Bridge to Twitterithia

With the Warriors now shopping Maggette via ESPN.com leaks, the FO has made a tacit admission that his contract is 'bad'.'  I actually like Maggette's efficiency and think he gets too much grief for an ugly/selfish game.  The signing seemed ill-advised at the time, but that's not Corey's fault.  MEgette never promised to be Steve Nash.  Dude's a foul-machine-of-a-scorer, and he's been contributing recently.  If the Warriors deal young talent with CM just to shed his recently signed contract, it would be a bizarre case of GM schizophrenia (Let's sign this guy! Please take him off our hands, we'll give you stuff!). A contract retrospective is in order.  Since all things in sports must be compared, I'm 'analyzing' two dumb 2008 deals.  Was Philly dumber for luring Elton Brand from us, or were we dumber for holding our noses and nabbing Maggette?

Battle of Dumb!

Brand:

2006 PER: 23.17

2007 PER: 17.72 (8 games)

2008 PER: 14.65

2009 PER: 17.28

Dr. Evil negotiated contract for five years, and nearly 80 million dollars

Woefully underperforming

Team stocked at position (Young, Speights)

Logjam problem compounded by lack of burn for developing players

Brand is an arterial clog

Maggette:

2006 PER: 18.67

2007 PER: 19.41

2008 PER: 16.91

2009 PER: 18.69

Consolation for a consolation prize signs for five years, roughly 50 million dollars.

Performing well

Team stacked with similar players

Logjam problem compounded by lack of burn for developing players

Maggette is kidneystones

With emerging talents Speights and Young outplaying EB at the 4, Brand's bigger contract is currently a bigger disaster. But the Maggette contract could outstupid it.

Why? Because in the case of Corey, nothing unexpected happened. Maggette is playing at the exact decent level that you would expect him to. Brand was an injury gamble that didn't pan out. The Sixers are partially victims of bad luck, partially of a bad choice. While the Warriors are victims of....what, exactly? Bad planning? Insanity? Mullin? Rowell?

The 48 second mark of this is the perfect metaphor for Warriors FO strategy.  We've been doing the 'Anchorman' 'burrito out the window' routine for years, even with players who surpass expectations.  I challenge any team to up us in the fickle department!

Only the Warriors could be ingeniously dumb enough to...

a) Sign OK yet roster redundant swingman for a ridiculous 50 million dollar contract

b) Move the guy to sixth man role

c) Continue to play dude as sixth man, even when roster shrinks small enough to comfortably fit in my car

d) My car isn’t large

e) Play 6-6 guy at powerforward, but play him behind Vladimir Radmonivic

f) That’s right, Vlad Rad

g) Get desperate to unload player’s contract

h) Leak info to ESPN that you want to unload player’s contract and that you’ll include 20 year old PF who compares favorably to Josh Smith.

I’m stopping at h). The funniest part is, there were related stupid decisions the Warriors were saved from doing. Before signing Maggette, they offered Arenas 100 million dollars. After the knee injuries. After they lost out on Agent Zero in his prime. The Warriors also presented Brand a boatload of cash, only to be rejected. The Dubs actually gave Brand a bigger deal, but he decided the Sixers were a 'better fit.' If Brand was avoiding Cohan&Friends for the logical reasons, this was an ironic a case of past Warriors stupidity saving the Warriors. We should be so lucky in the future...

New twitter account, btws:

Unlike Tim Kawakami (he's often amusing), I refrain from deriding fans who still show up to Warriors games.  I'm a sucker like everybody else, and I occasionally find myself grinding teeth in the Oracle.  But I'm not going to our first nationally televised game on Friday--witnessing the Bobby-Cohan brigade suffer a revenue drop is just too much fun. For those who are going, allow me to be an arm chair general. To Warriors Nation, I propose a compilation of snarky in-game activities.  I'm not endorsing outright subversion per say--the following is just a collection of things fans ought not to not to do:

• The old bag on the head: Classic. Concise. Still comical.
  
• The 'All I want for Christmas...' signs:  We have so many desires this holiday season--new ownership....a sober coach....new coach...Randolph starting. I also would enjoy a "Happy Hannukah, our coach is meshuganah" sign. 
  
• The 'We Suck' signs: Whoever came up with that is a genius. Bagheads, this would be a great sign to rock.
  
• Start a campaign for Bill Simmons as GM:  The ESPN cameras would be more inclined to pick that one up than would the PR friendly CSN operation.

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Q: Thanks for agreeing to talk with me, I know it's difficult to speak to fans at a time like this.

Keith: Yes, well, at first I was worried and didn't know whether I should.  But Don said this is okay.

Q: That was nice of him.

Keith: Um, I think he gave the go ahead.  That catatonic look usually means 'yes.' When he ignores me and tosses the frisbee to Lucky, I think that means 'no.' Being a coach is hard sometimes.

Q: Right...so how has the interim job been going?

Keith: Great! Well, mixed results.  I'm not sure. I was told to keep saying we're too short handed to win, so I guess we're meeting expectations?

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Courtesy of Golden State Worriers, this pretty much drives home my point:

Let me begin by saying Vlad has the physical tools of a good NBA player. He's 6-10 and used to have a three point shot.  He could wake up tomorrow and turn it all around.  And he wouldn't be the first player to repair his image amid Warriors chaos.  Odds are against it, though.  My last post dealt with some fairly objective Anthony Randolph stats, but my Radman doubting has a subjective attribution: Fringe NBA hopeful Paul Shirley used to constantly joke about Vlad's apathy and lack of work ethic. This can be dismissed as uninformed NBA gossip, but Vlad hasn't improved since 2003 (this is where subjectivity meets cold, hard evidence of suck). 

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(I decided this post works better when people read onlxn's ode to Mikki Moore's craptitude)

Not a day goes by without a Bay Area media type sagely opining that Anthony Randolph should play 'under control,' or blaming Randolph's lack of PT on 'out of control' play.  Whenever the 20 year old plays well, he's given the backhanded compliment of having played 'under control' that evening.  I understand that the sentiment can come from a good place, but I chafe at the paternalistic tone with which Gary St. Jean uses it.  Actually, I chafe at anything Gary St. Jean says, and I hate how it always seems like he just woke up from a nap. Anyway, I fear that we're starting to drink the toxic Kool Aid that comes from our coaching staff, the same staff that works under management that has institutionalized destructive madness: We're starting to believe that Randolph hasn't earned a starting spot and is having a bad second year. Poor Nellie, he had such high hopes for the kid.

We're warming to this theme because humans seek order in their lives and can't stand the thought of authority figures doing irrational things. We want to think that Nelson has a tough love plan, that Randolph must be hurting the team, or that Mikki Moore brings veteran magic dust.  Our brains have trouble understanding why highly paid, motivated people would sacrifice game after game starting washed up scrubs like Vlad and Mikki. Poor management, with the injuries they're trying hard in a bad situation!

And we know how this thing usually goes in Warrior land. Management touts player, player gets blamed for team problems, player gets traded for crap, player flourishes elsewhere.  So before that happens with Anthony Randolph, I want to ask a simple question:

How bad has his second season been?

Let's check Randolph's stats and compare them to the 20 year old seasons of three realistic comps: Lamar Odom, Josh Smith, and Gerald Wallace.

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To hear people defend Don Nelson for his ridiculous decision of starting Mikki Moore is to hear people mindlessly flail at justifying an authority figure's actions (He MUST have some justification, he's the coach!).  At this point in his career, Moore is simply the worst NBA player I've ever seen in person.  I am not being hyperbolic. I have watched NBA basketball since 1990, and Moore is the worst. He gives you nothing. No rebounding, no shot blocking, no scoring, no defense. Nothing.  John Hollinger puzzled over why the guy is still in the league, and I share in his confusion.

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I need ideas, people. Big ideas.

There has been much discussion of what to nickname Curry. But we could do something bigger, something better: We could foment team harmony through granting Curry and Ellis a double nickname. Think about it. Shaq and Wade coexisted because they were Diesel and Flash. When he was with Kobe, only Shaq had the nickname(s). We all know how that went. A nickname tandem bridles egos. It is a constant reminder that players work together, need each other, and are better for the situation. Let's do our small part to mitigate the rumored Monta dissatisfaction over a new 'playmaking point guard.' I ask everybody here: What should we call the Slasher/Shooter Curry Ellis combo?

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Warning: This post will be nerdy. It will reference empirical fact, yet mix it with basketball hokum. Please don't take it that seriously.

In a league where you're only as good as your best three guys, it makes sense that the NBA's elite teams often have featured three guys capable of posting a plus 20 Player Efficiency Rating. San Antonio (Manu, Timmy, Tony), and L.A. (Kobe, Pau, Andrew) have done it, and the other big boys are damned close (Disney World, Boston). The Cavs are a notable exception, but they compensate by having an otherwordly PER machine in LBJ.

Well I got news for ya: The Dubs can make a run at the hallowed PER triple crown. Monta has gotten to the 19 mark and so has Biedrins. These two are just entering their respective primes, and I believe that at least one if not both of these overly maligned players can reach PER glory by season's end. 

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