SB Nation User Blog: buttafingas

...and a bag of chips

buttafingas — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:18:19 -0000

One reason I like these off season moves is that we are going to have a lot of guys playing their hearts out because of the many chips found on the collective shoulders...

Turiaf wants to prove he is more than a cheerleader - however, this guy plays with so much passion he doesn't need another motivation. Heard him on KNBR and he sounds great - I like how he hopes to make Biedrins job easier so Andris can be a star -thats a great attitude to bring in.

Williams wants to justify his draft pick status and probably wants to enjoy the game the way he did at UConn - gs is a great place for that.

Mo Evans just looks pissed all the time. Not sure if he has a chip in his shoulder per se but he plays each minute on the floor like he may not be out there again for some time.

Maggette is leaving the Clippers - a team that players leave and ALWAYS are happy to get a rep on another team so nobody associates them with the Clips. My hope is that his demeanor (not looking too happy to be here) has more to do with being on the clips and isn't just who he is.

Anthony Randolph was TRASHED by espn "experts" in the mock drafts. he has a huge chip on his shoulders because he feels he should have been a higher draft pick.

On the current roster - Monta will want to be an all star and will want to prove the naysayers he can play the point. Perhaps the most important chip that will determine our success.

Bellinelli and Wright also have chips on their shoulders - for obvious reasons.

To all the Mullin haters

buttafingas — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:44:23 -0000

Look, I am sick and tired of reading posts where people bash Mullin. He isn't a perfect GM - but he is a good one and he has learned over the years.

He made mistakes early on by locking up Dun, Murph, Foyle and signing Fisher to too much money (although if Fish didn't have to be the go to guy at times it wouldn't have been so bad).

He learned from this and over the years got rid of bad contracts - that is a sign of a good GM (versus the Isiah Thomas types who TAKE on bad contracts)

When he got Baron - that was the FIRST significant star to CHOOSE to sign with the dubs that i can remember. Already, this puts him in the good GM category in my book. Consider all the previous GMs and think about who they got to come in and save the day (Mookie Blaylock, Hughes?)

He took a gamble on SJax when nobody would touch him and it turned out to be a genius move. Al hasn't been a star but he's better than Murphy for our style of play.

He convinced a great coach in Nelson to return to the team - lured him off the golf courses in maui. Now, Nellie may not have won a championship but having discussions about whether or not Nellie ball can win a title is better than wondering if a team coached by Mussleman can make the playoffs.

Seeing that he had guys with similar skills to JRich, he traded him for Wright - a guy he feels could be a star someday. he may be wrong on this, too soon to tell, but JRich (and I love this guy - in the top three for alltime favorite warrior) peaked and his skills are duplicated by guys like Buike, Monta, Pietrus. This was a gamble move no doubt, but good GMs take risks, in my mind the jury is still out on this one.

Mullin deserves credit - like Nellie and the players for making our team one of the most exciting teams in the league the last couple seasons - and especially for making us finally relevant again. All those WE BELIEVE moments were due at least in part to Mullin - if that doesn't help you appreciate him I don't know what does. The JA Adande article in ESPN leads me to think we will continue to be one of the funnest teams to watch for years to come. Mullin gets credit for that.

Now, on to the Baron issue. I really believe in my heart that Baron wanted out. Comments he has made about wanting to be in LA say it all for me. I wish him the best and really think signing him to a long term big money deal may have been good for us for one or two seasons - but not 4 or 5. It is less to me about his durability and skills dropping off (though we saw how old CPaul made him look), and more about creating space for others to step up as playmakers and team leaders and allstars and thinking 4 or 5 years ahead, not just one year ahead. Mullin isn't to blame for Baron leaving so STOP putting that on him - he has tried to respond in the offseason and this board has had a mixed response. Maybe a great GM finds a way to keep Baron and build around him better - but I think Mullin is a good one, not a great one - and certainly not an awful one as some suggest.

Offseason moves - we gain a VARIETY of players with different skill sets to prepare us to for matchups and provide depth at each position. We LOSE a group of swingmen who range from solid backups who may be starters some day (Buike) to seriously inconsistent low skilled guys who play off emotion (Barnes). The thing is - they all are 2s and 3s. Some complain we don't have any proves stars on the roster - and I agree - but Monta may become one this year, SJAX has been a star at times, and in a couple years we will see about Wright and Randolph. However, without the proven star you MUST have depth at each position, and we have that now. It is hard to say how well this team will do - I predict about 35 wins this year and then the playoffs in the year after that.

Lots of people here compare who we lost to who we got and they see a drop off. But, if you take baron out of the mix - I think our team is better than last year. Again, Baron wanted to be in LA. Shoot, if you take Baron and Maggette out the mix I still see an upgrade - if only because it adds depth.

Part of why people here love CJ and Buike and Barnes is because they gave us memorable, at times magical, moments over the years. We are fans and we see them in our uniforms doing great stuff and we grow to cherish them. But if you step back from that position - you see a group of limited and inconsistent swing men who are all backups. We got a variety of backups in return who may win our hearts as well.

Some choices he has made I disagree with. Did he get the best possible players for each position that were available in the off season? No. But we must remember that he is also competing with many other teams for these guys services. Its hard to know how much a player coming here or not has to do with the agent, the GM or the player. For example, Brand wanted to be in the east where he has a shot for a title - is this Mullin's fault? Should he have use the MLE when he had the chance? yes - but, oh well, that MLE wasn't going to bring us a superstar. Is he to wed to Harrington and Nelson at times? Yes, but in this biz of real people who have relationships to each other, who are fiercely competitive and who form bonds - it isn't suprising.

If we say a great GM makes good choices 90% of the time, a good GM makes one 70-75% of the time, and a decent one makes good choices 50% of the time, and a bad one makes them 20% of the time (or makes no moves at all when his team sucks) - then I think Mullin is a good GM. He used to be decent and now he is approaching good.

Maybe it is because I have been a fan since the days of Sleepy Floyd but I have seen bad GM'ing on the Warriors for many years and know what it looks like - Mullin isn't it. Perhaps most of the people on this site are newer warrior fans and don't know the misery of the past - but trust an old timer - Mullin has given us something we haven't had in years - a relevant and exciting Warrior team.

Quit your crying!

buttafingas — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:29:04 -0000

I'd like to call a moratorium to all the complaining on this site. Especially when everyone is repeating everyone else.

Here's some perspective...

Players, not Mullin, determine their own fates. Baron wanted to leave, and unless we mortgaged the future for a great but injury prone pg we weren't going to keep him (in fact, even if we matched I wouldn't be suprised if he still went to Lala land).

Brand wants to play in the East where he can go further in the playoffs than in the west and he can still get paid - smart guy.

Maggette isn't equal to Baron but he does give us scoring, toughness and a new offensive option when the clock winds down besides jacking threes with his and-one ability. Plus, this ability will help address the problems that zone defenses gave us last year.

If we get Turiaf we will get a solid backup PF and center to provide something people asked for on this site - interior defense, rebounding, and strength to shove Boozer around.

If we get a decent back up PG and trade Al harrington so that Wright can develop we may not be as good as last year but i don't think we will suck. It is rare that a team with three guys who can average more than twenty a game really sucks. Remeber, Nellie's teams will ALWAYS be based on scoring more than the other team - not on good defense.

Finally, we don't know how good Monta can be as a pg, because Baron was always the guy. Also, he has improved an element of his game each year (this past year he rebounded much better, showed leadership, and let the game come to him more) so why can't he learn to pass better and play defense better? He's still a young player. Biedrins has gotten better each year as well - I love how he improved his FT shooting last year.

Let's see what this team can do before we write them off. No more crying!

Clippers now a contender?

buttafingas — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:42:45 -0000

If they resign Brand they will be an impressive squad -

Kaman, Brand, Thorton - imposing frontcourt

Cat, Baron - imposing backcourt - though cat may be done.

Not too sure about the bench but this looks like a squad that could make some noise - for about two years. After that the wheels come off and they are saddled by contracts they can't shed.

The situation with warriors seem like all sides are making the best choices for their side. But why does this happen to teams like the warriors and not the Spurs, Detroit, and other contenders? - why do they stay together through thick and thin and why don't they have guys looking to go to teams for long term contracts and big pay days?

Who to blame?

buttafingas — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:07:39 -0000

We went from the most exciting team in the league after upsetting the Mavs two year's ago to this?!

Last season we lose first six games and Nellie burned out his starters and we STILL won 48 games and now, this?!

We have a chance to improve the 3 and 4 spot by playing Wright more and drafting AR - but now, this?!

We could have used the mid level trade exception to get a decent backup PG to spell Baron and we did not - leading to this!

How did this all happen so fast? Is it the owners being cheap, the GM being out-GM'd on draft night? Baron being selfish? The management lowballing Baron? Is it circumstances out of the team's control?

On one level I think the answer to the above questions are yes, to some degree.

When I look back at the potential I felt after than upset over Dallas around the future for this squad - and reflect on where we sit today, I am sick to my stomach to see that we are squandering so much.

Now, if we get Baron back I worry about the great team chemistry we had in the past - I worry about Nellie and baron seeing eye to eye - I worry about so much. If we let him walk we will be back at the bottom of the league again - at least for a couple years. If we do a sign and trade it may be good - but I can't think of a proven PG who can even hold Baron's jock strap that we could get out of it. The best PGs are all staying put.

It makes me want to curl up with my We Believe shirt and cry myself to sleep. OK - its not that bad - but its bad.

James Jones is up for grabs

buttafingas — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:36:33 -0000

Instead of letting our trade exception expire, let's use it to sign this free agent. He fits Nellie ball and will be an upgrade over the soon to leave Barnes. This would take Green and CDR off the table and we can focus on the pf spot.

Honestly, with the trade exemption, Al on the trading block, and the 14th pick of a decent draft where 6-15 aren't that much different, I'll be shocked if Mullin fails this time around to make us a better team. If he is thinking about who we will be in three years down the road and seriously gambles, AND lets the exception expire,I'd view that as a failure. Sadly, the recent comments by him and some of the bay area sports write ups seem to suggest this approach.

The Wait is KILLING Me!

buttafingas — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:40:30 -0000

Long time reader of this great site - newly joined to the community.

Couple quick thoughts that have probably been said here before:

1. We have about a two year window with Baron, so we need to make a big move. With the trade exception and the draft looming we can't let this upgrade chance pass us by.

2. I'm hoping we move Harrington for a vet big - artest, sheed, brand, tprince, marion.

3.hoping to draft a swing man with a bigger skillset and upside than Pietrus or Barnes (shouldn't be hard todo).

4. The West, while not necessarily getting much worse (i think a bit so), will be in a state of flux next year (new coaches, possible big trades from Denver and Pheonix) so we need to start strong and establish our place in the standings.

5. Wright and Marco both bring skills we lacked last year (rebounding and defense presence down low for Wright and better shooting and Bball IQ for Marco) so i think them playing more will help our starters more than hurt them.

6. I am more optimistic heading into this season than I was going into last....assuming mullin makes a big move... which of course, he will....i hope.