So...... With the new talkative face of the Golden State Warriors appearing to have hit a "technical" glitch with today's conference call with Anthony Randolph.... does this bode badly for the season? Or do we think...."Yeah...playoffs just round the corner!"

Well I guess the latter depends on the length of the street and for many of us, the street has been a "no exit" freeway for far too long now!

So...WILL people make their voices heard and protest for the removal of Robert Rowell in light of the fact that he has still yet to apologize or make any form of offer to last seasons Club 200 Season Ticket Holders who he openly told were "Screwed" by this organisation.

The problem with many businesses today, including Wall Street and the major banks and even our own beloved GSW's is that "Crap flows downhill" and when we look around to find ourselves in the midst of a mess MANY of us want to see those at the top of the tree fired for incompetance, rather than be given financial handouts or continued contracts.

Robert Rowell's EXTREMELY poorly chosen words WILL come to haunt him unless he makes a significant effort to make amends with the fans, oh and by the way "Bobby" (as your ticket sales like to all you) I am still awaiting our 1 on 1 interview which I am willing to conduct at any time!

So in light of the potential Hawks trade for Crawford and the draft..... will we be:

"Just not quite good enough again...."

"forever harking back to the Run TMC or We Believe Team"

"A team that no-one wants to play as we will rip the court up running and shooting the lights out"

Oh and I believe the unofficial reason why AR could not make the call today was not because the Hamster that usually powers the computer of Broadnet was infact out cruising the streets in his Red Kia Motor! instead it is reported that AR heard an ice-cream van go by the studio and as he is trying to bulk up....he ran off after it!

;)

It is clear that there is a HUGE amount of dissatisfaction from the majority of Golden State Warrior fans for the way the 2008-2009 season has developed. However the majority is also not venting this displeasure at the players (some fell off moped’s punch drunk on cash, some sulked like babies to get more cash here or elsewhere, some lost form, some shone very brightly, etc) no…instead the majority of fans from the impression I get is that the Front Office is possibly more disliked now than it has ever been?

Unfortunately Bay Area basketball fans seem to be amongst the most dedicated in the league and as such they dearly love their basketball and as such they will pay money to go watch their team. Some might point out that such attendance is in some way shape or form an indication that the club is clearly fully supported by its fans when in fact I do not think this is the case.

So just for people to give their own display and for this never to be refuted by management as “Media spin” I have decided to post the question below.

If Christopher Cohan has a single interest in the concerns of the fans that support the club he owns, he might consider certain positions within the organization. If people have been seen to have done a bad job then they should be fired, pure and simple. Maybe every Club 200 season ticket holder should sign up to a law suit suing the organization for compensation following the statement made by Robert Rowell? It seems money is the primary driving factor in this organizations consideration of fans and yes they dropped prices for next year, but how does this compensate the fans of this year, other than guarantee more money in the bank now?

Some have suggested a boycott of the Arena. This is hard to do when we as fans are so loyal to our team and we enjoy supporting our team, however there must be means by which the fans must be heard and this will be either in the form of a poll, a petition, or protests before games for changes to be made in the front office.

If you read in the media guide that is issued to media with regards to people and positions, there are a number of senior positions now held by people who started off as ticket sales interns. The problem that occurs here is your management team becomes an Ivory Tower. They are groomed in the style and manner of the existing organization members and thus you get a blinkered view of the world and one where you dare not step out of line. This organization NEEDS fresh blood to come into the Front Office and help sort out the mess that this season was. It needs to embrace the fact that there might be people who are die hard Warriors fans who might also have a great deal of business knowledge and experience that can assist this Basketball franchise to become one of the most successful in the league with a fan base that is pleased with the front office and their treatment from said office.

For example, blame was put by one season ticket rep to me on the diabolical lines and food service at Oracle Arena as being the fault of Levy restaurants as they have the contract for the food and beverages and thefore it is not the fault of the Warriors. Am I then to assume they will have their contract terminated this offseason, or does the organization intend to reward poor performance with continued business. That all depends on what the Franchise actually thinks of its fans, and this year, that was not very much in Club 200.

This franchise NEEDS some marketing, organizational and business minded Pitbull’s to come into the fold and start making sweeping changes before next year. Throughout the year Season Ticket reps were voicing the concerns relayed to them throughout the whole season….and nothing was done. That means that whoever was at the top of the tree responsible for season ticket holders, failed miserably in their job. Alternatively they also banged their fist on the table and said “this simply isn’t good enough we have to change” or…said person was in fact overruled by the senior management of this franchise and told not to worry about it? However the company President was quick tolay blame and point fingers at others, stating that he would “kick the backsides of those responsible at the back of this room”. However nothing has been stated or mentioned as to what will be done yet at the same time the organization is saying “give us your money..we cannot do this without you”.

So the question below is posed and it is a simple yes or no answer. At the very least, this will indicate the current level of fan perception of the front office of this franchise, what Mr Cohan then does with that, is down to him.

 

Poll

In the eyes of the fans, has the Golden State Warriors front office failed miserably in its duties this year?

91%

Yes

178 votes

8%

No

16 votes

194 votes | Poll has closed

Tonight I and some other season ticket holders that had some “concerns” about this year, the team and the coaching got to meet Robert Rowell before the Timberwolves game and he spent a good ¾ of an hour answering some pretty frank questions.

 

First and foremost I have to say, he didn’t dodge one question, was extremely honest and took genuine interest in the points raised. I will give you some of the content, some of which many of you are going to be quite surprised at.

 

RR made it very clear he does not read newspapers or blogs as more often than not, people create complete fiction just to try and grab some headlines. I don’t think anyone in the room had any doubt who he was aiming this at, possibly a certain person writing for the Mercury News.

 

The first main topic of conversation was Baron Davis’s departure and the events that followed thereafter and fans were not happy at some of the signings and the fact that Baron was allowed to go. RR made it very clear that what was published in the newspapers was complete fabrication. He said Baron was never offered just a 3 year contract. He was in fact offered a 5 year contract that could have paid Baron a total based on performance of $75m USD. However the organisation had concern about his ability to see out a season and so the contract was broken into 3 parts. It was a guaranteed contract for 3 years with a certain number of games having to have been played in years 2 and 3 in order to trigger year 4, likewise performance in years 3 and 4 to trigger year 5. Had Baron been prepared to commit to that deal, he would have made $75m USD. He was also offered another option to opt in to his exisiting agreement that would have been worth an extra $17m USD. However HE chose to turn that down and go for a straight non-performance related deal with the Clipps, his choice. Personally I found that very interesting and I can understand why the organization was concerned about his fitness and it seems....so did Baron, which is why he went for the guaranteed lesser amount offered by the Clipps!

 

He went on to discuss other players that were let go. Again very honest and he said "the biggest regret he has on players that have left is the loss of J-Rich, in his personal opinion that deal should not have been done." This obviously led on to question as to “who” then is picking the “talent” as he calls it. He stated that there is a team that seeks talent and a team that coaches that talent and a team that manages the club. He explained that Don Nelson’s role is the coaching and while he is a very big fan of Nellies and his style of play, he felt some comments that were made to the press this year should have stayed within house; for example the Randolph discussions and the Crawford statement.

RR admits he likes Crawford, but at the moment it is clear a Crawford Ellis backcourt does not work and leaks defensive points like a sieve.  However he made it very clear that Nellie had no business discussing the Crawford options to the media or be quite so vocal about discussions he had with Randolph. He did however state very clearly that Randolph was actually getting continually “outplayed” in every practice by Rob Kurz at the start of the year and he said something like, “Kurz...Rob Kurz....can you believe that, he should never have been outplayed by Rob, he simply was not working hard enough in practice and needed a kick in the butt”. He went on to describe that Nellie was right to treat him the way he did, however management did like what they saw in Randolph and Morrow and pushed a little to see those two players more on court. He believes both have great potential for this league and most importantly this organisation. It was clear to me that he was saying loud and clear that Randolph and Morrow are both key figures for the Warriors future that won’t be going anywhere.

 

This lead on to what changes are going to be made and whose fault were some of these bad player choices? He said...”well are you happy with 28 wins?” He mentioned that first and foremost he is a Golden State Warriors Fan and 28 wins simply is not good enough, but then no one expected the star player to go fall off a moped having signed a very nice contract and then lie to the organisation about the injury thereafter. He said, “How could we have seen that coming as an incident?” He was then pushed further on the Monta issue and whether the contract will be voided. He said “absolutely not, it’s in the past, the contract is not going to be voided and anyone who suggests otherwise is simply talking hot air, it’s NEVER going to happen, it was an extremely unfortunate event, but it is in the past, over.” He was then asked if changes are going to be made where will they be and is Monta the first choice for PG?

 

RR stated that he does not think that anyone has seen Monta play as a true PG yet, with a fully healthy team behind him. He believes that given the right players around him, he can actually do a good job at the PG. My interpretation of that is that Crawford might be an option to switch with Ellis on court i.e. off the bench and Morrow as the SG? Or possibly someone else in the SG position maybe Jackson? However, I wouldn’t be surprised if we made a move over the summer for another Vet that might take the place of Crawford and that could have a better playing style to complement Ellis and help develop his PG skills and no I don’t think that will be BD!! Maybe Kidd?

 

Questions were then asked of Jackson. He went on to describe that for all Jacks mistakes and moments when he is cold, he is one of the hardest working members on the team for Defence and this is one of the primary reasons why Nellie keeps him in the game so much as there just is not enough effort being made on D in other areas. He also pointed out that when jackson is on form he is an excitingplayer to watch and is a very dangerous weapon against teams when on fire. 

He also went on to state that the “Centre” position is not even open for discussion, he believes it is the strongest it has been for decades and that Andris is VERY much part of this teams future. I heard his tone and saw the body language and he is either a very good poker player or he is genuinely keeping Biedrins in this club, no matter what. I got the impression that he is possibly a bigger fan of AB to stay at the club than anyone even more so than Ellis, Morrow and Randolph. He see's Andris "without doubt as a future All-Star", in his words. He stated that he wants to see the young guys develop more and Nelson will get this job done with them. He stated that even though the young guys who have been playing well together in the last few games, "they" as a unit are no way good enough or at the level expected by the organisation for this club to have opportunity to fight for playoff positions. So he said.... ”Yes we will have to make some changes”.

 

The way he was discussing the team, I think he was making it clear that Biedrins , Morrow, Randolph, (I think) Ellis, Turiaf, are all key pieces for this organisation next year most likely along with Jackson and probably Buike. Nobody else was really mentioned and therefore my read of that is that no one else’s position on the team is safe.

 

He said he understands that the fans have been unhappy with the situation this year but he also stated that the club felt this even more and the injuries have been like no other year. I have to say I was impressed with his responses and the manner in which he gave them as I truly believe his responses were genuine and he is very keen to make certain changes in the off season by whatever means to make this club a real contender in the West. Read into that what you will?

 

The conversation went on to Chris Mullin the relationship with coaching staff and the organisation at large. He mentioned the fact that he likes Chris Mullin a great deal and that it was him that brought CM back to the organisation and again he highlighted that a great deal of the “Internal War” that is supposedly going on, is again fabricated Horse crap by certain journalists. He stated that CM’s contract was not extended to simply see how some of the latest draft picks develop, following on from some not so good past performances. He made it very clear that the organisation is less than happy with a number of the recent draft picks (Like POB) that have simply been bad and there were a number of contracts made in the past that were also truly bad.

But he stated that they recognised that and the organisation has done everything in their power to rectify those past mistakes.  He stated that there is the coaching staff, their focus is purely geared to the development of the players they are given. There is the “Talent” team whose job it is to go find the players and then the Management who have to justify the choices and have input where required if it is clear that certain choices are not delivering enough to the team, i.e the team is not winning and therefore may need to go.

 

I followed on from this with a question then about the current situation and rather than have to have injured players get suited up to simply make 8 players, could they not go and get a player like Hendrix who knows a lot of the plays to help fill a gap on a 10 day contract? He said there was no reason at all why they couldn't , but the coaching staff didn’t want to and preferred to run with the guys they have for the last few games.

 

The discussion then changed tack slightly and went on to season tickets, pricing, etc and that as a season ticket holder, it’s hard to see people coming in and sitting in considerably better seats AND having paid less than many season ticket holders for their seats further back.

 

He said... ”First thing I will say is, if you were in Club 200 this year YOU WERE SCREWED! this year you were completely screwed!” I kid you not, those were his exact words. He said, “unfortunately with the economy the way it went, they simply did not foresee the speed at which the economy was going to fail just as they could not foresee someone falling off a moped (which I thought was quite funny that he raised that again). But he said “as the President of a business, I have to make decisions that try to generate as much revenue as possible due to the ever increasing Salary base among other things that must be met, that means if seats are empty, we have to offer promotions to sell some of those seats, however that meant that certain season ticket holders got a rough deal”. He did go on to state that he believes the lower bowl is extremely good value for money versus other arenas and he will stand by that as they have compared pricing of the lower bowl to other arenas.

 

I then jumped in with follow up question as to how and why Club 200 season ticket holders were treated so poorly? I think I said something along the lines of “As you have said this is about running a business, you’re doing it, I’m doing it, so I understand that no one could have foreseen the crash in the economy or certain injuries however, it’s the reaction thereafter that I cannot understand.” I continued, “To me it is not rocket science to know that your very bread and butter income, comes from Season Ticket holders and as one of those Club 200 STH’s, we have received ZERO in the way of proper customer care, which means that if you have unhappy STH’s, they won’t renew and if so, you end up having to spend more money on marketing/advertising to replace those STH’s with new ones, when you could probably spend a great deal less to make those STH’s feel valued and especially when they see seats being sold for $8! Is it really that hard for someone to come up with the idea of maybe offering STH’s the chance to come to practices to meet the players, hold more events at the arena to meet the staff, have STH opportunities to meet the players after a game rather than just kids? Maybe offering free parking vouchers, free beer/food vouchers, huge discounts in the store....I said the list is truly endless at what could have been done and nothing was done, which in my personal opinion and experience in the field of sales and marketing was dire and beyond a joke. Add to that the fact that people have to wait sometimes a whole quarter to get a Burger and ‘my what pricey burgers’ they are too! Could it possibly be useful to have soft drinks, Popcorn, Pretzels and peanuts, cold items on carts, thus saving the stands for Beer and hot food? This would surely help reduce the lines?, In short I feel there was a definite DROP in customer care this year as compared to last year, which considering the price hikes, is why you have many people not wanting to renew tickets”.

 

His answer was a simple as this “ I have no answer for you, all your points are valid and very much taken onboard, what I can tell you is that I have to kick the backsides of those guys at the back of the room and there will be changes for next year. You have my apologies we simply did not do a good enough job this year for Club 200 season ticket holders but that will change”.

 

It was then pretty much 7.30 and game time and he wrapped up by saying that he truly appreciates every season ticket holder and as such whenever complaints are made they are read. But it is this organisations intention to continue to make changes to make this team better, but the young core and coaching staff will remain but that they will expect instant results next year and he hopes to be able to show fans next year that this year was a blip on the growth of the franchise and thus back to the playoffs next year.

 

And that as they say folks, is about as much as I can remember as I didn’t take in a digital recorder, so had to rely on the grey matter to remember!! It’s now 1.40am and my beds calls!

In conclusion, my overall impression of the guy I have to say has been changed considerably from that which is often portrayed in the media. I think he genuinely is doing what he can to ensure performance for the club, however in doing so, he has to pass responsibility to others to do their part and their job! Some players may not like that, but as he says, "this is a business first and foremost." However I do expect there to be quite a few changes to the roster, this is my guess and purely personal opinion, but I think that maybe trade talk for Bosh is unlikely, as I think Turiaf and Biedrins are set for next year. I think there is a chance Crawford might stay but only as a bench rotation for Ellis and whether he wants that or not remains to be seen? I also think Jackson, Randolph, Morrow are all set to return, my guess there could be question over Magette, Belinelli, Wright, Davidson, CJ possibly even Buike as maybe his stock value has increased considerably this year, but I hope we keep him. Rob Kurz....sorry but I think it’s bye bye Warriors for you sir! Oh and a certain Chris Mullin I would expect to announce that he will be joining somewhere else over the summer.

 

It was a fascinating evening and following on from my points, RR and I spoke very briefly as I left and he said he would be in touch to discuss certain issues further. I greatly appreciated the opportunity to have some valuable time with the guy and I am sure the other fans that were there around maybe 15-20 season ticket holders, also enjoyed chance to ask open questions and get answers straight from the top of the tree! We all then got the opportunity to watch the game from corporate suites; I could hear Ray just above me to the left! ;)

 

I hope and trust some of you find the thread above interesting and maybe there are at least one or two elements within it that you didn’t know before and some that “may” shed some light on possible changes over the summer, it will be interesting to come back to this article in September and see how accurate any of these thoughts/comments were.

 

Writing all this took my mind off a loss to the T-Wolves........sigh! Andris it was all your fault...you threw off the youngsters rhythm! ;)

 

Ends

BritWarriorGSW

 

Well as many of you know, I have been rather critical of the marketing department for GSW this year and have felt that the season ticket holders, especially in Club 200 have had a pretty poor service in the 08/09 season.

Lets just say I created a rather long email, with a number of points that I was less than happy about and offered ideas for areas of improvement. I'll hold my handup and say it was pretty direct and basically called the head of maketing's head on a silver platter....anyway....this was sent to a number of departments within the organisation and on this coming Wednesday I will get to spend some time before and during the game with a certain Mr R. Rowell to discuss some of thse areas of concern ....

So as I discussed today with Ray at the BBQ... I am sure there are some of you who have certain "questions" you would love to get answers to and dont get chance to ask, well I will do my damn best to ask and get answers to a number of Q's on behalf of GSOM.

So...open thread and I'll pick a selection on Wednesday to ask.

 

 

 

According to the post game eport on NBA.com, Monta has injured his Achilles Tendon. It does not go into details but either way...if that's another player we lose against New Orleans...we are in pretty dire straits! This was the injury I got in college and I really hope it is just bruised, which considering he could play through the pain, tends to suggest that is the case.

Fingers crossed.

So..... with that in mind I would like to throw out the following...... RICHARD HENDRIX!!!!!!! Can we please grab him back for a 10 day contract?

http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfile/index.jsp?player=richard_hendrix

He played a 27 point gamelast night and it seems he is continuing his defensive expansion.... I was a big fan of his when he was here for such a brief time and I would rather have him than Rob Bloody Kurz anyday.

Also this guy looks damn impressive but has not played since Feb?

http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfile/gamelogs.jsp?player=pops_mensah-bonsu

Likewise a similar player to Hendrix and maybe worthy of a 10 day contract

http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfile/index.jsp?player=dwayne_jones

I just dont think we can keep putting 8-9 men on the court......this is just plain stupid!

Combine that with the Refs who all seem to be watching a different game to most of us at the moment.... Let's have a look at some guys while we can...? Thoughts?

Also just noticed Shaun Livingston was just signed to a multiyear contract by the Thunder... maybe they see something in him for the future that some on these boards saw as well?

 

 

OK...this will not be the longest thread in GSOM history but seeing as we do not have it anywhere I thought we could put this up there for people maybe to say hello or wave!?!

As with most boards, no one knows who anyone is or where they sit, so I am starting this which hopefully people will "rec" to keep it visible for people as there is no way it seems to make a post "sticky" per se.

So if you are a Season ticket holder and on GSOM, let us know below as some of us may be sitting 20 feet away from each other and not have a clue!

I'll kick off:

BritWarriorGSW - Section 204 - Row 3

The 6'4", 225lb English bloke that keeps jumping up in front of you and howling at the refs! :)

<!--END NELSON QUOTES--><!--PLAYER 1 QUOTES-->

<!--END PLAYER 1 QUOTES--><!--PLAYER 2 QUOTES-->

	Don Nelson On Tonight's Game: “Well I thought we tried to do the right thing, just tough to establish a low post game. We’re just trying to compete right now. We’re not letting them get down. We’re being positive around them and we’re just trying to get better…and we will” On Stephen Jackson's Injured Hand: “I think it’s obvious (it’s affecting him). But it’s up to him if he thinks he can still play. He does other things well on the court, tonight he had seven rebounds and passed well. Scoring is not the only thing he possesses.” On The Small Lineup: “It was a small lineup game tonight the way I figured. We couldn’t matchup with their bigs so we had to go small and we struggled to score the ball. They made more shots, but it was a matchup we had to do.” On The Defense: “It was so hard for us to handle their screen and roll and with their three point shot it takes away from our weak side help. But Jameer (Nelson) has developed in to quite a player” On Marco Belinelli: “The way we are playing right now he fits in with that scenario. He’s done a nice job for us.”
	Jamal Crawford On Tonight's Game: “Hopefully the road can be good to us. Our fans have been great to us, honestly. Hopefully we can take care of business on the road and get back here in front of our fans because we will have a nice stretch in January And February to be here. Right now we just have to get back on track. We had a couple of wins and then we lost three in a row. But I really think this road trip could be good for us to get away, go bond, and get some wins.”
	Stephen Jackson On Playing Hurt: “That’s what matters to me, my teammates. Nobody made a big deal of my toe when I played in the playoffs, so I’m not going to make this a big deal about my hand. It happened, but I’m going to keep rolling.” On The Young Guys: “We have a bunch of young guys and they just want to play basketball and hopefully we can switch it up and win some games. They are staying positive for the most part and the guys that have been around here are helping them. But it’s definitely frustrating to them and this is something new to them, so they’ll have to find a way to deal with it.”

To Nelson:

On not letting players get down: The approach of "there, there" has got firk all to do with it. They are down because you are not putting them in soon enough. It has nothing to do with whats going on as a team, it's you, you idiot!

On Stacks Hand: If it's so bloody obvious why have you not told him to take a break for a couple of games?????.....it is not Stack's choice to decide if he plays or not, you are the damn coach and if it clearly is not working, get him off the court until he is better. You are doing more damage than good by playing him right now. As to the great passing.......I'm sorry I must have been at the toilet or getting a hot dog when this happened tonight as what I remembered most was his driving into a crowded lane AGAIN, throwing his arms and the ball in the air in an attempt to get a foul and then complaining for the next minute as to why it wasnt called. THAT is not adding to the team in any way shape or form!

On the small line-up: It didnt work.......so why didnt you change it you fool? Why did it take you so long to get BWright and Randolph into the game? Why the hell didnt Morrow get the ball passed to him nearly at all? If we go small to score and we are not scoring, it is not bloody rocket science to think, "this is not working" lets go to plan B! - Morrow, Belinelli, Turiaf, BWright and Randolph????????

On Defense: We dont have any thats why it is hard...enough said. I really want to know and have asked this many times, who the hell is the main defensive coach out of Silas, Smart, Moncrief, Nelson, etc.....who is he? His A$$ needs to be fired and right now! Bring in someone who can bloody coach some D to these young guys. Mr Pippen is doing such a role at the Lakers I believe? Maybe we could borrow him for a while?

On Belinelli: It is clearly working with him right now, so start him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Again not bloody rocket science, run with the players that are hot and stop benching them when they do well......what the hell was the idea behind benching Kurz unless he picked up a small injury? He had 20 points the last game....

To Crawford: We appreciate the acknowledgement mate, but if there is an issue right now, i.e your not happy with Stack bringing up the ball, then grow some balls and step forward and say "Give me the ball, I want it, I'll set up the plays, I'll be the provider"...then you will get more support from the fans. You clearly have superb handling skills, but your vision of your fellow players is letting us down right now. We saw you hit 40 points in a game...we need you to bring your "A" game back.

To Jackson: You may have the best intentions man, but you are killing us right now. I have the utmost respect for how you have turned your life around and the work you do outside of the court, but you have got to realise that playing hurt is hurting the team. Take a few games off, help coach and boost the young guys from the sidelines....and get better, find your shot again...come back with some gentle minutes....THEN...if you have your "A" game back..then you earn your time on the court just like everyone else, not just because your Captain Jack and therefore you feel you SHOULD be on the court.

On the young guys: Taking time from them whilst playing hurt is a crappy thing to do! There is no point you encouraging them, if you are clearly not playing well and they might be able to add more value to the team. THIS is why they are frustrated, because they have energy, drive and enthusiasm to get onto the court and try to help the team. recognise your part in this and you may start to see the route cause of the frustration...

IS IT REALLY THAT HARD FOR THESE GUYS TO SEE WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON???????????????? Dammit the responses they gave above are about as weak and pathetic as our game right now. SOMEONE needs a giant kick in the ass right now and I am not sure who needs it the most, the coaching staff, or SOME not all, but some of the players?

I really hope Stack is advised by a Doctor to skip a few games and maybe this roadtrip is the perfect time for him to take a break? I would like to see the following starting line-up in Indiana:

Crawford, Belinelli, BWright, Biedrins and Randolph, with Buike, Turiaf, Kurz and Morrow getting good minutes off the bench, backed up by Watson.

Let's see what they can do in Indiana

 

 

 

http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfile/index.jsp?player=richard_hendrix

A number of us GSOM'ers have been pushing now to bring this guy back and give him his chance to steady the defensive ship.

Nellie is a freakin idiot if he still believes that Kurz is more of what this team currently needs rather than Hendrix. His stats above show the element he can bring. Biedrins, Turiaf AND Hendrix would give us a much stronger defensive abaility when we need it. Question is, are we better letting Nellie continue playing his match up's which ultimately will hang himself? He surely could not survive as coach if we go 0-10? Could he?

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH............. We need some basic defense and in a hurry! I would also have the coaches get in the face of the players a lot more. Hell I would even kick a few in the butt! Magette I like as a player but his defense sucks and SOMONE needs to grab him by the ears and tell him to get his focus on D, drives and leave the damn 3 point attempts in the car park.

I would bring Hendrix back into the team straight away against OKC and stem the tide. Make that game a turning point if at all possible to play some basic freakin defense.

If you want Hendrix in...rec this up there!

 

 

 

Unfortunately another post was deleted that I had commented on and so I thought it more suitable to create a Post to try and give some words of experience to help with expectations.

In the summer of 1994, I had just played and unfortunately lost in the quarter finals of the British College Championship, to a team from Sheffield Unversity that consisted of 3 of the Sheffield Sharks's National Championship team, so I didnt feel so bad.

A couple of days later at practice I took a rebound, made a fast break right, but just as I went at full speed, I clipped the guy's ankle who had turned the opposite way that I had just rebounded. Thus at full sprint, my foot was now turned 90 degrees to the left and down, so that outside of my foot was now the first thing to hit the ground, at full sprint.

"CRACK", sure enough, my ankle collapsed with a proper crack that everyone in the gym heard and I thought there and then whilst screaming my head off, that I had broken my ankle. I was rushed to hospital in Leeds and the doctors found by sheer chance that the bone had not broken, but that I had torn the right achilles, but again fortunately not all the way across.

The end result was a boot cast for 2 months, brace and crutches for another 2 months, walking excercise for 2 months thereafter and after 6 months I returned to the Basketball gym, not to shoot hoops, but to run and run, and run, and run. Up and down the hall, simply building strength back into the ankle, all the while, wearing an ankle support.

8 months after the injury I started shooting hoops and making jump shots again, all the while wearing an ankle brace which takes some getting used to, but also "SLOWS" you down.

The following season I could still feel the ankle was not 100% and I continued to wear the ankle support everytime I played for that following year, but to this day, my ankle now clicks if I rotate it.

So enough of the background and to the point of the post.

Monta's injury is pretty similar in terms of severity, however he has time, some of the best resources and specialists all working to get him fit again. But time and time again I read comments here of "well when he comes back in December we will have another great weapon again", etc etc.

To those people, I urge you not to be disappointed if it takes a little longer. I was pretty much the same age as Monta when I did my ankle and it is trully incredible how well the body heals and he is galaxies ahead of me in terms of being an athlete than I was, so he will heal fast, but give the guy chance to bed himself in slowly.

He will no doubt have to use an ankle brace to start off with and he simply wont have the confidence for the first month or so, to truly go at it, the way he used to, without a little voice in his head saying "watch the ankle". You dont mean to, it just happens and just that thought, takes a second off your initial run.

Therefore I encourage you to have sensible expectations of Monta when he comes back, as it is going to take a LOT of gym time and practice, before he is ready to hit the court in an NBA environment. Remember he has to be 100% certain that if big Ronny T, of a KG lands on his ankle, it is strong enough not to instantly pop, and put him back further than he is now.

Now I am not the doctor involved in his case, but having been through a similar process, I just wanted some people to know that may not have faced an injury like this, how difficult it is, what bloody hard work it is to recover and "managing expectations" is the key here.

If he can come back and for the first couple of months, simply draw another defensive player to him, due to the threat, then he opens the court slightly for the other guys. Hopefully, then, if possible and due to increased ball movement and better defense, we reach the playoffs, THEN, he might just be fully fit to give us a sign of the pre-Moped Ellis.

But a fully fit, same as old Monta Ellis on December 26th against Boston, I dont think there is a hope in hell! Certianly not for a game of that status and the tempo that it is likely to be played.

My prediction for his return would be at home either on Jan 11th - Indiana, or Jan 14 - Sacramento. Just my guess. We'll see how the boy wander does.

I still dont like the way he handled himself follwoing the event or the bahaviour of his agent since, but I do wish him the fastest recovery possible and the safest return to action possible as he certainly provides firepower and threat that other teams find hard to match.

 

 

We are currently 0-7 in recent games that started with the loss to Chicago. In many of these games we could, should and would have had different results if decisions were made to go Defensive while the other team counter attacks when we have a 10 point lead.

There is a very serious chance that we may go 0-10 with Houston, the Spurs and OKC next games away, before we return to Oracle for the Bucks, who god forbid we should lose against.

My point is this, unless we change our defensive position once we get control of a game with offensive points, we are going to go through the same result, game, after game, after game.

I am damn sure Hendrix, would be 100% more use to this team than Kurz right now.. We do not need anymore outside shooters, what we need is someone on the otherside of Turiaf and Biedrins when we want to go big and Hendrix is THAT player. He does not have to go and score, but he has to defend our basket like an animal and he not only has the build for it, he has the mindset and confidence. Did any of you see his press interviews? He has great confidence and right now we need another "Bruiser" in the mix.

0-10 is a really scarey thought to me, mainly because I am not sure how the rookies mindsets will deal with it, let alone Jackson, who has already started to vent a bit.

So are we ready for people to accept that unlss we get smart and move the ball more and GO DEFENSIVE when we have to, we are going to lose to teams who's coaching staff have a look at our line up and then exploit the weak side wherever that may be and haul back a bunch of points.

The Celtics and Doc Rivers showed exactly what a coaching team should do, find a weak spot and utilize it with a player we dont know what to do with. "Rondo". Rivers got his team in the game, then sent on his "Big Guys" to defend for a while giving his starters a rest and kept swapping. He then saw that we were leaving the lane open everytime, and so he put on one of his really quick driving guys, Rondo, who was given all the room he needed.

If however the first couple of drives, Big Ronny T or Biedrins had stepped across and checked him HARD and I do mean HARD, Rondo would have thought twice about going in again.

Our issue is simply two things:

1: Ball movement and lack of it.

2: Defensive decisions.

If there is a chance we could look at this and read the other team a little better, I believe we start winning again. We have the raw talent, it grows and develops every game and right now we are at the school of hard knocks, but the basic principles of defending are not being met and our defensive guys all seem really "NICE" guys, who maybe need to put a gamemask on and start bashing bodies.

I loved the fact that STACK got in Dwades face last night, THAT IS WHAT BEING A WARRIOR IS ABOUT! Let other players know that they are not going to just push us around, dunk on us, or any of that crap. They play us, they will get a fight, once we get some of that spirit going, I guarantee we lose less games.