SB Nation User Blog: Dubs fan in Boston

Stack Jax for Radman: The Numbers

Dubs fan in Boston — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:47:41 -0000

If only Radman was really this guy:

via theheroiclife.files.wordpress.com

But seriously, let's take a look at the numbers, shall we?

Jackson:

2009/10: $7.65 million

2010/11: $8.45 million

2011/12: $9.26 million

2012/13: $10.06 million

2013/14: Free Agent

Law:

2009/10: $2,216,160

2010/11: $2,940,844 (Team Option)

2011/12: $4,026,015 (Restricted Free Agent)

2012/13: Free Agent

I'm under the impression that the Warriors had already declined the team option for 10/11, but this isn't being reported anyways. The BETcats can either keep him for $3M or not, it's their choice.

Radmanovic:

2009/10: $6,466,600

2010/11: $6,833,800 (Player Option)

2011/12: Free Agent

Bell:

2009/10: $5.25 million

2010/11: Free Agent

Bobcats combined contract obligations to Jackson & Law:

2009/10: $9.87 million

2010/11: $8.45 million

2011/12: $9.26 million

2012/13: $10.06 million

2013/14: None

The Bobcats owe these guys a minimum of $37.64 (including $18.32 million over the next two years)

Warriors combined contract obligations to Radmanovic & Bell:

2009/10: $11.72 million

2010/11: $6.83 million (Player Option)

2011/12: None

The Warriors owe these guys $18.12 million over 2 years.

In this trade, the Warriors have actually decreased their financial outlay for the next two years, and saved themselves $19.52 million in cap space over the following two years. This is a HUGE financial coup for the Warriors. It cannot be understated: HUGE.

Talentwise, I don't think anybody should much care. Jax had an absolutely awful contract. He was good, but the money owed him would prevent us from going out and getting additional talent. This year, he may have been worth 3-5 extra wins this season (and likely not even that much) over Radman/Bell. What you should read there is that Jax was not going to be the difference between the lottery and the playoffs. If anybody was going to be that difference, it was Monta, Randolph, and health... So far Monta's been in a funk, Randolph struggles to stay on the floor due to his foul trouble and general overexcitement, and we've already lost 3 of our top 4 big men and our best back up swing man to injury. We were in a "if all the right pieces fell right," and all the pieces look like this:

via ricksmith.me

This season, we can already tell, is going to be a wash. Getting rid of Jax and his contract while taking back two much shorter contracts, is probably one of only about 25-30 victories we could have expected this year, given the circumstances of Monta, Randolph, and the injuries.

What's wrong with Monta

Dubs fan in Boston — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:22:30 -0000

Clearly, we're not seeing the same guy. But, why? A few potential reasons:

1. His ankle isn't completely healed

Certainly a possibility, but with a relatively young guy with over a year to heal, and what with the injury not really being something used in basketball that much, I'm inclined to think it's probably not a big problem.

2. He's just rusty

It's been 6 months since he's been back. Sure, not a lot of live NBA action there, but he should be back up to speed. This is not the issue.

3. He's having a bad start

Sure, a definite possibility. Especially given the turmoil so far this season. However, he's also having some problems that have nothing to do with bad luck. He does not seem to be able to beat his man off the dribble last time we saw him at full speed.

4. Is he more the focus of the defensive attention

A possibility, certainly.

5. He bulked up too much.

I think this is definitely having an effect on his game.

Monta circa 07/08:

via lottobound.files.wordpress.com

Monta circa 08/09:

via cdn.picapp.com

Maybe it's just me, but Monta looks like he's been working out... a lot. He looks thicker in the trunk, he's got bigger (yes, tatted too) arms and much bigger shoulders. Is this added weight slowing him down? I say, yes.

The question, regardless of the reason, is: Can Monta adapt to the new body/defensive attention/etc. and get his offensive game and scoring efficiency back to where we'd all like it to be?

Now, I fully expect his jumper to come back within the next dozen games. Once this becomes more of a constant threat, defenses will not be able to key on his right hand, as it won't be his only major weapon. He definitely needs to develop his lefty drive a bit more as well, but that's not easy. It's especially mentally difficult to start using it in a game situation. It's a big confidence hurdle he'll have to pass, but it's one he absolutely needs, if he's going to be slower to the punch with his right.

Allen Iverson was successful because he was one tough cookie and his svetle frame was somehow able to take the punishment of constantly going inside while maintaining his quickness advantage. For all his faults, he was a special talent in that he was often the quickest player on the floor (in part because he never added "bulk") and could beat you going right even if you knew it was exactly where he wanted to go. I feel like this is something Monta had to some extent, but his recently added bulk has negatively impacted.

Overall, I really do like the defensive attitude and aggressiveness I've seen out of him, and he has not looked nearly as completely overpowered as he has in the past. This is a good thing, but the offensive game still needs to be there. I hope it's a learning curve, I hope he can get there, and I hope this is one of those "it gets worse before it gets better" things. However, I'm not remotely certain that this is the case. Sorry for the ramble, but I've been wondering if anybody else has noticed what I'm seeing. If Monta can play effectively with this added bulk, he can be a viable 2 guard beside Curry. The next hurdle would be getting Monta to accept that role...

The Warriors as Simpsons

Dubs fan in Boston — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:07:59 -0000

So, I was thinking about how Jax was kinda like Sideshow Bob from the Simpsons. You know, he was a good, pretty amusing character, but a bit player. Then he got tired of the same old, same old, and became a villain and a menace. Then I got to thinking, Monta as Bart, Cohan as Mr. Burns... it really kinda fits.

Stephen Jackson

via 4.bp.blogspot.com

A pretty amusing character, but a bit player. Then he got tired of the same old, same old, made some stupid decisions, and became a villain and a menace.

Monta Ellis

via img2.allposters.com

Umm, yes Monta, you did lie to us. You're a bit of a bad seed at this point, but your heart's generally in the right place, and you're really good at what you do, even if what you do doesn't include the fundamentals. Keep doing what you do, stop being a punk, and the success will come.

Don Nelson

via static.tvguide.com

He likes crappy beer, he's kinda pudgy, often says and does things that make you say "Whaaaa...?!?!?" He's the father of our little organization. He's supposed to take care of things, but eventually just makes them spin more and more out of control.

Anthony Randolph

via media.comicvine.com

Monta's younger, but brighter sibling. He's positive, but a little insecure. When something isn't right (like the Warriors not getting to the playoffs), he takes it personally, and tries his darnedest to fix it. He may not be ready to tackle every problem, but he sure looks like he'll get there sooner rather than later.

Stephen Curry

via www.simpsonsland.net

The baby of the bunch. He hasn't had time to prove much of anything, but he's walking before anybody thought he could, and looks cooler than the other side of the pillow. He still falls down regularly, but he always gets up and keeps trying. Bart's understandably jealous of the attention Homer and Marge give to little Maggie and Lisa.

The Fans

via lh5.ggpht.com

We unconditionally love our babies, I mean Warriors. And usually we love our Nellie, but... sometimes they royally piss us off. In which case, we can get a little... knife-y, shall we say. But we always return to that state of unconditional love. Always.

Pessimistic Fans

via www.twinstuff.com

You know who these two are, they're always there to push Marge's buttons, tell her how awful her husband & children are. If only she would stop listening to them... but unfortunately, sometimes they're right.

Ronny Turiaf

via www.progets.com

Always pleases when he's on screen or in the game. Always fun to watch... but you get the feeling that if he was always in the game, he wouldn't be able contribute consistently like he does as a quick burst of energy.

Corey Maggette

via 2.bp.blogspot.com

You know what you're gonna get with Krusty, a few gags, Sideshow Mel getting embarrassed, some smoking, and a "Ga ga ga ga gah!" Krusty's all about getting his at the expense of others. Is it effective? Yeah, usually, but it's not the kind of funny you really enjoy watching. You want some teamwork, some depth in the comedy. Instead, you get "lots of scoring and penetration," but little else and not much teamwork.

Andris Biedrins

via farm3.static.flickr.com

Without Millhouse, Bart's just not Bart. Millhouse is a constant, and useful, but overlooked contributor. Like Biedrins, he's always on the lookout running defense while Bart is making interesting things happen. Millhouse always let's Bart take care of his thing, always gets a laugh when he gets the chance, but he's a pretty limited character.

The Lakers

via www.foxflash.com

Jimbo comes from a well off family, his mom is a well known... lady of the night, and he regularly beats on Bart. Yep, that sounds like the LA Lakers.

Tim Kawakami

via upload.wikimedia.org

He's just a douche. He talks smack, keeps his nose in the air, and makes wild proclamations about whatever he likes. Sometimes he's right, but he's always just a douche.

Chris Cohan

via pages.sbcglobal.net

Notice the syringe, gun, and axe? Yeah, that's how we feel about this guy. This is the guy operating the Nuclear Power plant that is the Warriors organization. He never hires the right people and all he cares about is the money he makes off his business. Get rid of him. Which brings me to my favorite Warriors/Simpsons parallel...

Robert Rowell

via www.simpsoncrazy.com

Seriously, how did this guy get his job? By just sucking up to Cohan? Does he do anything useful except for occassionally yell at people and get insecure about his position and exert his meager power inappropriately? He doesn't seem to have any remotely positive effect on the Warriors, so you wonder how he keeps his job. I wouldn't be remotely surprised if he turned into a snake and ate Cohan's corpse after Cohan died...

So there, thanks for reading through it. Any other parallels you see?

Interesting comments on Smith's performance last week

Dubs fan in Boston — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:22:06 -0000

Interesting comments on Smith's performance last week

Notable quotes:

Texans refused to cover Vernon Davis with anybody else but linebackers.

Houston also runs possibly the most basic defense in the league

So, basically, Smith was playing against a D that anybody with a semi-accurate arm could have picked apart.

What happened to the pressure in the second half?

Dubs fan in Boston — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:17:21 -0000

In the first half, we saw the usual "Shaun Hill drops back and has to immediately start running for his life" peppered in there with the constant pressure they get on him every play anyways. Yet, in the second half, Smith had no such problems. Why?

A few hypotheses:

1. Houston was playing vanilla D protecting a lead

Unlikely, especially once we got close.

2. Our line started blocking better.

Even more unlikely, or they would have done so earlier.

3. Houston was afraid of Smith

Not likely, as he's never been known to be particularly dangerous.

4. Something we were doing differently made it harder for Houston to put pressure on the QB.

We spread the field out with 3+ guys split out wide. This forces the defense to put a hat on a hat and take guys out of the box. If there are fewer defenders in the box, there are fewer ways for Chilo & co. to screw up their blocking assignments. They can fire off the snap instead of pausing to figure out who they should block (while that guy runs by them).

Is the spread sustainably better than the offense that we've seen the rest of the season? I don't see any reason it can't be. The question is: "Who's better for this type of offense?"

Smith was such a successful spread offense QB in college that he became the 1st overall draft pick. Hill has been successful when the Niners have decided to air it out, but pretty useless otherwise. If he keeps the turnovers down, it should be Smith, but whoever is the QB going forward, I think the spread is what really helped the line get their stuff together, and it should be used more often. How many sacks in the second half? Zero, exactly.

How Hammer Helped the Holdout

Dubs fan in Boston — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:44:18 -0000

This is just ridiculous. Since when does a once bankrupt, parachute pants wearin', been passe for 15 years old school rapper have any influence on contract negotiations between a rookie NFL wide receiver and the team that drafted him? Oh, when Deion "Prime Time" Sanders is involved, that's when. Sheesh.

Jump to find out how the one and only MC Hammer saved Mike Crabtree and the 49ers by helping them to synchronize their watches to Hammertime.

Hammer was worried that Michael Crabtree was going to suffer the same fate he did (bankruptcy), only before Mike made it big. He decided to put an end to this preposterous holdout and set out to meet up with 49ers owner Jed York at Eddie DeBartolo's induction into the 49ers HoF (Yay for organized crime!!!). He saw York from across the room at the reception, walked straight over to him and said, "Here Comes the Hammer! Pump It Up (Here's The News): about this Crabtree thing, I Can Make It Better. Let's not make this Brother Versus Brother. Brothers Hang On! Y'all gotta be Street Soldiers! Help The Children!"

"I'm the Son Of The King, Feel My Power!" Jed said, angered at first, but then his face became ashen. "But, The Thrill Is Gone. You're right we have to Help the Children. If you can help restart this thing Cold, Go MC Hammer, Ring 'Em Up. Work This!"

When Hammer got home, he excitedly called Crabtree's secret cell number, "They Put Me In The Mix, You're Being Served. You Can't go on Living In A World Like This, you've got to Find Yourself A Friend."

Crabtree was 2 Legit 2 Quit on the Niners. He was tired of telling them, "U Can't Touch This." When Hammer called, he knew what to do: "I know... I know...The media's trying to make this out to be a Crime Story, but it ain't like that. Ring 'Em Up, Get It Started."

Crabtree flew into SF by night and slinked to a secluded Palo Alto luxury hotel for the fateful meeting with 49ers brass.

Jed York started things off, "So now you say, Let's Get It Started?!?! That's What I Said 3 weeks ago! Us Niners, we're Gaining Momentum, This Is The Way We Roll, Do Not Pass Me By. Tell Me (Why Can't We Live Together)?" With that, he threw his offer down on the table.

Crabtree and Parker were quick to step in line (because they had no leverage), and a deal was hammered out overnight.

As Crabtree put ink to paper, Coach Singletary leapt out of his hiding place in the closet, "Yo Sweetness, Turn This Motha Out!!!" Sing announced.

Startled, York turned to MC Hammer, "Alright Hammer, we Good To Go? Where's Denise, where's my little Lovehold? Have You Seen Her?"

"That Dancing Machine? She's out in the limo ready to hit the clubs." replied Hammer.

"Ugh, I hate dancing. Whatever, let's go."

They ran out the door into the assembled media throng, leaving Crabtree and Coach alone together. Through the door York could be heard loudly pleading, "Please Hammer, don't hurt 'em!"

Crabtree quickly turned his attention to the future, "Coach, I can't wait to Mix It, Toss It, & Bust It. Let's Go Deeper!"

Singletary frowned, "That's What I Said! I Pray that you'll be Releasing Some Pressure on Hill. Our line is... let's just say She's Soft And Wet. Hey, the past is the past, it's all good, It's Gone, you know. Black Is Black, Addams Groove." said Coach Sing nodding as if he just said something wise.

This confused Crabtree, "Coach, but that doesn't make any sense!"

Singletary's eyes widened and his mouth settled into that familiar crease as if he was watching a rookie receiver running a shallow crossing route across his zone, "You think you're the Son Of The King?" he barked, "I'm the Coach, Feel My Power! I don't have to make sense! Tomorrow morning you run up Mount Singletary! I want 10 summits, and I want you to Count It Off!"

The end.

Poll

Mike Crabtree is...

2 legit 2 quit

21 votes

Gaining momentum

11 votes

She's soft and wet

7 votes

The thrill is gone

3 votes

Dancin' machine

4 votes

Son of the king

0 votes

46 votes | Poll has closed

Rush Limbaugh?!?!?! As if you needed more reasons to hate the Rams

Dubs fan in Boston — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:21:42 -0000

Rush Limbaugh?!?!?! As if you needed more reasons to hate the Rams

Rush Limbaugh is trying to buy them. Unfortunately, he seems to be teaming up with somebody who actually knows how to run a sports organization. Maybe Rush can leverage his relationship with God and the Christian right to get more fans' butts into seats. Though they may have to get rid of that blue...

Crabtree getting ready to sign?

Dubs fan in Boston — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:55:35 -0000

So, I woke up this morning to see Crabtree's fast splattered all over the ESPN front page, as well as other discussions of him in the local media with pro-Crabtree spin. The Elizabeth Merrill article waxes poetically about how dedicated he is, and how he was doing push ups getting ready for the Niners watching a TV movie instead of watching the Texas Tech vs. Texas game and practicing with Trent Dilfer in the Bay Area (i.e. he's superawesome, super-dedicated, and keeping in game shape). Scoop Jackson's article goes on about rationalizing Crabtree's stance (that the Niners would go nowhere without him and should pay him accordingly) but saying that the Niners' success is throwing a monkey wrench in that stance (i.e. He and his agent were hoping they'd have more leverage and now are finding out that they don't). The Bruce Jenkins article talks about how the Niners will need a guy like what Crabtree should be (i.e. WR threat) in the long run (The Niners still need a guy like him, which is why they drafted him and why we fans should still want him on the team).

Three separate articles, with three separate main points: "he's still in football shape," "this is why he held out, but aw shucks, the Niners are good," and "the Niners still need him." Sounds like a pretty well coordinated PR job to me: "Hey, Niners fans! He's still ready to play, he's still the awesome guy you drafted, your team is awesome, but think about how much more awesomeness the Niners could achieve with a super-awesome WR to complement the running game!!! Get excited for Mike Crabtree!!!".

Now, I may be biased (I like Crabtree and hope he signs ASAP), but does anybody else see this as evidence of him getting ready to sign? If I were his PR team and I knew that he was getting close to signing, I'd have people speak to various media sources (both local and national) to get out the idea that he's not such a bad guy and to explain why there was a hold out. Furthermore, if I knew he wasn't going to be getting what he wanted, I'd put out an explanation of why not (i.e. It's not the agents' fault, so if you're looking for an agent, Eugene Parker is still a good option).

Regardless, it'd be incredibly dumb for Crabtree to hold out the entire season. Likewise, it'd be incredibly dumb for the Niners to go above the #9 pick's money, and they're already offering as close to that as possible. So, given that Crabtree's threat is as close to empty as possible and that the Niners have a very strong incentive not to offer him any more money, he's going to sign that contract eventually. At this point, it does the Niners little good to rush to bring him in because he's already so far behind that you can't expect much of any positive on field impact this season, they can wait to sign him as long as he wants. The final nail in the coffin is that the Niners are winning (hopefully that'll continue) and there's no appearance of "something wrong," thus no incentive to rush to "get a deal done."

Crabtree and co. are realizing that they have absolutely zero leverage. He will sign soon. The only thing that happens from here on out is he keeps losing game checks.

Poll

When will Crabtree sign?

Before October 1st

39 votes

Before November 1st

37 votes

Before November 17th

24 votes

Never, he'll get traded in March or re-enter the draft

96 votes

196 votes | Poll has closed

Josh Howard available for just Maggette?!?!?

Dubs fan in Boston — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:47:23 -0000

Josh Howard available for just Maggette?!?!?

Apparently the Mavs are interested in getting rid of Josh Howard. Interesting...

Magic offseason dilemas and effect on the Warriors

Dubs fan in Boston — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:53:17 -0000

Well,

Now that the Finals are freshly 12 hours old, it's already time to start talking free agency for the losing team:

1. Hedo Turkoglu & Marcin Gortat are going to test free agency and get significant raises

2. Orlando has too much tied up in Rashard Lewis ($18M in '09-'10) and others to make a significant efforts to keep the two without dumping salary.

So, Turkoglu & Gortat can be had in free agency, and others like Alston, Nelson (unlikely to be available), Pietrus, Battie, JJ Redick can be had in trade if Orlando is trying to re-sign Turkoglu and/or Gortat.

Who would be a good fit for the Warriors? How can we make something work? Does anybody else still think having Rashard Lewis signed for 4 more years at >$18M/year is even remotely a good thing? If he was at $12-$13M/year they'd be able to keep Turkoglu. Instead, they're going to be relying on... Pietrus as their starting SF and Nelson to run the pick & roll? That's pretty steep, and when you add in the fact that they'll go from the Polish Hammer to... Tony Battie and Adonal Foyle (assming they even re-sign him) as their backup centers, they'll become worse and much thinner. They're not challenging Cleveland without keeing Turkoglu (and neither is Boston without getting KG healthy.

So, how and where can the Warriors step in? Who do we want? I'd say Alston is the easiest target, but he was notorious for being emotional, which will not play well with Nelson.

What Orlando wants:

1. Re-sign Turkoglu

2. Re-sign Gortat

3. Cap space to do 1 and/or 2

4. Replace the talent of Turkoglu and Gortat with cheaper players

What the Warriors want:

1. Acquire Turkoglu

2. Improve on current roster or cap situation

Options (in order of how happy the Warriors would be):

1. Sign Turkoglu

Highly unlikely, not even going to discuss it. The Pistons (and others) have more money to give and are better destinations.

2. Maggette for Turkoglu (S&T)

No way Magic do this unless Turkoglu just about has paperwork in place with another team and they're looking to get something (anything) for it. I wouldn't put it past Otis "Rashard Lewis gets $120M" Smith, but it's a long, long, long shot.

3. Ellis for Turkoglu (S&T)

The Magic would have to clear some cap space to make this happen, and it would only be feasible if Turkoglu really wanted to leave because I'm sure Orlando would be happier to have Turkoglu. So we'd have to offer more money AND Orlando would have to clear cap space... difficult, very difficult.

Maggette & Turiaf for Alston & Gortat (S&T)

Orlando would really only be interested in this if they lost Turkoglu and couldn't find any good FAs to sign at SF. Not really likely, and I'm not even sure the S&T is legal or feasible. We could do two separate trades, though Turiaf's salary is going down while Alston's is going up... might have to throw in some filler.

3. Maggette & Davidson for Alston & Battie

Would allow them to cut $2M, which they could then use on either Turkoglu or Gortat, Maggette would give them some offensive firepower to repace Turkoglu if they were to keep Gortat (certainly the cheaper of the two).

4. Package built around Ellis, Randolph, and Wright for Rashard Lewis

This would be the "big spalsh" Riley would be looking to make for "the best Nellieball mismatch at PF in the NBA," but I'd probably give up on the team.

As noted many, many times, a S&T is very rare and very difficult to pull off. So none of those are really feasible. I could see us making the Maggette & Davidson for Alston & Battie move, but that's a minor move. It would give us something at PG and cut long term cap. This could also be done with JC by himself, but unless Orlando feels like they're over a barrel, they're not going to do anything that ridiculous. Or maybe they will, their GM is still Otis Smith.

Anybody else have any good ideas for how we can work the Orlando situation?