SB Nation User Blog: ffgolden

New Warriors throwback jersey for 09-10, as reported by Uni Watch. Also mentioned in that uni...

ffgolden — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:21:55 -0000

New Warriors throwback jersey for 09-10, as reported by Uni Watch. Also mentioned in that uni preview, re: next year's Dubs 'fits: "Uni Watch has seen the preliminary mock-ups and can say with a fair degree of certainty that you will not be disappointed."

Steph Curry 6th in league in preseason assists

ffgolden — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:41:11 -0000

Steph Curry 6th in league in preseason assists

According to InsideHoops.com (via Twitter), Stephen Curry is sixth in the league in assists during the preseason, with 6.2 per game. Conclusive? No. A good sign? I'll take it as such. Players in front of him:
* Westbrook: 9.0 apg
* B.Davis: 8.0
* Arenas: 7.8
* Kidd: 7.3
* Paul: 6.8
* Curry: 6.2

@gswscribe: SJax asked not to be a captain in meeting with Nellie, Riley. Request...

ffgolden — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:35:47 -0000

@gswscribe: SJax asked not to be a captain in meeting with Nellie, Riley. Request granted

gswscribe is the reliable Marcus Thompson II of the Contra Costa Times.

This guy was not down with the Yi Movement. (Props to InsideHoops for this.)

ffgolden — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 23:00:19 -0000

This guy was not down with the Yi Movement.

(Props to InsideHoops for this.)

Anthony Randolph on Team USA?

ffgolden — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:58:59 -0000

Anthony Randolph on Team USA?

Marc Spears is reporting that Randolph has been invited to Team USA's minicamp in Vegas this month. His star continues its rapid ascent..

Bargnani gets 5 years/$50 mil

ffgolden — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 05:50:55 -0000

Bargnani gets 5 years/$50 mil

According to ESPN, Andrea Bargnani will receive a 5 year contract extension worth $50 million. Jae will now light himself on fire.

Complement vs. Compliment

ffgolden — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:59:17 -0000

Complement vs. Compliment

Complement: something that completes or makes perfect. A big, defense-oriented guard would be a good complement to Monta in the backcourt.

Compliment: an expression of praise, commendation, or admiration. Nellie complimented Randolph on his first 30 pt, 20 reb game.

Warriors PR Boondoggle

ffgolden — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:35:44 -0000

Warriors PR Boondoggle

Can't believe I'm actually linking to Kawakami, but this story deserves some discussion at GSOM, and frankly it's surprising that it isn't front page news...

Another draft fanpost: BPA vs. Need

ffgolden — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:11:16 -0000

There seems to be a Holiday Movement growing in the last few days. Let me get this out of the way: I didn't watch much of his play at UCLA, and don't have a strong opinion about how good of a pro he'll turn out to be.

My problem isn't with Holiday, but with the primary point of reasoning behind drafting him: that he has the size and PG abilities to play alongside Monta in the backcourt. Should this be our main focus going into the draft?

Here's what we know:

Nelson isn't known for playing young, green players, unless they do one or two things really well.
Nelson thinks Monta's future is at the point, and plans to play him there this season. Remember, he said this long before Baron left the team — it's not something the team is saying just because they don't have any other options at PG.
Nelson wants to play Jackson at the 2 because of his lack of rebounding at the 3, his good perimeter defense, and his ability to post up smaller players.

Nellie could certainly change his mind, as he is wont to do, but I'm not gonna assume so until I hear some suggestion of it.

So, knowing what we know, why pick somebody like Holiday based on the assumption that he'll suddenly be playing alongside Monta for the majority of the game? Is he such a polished point guard that Nellie will scrap the plan, move Monta back to the 2, and Jack back to the 3? It's much more likely that he'll be playing off the bench for a short amount of minutes, if at all.

I don't mean to pick on Holiday. If he's the best player available at #7, then by all means, Riles should select him. But if Thabeet's available, and he's deemed the best player on the board? Pick him — he can help bolster the frontcourt. If Jennings is determined to have the better value? Pick him, I don't care if he's not as good a fit alongside Monta in the backcourt. If Harden falls? Pick him, find a place for him in the backcourt or use his value in a trade.

We need more talent, period — we shouldn't pigeonhole ourselves because we think a certain guy will solve such a specific perceived need, especially when our knowledge of Nellie's plans is contrary to that solution coming to immediate fruition.

Monta Ellis: Point Guard of the Future? The debate rages on!

ffgolden — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:54:00 -0000

There seems to be a near consensus amongst the GSOM faithful that the Warriors’ biggest position of need is at point guard. Almost everyone this side of Don Nelson thinks that Monta Ellis should be, and always will be, a shooting guard, and that the Monta@point experiment should be abandoned. With the draft fast approaching, this topic needs further discussion. And if GSOM is good at one thing, it’s discussing the crap out of something.

I, for one, contend that we should not be so hasty in calling for the abandonment of the Monta experiment.

1) At least give him a damn training camp at the position!

Monta is still a very young player, and does not have much experience playing the 1. He’s got a lot to learn. But do we know for certain that he can’t pick up some of the requisite knowledge to play the position? Our natural inclination is to look at him solely as a great scorer, because that’s all we’ve seen him do. And with Baron getting the reps at point in previous training camps, and the moped ordeal last training camp, he hasn’t been able to properly prepare to do anything else.

I think we should give him a chance to learn the position a little more: passing angles, reading defenses, reading his teammates’ movements, the art of the bounce pass, etc. But we also need to give Nelson a chance to teach him some plays. Monta doesn’t have natural point guard tendencies because he hasn’t played the position, so getting reps in training camp with actual plays is a critical step in him preparing for the position.

2) He’s a defensive liability at Shooting Guard.

You don’t see many people arguing against this one, and yet the only solution presented seems to be, “pair him with a big point guard capable of defending the 2”. Who and where are these magical big point guards? Is there a Magic Johnson Tree hidden in the depths of the Amazon rain forest? Or is it as simple as landing the #2 pick in the draft and selecting Ricky Rubio, who will instantly cure all that ails us? But we’ll get back to that in a moment.

Monta may be a defensive liability regardless of which backcourt position he plays—if he only put more effort into fighting through screens, it might be a different story, but I digress—and so pairing him with a good on-ball defender is of great importance. Someone with length, height, and toughness, who’s willing to work hard on the defensive end and relishes playing against great offensive players. Maybe one who can also pass a little bit. Hmm, that description reminds me of someone... Captain somethingorother?

3) Do we really have any great alternatives?

I’d be as happy as the next guy if we somehow attained a franchise point guard. Why not? If Chris Paul were in a Warriors uni, who really cares if we have one of the smaller backcourts in the league? Maybe Chicago doesn’t like the pressure of playoffs and expectations of a bright future, and decide to trade Derrick Rose?

No, the reality is that we’re much more likely to end up with Raymond Felton, or Jarret Jack, or Kirk Hinrich. In the draft, maybe we end up with Jennings, or Lawson. Is a pairing of any of those guys with Monta better than one of Monta + Jackson? Monta will never be a 10+ APG player, but will any of those other guys, either?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for drafting a point guard—if he’s the BPA. We certainly need a better passing game, and a pass-first point guard off the bench would be great. Watson has made strides, but mostly as a scorer, and Ty Lawson would probably be an instant improvement over CJ in most aspects of the game.

But we do have other needs, primary rebounding and defense. And I think it’ll be a lot easier for us to find a versatile 3 that can give us a bit of both, rather than find a point guard that’s good enough to make up for the weaknesses of Monta at the 2 and Jackson at the 3. Monta’s not an ideal point guard, but there are very few that are, and barring some miracle where we DO get our ideal point guard, let’s give Monta a training camp to see if he can do the job.