monta. Why haven't the Warriors? And at what point do they push too hard and alienate him from the team?

What's frustrating from a Warriors fan perspective is that the franchise was back. We believed right? Even though they didn't make the playoffs last year, they had an excellent season for Warriors standards. We wanted them to resign Baron. If they couldn't resign Baron, we thought someone like Elton Brand could be good. Our eyes twinkled slightly at Josh Smith. We settled for Corey Maggette, knowing that we'd get Monta and Andris back. And now, you're telling us that we might not get Monta back and if we do, there's a possibility that he's going to be unhappy. It's far too reminiscent of Chris Webber, Latrell Sprewell, Joe Smith, and Gilbert Arenas. I thought we were moving forward, not backward.

So I came to this conclusion. Let's work together. Let's stop doing things that set the franchise back.

Warriors' brass, don't blame it on Monta.

Monta, don't blame it on the Warriors' brass.

Make up. Live happily ever after. You need each other. If you need someone to blame it on.

Do like Michael said. Blame it on the boogie.

Chris Webber Is Set To Retire

In January I wrote that we had to love Chris Webber or leave him alone. And left him alone I did. And I bet he was thankful because he brought absolutely nothing to the team. He wasn’t even a shell of his former self. More like a toe nail.

But, I will give him one thing. He didn’t let his injury linger and give the Warriors fans false hope. According to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein, the former All Star is set to retire tomorrow. While I have hated the guy since he left, and left him alone when he signed with the Warriors, it’s time for me to be ok with him now. He can’t play ball anymore and thus, I can’t hate him anymore.

Chris Webber’s First Game Back

I know what’s exciting for GS Warriors fans who are looking forward to Chris Webber’s return. It will be that no look pass or that trail dunk or maybe that rebound and snarl. But for me? I just want to see Webber go at it with Joe Smith in the battle of former highly touted Warriors rookies who lasted on the team 3 years or less.

Let’s just say that Joe Smith played like a former number one pick and Webber played like someone who hadn’t picked up a ball in a long time.

The Warriors played terribly for the about the first 20 minutes of the first half. But in the last 4 minutes of the half, they played brilliantly. I’ve definitely been keeping up with them this season but have only watched them on TV a handful of times. The one thing that stands out is Monta Ellis’ confidence. There were two plays where he took the ball right to the hole and dunked, where last year I’m not sure he doesn’t either pull up for a short jumper or pass. Maybe last year’s failures in the playoffs helped in his growing up. With the exception of Baron Davis, he looked like the best player on the court. The Bulls played without Kirk Heinrich, Ben Gordon, and Luol Deng and played above their heads, some in part due to the lack of Warriors defense. In the second half, the game was more stable, but the same things that plagued the Warriors in the first half (terrible at stopping penetration and not getting into defensive position), killed them in the second. They even had the lead for a short time, but played lazy on both ends and couldn’t come back. 

Superstar In The Making

As for Webber? He looked like a guy who hadn’t played in a long time. He looked achy. He looked like a guy who doesn’t want to run or jump. On offense, he can still pass from the post and get a blocked shot when you need it on defense. But the Warriors play so rag tag that Don Nelson is going to have to take Webber out when they need to change it up. And they always seem to need to change it up. Webber was a non-factor and I wonder how many times he’s going to be just that this year.

There was one telling play for Warriors fans that didn’t even mean anything in the game. Early in the first quarter, Joe Smith took a fade away sideline jumper that missed, but went to the free throw line because he was fouled by Webber. There were a lot of hopes and dreams involved in that play that seemingly went down the toilet when Webber forced his trade and when Smith turned out to be softer than toilet tissue.

In the end, the Bulls looked like the rested team, even though they were playing the second game on a back to back. Chris Duhon tried to be Michael Jordan and the Warriors didn’t do anything to stop him. The Warriors played defense like it didn’t matter. They had every chance to win it too. Every time they penetrated, it resulted in a great look or a layup chance. But for some reason, they wanted to shoot 25 footers all night. They’re going to give me a heart attack before this season is over.

Chris Webber: Love Him Or Leave Him Alone

On Sunday night, John Cena came back to the WWE from injury, rumor got out that The New Kids On The Block were reuniting, and in the worst news of the three, Chris Webber was coming back to the Warriors.

I’m not sure that I’ve hated any non-LA Dodgers, non-Dallas Cowboys player more than I’ve hated Chris Webber. When my childhood basketball team, the Golden State Warriors were on the brink of greatness, he turned his back on the team and the fans, and forced a trade. Usually, I can understand the athlete’s point of view in these types of instances. But not with Webber. He feuded with Don Nelson over things that many modern day athletes feud over coaches with. But the bottom line was that he couldn’t get along with Nellie and decided that rather than do things the coach’s way, he wanted out. It killed me. It really was the start of what became putrid basketball in the Bay Area. They’ve had some good players come through the system since Webber like Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, and Jason Richardson, but none were so relied upon to change the face of basketball in the Bay Area like Webber was. Maybe he wasn’t ready. But how could he not be? He had a veteran club. You had Chris Mullin who was just two years removed from playing on the greatest basketball team ever assembled at the 1992 Olympics. Tim Hardaway was in his prime (though he did tear up his knee that year) and Latrell Sprewell was blossoming into a superstar. Everything was pointing in the right direction for the team. Until C-Webb couldn’t handle the pressure and forced a trade.

The Warriors brass at the time chose Nellie over Webber and most times in those kinds of situations, management chooses the star. I wish they would’ve this time because soon after Webber was gone, so was Nellie. And basketball was horrid in the Bay Area until last year. So now that the Warriors have a fun team again, who comes back into the picture? Mayce Christopher Webber III. I still don’t like the guy. But I don’t hate him as much as I did in the past. I remember that when he came back to play the Warriors as a member of the Washington Bullets, he hurt his shoulder and had to leave the game. I cheered wildly. The hate ran strong. But today, he’s not even half the player he used to be and all that’s left is a past memory for me. What I now worry about is what he can actually bring to the team. I’m not sure he can bring much. Matt Steinmetz interviewed Webber and it seems that Webber himself isn’t sure if he exactly fits in.

Steinmetz: How did all this come about?

Webber: At the beginning of the season I knew I was going to take a break to be with my family. I wanted to wait until later to think about where I wanted to go. Early on in the season I got a call from the Warriors, but I didn?t take it too serious. A month or so ago, they pursued me and let me know how much they wanted me, that it would be a good marriage and a good fit. Nellie and Mully won me over with their persistence.

If you have to beg a guy to play for you, what does that tell you? Well, I won’t jump to conclusions, but it doesn’t seem that he truly wanted to come here. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I don’t have the same disdain for Webber as I once did, but I don’t love the signing. Until he proves to me that he can help them win ball games, I’m leaving him alone.