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

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

The Legend Of Sleepy Floyd

The Golden State Warriors were a great team in the decade of the 1970s. They had a winning season for eight out of the ten years in the 70s including winning the NBA Championship in 1974-1975 season. The following season, they won 59 games but the Phoenix Suns came back from a 3-2 deficit to beat them in the Western Conference finals. But in the 80s, what those Al Attles coached teams did in the 70s became overlooked because of the terrible teams that defined the decade for the Warriors. Also, the NBA was so much of a bigger league thanks to Magic, Michael, and Larry.

It wasn't until George Karl came in (and then later Don Nelson) that the franchise found its respectability again. Being that I started to watch basketball in the mid 80s, I grew up watching some bad Warriors basketball. But there's something about the underdog Warriors that I've always loved. Being on the same coast as the Los Angeles Lakers, the Warriors were always had low visibility and for good reason. The Lakers were the toast of the 80s with big stars and long postseason runs. I was happy if the Warriors stayed with them until the fourth quarter where I expected the Lakers to pull away. There was one player that I loved watching on my lovable losers and that player was Eric "Sleepy" Floyd.

If you took one look at Floyd's eyes, you'd understand why his nickname was "Sleepy". But his play was all but tired. Floyd had a great career at Georgetown. It is he and not Patrick Ewing or Alonzo Mourning who is the career scoring leader for the school. Floyd also has the second highest scoring per game average in school history. He was on the opposite end of one of the most famous NCAA championship games in NCAA hoops history. Floyd was on the Georgetown team that lost to a late Michael Jordan jumper that gave North Carolina the 1982 NCAA Championship. Floyd had 18 points (to Jordan's 16) and five assists in the losing effort and would've had a better end to his storied Georgetown career had they not given that game away on a silver platter.

He was drafted by the New Jersey Nets later that year but was soon traded to the Warriors along with Mickey Johnson for Micheal Ray Richardson. His career blossomed with the Warriors and in the 1986-1987 season, made the All-Star team, which was big time for me. The Warriors rarely had an All-Star representative in those days and I was very excited to watch him play with the NBA's biggest stars. Floyd scored 14 points in 19 minutes for the Western squad.

Floyd's NBA coming out party was in 1987 playoffs when the Warriors had to play the Lakers. The Lakers would go on to win the NBA championship that year. In the first round of the playoffs, the Warriors beat the Utah Jazz in five games while the Lakers swept the Denver Nuggets in three. The Lakers were expected to sweep the Warriors as well, except Sleepy Floyd didn't let it happen. In game four in Oakland, Floyd went crazy. Even in that game, the Lakers led most of the way until Floyd exploded for 29 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Warriors to their lone victory in the series. That's how good the Lakers were that year. As a 10 year-old basketball fan, I was ecstatic. When everyone pretended to be Magic, Michael, and Larry when we played basketball, they now knew the guy I was pretending to be.

For some reason that I still don't necessarily understand over 20 years later, Floyd and Joe Barry Carroll were traded to the Houston Rockets for Steve Harris and Ralph Sampson the next season. It turned out to be a terrible trade for that season and the Warriors went back to being a league doormat winning only 20 games. Sampson couldn't stay healthy and we soon found out that without his twin tower brother Akeem Olajuwon, he was terribly overrated offensively. Even though Floyd was no longer the focal point offensively for his new team, he went to the playoffs with the Rockets during the next four seasons after only going once with the Warriors. He also played with San Antonio for a year and then finished his career in New Jersey, the team that originally drafted him.

Like many good NBA players, Floyd's circumstances prevented him from becoming the star he should've become. He wouldn't have been the type of player to sell basketball shoes like Jordan or carry a team on his back like Larry Bird, but he was just as good as some players who are very well known because of the teams they played on. Floyd spent the prime years of his career playing for the Warriors, who were a floundering franchise and had zero visibility. He was also a tweener guard at 6'3'' who played both guard positions, but showed that when necessary, he could run a team as evidenced by his 10.3 assist average in 1986-1987. That season, to me, Sleepy Floyd was Superman.

Game Time - The Warriors Invade Cleveland

All of this talk about where LeBron will land in 2010 is getting pretty annoying. Don't people know that Cleveland has the type of team that can win a championship today? Doesn't LeBron know this? LeBron needs to table all the talk about 2010 and focus on the task at hand because the boys in Boston aren't going to give up the mantle easily.

I'm with Chuck.

If I was LeBron James, I would shut the hell up. I'm a big LeBron fan. He's a stud. You gotta give him his props. I'm getting so annoyed he's talking about what he's going to do in two years. I think it's disrespectful to the game. I think it's disrespectful to the Cavaliers.

Word.

The Warriors come to town and though they played Boston very well on Wednesday, this team is a frenetic mess. Jamal Crawford only adds to that. At least they're exciting.

1st Quarter

12:00 - I'm terribly annoyed that I can't watch this game in HD.

10:35 - Brandan Wright is starting again and blocked a shot, ran the floor, and got a dunk. Hopefully he continues to get a shot.

10:00 - I've known guys named Diante (I think that's my little cousin's name), Dante (also spelled Donte), and Kiante but I've never met a Delonte. He just missed a three.

9:11 - After Andris blocked Zydrunas' shot, Stephen Jackson tried to get the ball and jammed his finger. He's out of the game.

7:16 - Ben Wallace shoots his free throws like Purvis Short used to shoot jump shots. He tries to bring down rain. And missed them both.

6:12 - Mo Williams blocked Jamal Crawford's jumper and then hit one of his own. Warriors up 21-15. I just heard a Ric Flair, "Woooooo!" This isn't Charlotte.

5:30 - LeBron dunked in his first of what will probably be many alley-oops. Don't fake the funk on the nasty dunk.

4:25 - Boobie Gibson just missed a three. Sorry, I just wanted to type Boobie Gibson.

2:40 - Put back dunk by LeBron. He's just so much bigger and stronger than everyone else. It's not fair. I thought Corey Maggette was strong. LeBron poses on Corey.

:56 - A Wally Szczerbiak put back? You have to work hard to let him get an offensive rebound. And what kind of spelling puts z-c-z back to back to back? We'll call him Wally for the rest of the game.

:09 - Jamal Crawford hit a three and was fouled, but can't complete the four point play. He's a gunner and fits in perfectly with this rag tag team. But he needs to drive to the bucket if he wants to make a difference. Warriors up 32-29.

2nd Quarter

11:36 - Is there really a need to play the instrumental to I Got Five On It during a Cavs offensive set? Are they trying to get people to just smoke weed in the arena?

10:44 - Hey, Anthony Morrow hit an open jumper. Remember just a couple of weeks ago when Warriors fans thought they had a starting two guard? Well, he didn't even play against Boston.

10:36 - Did you know that LBJ is only one inch shorter than Big Ben but outweighs him by five pounds?

10:05 - Kelenna Azubuike is having a pretty good game so far. I don't get the pronunciation of his last name though. The announcers say it's a-zuh-bookie. It looks like a-zuh-bweek-ay. Doesn't it?

8:50 - LeBron's fingernails must grow at an amazing speed because he chews on them like he's looking for the tootsie roll center.

6:39 - When they throw the ball into Stephen Jackson, it's like throwing it into a black hole. You know how when Mike Jordan would get the ball, he'd turn, dribble a couple times before launching a beautiful fade away? Well that's just like Jackson except he doesn't make fade aways.

6:09 - LeBron just got a break away double pump tomahawk dunk. Cavs up 42-41.

5:35 - He just knifed through the lane and threw it down again. Who is he? Do I even have to tell you?

2:48 - Zydrunas beat Andris down the court. Andris must be either tired or dead.

1:48 - After missing outside shot after outside shot after outside shot, Jamal Crawford's brain finally told him to go to the hole. And finally, he made a shot.

1:14 - LBJ for three. Why not? He's making everything else.

1:00 - CJ Watson with the elbow pad just hit a jumper. He can probably throw a mean bionic elbow with that thing.

:00 - LeBron got the rebound with four seconds left in the half, drove all the way down court, and if he didn't get trip, he would've probably dunked that one too. 58-52 Cavs at the half.


3rd Quarter

12:00 - Anthony Randolph starts for Brandan Wright. I guess the Warriors needed to go skinnier.

9:10 - Zydrunas traps at the top for some reason. Either that or he just couldn't get down court fast enough and decided to pretend.

8:00 - Maggette shoots a fade away 20 footer that missed the rim by about 3 feet. It's no wonder that Cleveland is up by 10.

5:59 - Ronny Turiaf thugged Zydrunas a bit and Zydrunas became very angry with him. What was funny about it is that it was Zydrunas who elbowed Turiaf in the throat. Zydrunas turned to Turiaf to yell some expletives at him but Turiaf couldn't say anything because he was trying to breathe.

4:32 - Maggette grabbed a rebound, jumped and hung in the air beautifully, but overshot the rim by two feet and now has three air balls. At least it looked pretty before he shot it.

3:03 - LeBron just hit his second three pointer in a row and the Cavs are now up by twenty points. I think you might be able to count the number of shots he's missed on one hand.

1:34 - Black Hole Jackson got to the hoop, put it up left handed and yelled, "And one!" The problem was that he not only didn't get the call, but he missed the shot. I think you have to wait until you make a shot before you can call that.

1:02 - LBJ found Anderson Varejao for a bucket and I think the song that came out of the speakers was Maniac from Flashdance. Is it because with his curly mane flopping over the top of his headband that Varejao looks like Jennifer Beals?

4th Quarter

12:00 - The Cavs outscored the Warriors 36-16 in the third quarter. I have a feeling we're going to see the youngsters for both teams.

11:39 - Brandan Wright just scored and was fouled. Announcer Bob Fitzgerald noted that all the young players were on the court and that it could be fun. Fun for whom? I used to screen calls for Bob back in my younger days at KNBR.

7:05 - How about this for a random CJ Watson stat? He's six for six shooting tonight and is ten for his last ten.

6:02 - Hey, Rob Kurz is in the game.

5:40 - Hey, Rob Kurz made a shot.

5:25 - The sound guy decided to play the music from Beverly Hills Cop for no reason whatsoever.

4:44 - This was immediately followed by the instrumental to Jay-Z's Encore. You're far too kind, far too kind.

4:44 - CJ doesn't miss free throws either. He just made two to cut the lead to 21.

3:14 - CJ just missed a shot. And here I was ready to call him the next great Warrior.

1:00 - It wouldn't surprise me if the sound guy was a real DJ. He just played Grindin' by the Clipse.

0:00 - The Warriors brought the deficit down to 15, but still lost 112-97.

LeBron photos by Scott Ableman and ben_lei and shared via creative commons

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

Last Night's Run - I See Promise

Can the Warriors get Gerald Wallace?
Before I get to last night's game, there was an article written yesterday that put a twinkle in Warriors fans' eyes.

The Sporting Blog talked about a potential trade which would net the Warriors Gerald Wallace and get rid of Al Harrington. Too good to be true? Probably.

Wallace would thrive in Oakland and give me a national holiday, while opening up PT for Brandan Wright. Al Harrington is kind of a bum, but he's also a 6'9" jump-shooter, which means on some basic level he'd fit with D'Antoni. And that buzz has been there for a minute.

But then not too soon thereafter, Tim Kawakami broke my heart worse than Hulk Hogan.

There’s a temporary–and perhaps serious–wrench in Al Harrington trade speculation:

His agent, Dan Fegan, says that Harrington has been nursing a back injury since late last month and that Harrington is scheduled for an MRI later today.

I'm still slobbering myself at the idea that we could get Gerald Wallace. But I won't believe it until I see it.

Warriors lose to the Grizzlies again
Rarely would I ever be in a good mood after the Warriors lost twice to the Memphis Grizzlies in one week. But after last night's ball game, while I was disappointed that they couldn't pull it out, I liked what I saw. They are still a Monta Ellis away from really competing at any decent level, but there was some young talent on that court last night. Brandan Wright, Anthony Randolph, and Andris Biedrins give the Warriors a long set of legs and arms to seemingly challenge any shot on defense, and dunk back any miss on offense. And though I've stated before that I'm not the biggest Jack fan when it comes to him controlling the offense and being the money guy, no one plays harder. While you cringe when he takes the "I have a dream" three pointer, you give him the benefit of the doubt because he plays so hard, guards the best perimeter player, and owns up to his mistakes.

We didn't play hard enough. Down the stretch I am the leader of the team, so I've got to be smarter and can't give up a wide open three to their best player at the end of the game.

They still have this logjam of odd guards trying to find time on the court. DeMarcus Nelson fits much better as a swingman coming off the bench for defensive purposes. CJ Watson looks like a decent back up point guard who can come in and spot up for jumpers. I'm not sure what Marcus Williams is quite yet, but at least Nellie let him on the floor.

If we can't get someone like Wallace, I'm not opposed to trying to bring in a starting point guard in a trade for Harrington. I actually like Ellis better as a two guard and it would allow Corey Maggette to come off the bench, where I think he'd excel.

More from last night
Devin Harris spoils AI's Detroit debut.
But Chauncey's homecoming goes a lot better.
The Hawks are 4-0. Where's Dominique Wilkins?
The Bobcats upset the Hornets. J-Rich and Raymond Felton each go for 20.

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.

Last Night's Run - The Rims Get Small

The Warriors can't shoot
It was one of those games. But it wasn't supposed to be one of those games. It was supposed to be high scoring, up and down, not fundamental, and wild and crazy. But it was none of those things. It was one of those games. It was one of those games where the home team plays a bit harder than the other, even if there were tons of fans dressed like seats in the arena. It was one of those games where one team simply couldn't make an outside shot so instead of taking things to the bucket and getting closer, they just kept shooting outside shots. Because you know, the percentages should even out right? How's this for shooting?

Bad Shooter	FGM	FGA
S. Jackson	6	21
C. Maggette	4	16
A. Harrington	3	15
T. Hardaway	0	17

I know, Timmy didn't play tonight even though if he did, it would've been an improvement. But the reason I put Timmy there is because if you remember that game, the Warriors still won even though Timmy couldn't find the broad side of the barn. Why? Because he was only one player. Chris Mullin was able to bail him out and the Warriors won. Here, when you have three guys who feel the need to chuck up shots without much success, it's detrimental to the team. At least Andris Biedrins came to play as he scored 14 and pulled 22 boards. Also, we had an Anthony Randolph sighting for one minute.



Marc Gasol, Pau's angry little brother, was the only player for Memphis to really play well, at least offensively. He went for 27 and 16 and looked smooth and rough at the same time, if that makes any sense.

OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay both went 6-13 shooting and neither got to the free throw line so Gay still leads Mayo by a large margin in shots taken.

I almost forgot. The Grizz won 90-79.

More on Iverson for Billups
Kelly Dwyer from Ball Don't Lie has a really good recap of why this trade is much better for Denver than Detroit.

Detroit's taking another chance, and though there's the possibility the team might whiff in free agency, it hardly matters. They've cleared cap space and developed even more options. If nothing happens this summer, then they can run the kids for a year before trying to clamp down on the 2010 free agent market. After all, only Tayshaun Prince ($11.1 million), Jason Maxiell (reportedly about $5 million), and the backcourt tandem of Stuckey and Aaron Afflalo (combined to make $4.7 million) will be on the books that summer.

Nobody, not even Joe Dumars or Iverson himself, will be able to anticipate what sort of impact his presence will have on this year's Pistons team. AI's game is that unique. But given the far-reaching implications of what this deal could do for Detroit, again, it hardly matters in the long run.

Geoff Lepper says that Denver might've received some short term cap relief, it won't help that much in the long run.

The Nuggets save some $8 million in the short term; Billups ($11.1 million) and McDyess ($6.8) represent more than $4 million in savings over Iverson's cost ($21.9 million), which is doubled because the Nuggets are — even with this cost-cutting move - slated to go several million over this season's luxury-tax threshold of $71.15 million.

The deal could get even sweeter if the team is able to negotiate a favorable buyout with McDyess, who reportedly won’t play anywhere but Detroit.

But unlike Iverson and his soon-to-expire deal, Billups is on the books for another $25.2 million in '09-'10 and '10-'11 combined (there's also a player option for $14.2 million in '11-'12) and McDyess - unless a buyout is reached - will pull down $6.8 million next season.

So, in exchange for some short-term relief, the Nuggets have cast their lot with a 32-year-old point guard who has never led an up-tempo attack before in his life.

Tim Kawakami says that Denver got better, even if it doesn't make them a lot better.

The Nuggets aren't good enough to challenge in the West, but the Nuggets weren't going anywhere with AI and, in their spot, desperately needing new talent around Carmelo Anthony, it’s probably better to add Billups and his longer money than it is to let AI walk away next summer just to save some cash.

If I have this right, since the summer, Denver basically has traded Marcus Camby (given away a few months ago for cash purposes) and Iverson for Billups and McDyess plus some extra salary savings to use on Linas Kleiza's new deal and maybe some other things.

Again, nothing spectacular, but it's better than Denver sitting around and letting that roster atrophy and watching Carmelo get nasty and pretty soon he's ready to get the heck out.

Last Night's Run - Is Jack Really The Guy?

Warriors beat the Nets in New Jersey and I couldn't find it on TV
I was only able to listen to about half of the third quarter last night on KNBR. But my question is why, in this day and age, are there still radio only games? With all the cable channels in the world, why can't I get a Warriors game on TV? Even though New Jersey isn't a sexy pick, I'm sure some Bay Area fans would've wanted to see Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson play with their new team. Lopez had 10 points and 8 rebounds, though fouled out in only 19 minutes of action. Anderson had 12 and 4 in 18 minutes. Compare that to Yi Jianlian who started and didn't even score. After watching two heart breakers, it would've been nice to see what was a fairly easy victory.

Is Jack the guy?
The Merc had a Stephen Jackson quote that I'm struggling with.

I just know I've got to make plays. I've got to be more demanding of the ball to get myself going. I'm 30 years old. I can't just stand there and break a sweat.

Stephen Jackson is really good in his role of being the third option on offense. But the guy? I'm not so sure. He has terrible shot selection, can't really create his own shot, and is much better without the basketball. His role today without Baron Davis and Monta Ellis is that of more importance, but in no way is the type of player who can be the guy on a winning team. I'm all for Jack's attitude and I'm glad that he wants the ball. But he's going to have to change his style of shooting without responsibility in order to lead this team.

Nellie says Al is on the block
Chris Sheridan of ESPN says that Al wants to be traded and he's definitely on the block.

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.

That quote came from Big Don.

Other news
Joe Johnson has the Hawks 2-0 in the early season.

The Celtics get their first loss while the Lakers are still undefeated.

Derrick Rose had a big game to lead the Bulls over the Grizzlies. Rudy Gay now leads OJ Mayo 67-46 in shot attempts.

Last Night's Run - Warriors Give It Away Again

Warriors give it away
Give it away give it away give it away now
Give it away give it away give it away now
Give it away give it away give it away now



The Warriors might've been listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers before the first two games of the season. If that's the case, I have one request for them. Please stop.

Hornets and Raptors fan could argue that their teams won the games rather than that the Warriors lost them and that's a valid argument. However, it doesn't go with the theme of this post, so I'll stick with my argument.

Nellie went with a much different type of lineup Friday night. It was actually bizarro-Nellie, and on Halloween Night. Rather than go small against Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani, and Jermaine O'Neal, he went large to take advantage of Jose Calderon, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, and Jason Kapono. Nellie's best line-up consisted of Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette, Al Harrington, Ronny Turiaf, and Andris Biedrins. Defensively, they were tremendous, especially Turiaf. It made me think that he needs to start at the 4 spot, even if they don't go big.

Much like teams without great point guards do, the Warriors turned the ball over in the clutch. Late in the 4th quarter with the lead, they took terrible shots, threw the ball away, fell down with the ball in their hands, and things like that. It seemed that Corey Maggette was the designated go to guy in the 4th, but he didn't work out. Kapono was guarding him and rather than take Kapono to the hole and go to the free throw line, he was setting for jump shots and fade aways. And then when he finally decided to go to the hole, he wasn't getting the calls.

Al Harrington seems to believe that the heavy minutes that the starters are playing is causing them to be tired by the game's end, in what I think seems to be a shot at Nellie.

In the preseason, we weren't playing 40 minutes. Right now we are, so it's something we've got to get used to, get adjusted to, and quick.

The preseason is usually a time where you're resting. It seems like we should have been playing a little bit more so we'd be prepared for now. It's going to take us a couple of games to get adjusted to and then we'll start knocking our shots down in the fourth.

It's a logical statement, but anything he says might seem a little tainted because of this now public feud with Nellie.

New Jack City brings people together
Truehoop has a great story about Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge and how there was a tiff between them and they were brought back together because of a trip to Oregon for Nike. During the trip, they watched New Jack City (Odom was also on the trip, but he's a sleeper) together and found out that they were each huge fans of the movie. And then, because they didn't have cell phone reception, they just started talking and worked things out.

With Rodney King's resurgence (he's on Dr. Drew's second season of Celebrity Rehab), I was reminded of this quote. "Can't we just all get along?"

Gay/Mayo Update
Rudy Gay hit a buzzer beater to help his Grizzlies beat the Magic last night. But more importantly, he opened up a huge lead over OJ Mayo in the shots category. He took 26 shots last night to Mayo's 11. He now leads 48-31.

Last Night's Run - Baron Davis Needs The Warriors

Baron Davis needs the Warriors and the Warriors need Baron Davis.
After watching my poor Warriors lose their home opener last night and at the same time seeing that the Clippers were blasted by the Lakers, I came to the conclusion that Baron Davis leaving the Warriors doesn't just hurt the Warriors, it also hurts Baron Davis.

(At least it hurts him on the court. Jay Jay just posted that Baron is now dating Kate Hudson.)

The Warriors some how hung tight with New Orleans last night and did it without having a point guard on the court for most of the night. Rookie DeMarcus Nelson, who isn't even a point guard, started at point guard for the Warriors, but for most of the night Stephen Jackson played the point, and we're not talking point forward. The Warriors played like Mike Martz was coaching them. They were frenetic, crazed, and at times, Stephen Jackson was playing like he took 4 shots of vodka at halftime. With Baron, they would've won the game, and probably easily. Even though Corey Maggette was better than expected, putting up 27 and 8, without anyone to direct that team, they looked like a 33 win team. They desperately need Monta, but it's not like he's a point guard either.

As for Baron, it might be worse. I took one look at the starting lineup that the Clippers rolled out there against the Lakers and man for man, the Warriors were better. I'm not sure how you can win with Tim Thomas starting and Ricky Davis coming off the bench and playing 24 minutes. Baron might've bit off more than he can chew. Marcus Camby was injured, but he's not going to help them put the ball in the hole. Who is going to score for the Clippers other than Baron? Cuttino Mobley is a career 16 ppg scorer, but that's on shooting 43% compared to Monta shooting over 50% last year. Maybe Al Thornton improves on his 16 ppg from his rookie year and maybe Eric Gordon finds a way to get some playing time. But that's a lot of maybes and when your best player is a guy who is oft injured, that's not a good look.

Photo by luzer shared via creative commons

Baron, you and the Warriors need each other. On the Warriors, you regained your status as one of the best point guards in the league. Without them, I'm not sure you can be.

Al Harrington vs. Don Nelson
The Warriors do have more pressing worries though. This won't be like the Chris Webber deal because Al Harrington isn't as good of a player, but it looks pretty ugly.

Geoff Lepper has some quotes from both guys.

From Nellie:

He better play his ass off, don't you think? For us to make a trade for him and get a good player in return, he's going to have to play well. Otherwise, if he doesn't play well, he doesn't get his wish, and I don't get mine by having a good player... You're going to play all you want. You're going to be begging to come out of the game.

From Harrington:

I've heard that before. So I'm just at the point where I want it to be shown to me... I've been the gunslinger before and the guy that could do whatever I wanted to on the floor. And that didn't happen (here). That's why, when he tells me that, I can't jump for joy, because I've heard it before. We'll start tonight and we'll see if that's the truth.

Nellie wins round one. Harrington shot 5-17 in 42 minutes with only 13 points and 7 boards.

Mayo vs. Gay
I stated in my preview that one of the most exciting battles this season would be to see who has the most shot attempts between chuckers OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay. After one game, Rudy leads 22-20. Come on OJ, I got money on you.

Plan C: Corey Magette

Baron Davis said no. Gilbert Arenas said no. Elton Brand said no. But Corey Maggette said yes. According to Marc Stein from ESPN.com, it’s a $50 million contract for five years.

He also stated that it is believed that the Warriors will sign LA Lakers power forward Ronny Turiaf to an offer sheet, which the Lakers will have a week to match. I’m not sure they’ll let Kobe Bryant’s buddy get away.

Also, say goodbye to Mickael Pietrus. It looks like he’s on his way to Orlando. My favorite Pietrus moment was when I was at a game several years ago with Eddy Zucko, and they asked Pietrus who his favorite cartoon charter was. He said it was, “The Tweety Bird”. And he said it like only Pietrus could say it.

With Baron Davis verbally committed and ready to sign with the Clippers, word is that Elton Brand is heading to Philadelphia. Is that a back stab job worthy of when Carlos Boozer verbally committed to Cleveland and then went and took the offer from the Utah Jazz? J.A. Adande, also from ESPN.com, started his column about Brand by saying it is what it is.

As it turns out, Elton Brand is an NBA player, the Clippers are the Clippers and the joke’s on all of us who ever thought otherwise.

I wonder if B-Diddy can do the same and come back to the Warriors. Actually, I wouldn’t wish that on Clippers fans.

So why would Brand spurn the Clippers after saying all along that he wanted to help the Clippers get another superstar right by his side? Ric Bucher says it’s more about how he thinks he fits in the Eastern Conference. But it also has to be about the benjamins. It always is.

The Warriors Are Trying To Steal Brand

Supposedly, Elton Brand opted out of his contract so that he could offer the LA Clippers some flexibility to help to the team offer more money to a big time free agent. Last night, they got their guy in Baron Davis. It seemed like a lay-up that Brand would then agree to a contract that would allow he and Davis to be Clippers for the next several seasons. But it looks like Chris Mullin and the Golden State Warriors have given Brand something to think about.

According to both Tim Kawakami and Marc Stein, the Warriors have offered Brand max free agent money to come up north.

If the Clippers offer Davis what is expected to be $65 million over five years, their offer to Brand looks to be smaller than what the Warriors can throw at him. The Warriors reportedly are offering at least $90 over 5 years. I won’t even pretend to understand the NBA’s salary cap, but it seems that in order to have both Davis and Brand under contract for next season, the Clippers’ offer could be much less than what the Warriors could offer.

But Brand specifically has stated that his goal was to remain a Clipper and that he was inspired by what Boston did by having Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen all on the same team. He wanted superstar teammates who were willing to give it their all. So if that’s his goal, the Clippers are probably his team. The Warriors’ best player is a young and small shooting guard and right now, they have no point guard. Will money talk? Who knows. But my bet is that Brand takes the Clippers deal. If he doesn’t, he might be more hated in Los Angeles than Carlos Boozer is in Cleveland.

BDiddy Gives Back The Keys To The City

It was time. Baron Davis opted out, the Warriors called his bluff, and now BDiddy is going to southward. According to Mark Stein, Davis has verbally agreed to join the LA Clippers. The deal is said to be for five years and $65 million, which according to possible deals I saw from the Warriors, was similar in base money, but definitely longer in years.

If Elton Brand comes back as well, the Clippers have two definite stars and immediately leap frog over the Warriors in the West. As for the Warriors, it doesn’t look like Gilbert Arenas is coming back to play for the team that drafted him. Newly re-signed Antawn Jamison thinks it’s a done deal that Arenas is back with the Wizards.

Now, where do the Warriors go from here? I think Chris Mullin and company have a back up plan, but I guess we’ll have to wait.

We’ve been basketball blogging a lot lately.

Agent Zero Is In The Picture Again

The Wizards Insider blog at the Washington Post is reporting that soon after Baron Davis opted out of his contract, the Warriors were trying to offer former Warriors guard Gilbert Arenas a max contract in the neighborhood of $100 million. The Wizards are offering a bit more (and an extra year), so Agent Zero has a big decision to make.

Warrior Fans, Remember This Guy?

The Wizards are offering more and have a better shot at making waves playing in the lesser Eastern Conference. But really, you could argue that the East had the two best teams in the league in Boston and Detroit. So even though the Wizards’ shot at making the playoffs and advancing further would be easier than the Warriors’, there’s still a bit of a ways to go for the Wiz. You could also argue that the Warriors have not only the better team, but the style that suits Arenas’ game best.

I don’t think the Warriors have the best shot to get him. I do think Arenas will stay in Washington. That city loves the guy. But kudos to the Warriors by going for the top guy available, after their own guy spurned them. It also says to Davis that he’s not even thought to be the best possible free agent by his own team.

I say this to Chris Mullin, which was first told to Mick Foley by Dominic DeNucci - you gotta a lotta ball(s).

Baron Opts Out

In what was a surprise move at least to me, Baron Davis opted out of the last year of his contract, that was to pay him nearly $18 million this upcoming season. This is according to the AP via ESPN.com.

The reason why I never thought it would happen is because I didn’t think there was a market for Davis to make more than that.

What it means to me is that maybe Davis and his agent think that it’s not safe to play out the deal and risk possible injury and instead, market himself based on last year’s play. If he were to get injured this year, his reputation would suffer and his earning power could be cut drastically. But I’m not sure it’s even going to matter. If anyone saw Davis at the end of last year, he wasn’t even close to the same person he was in the first half of the season. To say that he wore down at the end of the season would be a fair statement.

The Davis camp must believe that there’s a secure deal out there. He gave up $18 million for the opportunity to find one. Now the Warriors need a point guard, whether it’s going to be Davis if they resign him, or someone else.

What about Davis for Elton Brand in a sign and trade?

Staying Positive

By ShavedAsian:

Okay, so it’s been about an hour since the devastating loss to the Nuggets (now coinciding with the devastating loss of Michael Johns).  I have officially taken myself off of suicide watch, and I think it’s time to take a look at the bright side:

1. We still aren’t out of it.  If we go 2-1 and the Nuggets go 0-3 , or we go a 3-0, and the Nuggets go 1-2, over the last three games, we can actually still make the Playoffs!  Actually, it’s probably likely that Denver will go 1-2.  But, it’s hard for me believe that we will go 3-0, seeing that we play the Suns on the road, and seeing that we haven’t won back to back games in almost a month.


2. If we miss the Playoffs, the Warriors shame live in infamy!  A couple years from now, no one is going remember who the Hornets swept in the first round of the 2008 Playoffs.  But they will remember who is the best team who have never made the Playoffs.  Sorry that was a stretch…


3. If we miss the Playoffs, the beer goggles finally come off.  The fool’s gold becomes piryte.  Reality starts to set in.  The jig is up!  This team has had Baron Davis the entire season, and we still missed the playoffs.  This should persuade management that something needs to happen.  Fans won’t keep buying these Playoff Push Packages if they know the team won’t make it.  Hopefully, they will start making some moves, and hopefully, it starts with shipping out Al Harrington.  Here’s some wishful thinking, but what if the $10 million we received for the JRich trade actually gets put to use?


4. There is hope for next year.  Making the Playoffs last year made me realize how much I missed the Draft Lottery.  Anything can happen.  In 1994, the Magic were the 13th team in the standings, and they still landed the top pick.  Most likely, that’s not going to happen to us, but if we could land one of my beloved Bruins: Kevin Love or Russell Westbrook, that would ease the pain!


5. PT for the rookies!  If Denver wins the next two games and/or the Dubs lose the next two, we could see Wright, Bellinelli, and O’Bryant get some major minutes… Seriously, I have been waiting all season for that.


6. This team has a such a bright future.  Imagine a starting line-up of Monta, Westbrook/Love, Bellinelli, Beans, and Wright five or ten years from now.  Monta will probably be an all-star next year.  And even if only two or three of the other players reach their potential, this would be scary team, that you can pencil in for the Playoffs.

Man, now I’m going to feel like a douche if we actually make it to the Playoffs

Showdown in Little Roar-acle

By ShavedAsian:

And here we are, more than 24 hours before the biggest game of the season… With four games left, this is a MUST MUST WIN for the Warriors. If they win this game, they’re in the driver’s seat.

The Dubs need to finish one game ahead of the Nuggets in the standings since the Nuggets hold the tie-breaker. If we win tomorrow, we are a game up on Denver.  And I expect them to win two of the last three games of the season, against the Clips and Sonics.  If the Warriors win two of three, then Denver will need to go 3-0 to get into the Playoffs.  Since the Nuggets play both the Rockets and the Jazz, this will be a tough task.  But, if the Warriors lose tomorrow, they would need to go 3-0 for the rest of the season (against the Clips, Suns, and Sonics) and pray that Denver goes 1-2 (Utah, Houston, Memphis). Now, that isn’t impossible but with the unpredictable play from both teams, you don’t want to count on a Denver loss.

The Warriors have lost all three of the previous Must Win games (Denver, Dallas, New Orleans) up to this point. However, what makes tomorrow’s game different is that this is a home game. This should make us the favorite, right? I mean, we are a great home team, have loud and intellectual fans(when they’re not doing The Wave during critical moments of a game), and Denver is a lousy away team… But being a Warriors fan for such a long time has naturally turned me into a pessimist. This is what bothers me:

1. Over their last ten games against the Top 8 teams in the Western Conference, the Warriors are 2-8, the only wins coming from the Gasol/Bynum-less Lakers, and the Dirk/Stackhouse-less Mavericks.


2. What genius scheduled a Western Conference game at 5PM?!?! This will certainly affect the home court advantage. Most people do not work 5-2, 6-3, or 7-4 shifts. I remember last year in the Western Conference Semi-Finals against the Jazz, Game 3 started at 6PM. For the first quarter, the lower bowl seats were about half to 2/3 full. And that was for a Playoff game! What makes our arena so valuable is that our team feeds from the energy of the fans. Will the Warriors feed off of a half-full stadium for much of, if not all, of first half? Heck, if this were a Laker game at Staples, fans would be filtering in until the game ended.


3. Our defense has been lousy. We allowed 132 points to the Kings last night, and this was without Brad Miller or Ron Artest playing. The only time we beat Denver this year was when we made an effort to play defense. The other games, where we tried to outrun/outscore them, ended in losses. Hopefully, the return of Pietrus should cause some problems for Carmelo, and Baron can bottle up AI.

I hope we win tomorrow, so I don’t have to make a “Scenario Generator” for the remaining three games. Some sort of makeshift flow chart on how the Warriors can get to the Playoffs (my God, I SO see this coming). But even if we lose tomorrow, and end up not making the Playoffs, I am satisfied with what has been a very entertaining season…. who am I kidding…they better WIN!!