Off-season For The 2009-2010 Warriors Was Definitely "Off"

After the end of last season, you would've thought that things couldn't get worse for the Golden State Warriors franchise. Think again.

Last season came on the heels of the 2007-2008 season in which the Warriors just missed the playoffs, being the first team who won at least 48 games in the regular season to not make the postseason. They would go on to lose Baron Davis, Mickael Pietrus, and Matt Barnes before the 2008-2009 season started. They'd then trade Al Harrington before the season was over. And let's not forget Monta Ellis and his moped accident which caused him to miss nearly the first half of the season.

In the mean time, decision maker Chris Mullin was stripped of his powers thanks to Don Nelson and team president Robert Rowell and Nelson's friend Larry Riley was given Mully's job. With Baron Davis gone, there were rumors that Mullin was trying to trade Stephen Jackson, thinking that without Davis, Jackson wasn't as valuable and not necessarily the one to step into Davis' leader role. But before Mullin could do anything, Rowell signed Jackson to a new contract, thus making Jackson nearly untradeable in a seller's market. This is soap opera level stuff right?

(I'm grouping a bunch of things I've read during the off-season and will link to the places I read at the bottom.)

All Don Nelson's children...

This year's off-season reads like a soap opera and if someone wants to make a movie about a dysfunctional basketball organization, this might be the team to follow.

According to some reports, Stephen Jackson and Monta Ellis were told after last season that the Warriors would deliver them a big man in the off-season and that the team would make a rush towards the playoffs rather than become a rebuilding team. And on draft night, it looked like the Warriors had a chance to get that big man in Amar'e Stoudamire. Now I'm not sure he would've ever been happy coming here, but it seems that when Stephen Curry became available for the Warriors, any deal that would've made Phoenix happy for Stoudamire went out the window. Nellie didn't want to part with Curry.

Jackson supposedly became upset because the Warriors didn't get their big man like promised and that lead into a frustrating preseason where he gave up his team captaincy and was suspended for two games.

In preseason game against the Lakers, Jackson was guarding Kobe Bryant and Bryant was getting into his head. Bryant supposedly called him "Young Fella" which set Jackson off. Jackson had five fouls in the first half and was frustrated at both the replacement referees who were calling the game way too closely for his taste and at Nellie who left him in to accumulate the five fouls. After coming out of the game, Nellie tried to put his hand on Jackson's shoulder and Jackson pushed it off and told him not to touch him.

As the Warriors' world turns...

The Warriors did get a big man, just not the kind of big man who will lead them to the promise land. They signed veteran big man Mikki Moore. They also traded Jamal Crawford and in return landed former Warrior Speedy Claxton and Acie Law. No word on whether Mookie Blaylock, Vonteego Cummings, Bobby Sura, or Larry Hughes were available. Actually, I'm sure Hughes was available.

Marco Belinelli was traded in a multi-team trade for Devean George. And to top it off, young big man Brandan Wright was hurt again and will be out for a while.

They'll run out Jackson (until they can actually trade him), Ellis, Curry, Andris Biedrins, Corey "Bad Porn" (I'll let you look up why fans have been calling him that) Maggette, Anthony Randolph, Ronny Turiaf, Kelenna Azubuike, Anthony Morrow, and CJ Watson. There's definitely talent on this team, but like usual, too heavy in guys who can get up and down the floor and not heavy enough in guys who can play defense, be physical, and score in the flow of the game when they can't run.

I know that we won't see this because it's just not Nellie's style, but I'd love to see Curry, Ellis, Morrow, Randolph, and Biedrins get a lot of playing time together, though not necessarily all at the same time. It would give the Warriors an idea if these guys can play with each other. Anthony Randolph needs to be looked at as the future and they should build the team around him. Who plays better with him between Curry and Ellis? Is Morrow a better player at the shooting guard than Ellis, or does Ellis' penetration style work better with someone like Randolph? They have to use this season to answer those questions and figure out a way to get something in return for Jackson. Do you get rid of him early so that his stench doesn't ruin the team from the outset, or do you allow him to play himself into being traded?

This upcoming season has the looks of another wasted year and a mid lottery level draft pick for next year. Wait, that's what always happens.

Photo of Stephen Jackson by http://fanbase.com/member/rachna
Photo of Anthony Randolph by http://fanbase.com/member/prakash

Places I read to put together the points for my article:
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/expertsarchive;_ylt=Ag4p9AyKI4OA1llh7PyThdfTjdIF?author=Adrian+Wojnarowski
http://48minutes.net
http://www.warriorsworld.net/
http://www.ibabuzz.com/warriors/

My Golden State Warriors Top Five For 2008-2009

I originally wrote this for Fanbase.

My Warriors' top five list isn't a list of who the best five players on the team are. It's more a top five list of guys who fit their roles and made the Warriors better. Just remember that this was a 29 win team.

I'll get to my exclusion first. Stephen Jackson isn't on my list because as the Warriors number one player, in my opinion, he was one of the worst number one options in the league. As a number two option on a team, he's a pretty good player. As a number three option, he's fantastic. Thus, I left Stephen Jackson off my list because while he definitely played hard and tried to lead the team, he's just not that kind of player. If my list was about effort, he'd be on here. But my list is about guys who excelled in their roles given their opportunity (for the most part), and though Jackson filled up the stat sheet, there were just way too many times where he had the ball and didn't perform late in games.

It's probably a bit unfair to Jackson because he was called upon to be the guy and isn't that type of player. My apologies to Jackson fans, in advance.

1. Ronny Turiaf
Turiaf is never going to be a superstar in this league. He just doesn't have superstar talent. But what he lacks in the talent department, he makes up in tenacity and an understanding of how to use his big body. He's not terribly athletic, but he blocks a ton of shots per his alloted minutes, and he's developed a nice little go to jumper as well.

If the Warriors can supply him with another banger to play with, I can see his minutes be even more valuable to the Warriors. I didn't love him when they signed him, but I loved what I saw from him.

2. Kelenna Azubuike
He's undersized and wasn't even drafted out of college, but you have to like a guy who just puts his head down and plays hard. Maybe it's because he played a few seasons with Baron Davis, but I see a guy who truly has confidence in his game. He shot the three ball very well and earned a ton of minutes this season.

3. Anthony Randolph
What's there not to like about this kid? He's a dead ringer for Ronnie DeVoe from New Edition. His athleticism is off the charts. He thinks he's unstoppable. He'll block a shot and scream. He'll dribble the ball off his foot and look at the sidelines like a deer in headlights. I'm not sure what his ceiling is. But I'm going to enjoy watching him get there.

You can see some Randolph highlights here.

4. Monta Ellis
What a terrible year this was for Ellis. From the injury to the lying about the injury, to the questions about whether the Warriors would dissolve his contract, to his overall unhappiness, and eventually his inconsistent play, it was really a lost season for him. But he showed flashes of brilliance, which is enough to make Warriors fans happy going into the next season. What they truly need is to luck out and draft a bigger point guard so that Ellis can play his natural shooting guard position.

. Corey Maggette
How can I put Maggette here and not include Jackson? Well, I think Maggette can find ways to score in ways that doesn't hurt the team in doing so as much as Jackson does. However, with his contract, he should be better than what he is, but who thought he'd be better after watching him all those years in LA? The reason he's here for me is because he can get to the free throw line and make points them when you need them. On a 29 win team, that's not enough, but as a six man on a 45 win team, he could be valuable late in the game. Just as Nellie missused so many players, Maggette had to play a lot of his minutes at power forward and he was getting killed defensively.

It was tough to create a top five. It was kind of tough to create a top four. But that's my list for the 2008-2009 Golden State Warriors. It was a lost year and one that I would love to forget.

Photo of Stephen Jackson by Joe Gilmore and shared via creative commons (Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic)
Photo of Corey Maggette by iamgenious and shared via creative commons (Attribution 2.0 Generic)

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

The Warriors Finally Trade Al Harrington

The big news out of Warriors land is that Al Harrington is no longer a member of the Golden State Warriors. It is well known around the Bay Area that Harrington isn't really a Don Nelson guy and he knows it. He made it public that he didn't want to be on the team. Nellie was quoted as saying that he thinks he's better than he is.

He thinks he's a superstar. I think he's a very good player. If he wants to be traded, we'll try to accommodate him.

ESPN.com reported that the Warriors and the New York Knicks have agreed in principle to a deal in which the Warriors would send Harrington in return for Jamal Crawford.

According to Kelly Dwyer from Ball Don't Lie, this deal helps the Knicks get all their contracts set up to clear by 2010, when they are expected to make a huge push to get LeBron James. GM Donnie Walsh also drafted and then later traded for Harrington, so he seems to be high on him.

I have mixed feelings about the deal. Crawford is more of a shooting guard in my mind, and the Warriors are waiting to get their star shooting guard back from injury in another couple months. Crawford is scoring nearly 20 points a game this season, which will definitely help the Warriors in the scoring department. The Warriors have had to turn to undrafted rookie Anthony Morrow for offense of late because of the lack of scoring from the back court. But what happens when Monta comes back? Crawford and Ellis play the same position and are both better shooting guards who will be asked to play point guard. Crawford likes to shoot the long ball more, while Monta likes the shoot the mid range jumper and go to the hole more. I'm not sure they can really co-exist on the court at the same time, but if Crawford was a 6th man, I could see Don Nelson putting together some interesting lineups. Also, Crawford can shoot the three, which the Warriors don't do very well outside of Morrow.

Right now, it looks like a good fit for the Warriors. I just worry about what happens when Monta comes back.

Photo by ssshupe and shared via creative commons

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.

2008 NBA Season Preview - Monta's Mopeds

I'm not going to go in depth with a 5000 word NBA preview. I'm haven't done far enough research to do that, don't have the stamina for something like that, and I don't want anyone to fall asleep reading this. Thus, I have put together a list of ten for you.

These ten things are the top ten things that I'm looking forward to this upcoming season.

I'm looking forward to ...

Lebron and Mo Williams becoming the next dynamic duo.
Ok, maybe Mo isn't going to set the world on fire. But he does give Lebron a reliable second option (and one who doesn't run like he's on stilts). This has to be the year that Lebron takes Cleveland back to the NBA Finals because, um, he might not be around next year. And then it will be Mo Williams and everyone's favorite Wally Szcerbiak as Cleveland's dynamic duo.

Dwayne Wade upstaging rookie Michael Beasley.
A healthy Dwayne Wade (did you watch the Olympics?) means more to Miami's upcoming season than a Rookie Of The Year type of year from Michael Beasley. If you get both, Miami can contend for the playoffs. But if I were to bet on one, I'd bet Wade. Beasley is talented, but already has that Donyell Marshall vibe to him. Who me worry?

(By the way, I get to take that back if MB goes for 20 and 10 out of the gate. As for Donyell? He will just go back to hanging out with Tom Gugliotta.)

watching Portland early on.
The Blazers come out of the gate with Greg Oden, Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Rudy Fernandez, Jerryd Bayless, Steve Blake, and Ike Diogu - sorry, I had to get in another ex-Warriors player. To me, they are the single most intriguing team all year long. How's Oden going to do in his rookie year after last year's injury? Is Brandon Roy ready to lead these guys to the playoffs? Is Rudy Fernandez going to continue opening eyeballs (did you watch the Olympics?)? Here's hoping Ike gets some run.

seeing if OJ Mayo can back up the hype.
I think he'll struggle early on, but have a solid second half, and probably the best last month of all the rookies. But what might be the most exciting competition on the Grizzlies is to see who chucks up more shots between Mayo and Rudy Gay.

hoping that Kobe Bryant has a great year.
The odds are against him according to Bill Simmons. But I think Kobe is a different breed. Even after playing all the way into the NBA Finals and the Summer Olympics, I don't think Kobe wants to do anything else other than play more basketball. If he stays healthy, I think the Lakers are back in the finals.

wondering if KG, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen have it in them to beat a hungry Lebron.
It's going to take a supreme effort to keep Lebron James out of the finals this year. And that's especially if Kobe gets there again. I have to wonder if those guys are as hungry as last year. They had a special season and as hard as it is to win a title, it's even harder to do it again.

Ron Artest's influence over the Houston Rockets.
For some reason, Artest's addition intrigues me. And I'm not sure why. I've never really been an Artest fan. Maybe it's because I have a soft spot in my heart for Yao and Tracy McGrady. Maybe it's because my friend Billy Parker roots for the Rockets. I'm still unsure about it, but I do know that Ron makes Houston the biggest wild card team in the West.

the Baron Davis era in Clipperland.
I'm going to deeply miss Baron Davis in the Bay Area. Eddy Zucko is going to deeply miss Jessica Alba at Warriors games. Even if his wheels fall completely off, it's better than the CJ Watson, Marcus Williams, DeMarcus Nelson three headed monster that the Warriors will throw out there this year. How old is Tim Hardaway? Maybe he can come out of retirement? Sleepy Floyd? I'd even settle for a 250 pound Keith "Mr." Jennings right about now.

the Anthony Randolph era.
Actually, I'm not really looking all that forward to watching him play basketball as much as the fact that I've always been a Bell Biv Devoe fan and Randolph is a dead wringer for Devoe. Really though, are they Warriors going to run Randolph, Brandon Wright, and Andres Biedrins on teams all at the same time? Calista Flockhart would be so proud.

Photo of Anthony Randolph, I Mean Ron Devoe, By cMacDutt

playing pickup ball with Coby Karl after no one signs him.

seeing how creative the mascots get in mocking Monta Ellis.
I predict that every mascot comes riding into the arena on a moped. By the way, I imagine that every Fantasy Basketball league has at least one (and possibly many) Monta's Mopeds, Mississippi Mopeds or Moped Monta team in their league. At least it's better than those Oden's Bad Knee teams that your leagues had last year.

That's all for now. Enjoy your hoops tomorrow. Welcome back NBA.

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.