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I have previously showed my enthusiasm for the current Golden State backcourt of Stephen Curry & Monta Ellis and do firmly believe that they can be very successful given the right team philosophy, players and coaches. I wrote a post about this when Nellie was still here. But a lot of people/analysts insist it just cannot work in the long term.

I believe most people will agree that Stephen Curry is better suited to play the Point Guard position and Monta Ellis is better suited at the Shooting Guard spot. That isn't to say that they can't play the reverse but so far, the way the backcourt has been set has been the most optimal lineup. Previously, many people have blasted Monta after Baron Davis left for not being a good PG and looking more like a Scoring Guard. Monta's assists dipped slightly and people compared him to Gilbert Arenas for being a black hole. That was fair to critique since Monta he wasn't used to playing PG all the time which is why the GS Warriors ended up drafting Stephen Curry who seemed to have more potential at playing PG.

I don't know what to make of Stephen Curry in his third NBA season. He has had brilliant flashes but he took such a huge leap forward his rookie year that since then, his steps forward haven't been as spectacular. Yes, he is still young and is learning probably the toughest position in the NBA. Being compared to Steve Nash should be an honor but also discouraging because should he not reach that level then people might see him as not living up to his potential. It should also be noted that Steve Nash took several NBA seasons before he started averaging about 7+ APG.

With this in mind, us Golden State fans have had a dilemma ever since drafting Curry; to either build around Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry or trade one of them. It seems like most people have decided Monta should leave. But I disagree now more than ever.

The need to trade one of these players is most definitely now and here is why. For a while now Stephen Curry has been considered our most valuable trade asset because his potential as a PG is believed to be better than Monta's. As such he was considered in the Chris Paul trade, Rajon Rondo trade and even now in J.A. Adande's article including a Russel Westbrook trade. However and unfortunately, as we have seen this season and last, Stephen Curry, through no fault of his own, simply cannot stay on the court this year. He is turning into the next Andrew Bynum in that he is great when on the court, but never on the court due to his injuries. Seeing Curry injure his ankle today, on his own, against the San Antonio Spurs just emphasized the need to do something fast.

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Essentially, Stephen Curry's stock is dropping every time he re-injures his right ankle, 2 times in 6 games this season while Monta's stock is rising.

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Monta is currently playing excellent basketball. He showed he could carry the Warriors without Stephen Curry against the New York Knicks, Curry couldn't against the Philadelphia 76ers which shows resolve in Monta's game. Today, against the Spurs we saw them both play well together, but Monta by himself almost beat the Spurs in the end. He is averaging 8.5 APG this early season, is the 2nd highest non-PG player in assists per game after LeBron James and has shown he is clutch player. He can play PG but is most effective playing as an off-ball SG. Scouts have definitely noticed this. The question is whether Monta can keep this up not only all season but also while in his prime. Well, we shouldn't wait.

When selling stocks, you want to sell when high and if your stock is dropping uncontrollably, then sell quickly to minimize your losses.

Stephen Curry's right ankle seems unlikely to ever heal fully; he can sit out a couple games and likely have it re-injured later again or he can sit out for many games to come back later with our playoff goals out of reach again. He had surgery on the right ankle this longer than usual off-season but to no avail. The front office cannot build around a player who is going to have the same lingering injury seemingly for his career, they simply cannot. The lesser of the two evils (Curry's right ankle or inefficient Point Guard Monta) to play the PG spot for the GS Dubs is Monta Ellis, he may not be as good in the PG spot as Curry but at least he can stay on the court (unless of course he decides to ride a moped again).

There have been many potential trade scenarios for Monta Ellis but here are some for Stephen Curry. Monta's contract is easier to trade because it is larger and thus more creative options. Curry is in the second to last year of his rookie contract which is difficult because when healthy, he is worth more than the $3+ million he makes this year.

Assuming Monta moves to play PG, here are just a few that don't seem completely unrealistic to me, you will all have to decide that.

1) Stephen Curry + Ekpe Udoh for Russel Westbrook

Westbrook and Durant seem to be clashing a bit. Westbrook's defense will improve our perimeter D and we will still have an explosive backcourt. Curry's much better shooting and deference to Durant helps OKC overall and spreads the floor.

Not good enough? J.A. Adande's take:

Westbrook wont work in OKC

2) Stephen Curry + Andris Biedrins = Josh Smith

Hawks have been looking real good so far, but prior to the season have been looking for new life potentially in a roster shakeup. Hawks have been looking for a PG for a while, though Jeff Teague has been stepping up. With Andris Biedrins as a Hawk, it moves Al Horford to his natural PF position. Warriors get a much needed athletic boost to their front line.

3) Stephen Curry for Evan Turner

Kind of a gamble but Turner is a legit shooting guard with size, who just needs time. I believe Steph Curry would be an upgrade over Jrue Holiday. Evan Turner and Klay Thompson = Warriors set at the SG spot for a decade.

4) Stephen Curry for DeMarcus Cousins

Probably wouldn't happen for a variety of reasons (divisional rivals). Curry on the Kings would make Tyreke move to a much more natural SG position. Tyreke has been struggling to produce his rookie 20-5-5 numbers. Warriors get a huge, talented, potential-full, giant immature baby with Rasheed Wallace like skills. I'm sure he would love the bay.

5) Stephen Curry + David Lee for Andre Iguodala

For some reason Andre Iguodala to the Warriors has been discussed a lot, so if not Monta then who? I'd be willing to part with David Lee for Iggie.

6) Stephen Curry for Greg Monroe

Rodney Stuckey is not the future for the Pistions at the PG spot. Greg Monroe could be a fairly efficient scoring Center and his stats so far for only being in his 2nd year are impressive.

7) Stephen Curry for Ryan Anderson + Daniel Orton

Ryan Anderson is an emerging spread the floor PF, plays like Al Harrington but a slightly better rebounder and has potential. He would force bigs to commit to him at the 3 pt line meaning better driving lanes for Monta. He has been ballin so far. Daniel Orton would be a throw in. Stephen Curry is a better shooter than Jameer Nelson and probably a craftier passer.

8) Stephen Curry for DeMarr DeRozan and James Johnson

I believe Toronto would do this trade though I don't know why. DeRozan would be able to keep up with Monta Ellis on the break and is a good finisher around the rim.

9) Stephen Curry for Eric Gordon

Monta Ellis and Eric Gordon?? I don't know if it would even work but it just looks good. The Hornets, I believe need a PG more so than a SG since they have plenty of big men who could become pick n roll bigs. Eric Gordon is as tall as Monta but plays much better defense, one could potentially trade Monta later on for a pure PG.

10) Stephen Curry for Tiago Splitter

Big men always take longer to develop than other players. The Spurs have always drafted well and find diamonds in the rough as we've seen with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. They regard Splitter highly and Tony Parker isn't going to be there much longer especially if Tim Duncan retires.

Again, it may seem as if I'm looking to trade Curry for anything but its not true. I have written other posts stating how a Curry-Ellis backcourt could work and I prefer having this elite backcourt than any of the trades started. But this constant injury to Curry is frustrating and we have to base things off of facts and in the best interest of the organization. Something has to be done before the value of our two best players goes down. I'm hoping Nike does come through with a shoe that will help stabilize Curry's right foot soon. One can only hope.

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Even though I would consider the Trailblazers a conference rival to the Warriors since the Blazers were always competing for a playoff spot, I do got to give a shout out to their once best player on their roster, Brandon Roy. I didn't get to watch many regular season games of the Blazers, only the games they put on national TV or the playoffs. But I remember B Roy ballin it up every time prior to his critical injury.

I'll always remember his battles with Monta Ellis, especially watching Roy trying to post Monta and at times, a stubborn Monta trying to post Roy a couple years ago. It seems Monta Ellis always went extra hard against Roy (other than maybe Danny Granger), probably because he recognized Roy's skills and ranking as one of the top shooting guards in the league.

I feel for the guy because I thought he would somehow manage to make a comeback. When you got guys like Grant Hill who after missing almost some 4 straight years and now seeming like Mr. Iron man, you'd figure Roy would make it. Amare Stoudemire had a similar injury as did Kenyon Martin I believe. Heck, even Dejuan Blair is playing without both ACLs so I always believed B Roy would come back at least in a lesser role (a la T-Mac) for a longer period of time.

But unfortunately it wasn't to be. This guy was different, it isn't like Joel Przybilla retiring, B Roy could have been one of the best shooting guards ever to play and arguably (when he was healthy) the 2nd best shooting guard behind Dwyane Wade and slightly ahead of an aging Kobe Bryant.

With Career yearly high stats:

-------------Career--- Season Highs

Min----------35.6------ 37.7

PTS---------19.0------ 22.6

FG%--------.460------.480

3pt FG%---.352------.377

FT%---------.801------.848

REB----------4.3--------4.7

AST-----------4.7--------5.8

BLK----------0.2---------0.3

STL-----------1.0--------1.2

TO------------1.8--------2.0

His stats was trending upwards as his Trailblazer teams were getting better. His sudden and unexpected retirement is sad for the league, his fans and everybody who enjoys watching good basketball talent and a star about to solidify himself in NBA history.

"Brandon Roy is the best player I've played against." - Ron Artest

"Roy 365 days, seven days a week. Roy has no weakness in his game," - Kobe Byrant

"Sad to hear Brandon Roy's retiring. Great contribution in a career too short. Wish him well in his next chapter" - Steve Nash

What's your favorite Brandon Roy memory?" --> " When he came up with the nickname 'Patty Cakes'" - Patrick Mills

" Man hate to see a player like Brandon Roy retiring. Was such a great player wish him nothing but the best." - Jason Richardson

" Please say it ain't so. Brandon Roy retiring. Losing one of the best 2 guards in the league before he's ready to go. So unfortunate man! SMH" - LeBron James

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Besides the new players that were brought to the Warriors this summer through the draft, trades and summer league, the one thing that hasn't been mentioned is their new offensive schematics. Keith Smart is indeed a Don Nelson disciple but remember he also has had coaching stints as an interim coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers and played under Bobby Knight. This season coach Smart has decided to use some portions of Nellie's offense but also use a version of the Flex offense. This new offense gives a lot more balance and structure to the Warrior offense in the half-court, where as previous years they have had major trouble.

Flex Offense

So what exactly is the Flex offense?? To know the flex offense all we have to do is watch some Utah Jazz' games. Jerry Sloan has been running his own version of the flex for however long he has been head coach of the Jazz (seems like a century!). The Jazz like to 'grind' offensively and defensively and although many of us dislike the Jazz for what they did to our We Believe team, we all know their offense is terribly efficient. Besides their all-stars, this is partially because of their flex offense that focuses a lot on screens, back cuts and slashing lanes. What Keith Smart looks to accomplish by installing the flex is a move away from Nellie's playbook (Isolations and 3-pt shots) and bring structure to the half-court offense.

Identifying the flex offense is simple because it usually takes a familiar form when first running it. Like the triangle offense, the initial movement of the flex offense is very predictable. The flex almost always begins with the ball handler up top, Biedrins/Lee at the free throw/elbow corners, Wright and Ellis or Curry (depending on who is the ball handler) behind the 3 pt line while also forming a straight line with Biedrins and Lee. The image below shows what the offense would look like should Curry be the ball handler.

(Notice the straight line the players form across the free throw line)

After that formation, the ball handler would almost always pass the ball to either of the wings (either the 2 or 3) and then several screens and back cuts would occur. These movements would result in efficient percentage jump shots or layups. Now I don't know all the X's and O's of the flex but one thing is for sure, it is a lot better than Nellie's half court offense.

Nellie's Half-Court Offense :)

Ahhh, how much fun was Nellieball when it worked. Mismatches left and right, 3-pt shot attempts and isolation plays that when successful made Nellie seem like a genius. But my god, when the shots weren't falling it was AWFUL. First off, when people spoke of Nellie and his mismatch preference, they were really referring to mere isolation plays. Since Nellie almost always used smalls against bigs, many times the Warriors found one of their smalls being guarded by a bigger, slower defender. Well what would happen next after the Warriors found that mismatch isn't an offensive play but rather getting that player the ball and isolating him; if it was a big vs a small then there would be a post attempt where the big would back his smaller defender down and attempt an over the top shot, or if it was a small against a bigger defender then a potential jump shot or crossover/drive to the basket. Regardless, it was an isolation play where everybody else on offense would just stand and watch :/. How many times did we see unsuccessful Baron Davis freethrow elbow isolation plays. Or Stephen Jackson iso's and within the last two years, Monta Ellis elbow isolations. Heck, we complained many times that our superstars wouldn't pass the ball around (ex: Stephen Jackson post Baron, Monta post Jackson/Baron, Maggette, so on). Nellie's offense was good in the up-tempo and when the fastbreak was working, but against half-court defense, our offense was too iso-prone and downright horrible many times. Even though many of us argued that since we did not have a low post threat, our offense should defer to our perimeter star players, we could/should have used a more complicated offense to create and screens, passing lanes and cuts to the basket as opposed to constant elbow, isolation plays or pick n rolls with bigs that couldn't finish.

Though not always great in the half court, every once in a while, Nellie would bust out the old school sets and use a series of offensive sets known as Horns that were pretty good, especially when we had Al Harrington (and especially when Al could make his jump shots).

Horns Offense?

(Nash signaling for a Horns play with his right hand, notice the devil horns used as the symbol for the play, used throughout the NBA)

The Horns offense is widely used by many NBA teams that want to space the floor. It was used by Nellie quite frequent at first and if you remember when Nellie was first hired as coach of the Baron Davis lead Warriors, his first season he said he would install a simple offense with several options. That offense was the Horns set. The offense spreads the floors by putting the two wing players on both corners of the floor for spacing and 3-pt shot attempts while the PF and C come towards the PG by the free throw elbows.

(Ignore the scribbles and the X1 in the middle and you see the Horns set in its initial stage)

This offense is especially useful when there is a big man with a jump shot, such as Al Harrington, and a good roll man, like Andris Biedrins. The horns offense was used a lot and especially against the Houston Rockets where Al Harrington was playing the 5 spot and forced Yao Ming to guard him from the 3-pt line which he could not. This offense encourages the PG to make decisions and since the defending SG and SF have to guard their players at the corner 3-pt line, it allows for plenty of spacing for the PG to drive and pass to the open man. Again, a team using horns AND with a 3-pt shooting big is difficult to guard because it requires the defense to stretch which creates driving lanes. Besides the fastbreaking, no wonder the Warriors and Suns offense were compared together so much, they both used Horn sets a lot (Harrington/Marion/Stoudemire/Frye). Nellie used the Horns offense a lot with the 'We Believe' team and many of you will recognize the set if you watch the Warriors playoff run highlights on youtube. Though later on Nellie moved away from the simple offense and used slightly more complicated sets, still this season so far, I have seen Keith Smart used some horn sets and that obviously must be Nellie influenced.

What to make of this

Well, with the Warriors using more motion, screens, passing and backdoor cuts with the flex offense, the Warriors should be more fundamentally sound resulting in higher percentage shot attempts. The drawbacks of this is the Warriors won't be looking to fastbreak or forcing the fastbreak as much since they will feel their half-court offense will produce high percentage shot attempts and not rest on isolation, mismatch plays. Not to mention that the flex offense doesn't emphasize 3-pt shot attempts as much as it focuses on screens to create easy shots. The combination of the flex and horns offense should result in a half-court offense that is much more efficient and harder to predict and defend.

If the Flex is so good, why don't other teams use it?

Here is what makes me feel good about being a Warrior fan. Lately, the Warriors have been blessed with good passing big men; Biedrins, Turiaf (no longer) and now David Lee. Not only do you need a big man who isn't selfish, but a big who can make the pass. We've seen in the past Biedrins dishing out assists and David Lee in his prime with the Knicks was dealing almost 3 assists per game. The flex requires good passing big men as well as guards. We know on any given night, Ellis and Curry (though mostly Curry) can do some serious passing which is why the Flex works better with teams that can move the ball around than with those without it.

The link below shows a recent article on ESPN suggesting that newly hired Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau should install the flex offense and why the Bulls should have success with it.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/18622/what-the-chicago-bulls-can-learn-from-the-utah-jazz

I may be a bit off on this thought but I believe the Warriors, Bulls and Jazz have a couple things in common regarding their PG and PF positions.

* Stephen Curry, Deron Williams & Derrick Rose - I am not going to argue who is better or who would we rather have, but one thing for sure is all three of these guys can score and most importantly pass the ball. Crucial elements for the flex offense

* David Lee, Paul Millsap & Carlos Boozer - Each of these players are low post threats, whether it be on the low post, offensive boards or low post passing, they each require the defense to focus on these players. Not to mention that these 3 players are the primary low post threats for their respective teams. (by the way Millsap is killing right now, he not only whooped on the Heat, but he is outplaying teammate Al Jefferson as the primary low post scorer at the moment).

This being said, several other teams could run the Flex, ex. Lakers, Thunder, but the fact is not EVERY team can run it which is why it feels pretty good that the Warriors can use the offense and have been successful so far with it.

Last Words

Allow the rant; the Warriors bench hasn't been as bad as we all thought it would be thanks to Reggie Williams... One thing that will greatly help is Lou Amundson coming back since he should bring as much energy as David Lee when on the floor and we should see less of Radmanovic... I feel bad for the Rad-Man but until he can hit that 3-pt shot consistently or unless we are playing against a small ball lineup, I'd rather hope we not see him at all... I am not so convinced with Jeremy Lin because a lot of people are hyped off of him just because of his one summer league burst against John Wall. Remember we were all hyped on Belinelli's ENTIRE summer league which resulted in a dud... how are we now going to be all hyped after ONE summer league game where Lin shined..? Lin seems to have good hands and he played well against Calderon and the Raptors but they do not have speedy point guards and I don't have much faith in Lin guarding quick or stronger PGs... The Warriors need more slashers because without Maggette, we don't have wing players attacking the basket.. Dorell Wright seems to shy away from doing that even though he looks like he can be explosive.

Lastly, WE BELIEVE is GONE! There is no rebirth of We Believe and to continue to reminisce about a completely different team that played about 5 years ago is dumb and rather sad. We all had great memories of that magical playoff run but that was seasons ago. The year before the Warriors made it to the playoffs, the Clippers made a deep playoff run where the beat the Iverson/Anthony lead Denver Nuggets in the first round and pushed the Phoenix Suns to a 7 game series. Then the Clippers sucked again, but one thing they are not doing is hoping for a second coming of that old playoff run, they r looking for a new playoff run and that's what I believe we should look to. 'We Believe' is soo '07 and naming this team as We Believe pt 2 is like having the USA Olympic team being named the Dream Team again. No team wants to be named after something prior, they want to make their OWN name that is why we should drop the We Believe slogan, that was THEN this is NOW.

Maybe a lot of you are happier now that Corey Maggette is gone... but why is that?

Maggette's contract was rather costly but let us not forget that it was the Warrior's management that offered that ridiculous contract to Maggette in the first place.  This post will go off on tangents but will definitely focus on the Warriors current roster and situation.

I, personally, am not happy with the Maggette trade because once again we got NOTHING in return. Last off-season, we got rid of the up n coming 6th Man of the Year, Jamal Crawford, for pretty much nothing in return. Yet, we all applauded that trade because it saved us money, fine and understood. This time, we traded our second leading scorer, who was one dimensional but still a pretty efficient scorer for NOTHING again!! Gadzuric and C. Bell  are not good enough players who we want in our rotation if we are trying to make the playoffs. AND, the money we saved we have to wait at least until the 2011 free agent market, meaning that we have to waste another season with crap players. Again, we trade away a scorer for a couple garbage role players. For those of you who do not know basketball well, the primary duties of a SG or SF, besides having an efficient field goal percentage, is to score. It is not to rebound or get assists, it is to score the ball. That is how it is in todays modern game. Assists are to the PG and rebounds are to the PF or/and Cs of the game. Maggette was good at what he was supposed to be good at, to score no matter how he did it. He got to the free throw line efficiently and was smart about not taking abundant 3 pt shot attempts. Again, he was overpaid... but that wasn't his fault, Warriors management was at fault.

With Maggette gone, we not have an even bigger dilemma than before...

The Warriors biggest problem for a while now has been the PF spot. Since Antawn Jamison left, we have had a big, fat ugly question mark at the PF spot since we haven't had one worthy of starting. The WE BELIEVE team of 06-07 was great but it lacked a low post scorer that could have taken us further into the playoffs. Brendan Wright was supposed to solve that issue but that hasn't worked out (yet).  The Small Forward spot hasn't been a problem with us (Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette) until now!

I know several of you are jumping on the Reggie Williams band wagon but the guy is not ready for heavy starter, playoff push minutes. First off let me say, a bunch of the guys we have playing at SF are not actually SFs but SGs who have no choice but to play the SF spot. Kelenna Azubuike is 6'5 and 220 lbs and he will most likely be our starting SF if no trade is done by the start of next season. Can you picture Azubuike guarding the likes the Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Danny Granger.. even Maggette or Stephen Jackson efficiently? All these guys have got height and weight on Azubuike.  Reggie Williams and Anthony Morrow are all featherweights compared to these guys and Azubuike is definitely undersized at only 6'5.  This is why we now have two glaring holes to this team, the PF AND now the SF spot.

By the way... the DRAFT isn't going to solve our problems immediately. We are not going to draft an impact player in this draft no matter who we get. We got lucky with Curry last year but even he wasn't able to stop us from LOSING more games than the previous season. Any player we draft will be a project and the Warriors will market them as players with potential that we have to wait for.

Lastly, MONTA ELLIS!! 

Do U guys remember Monta Ellis during Baron Davis' last year?? The guy shot almost 60% from the field during the months of January and February. WHy is everyone saying bad things about him just cause he had an inefficient year?? REMEMBER Kobe Bryant was once labeled as selfish and inefficient when his Lakers were getting beat out of the first round of the playoffs by the Phoenix Suns when they sucked and had Kwame Brown, but that has changed now. Monta can be an efficient scorer IF he is no longer given the GREEN LIGHT. Monta needs to watch film of the Warriors winning in Dallas this year about 50 times over and over until he understands that he is only effective when driving into the lane. His 5th option should be taking the 3 pt shot only after; (1) driving and finishing, (2) driving n passing to an open man, (3) passing the ball in the first place, (4) driving n pulling up for the jump shot, (5) taking the forced 3 pt shot. OUT OF ALL THE 3 PT SHOOTERS WE HAVE, HE SHOULD BE ONE OF THE LAST TO TAKE THE 3 pt SHOT!!  He needs to be told by the coaching staff that he no longer has the green light to jack up shots but now has the yellow light ;)

I blame the Golden State Warriors organization for this!

Saving money only benefits the team owners because we are taking away veteran, scorers away from a team filled with young guys that are "full of potential!" What does this potential mean nowadays??? Unfortunately, to me, 'potential' means I, as a fan, now have to wait a couple MORE years to see my team have a high probability of making the playoffs. We continue to trade, give away players with experience  for players that have 'supposed' talent. It is not fair!! Trading away J-Rich for talent didn't work(yet), Jamal to Atlanta didnt work! Maggette to the Bucks for pretty much lame role players seems again like it will not work. Now we have to rely on our young guys to win games which Im sure  the Warriors will market to us that that will take time. It seems like every year, the Warriors trade away experienced players for 'potential' players. I as a fan am TIRED of waiting for a potential player to develop or for a playoff push only to be told or subtlety told to wait for our young guys to mold into veterans when we continue to trade away our veterans. It isn't fair and EVERY YEAR it is a new excuse. 2 years ago it was the sudden departure of Baron Davis and Monta's injury, last season it was the injuries to the entire year, now this season it is most likely going to be the changing of ownership that we have to wait.

When r these guys going to realize that they have one of the best NBA fans in the league?/ They need to realize what they have and make something of it because we can only wait too long!!! Unfortunely, we cannot do much but to complain.. like I am am doing now.. All I know is the Bay Area is one of the best, unrecognized markets in the league and we deserve a legit, playoff contending team EVERY YEAR because we give our teams, NBA or not, 100% all the time!

PS: F the lakers ;)

Don't get me wrong, I am on the Randolph bandwagon as much as the next Warriors fan but theres something missing with the guy. Yes, besides experience and weight, Randolph has shown glimpses of being a great player, but what type of player is that?

Randolph came into the league as a Small Forward/Power Forward position because of his superb ball handling and outside game being a 6'10 ball player. But now he is being asked to play the PF/C position under Don Nelson because Nelson, as do we all, see the match-up problems Randolph can pose to opposing big men. People have compared Randolph to Shawn Marion, Kevin Garnett and Lamar Odom... but there's one thing that stands out about these guys, they are not real low post scorers.

Shawn Marion, aka the matrix, aka the garbage man, was/is a good player, especially when playing in an up tempo style of play. Though we mostly remember him playing the PF position alongside Amare Stoudemire, he wasn't their primary low post option, that was for Stoudemire. Marion almost always got his points from putbacks, wide open dunks and occassional 3 point shots. Other than that, he only used his sub-par low post game against mismatches with inferior low post defenders.

Lamar Odom is praised because he plays like 6'11 shooting guard except he rebounds the ball exceptionally well. He has great handles and range. But rarely do we see his post up game and if we do it is always to his left hand. Again, like Marion, a lot of his inside points come from offensive rebound putbacks or open layups. Rarely do we see an Odom low post play called for him unless it is against inferior defenders.

Lastly, Kevin Garnett... Yea, he is a great player.. but a very unique one at that. I don't know if you all notice, but KG's low post game usually consists of his classic "dream" shake followed by a fade away. For most defenders... having the player you are guarding resort to a fade away is a good thing because he is taking a bad shot. Obviously, KG has mastered that fade away and makes it look easy. Yes, KG has hook shots and amazing dunks but nowadays he mostly resorts to fade away shots that against ANY OTHER PLAYER, would be just what the defense wanted.

This isn't a diss towards Randolph, I am sure we are all pleased with that long 18 foot jump shot that seems to be consistent for him, but that isn't what we want out of him. The guy looks just plain awkward out there when he tries his low post game. He is still very young but other players at his age had better low post skills than him. I think of Ike Diogu his first couple years with the Warriors for an instance. As much as we want Monta Ellis to be a better passer, Morrow to be able to take it inside, Biedrins to have a mid-range game, perhaps it is too much to ask Randolph to have an inside game.

Analysts compared him to the players mentioned above, they are very good players, but not what the Warriors need. The Warriors since Chris Webber or Antawn Jamision, have needed a low post presence and now we believe Randolph can be that player, but with the experts comparing him to the above players, perhaps we are being fooled again. Randolph isn't a great on-ball defender like Marion, doesn't have range like Odom, nor does he have KG's amazing fade away game. As much as I want the guy to be a great player for the Warriors, he hasn't shown any glimpses of being the next of these type of players. We shouldn't be too hyped about him..not yet at least. Potential goes a long way, but that same potential has resulted in players like Mike Dunleavy Jr., Ike Diogu, Patrick O'Bryant and even Brandan Wright.

During our tenure with Don Nelson as head coach of the Golden State Warriors we have come to learn once again a different, unique style of basketball called smallball (Nellieball). This style "supposedly" emphasizes agility of small, wing players to outmatch slow, lumbering bigs. Smallball is an up-tempo, run n gun, style of basketball and under Don Nelson, focuses on taking the first, best available shot presented per possession. While entertaining for many people, Nellieball is eratic and not very efficient without the proper pieces in a team. As a fan of the NBA, we all love up-tempo, freestyle, three-point shooting games where there is no lull in the game but constant excitement. And that is what everybody, especially those fans who do not have NBA teams which are willing to run n gun, believe what Nellieball is.

But Nellieball, isn't what we all have come to think of it as... a point guard, 2 or 3 shooting guards/small forwards and a center/power forward... Nellieball is just every player, no matter the position, capable of creating his own shot (with range of necessary) and using his agility to better his defender.

A lot of us, including myself at one point, have come to believe that Nelson does not like playing bigs. But that is not true, the thing that seperates Nelson from other coaches is that he demands a very specific type of post player to get constant minutes in his rotation. Nelson prefers bigs who can spread the floor, rebound, pass effectively out of a double-team and (if lucky enough) have a post-game.  But Nellie is picky, if his PF or C does not do more than one of these things, he sits him on the bench and usally brings in a smaller player for his agility and ability to spread the floor. If Nelson, however, were to have an effiicient, big who can do more than one thing stated above, then he will certainly get consistent playing time.

If we look at Don Nelson's previous bigs we can see a common thing:

1) Al Harrington - Most recent, we have come to love/hate Harrington for his ability to spread the floor and occasionally provide a spark in the offense. However, his lack of a post-game and inability to rebound caused Nelson to move him to the bench and use him occasionally, especially during 4th qtr, crunch time scenarios.

2) Dirk Nowitzki - Great shooter, mediocre post-presence and decent rebounder.. Enough to get him sufficient playing time under Nellie. Since he did enough of what Nellie demands in a big, Nellie played him. His shooting stood out and is exactly what Nellie wants,  a big who can spread the floo and rebound.

3) Antawn Jamison & Antoine Walker - Perfect players under Nellie in Dallas, SFs who can play the PF spot and still spread the floor. Jamison is a good rebounder for his size and though Walker was not a good rebounder, they both could spread the floor very well while providing somewhat of an inside threat. Though not efficient, both players could play within Nellie's system.

 (PS: what would have happened if we had Jamison still... a legit PF who can shoot and rebound.. a much better Al Harrington I think!!)

4) Mike Dunleavy Jr & Troy Murphy - CHARMING SOFT... straight up!    Hah, no well Dunleavy just couldn't rebound or hit open shots at the PF spot and Murphy got hurt. Murphy is back to his beastin mode in Indiana like he was back prior to his injurt with us. But under our current style of play, he is much better suited as a bench player. Someone who can rebound, shoot decently and as someone who has enough heart to carry a team at times. (I loved watching Murphy play against Tim Duncan). These players couldnt do what Nelson asked and such we discarded them for others.

The fact is that Nelson has no problem playing bigs so long as they do what Nellie requires in a big. Right now we do not have that in our roster. All of our bigs cannot spread the floor nor create their own shot. Biedrins is a beast but thats only on the boards or in a pick and roll situations ( yes and putbacks!). Turiaf is a defensive minded center, thats alright with me! Randolph and Wright are inconsistent both with their outside and inside game. If we look at players that are gone now which played under Nelson, Zarko... NO, Adonal.. Turiaf without an outside shot, Croshere.. Nope, Rob Kurz didnt rebound, defend or shoot well enough.. though apparently he was a good "rotation" player.. and Jermario Davidson is just not ready yet.

WE don't have bigs ready to play under what Nelson has wanted since he started coaching and unless he does get specific bigs who can play with what he demands, Nelson would prefer playing SFs and SGs who, under Nelson's type of style, always have range on their shot. Corey Maggette, Stephen Jackson and Kelenna Azubuike when playing at the PF spot all have range and agility to take their defending PF off the dribble.

Nelson does not hate bigs nor does he prefer playing smalls over bigs, he just demands a big who can accomplish what he asks. Like a Nowitzki or Amare (even Shaq! Nellie as coach of the Knicks got run out of NY because he tried to trade Ewing to free cap space to sign a free-agent to be Shaq, SHAQ playing under Nelson is like WTF, but the man can rebound and command a double-team!), someone who can post, spread the floor and rebound is what Nelson craves for in a big. Until Nelson gets a player like that or truly believes Wright or Randolpy can accomplish these tasks, we will continue to see (however regretabble) Maggette, Jackson, Azubuike and some other random SGs and SFs play the PF/C spot.

Last year was a dud, we all know that to be true, trades that didn't work out and injuries at the wrong time however were the main factors. All we can do is look forward and as a Golden State Warriors fan, thats all we seem to be doing these years, always looking forward.

A lot of hype has been given to Stephen Curry and though he was impressive during the summer league, it does not mean much when compared to the regular series (ex. Marco Belinelli's summer league). Its in my opinion that since we have an open spot available at either the 2 or 3, depending on where Stephen Jackson plays next year and Corey Maggette being our 6th again hopefully, that we should move Curry into the starting lineup.

Now don't everybody go biting my head off with having a backcourt of Monta and Curry as our starters because as defensively limited as it sounds, there are ways around it. Not to mention, it is the fastest way to develop Curry's NBA game which is what we all want. Here are several reasons why we should do it and how the Warriors could make it work.

   1) Keep Jackson at the 3 spot - Captain Jack, besides his turnovers, was impressive last year [increasing his points, rebounds and assists while hitting clutch shots (Denver & Cleveland)] and as much as many people may not like it (though not me), he is our point forward. Yes, he played the 2 in Indiana and yes Nelson wants to move him back to his "natural position" but nelson also wants/needs a point forward. Randolph is nowhere near there and Maggette...  ahahahah. Since Don Nelson also plays a switching man-to-man defense, Jackson would still guard the best opposing perimeter player while helping out Curry and Monta with ball-handling duties from the 3 spot.

   2) Zone Defense - We've all seen Nelson installing zone defenses before, a reason being to hide Monta's defensive problems. Why not do it again? Playing a 3-2 zone is what the playoff warriors did several years ago and theres no reason why not do it again to hide Curry and Monta's lack of defense. We have shot blockers and already play a "team rebounding" style.

   3) We are blessed with versatile players... maybe.. Or perhaps its just Nelson forcing players to play out of position.. Kelenna Azubuike playing the 3 (hes a 2), Maggette the 4(hes a 3)... For whatever reasons, should the starting backcourt not work during a specific game, just sub whoever is struggling (most likely  Curry) and sub in a player who fits the 2 guard. (Azubuike, Anthony Morrow,Marco Belinelli - if we keep him).

   4) Cause Nelson is Nellie - Nelson has done stuff like this before!! With the Mavericks he started Steve Nash and Nick Van Exel before.. I also believe prior to his resignation, he played Jason Terry and Devin Harris together. Nelson plays small ball and that is exactly what Curry and Monta would be doing, quick, fast shooting.

Our expectations aren't that high next year so why not take another gamble. We are most likely already going to start Anthony Randolph at 4..why not start Curry and 1 and Monta at 2. The worst case is Curry not being as good aka starter material yet as we all think he is and a bunch of us jumping off his bandwagon. However, if it does work, then Curry's trade value goes up and Monta... all of a sudden becomes expendable.. oooOOOOo

The Power Forward position is the most debatable position with the Warrior's starting lineup. Many say that if we had a PF that fit our needs, we would have gone much further in the playoffs two years ago and make us more formidable this season with the development of our rookies. Al Harrington, arguably, has been the best PF we've had since Antawn Jameson's departure yet still he is criticized for not being adequate enough in our system.

Through the draft and off season trades, we've acquired players that many of us believe could replace Harrington as starting PF and reduce Al to either a sixth-man/bench player or even expendable for trade. If you were Don Nelson, who would you select as your starting PF?

1) Al Harrington - He can spread the floor, rebounds like a small forward, streaky and shaky in the post. He has reached his potential and his 6 boards per game will be the best we ever get out of him as a PF. ( Make Wright backup PF, Turiaf backup C)

2) Brendan Wright - Has got to put some meat on them bones, showed brilliance in the open floor and in using his length well, hasn't shown full rebounding potential yet, needs to increase his offense and defensive awareness. Having Wright as a starter will develop him much faster. (Moves Harrington to sixth-man)

3) Corey Maggette/Stephen Jackson -  Yes, we love to play small ball but this is too much, I know that we will see one of them play the PF position depending on game situations but to make one of them as the starting PF is foolish. We already aren't a good rebounding team and we will just get worse with this lineup. Don Nelson did say to reporters that with the loss of Baron Davis, we will have have to get faster this season and this is an obvious way to do so. (Harrington or Wright becomes 6th man, one of them has to get phazed out, makes Harrington expendable or gives up on Wright's potential)

4) Ronny Turiaf - Now people that want him as our starting PF confuse me because this is just wrong. I like the acquisition of Turiaf because although I hate to say it, his energy reminds me of Matt Barnes'. Unfortunately,  the Dubz let Matt go to the Suns and in my opinion, Turiaf is the closest thing we have to Matt's energy off the bench. I think he'll be an upgrade over any of the backup Centers we've had lately but as a PF he is slow, doesn't have range to the 3 pt line nor even a consistent jump shot and would clog the lane. (Makes our backup C position pretty much non-existant, again makes Harrington/Wright expendable)

5) Kosta Perovich, Anthony Randolph & Austin Croshere - Kosta? reminds me of Notorious POB, rookie & no experience. Anthony Randolph? Rookie who plays like a SF than anything else..No. Austin Croshere? .......no

Who would you have?

Andre Iguodala, Corey Maggette, Josh Smith, Emeka Okafor, Ron Artest, these names have been connected with the Warriors since Baron Davis' unexpected exit from the Warriors. If it were up to you..who would you sign knowing that Arenas and Brand are unavailable?

Remember this is still taking into consideration that Don Nelson is still our coach and as such we are still a fast break team that looks to exploit mismatches and run & gun.

Now I as everybody else was devastated when I heard Baron chose the Clips rather than stay in the Bay but for some reason, it wasn't as bad as when J-Rich was traded away, I guess it was because I always assumed Baron's days with the Warriors were ending and perhaps I was ready for the day to come.

With Baron gone, now the Warriors have two main positions to worry about, the PF spot and the PG spot as well. With Gilbert Arenas taking the Wizards contract offer, it leaves no other PGs in the league worth offering a contract to, nope not Kirk Hinrich nor Luke Ridnour, they would make our perimeter defense even worse and signing or trading for Billups just doesn't seem like a right fit, plus hes past his prime and we'd have to search for another PG.

The two main PF's out there are Emeka Okafor and Josh Smith and the latter of the two just jumps at me. We saw Josh Smith running and gunning with Atlanta during their homes games against the Boston in the playoffs, imagine Josh Smith running and gunning with a much better fast break team ALL THE TIME. I like Atlanta, but they merely play up-tempo when it suits them and so not all the time. The Dubs on the other hand, PREFER to run and I don't see any other free agent better than Josh Smith to play our PF spot. He's pretty much a younger, more athletic version of Al Harrington  only not capable of hitting 3's at a consistent rate. He rebounds WAY better than Al, blocks shots and has 3 point range. Sure he'd have to work on his corner 3's and I see him taking Mickael Pietrus type shots, such as only in the corner or only when wide open.

Many of you will argue for pursuing Okafor and I agree he is a very good player at  his position (poor-mans Elton Brand), but he lacks the speed and range that make Warrior PFs so dreaded to play against. NBA teams hate to play us because of our unorthodox, mismatching approach to the game. With Al Harrington and Austin Croshere playing the 4 and 5 spots, it made opposing PFs and C's hate to play us (See Yao Ming). Bringing in Okafor, who would be inserted into the starting lineup obviously would make turn us merely into a conventional team making us easier to guard. Heck, Nelson might even make Okafor the C moving Biedrins to the bench and we'd still have problems at the PF and PG spots.

Unless the Warriors plan on saving their cap space till 2010 to make a run for LeBron or Dwayne Wade, they need to solve at least one of their two positional problems. Josh Smith is an ideal point forward whose numbers would only grow because he'd play in a faster paced game with more possessions. He could play alongside Biedrins and we've seen what he's capable of with the right crowd such as in the playoffs where he made several 3's to seal the game at home against Boston.

Keep all in mind that this is under Nelson's style to the game, should he decide to get "sick" half way through the season and leave early or just finish this one year as he said he would, our next coach might have a completely different approach to basketball. (Yes even Keith Smart might want to switch stuff up). Unless a difference maker can be brought in before the beginning of the season, next season appears more as a chance to develop the young core than integrate them into what we already had because with Baron gone, Monta cannot replicate what Baron can do both offensively and running the team. Too much will be asked of Monta, and he needs to stay in his natural position, a tweener at the 2 spot.

I also don't expect Nelson to retire so abruptly just because one of his better players decided to screw up the whole direction of the team, maybe he will be back again since he stated that Larry Brown is coaching and he is older than Nelson, and hopefuly hopefully HOPEFULLY, he doesn't decide to leave half way through the season.

The Warriors and Josh Smith would be a good fit because I believe finding a PF who can rebound, block shots and shoot 3's plus play a point forward role is much harder than simply finding a pass first PG who can play D.