Stephen Curry's Rookie Year Was All That And Then Some

Warriors' rookie point guard Stephen Curry's career started amidst trade rumors.

If you remember back to draft day 2009, his name was being floated in trade talks with the Phoenix Suns in a deal for Amar'e Stoudemire. In fact, many draft prognosticators figured the Warriors drafted Curry for the Suns because they already had a diminutive guard in Monta Ellis.

But the Curry trade never happened. In the end, it was probably for the better. Amar'e's a soon to be a free agent and while he would've made the Warriors' better record-wise this year, they wouldn't have been able to sign him and we would've been back at square one. You may say that the Warriors always seem to be at square one. But I'd argue that point guards like Curry aren't a dime a dozen. He has a chance to be special. Win one for the Warriors?

If you look at Curry's year-long stats, they look good, but not superb. Over 17 points a game and nearly 6 assists is nothing to sniff at, but those numbers don't knock your socks off. If you dig deeper, you'll find that he had a gem of a season. To really see Curry's growth not only as a scorer, but also a distributor, you have to look at his monthly splits.

In his first full month in the league, he was averaging roughly 10 points a game and 5 and a half assists a game. Stephen Jackson was also on this team. Wow, that seems like eons ago.

In December, you notice an upward tick in his play, but in January he really seemed to blossom. In the month of January, he averaged just over 19 points a game and 5 assists, but his shooting was spectacular. He shot 48% from the field, 89% from the free throw stripe, and 49% from the three point line.

His next two months were very consistent, and then in April, he exploded again. Some of the explosion could be attributed to Monta Ellis being off the court just as much as he was on it, but I see it as a sign of maturity that was forced upon a young player. When Ellis was out, Curry was able to change his role of second banana into being the alpha dog on the court. In eight games in April, he averaged 26 points a game and over 8 assists along with 6 rebounds. Those numbers are near LeBron-like.

It's obvious that statistics don't tell the whole story and Curry does play in an uptempo system. But Steve Nash does too, and has been knocked similarly, but who wouldn't want Steve Nash on their team? Curry will probably never be a great defender unless he adds some size and just works doggedly at it. But he can shoot, distribute, and has a knack for making the right play at the right time. He didn't take care of the basketball as well as he should've, but you can also blame some of that on the uptempo system.

The Warriors have such an unpredictable air about them because of the current ownership situation and decisions about the team and coaching staff probably won't be made until the sale occurs. It's hard to gauge what they'll do with their team. But after this season, one thing is certain; Stephen Curry can play and this franchise has a better outlook because of him.

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/

Stephen Curry Is A Warrior For Now, And Other 2009 NBA Draft Thoughts

Earlier on draft day, there were a few rumors floating out there about what the Golden State Warriors were going to do. Were they going to stay put and simply draft whoever the best player standing was at number 7, or were they going to be involved in a big trade.

They were rumored to be involved in trades for both Vince Carter and Amar'e Stoudemire early in the day. Obviously, since Carter ended up in Orlando, that one was actually just a rumor. However, the Stoudemire rumor may have legs and a trade could still happen, even if it didn't happen on draft night.

The rumor consists of the Warriors trading Andres Biedrins, Brandon Wright, and Marco Belinelli, and some combination of another player and new Warrior, Stephen Curry. There are many theories about what was going on. The early rumor was that Phoenix would be interested in the trade as long as Stephen Curry was there for the Warriors to draft because that's who they wanted. After the Warriors drafted Curry at 7, most people who were following the situation figured that Curry was drafted for Phoenix.

Why would the Warriors draft a player for themselves whose weaknesses are very similar to the weaknesses of their current star guard Monta Ellis? Both guys are on the small and slim side, aren't noted defenders, and aren't really point guards. You'd think that if the Warriors were drafting for themselves, they would've taken someone who would compliment Ellis more.

But I actually like the pick, even if the Warriors keep him. What Curry gives them is another fantastic shooter to pair with Anthony Morrow. It gives them some instant offense off the bench. And with the way Don Nelson likes to go small, I could see them pairing Ellis and Curry for small bursts of time.


The trade for Stoudemire is expected to happen by many reporters (Ric Bucher says to wait until July 8), but Warriors General Manager Larry Riley stated that Curry was drafted to keep, not to trade. This could all be a big poker game between Suns GM Steve Kerr and Don Nelson. And if it is a big poker game, it won't help Riley's reputation as Nellie's puppet.

I'm not sure what I think about Stoudemire. He's obviously a great talent and the perfect big man for Nellie's system. But why he'd be ok with a deal to one of the most disfunctional franchises in the league makes me worried that he may not be completely healthy. Why wouldn't he want to play the season out and then basically choose whichever team he wants to play for after his contract is up? If he's willing to take a contract from the Warriors, the cynic in me thinks that he might not be confident that he's going to have a strong year leading into what would be his free agency year.

(If the trade goes down I'll update this post.)

Other thoughts on the draft...

- I have a hard time believing that Ricky Rubio fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves because of a lack of faith in his talent. I'm not sure if they were worried about the issues with his team in Spain, or simply didn't think he'd be able to play in the US this year. At least, I hope those were the fears. Because I don't buy Hasim Thabeet, James Hardin, or Tyreke Evans as players who will be game changing. They may be decent pros, and Thabeet could even become an outstanding defensive post player, but Rubio has the talent to become a game changer.

- I won't say that I've seen him a ton, but what I have seen of Johnny Flynn tells me that he may have a little bit of Tim Hardaway in him. Hardaway might've been a bit stronger (and bulkier), but they both have the quickness and the ability to score the ball. Why Minnesota took him when they just took Rubio is a bit odd, but maybe they have more moves to make.

- What I've heard about Terrence Williams' game is mostly on the positive tip. But what I've heard about him off the court isn't necesarily positive. He's going to be an interesting player in New Jersey where they're building around Brook Lopez and Devin Harris. With that young of a team, you'd hope the immaturity issues that you hear about him don't curtail his possible rise.

- I thought Jrue Holiday and Brandon Jennings could've been possible picks for the Warriors at 7. Holiday and his agent Dan Fagan kind of screwed themselves by not even working out with the Warriors because Fagan and the Warriors' brass don't get along. Holiday ended up slipping the most out of the top players as he went 17th to the Philadelphia 76ers.

In the early draft previews, Jennings was going in the top 5, and I even saw him in the top 3. Going 10th is still a solid spot for him, but he might've gone to one of the worst possible teams in Milwaukee. At least, if the Knicks or Warriors drafted him, he'd be in an uptempo offense that would probably suit him best.