SB Nation User Blog: jae

Recap: Spurs 103, Warriors 91- Oh the humanity

jae — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:05:06 -0000

Monta Ellis frames Spurs' center Tim Duncan's head for a photo shoot while Bad Vlad Radmanovic trys to help keep the ball out of the way. Thanks Vlad! (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

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Originally posted Dec 17, 2009 12:21 AM PST

Spurs vs Warriors coverage | Spurs vs Warriors boxscore | Spurs vs Warriors recap

Preview/ Game Thread: I Love GSoM + Dysfunction Junction (1050+ comments)

Warriors Web Links: Nellie's back, Moore's out

I had not heard that Mikki Moore was injured until well after the game, so it came as something of a surprise that he was not in the starting lineup. He wasn't at the shoot-around either. Was this it? Had a big deal gone down where he and the rest of the expiring contracts had been packaged for something resembling the foundation of a basketball team? Sadly, no.

Moore's absence simply meant that someone else would have to pick up the slack of being on the court for a quarter and a half without accomplishing a thing. And try as they might, the rest of the team found out that such was no easy task. That level of inconspicuous nothing takes more than most of this rag-tag crew had in them.

Vladimir Radmanovic, who pretended to be a big man for much of the game, tried, but in his time on the court, Vlad simply missed too many shots. To accomplish nothing one must find quieter means of futility. Miss one or two and you can be forgotten, but fire up miss after miss like he did and you're likely to stand out.

Stephen Curry's noble attempt also failed to capture the essence of Moore, as (and I'm operating off of memory since I've yet to check a box score) his 458 fouls (plus or minus a few) attract too much attention.

And while eyes are still on Anthony Randolph, he's unlikely to fill out as many empty, unnoticed minutes. He should still try to take most of his shots no more than an arm's length from the rim. With even fewer big men to compete for playing time with, Randolph appeared to settle for jumpers above the key. If he took a shot in the paint, it was while I was distracted by the guys behind me making up stories about golf. ("So, you know Mike is a real good golfer I'd heard, but he hasn't been playing in years. Still he went out and shot a... [pause to make up a number that's not so low as to be unbelievable, but not so high as to possibly not sound impressive enough] ...a 73 [nailed it!] on a course in Phoenix on our last business trip there. Apparently, Mike played at Dook [where they have their own course, and it's real hard to make the team there. The only way to make the team is to shoot 7 under par or better for 3 rounds in 3 days, while also dragging a Volkswagen around the course using only your teeth or some other ridiculous rite of passage suggesting that in most years they'd never actually field a full squad]. So you know he's gotta have a whole lot of talent!") Anthony does have a real nice stroke from the right elbow though. He's deadly there. Unfortunately, from the *left* elbow and more or less anywhere else on the court, he may as well just hand the ball over to the opposition. It's not going in and we're not getting a rebound.

No, if there was a Warrior Wonder as in "I wonder where he was because I didn't seem to notice him at all tonight" it goes to Anthony Morrow. I didn't remember him doing anything in the second half, and wondered why, when we could have used the shooters to try to stay in the game, he wasn't playing more. That was until my friend in the seat next to me pointed out that he was actually in the game, and had been for much of the second half.

It's tough to really call this a team right now. It's more of an entourage where all the members just happen to be Turtle. Monta certainly shined above the rest. The ball seemed to find his hands in the right place and he seemed to be moving just that much faster and that much more smoothly than anyone nearby him (which was good when that guy is a Spur, but not so good when that guy is a Warrior). All critique of his ball-hogged ways that have been too frequent of late, tonight, *just watching him play*, it's clear that he can do quite a bit of good on the court and remains one reason to watch. He may not be an "all-star" and as a centerpiece of a winning team, he may always be lacking in some important regard, but he's also capable of dazzling grace on the court. We can lose games without him, but we'd miss out on some true on-court poetry in the process.

The Spurs made it interesting. They aren't particularly exciting and the Warriors led at halftime, but they just played with a quiet confidence where you knew that inevitably, they'd be around when the third quarter collapse hit. It did. They were. Even knowing that you are watching a certain future Hall of Famer in Duncan, his hand heavy with championship rings really doesn't spice up the methodical Spurs. If there's a player who actually caught my attention, it was DeJuan Blair. If he's "undersized" he sure doesn't look it in terms of his presence on the court. Maybe his head is a few inches below that of a "legitimate NBA bigman" but his presence is no shorter. When there's a shot off the rim to pull down, he looks like he's about 8 feet tall. And sure, his knees are held together with duct-tape and zip-ties and looking at him you get the impression that he's bound to be corpulent sooner or later, at which point he may no longer be fit for NBA duty. But until then, he's there where he needs to be, looking huge and doing what needs to be done.

Other observation: there are a whole lot of fans in jerseys of players who now play elsewhere around the association. Particularly cute was the couple sporting the (his) Jackson and (her) Richardson models walking hand in hand out of the arena after the game. Unlike about 60% of the attendees, they stayed 'til the bitter end.

So many deck chairs, so little time- 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors season through 24 games

jae — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:25:01 -0000

With the season now passed the psychologically all-important 28.012455% completed mark, it's time to assess where the Warriors are and what can be done about it.

For starters, let's get this out of the way. If anyone still held out playoff hopes, let them go. You're wasting valuable wishing on more likely things, like hitting the jackpot in the state lottery. The Thunder, currently 8^th in the west, are on pace for 47 wins. To best that, we'd have to win 41 of the remaining 58 games. Even an outside shot means winning more than 60% of the remaining contests. While we are losing to Chicago and Detroit and looking lost against Philly, that sort of performance is tooth-fairy level fantasy. Getting close to 0.500 is going to take some awesome basketball from here on out as well, and unless everyone gets healthy and starts playing some good ball, and soon, I wouldn't hold out for anything there either.

Going out and not being an embarrassment every night and doing something that remotely resembles building on the future, doing *something* that makes us think that there's reason to pay attention in the future. That has to be the goal.

So what can be done there?

Let's start with the bright spots.

...um...um...

OK, that's enough of that. The bright spots haven't been that bright. Moving on with the "not burned out bulb dark alley" spots, Stephen Curry is putting in more time than a Warriors' rookie has in quite a while, with results that still suggest that they may have done well in the draft. No, he hasn't been the top rookie point guard. That honor likely goes to Brandon Jennings. Even though he's cooled of a bit from the start, Jennings has been rather sensational. And though his scoring efficiency drags down the overall output a bit, he's shown the ability to do everything you can ask of an NBA point guard and has done it well. Additionally, Ty Lawson hasn't played nearly as much, but in his more limited minutes, he's shown all the tools as well.

[For what it's worth, I never understood why the electrically fast Jonny Flynn was touted so highly and eventually went high in the lottery while the equally electrically fast Ty Lawson sunk to the late stages of the first round. Lawson was better in college and so far has been the better pro. Yes, Lawson's in a better situation, surrounded by better players. But that doesn't explain all of it. What he did in college suggested that Lawson was going to be better, that he would make more of his shots, and per minute on the court, hand out more assists and turn the ball over less and grab more rebounds. And that's exactly what we've seen in the pros. Denver is playing real well. Lawson is part of the reason why. Minnesota stinks. Flynn hasn't changed that. The future may change all of this, but for now, whatever 'reasoning' that had Flynn much more highly touted should be examined closely. Their relative performances are more or less what their previous play predicted.]

But getting back to Curry, he's likely here for a while and for the while, that still seems like it could be a good thing. He's demonstrated that he's the best distributor on the team (setting the bar low certainly withstanding). The assist total could be higher and it probably would be without the overall dysfunctional nature of the Warriors offense. The turnovers are a bit high given the number of assists. But he's shown himself to be a reasonable, though not spectacular shooter, efficient enough to suggest that he should shoot it more often and the offense has shown some life when he's been running it. Still he could and should do more. One suspects that Curry is still trying to show the detractors who said he was just an undersized 2 from a small school that he has the chops to make it as an NBA point guard. And he has shown that he really is a point guard, but now it's time to also show that he's able to put some points on the board, to use that sweet stroke he was known for in college to extend the defense.

So is there a move to make? Curry should continue to play. No huge change there. Calls to send him to the pine in favor of C.J. Watson, a player on a one year deal who by almost all counts will have his bags packed to depart the Warriors locker room for good come the final game of the season, seem a bit misguided. That is except for the fact that C.J. should play more, simply because the team has played better when he's been in. And in the long run, reinforcing lousy play across the board will hurt those who don't clean out their lockers come the night of April 13^th, 2010.

So if Curry should play and Watson should play, the minutes have to come from somewhere. And right now, those minutes should come at Monta Ellis's expense.

Please do not interpret this as advocation for sending Monta to the bench, or ditching him entirely. But the nightly Allen Iverson tribute band he's cast himself in is not working out for anyone involved. Forty-one minutes of ball-hoggedly predictable high-volume shooting pads his point total, but makes for a stagnant offense where Monta's points come at the expense of a more efficient offense with a better distribution of the scoring load. At the end of games, opponents know that the shots are coming from a tired Ellis and when defenses can key on a tired player, they tend to win that contest. One gets the impression that Ellis thinks he needs to take every shot, and to some the extent that no one else should be taking 18 shots a night, he's right. But no one should have the opportunity to turn the ball over 9 times a game either. So far this year, Monta has accomplished that 3 times. As a benchmark, Kobe Bryant has done that 4 times in his entire career. An honest 35 minutes a night keeps him fresh and it just might help Curry to become a bit more aggressive when Monta isn't there to take all the shots.

So some Curry spiced with a bit more C.J. Watson, at least until his shooting cools, is in order. Still not the most exciting way to avoid catastrophe, and hardly something to feed our psychotic visions of success sometime in the future. For that, we still have to turn to the off-season's savior apparent, Anthony Randolph.

Randolph's rookie season was rather bipolar. He opened up as a wildly out of control talent who failed miserably in attempts to be an NBA SF, but started to shine as a big man, a rebounding machine with an ever climbing FG% once inserted into that role. The quite-possibly-overstated news stories said that he was putting in the hours over the summer, getting bigger and stronger and working on being the player we need him to be. When Brandan Wright went down, it looked like Randolph would see more time. When Ronny and Andris stopped playing in favor of some quality time with Tom Abdenour, it seemed like Anthony was due major minutes.

But the 21 minutes a night Randolph's averaged seems insignificantly greater than those 18 a night we've seen from Mikki Moore. Moore's previously mediocre to poor rebounding significantly over-predicted what he'd do this year. Apparently no one told him that as the only "big" in the lineup, his rebounding totals would be "padded" in the same manner some allege has happened for Biedrins (but not Turiaf) over the last few years. [We don't know much about Chris Hunter, but for what it's worth, he's been a poorer rebounder than Moore. Either he too didn't get the memo that his totals are supposed to be padded as well, or he's just terrible. Stop the hollering for Hunter, people. That's the wrong tree to bark up.]

More Randolph and less Moore would be a start. Yes, the foul rate limits how much time Randolph can be out there, but it does not explain why we're seeing Randolph on the bench more often than not. Has he 'regressed' some from the end of last season? Perhaps. But overall the trend still seems up. It's just perplexing why he's not playing far more often. At least we'd have something to hang our hopes on.

So what do we have? Reel in Monta a touch and push Curry to step it up and play Randolph the minutes his production warrants? No, the changes probably won't make a huge difference, but rather they try than stick with this Titanic mess that we're seeing.

Make it happen, coach. Those deck chairs ain't gonna rearrange themselves!

Poll

The brightest spot so far this year has been:

Jax to Charlotte: Warriors financial implications

jae — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:27:07 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

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[editor's note: our own illustrious Dubs Fan in Boston does his own fine job of breaking down the numbers here. If you've read it, you may have heard it there first. If you haven't, you should.]

You heard it hear first. SBNation is reporting that Stephen Jackson is bound for the Charlotte, NC along with Acie Law for guard Raja Bell and forward Vladimir Radmanovic. Having once lived in the Queen City for all of four weeks before I came to my senses and returned to the Bay, I can't say I envy him. In sending last season's team-leading scorer on his merry way, the Warriors reshape both the on-court product for 09-10 and open up new possibilities going forward, both in this season and beyond.

And like most deals in the NBA, it's all about money.

The short answer is "no, we cannot go out and use the money we've saved on Jax to get another big man"; It's best to not even ask the question.

And in terms of the immediate impact to the team, we could leave it at that. But the deal is not without implications for years to come and for the long term, may have some real impact on how the Warriors can proceed in the future, both this season and in the not-too far future.

The end result is that this erases some, but not all of the misguided extension that Rowell (apparently) handed to Jackson a year ago. Prior to the extension, Jax was going to be an expiring deal at the end of this season valued at $7.65mil. While that alone wasn't going to make the Warriors players in the off season free agent market, it was large enough that it could have been a significant piece of a package to acquire a player under contract from a team looking to shed salary for cap or tax purposes. After the extension, Jax lost that potential value, which is why he brought back Vlad and Raja, two players who do not figure to be signifcant pieces in righting the sinking ship. They might help, but don't count on it.

In terms of immediate impact, Radmanovic and Bell both possess above average long range shots. Vlad, despite standing 6-10, is limited as a big man due to his Bargnani-esque rebounding, but he can provide some contribution as a "3". Bell carried a reputation as a solid perimeter defender to complement his sharp shooting, though at 33, one has to wonder if those skills haven't declined significantly.

What has certainly declined is the Warriors financial commitment for future years. Bell's $5.25mil expires at the end of the season. Radmanovic is due ~$6.47 mil this year with a player option for $6.8838 for 2010-11 that, given market realities he will most likely pick up. And in short, this means that the Warriors will only clear an additional $1.57 million off the books for next year versus retaining Jax and letting Acie Law walk. That alone makes will make virtually no difference in the Warriors purchasing power or shopping habits for the coming year.

However, two years down the line when Radmanovic comes off the books, the Warriors are on the hook for about $9.3 million less than had they stuck with what would then be a 33 year-old Jackson. Forecasting the overall cap situation two years out is difficult as there will be many decisions vis a vis retaining players whose contracts come due in that period, but the savings will not hurt and gets the Warriors out of the inflated back end of Jackson's contract when his declining skills would overshadow the inflating salary, if that had not already happened.

Perhaps more significant though is the potential to make another move this year. In terms of the fabled "package of expiring deals to land a superstar", the Warriors will soon posses $14.36 million in contracts that come off the books next year. While that package would require wrapping up Raja with Mikki Moore, Speedy Claxton, Devean George and CJ Watson, sending out these players would allow the Warriors to pick up a player priced at up to $18million. (CBA rules prevent a team utilizing the traded player exception to make trades while over the cap from taking back more than 125% +$100k in salary than the combined players being traded away. Such a deal cannot happen for two month until Bell can be re-packaged in another trade. And as our illustrious and eloquent ONLXN has quite accurately stated, deals involving that many players out for far fewer coming back are exceptionally rare during the season. As such, it's less likely that the full purchasing power could be used on a single player though the ability to take back minimum salary players without regard to the cap means that it would be theoretically possible to use the biggest chunk of this for a single player. Solely in terms of cap implications, this makes it theoretically possible to construct a deal for all but 9 players in the association without the trading partner taking on a single contract that will extend into next season.

Also see:

Poll

Are the Warriors done dealing?

Of course not! This just opens up the possibility for future trades.

772 votes

Are you kidding? One and done. Even armed with the tools to make the big deal, the Woes won't go shopping for a big name (and bid salary) player.

346 votes

We're still talking about basketball? You mean the season hasn't ended already?

348 votes

1466 votes | Poll has closed

GAME THREAD: Game 4 - Warriors vs. Clippers - The battle for the back of the pack rages on!

jae — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:31:31 -0000

In reality, in the young season, it's probably too early to cut anyone out of the playoff picture, and after netting our first win on Wednesday, things seem much more upbeat than they just two days ago. Still, history suggests that this isn't a clash of titans, and the Clippers' rapid accumulation of 4 losses against a lone close win over the visiting T-wolves on Monday won't shave away too many doubts about where they'll wind up come season's end. But they play 'em for a reason, and expect plenty of drama to be had.

Warriors: 1-2

Clippers: 1-4

Game Time: 7:30pm

Radio: KNBR 680

TV: CSN Bay Area

Blog Buddy: Clips Nation : Preview : SoCal Viewing Party

Around the Association: Warriors South No More

Rumor has it that the Clippers won the 2009 draft lottery. Rumor has it that they selected the draft's closest thing to an instant help big in Blake Griffin, though you would not know it from watching any of their games so far. At present, Griffin has scored no more points, grabbed no more rebounds, and logged no more minutes in NBA regular season games than I have. And while it's the general spiteful bad luck that has a an opponent's top gun get healthy just in time to face the Warriors, Griffin is still sidelined with a stress fracture of the patella (or "knee cap" for those of you who aren't up on your anatomy and osteology).

Broken knee caps just make me wonder if he spent too much time trying to act like this guy:

And while Griffin, who appeared ready to help in the pre-season, would certainly be a welcome addition for the Clippers, it hasn't been the front-court where the Clippers have been hurting. Center Chris Kaman has been putting up more than 20 points a night while shooting 60% from the floor to go with his 10 rebounds (albeit in 40 minutes on the court) while Marcus Camby is averaging his usual double double while connecting on more than half his shots as well.

In fact, as a team, the Clippers have shot reasonably well from the floor, slightly better than their opponents despite a terrible start to the season by Baron and the unholy duo of Rasual Butler and Al Thornton doing their best to do make the SF position a major negative for the other team from LA. The factor that stands out above all others has been turnovers, where the Clippers have averaged five more give-aways a night than their opponents the afore-praised Kaman being the chief culprit. It is hard to win when you hand the ball over so readily before even getting a chance to shoot.

Meanwhile coming off a win where finally more went right than went wrong, our Warriors will be confident and poised to make it back to .500. And doesn't that sound much better than "look for their second win"? Here's to hoping that the tide *has* changed and we can shave out another victory!

That task will be made somewhat more difficult without centers Andris Biedrins, whose availability is presently unknown after straining his back in the tailing minutes of Wednesday's victory, and Ronny Turiaf who remains sidelined with injury as well. Mikki Moore and Anthony Randolph will man the middle for the Warriors who will, undoubtedly turn to "small ball" for most if not all of the game as a result. Randolph performed his best last year after Biedrins went down and he had to spend most of his time in the paint, so there's hope that this could get the talented young rebound machine back on track. (And if that doesn't work, perhaps Nellie will make good on his promise to put Acie Law IV in his front line.)

Predictions:

Monta does it all, trying for a 2nd consecutive double-double, challenged only by the fact that there's only so many assists to go around, and Curry's steady passing and continued emergence as a bona-fide NBA lead guard.

Anthony Randolph gets his season on track, spending more time in the post and hits double figures, at least in minutes played. Serious, this is a big opportunity for Anthony. We need him to step up big tonight.

Jax gets a technical. He's due!

Baron misses 10 shots and looks in the stands for an old lady to lend him her walker before the game ends.

Warriors wonder to be: Stephen Curry, just because.

Warriors by 9 when it's all said and done.

Recap Game #2: Suns 123 - Warriors 101- The less said the better

jae — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:49:16 -0000

More photos » by Paul Connors - AP

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The Bay Bridge is still closed and that's made it a pain to get to and from work. BART is jammed packed in the commute hours and it just seemed like a good idea to wait a bit longer for the crowds to thin out. But that left me with a dilemma: find a place in SOMA to catch the game, or try to rush back and run the risk of missing the first bit. I chose option number two, and while crowded trains meant I missed the first quarter, I did not have to face the double indignity of a large bar tab -- in the futile attempt to suffocate the horrors of that horrendous performance -- and getting home about 4 hours after I'd originally intended to be home. As such, I didn't find myself properly seated in front of the TV until sometime in the 2nd quarter. This meant that I caught about 4 minutes of an actual competitive basketball game, followed by the interpretive dance routine summarizing the history of futility that has been the Golden State Warriors for most of my conscious lifetime.

Preview/Game Thread, 1096 comments indicating that others suffered through this as well

Final box score

Blog Buddy: Bright Side of the Sun (at least someone should be happy)

Final - 10.30.2009	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden State Warriors	24	27	22	28	101
Phoenix Suns	28	34	30	31	123

Complete Coverage >

Ugh!

It started reasonably well. The set warmed up just in time to see Azubuike bury a three, then charge up to the other end to catch Amar'e Stoudemire napping and block his shot from behind. Azubuike wins the Warrior Wonder.

Congratulations Kelenna.

After that though, honestly, I'd like to forget this. The block didn't seem to make NBA.com's game recap either and other than that, the highlights were few and far between.

Perhaps the less said out this game, the better.

Observations:

If Monta Ellis ever passed the ball to Stephen Curry, it must have been in the first 16 minutes of the game. After that, there appeared to be three teams on the floor. Two of them were wearing blue jerseys, but playing with each other no more than they were cooperating with the Suns squad.

Monta wants this to be his team. Unfortunately, he seems to believe that this means he has to take every shot in order to score as much as possible. It isn't too late to turn this around, but it's the sort of problem that, if left unchecked, will spell disaster. Did anyone tell him that our quota for tunnel vision shooters ready to go 1 on 5 has already been met? It appears he's fooling some of the people some of the time, as SF Chron writer Rusty Simmons described his performance as "a standout game only from Monta Ellis, who went for 19 points, five rebounds and three assists, and was effective and active on the defensive end." 19 shots to get 19 points coupled with 5 turnovers? It might stand out, but perhaps not in the way that Rusty meant.

Anthony Randolph still has a knack for grabbing rebounds, but he appears no closer to being a SF than he was at the beginning of last year. The discipline and shot selection that seemed to be improving at the end of last season looks like it's still on summer vacation.

The Suns killed us on the boards. The same Suns that were relying on a front line of Stoudemire and Channing Frye, neither of whom should make Phoenix a rebounding power. Of course, much of that has little to do with our rebounding. Much of it is that Phoenix wasn't missing shots. Without misses, it's tough to grab rebounds.

I'd also like to offer an apology:

While I still firmly expect Channing Frye tor return to being a largely useless player who will shoot more often than his skills warrant, last night he was on fire. Did someone show him my posts about him? I'm pretty sure that his performance was meant as a personal affront to me. It is unfortunate that the rest of you had to suffer for this.

It's just ~~one~~ two games, right?

OPEN THREAD: Game #2 – Warriors at Suns: Start the season right, take two

jae — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:47:48 -0000

More photos » by Francis Specker - AP

Out.of.my.way!

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Warriors: 0-1

Suns: 1-0

Game Time: 7:00pm

Radio: KNBR 680

TV: CSN Bay Area

Blog Buddy: Bright Side Of The Sun

(Suns vs Golden State Dysfunctionals)

Disaster is not upon us. Losing the first game of the season does not end all chances for a successful season. It is a long season and one game against the Rockets did not answer all the questions surrounding the team. But we do know a bit more about our squad than we did Wednesday at 7:29pm. We know that Monta can still score and looks to have the mid-range shot and the quick move to the rim. We have seen Curry against real NBA competition when a game mattered, and the kid looked pretty good. The offense ran well with him driving the show and final seconds aside, there's more promise than doom while he's playing. Beyond that, Jackson is still Jackson, Maggette is still Maggette and neither seem overly concerned about those often unfortunate facts.

Look for some changes tonight. Look for the team to try to find Morrow on the wing where he can do damage like few others. Chocolate Rain will not be frozen out by the defensive "force" of Barbosa and Nash. Curry and Ellis should also look for big games accordingly. And look for more PT for Randolph. Give him a chance to shine against a Suns' front line that shouldn't scare anyone defensively.

As for the Suns? This isn't the D'antoni's speedsters, nor is it last year's model with Shaq pushing everyone else out of the lane. We're also not going to see Jason Richardson, who is serving the second game of a 2 game suspension tonight. It's a different Suns team.

But they still have Nash, who isn't suddenly going to forget how to pass or shoot overnight. Barbosa will see plenty of time and can explode past defenders. Amar'e will likely try to thrive in a contract year, now not having to stand in the immense shadow of the departed O'neal. Unless the Warriors can turn up the defensive intensity from Wednesday's uh, "mediocre" first effort, we'll see point on the board. When you cannot deny Scola, stopping Stoudemire does not appear likely.

Let's see a psychological turnaround from the abysmal 3^rd quarter some more ball movement to free up the shooters, which in turn will open up lanes to the hoop. There's not time to turn it around like right now, when the season is still young and the psychotic visions of Nellieball working wonders with this odd collection of talent are still tangible.

Predictions:

Monta gets to the line 10 times
Morrow doubles his shot total
Andris gets a double-double, reminding us why we didn't give him away for Amar'e
Turiaf fouls out in 20 minutes trying to stop Amar'e, who is trying to remind us why so many of us wanted him so very, very much

Warriors by 6.

Poll

The Warriors Wonder will be:

Someone named Anthony

262 votes

Monta Ellis

94 votes

Someone named Stephen

113 votes

Andris Biedrins

30 votes

Nash's abysmal defense

42 votes

Other (specify)

30 votes

571 votes | Poll has closed

Anthony Randolph- Hope Beyond the Hype :: 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors Player Recaps and Previews

jae — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:01:58 -0000

Early on, there were fewer more critical of Anthony Randolph than myself. Ready to give up on him? Not exactly, but certainly not one to let him get in the way of just about any respectable trade offer that came along. There just did not seem to be enough to warrant so much hype surrounding a rail-thin bigman who was more likely to miss a shot or turn the ball over than to do anything positive.

While indeed his play at the time was terrible, this is the most simple statement I can make about that early evaluation of his potential.

I.was.wrong.

Rewind 2008-2009:

Anthony Randolph caught the attention and fancy of fans in the summer league where the superathletic forward showed skills rare for a man his height. Glowing reports of his handles and the form on his shot had many believing that Randolph would soon be a silky smooth SF able to run an offense and giving the Warriors a weapon that few could contend with. Reality set in sometime in the preseason when it was clear that his "handles" were just good enough to allow him to dribble right into traffic for ever mounting turnovers. His jumper was just good enough to make him think he should take it, but unfortunately, not good enough to find the bottom of the rim. Reality indicated that there was a reason that, despite all the 'potential' in the world, Randolph was selected at the tail end of the draft lottery.

When the regular season started, Randolph rarely played, seeing mostly garbage time minutes where he shot poorly, turned the ball over often and showed no signs that his passing warranted putting him in charge of the ball. Nellie apparently did not like his work ethic and even as the Warriors season went down the tubes, Randolph sat on the bench most of the time. Even when Nellie seemed forced to play Maggette for major minutes as his "4", Anthony sat, and in truth, given what he showed when he had played, it was a wise decision.

None of this should be surprising. Early on, he was the same player he had been in his lone season at LSU: sometimes awe-inspiring, but more generally out of control missing too many shots, turning the ball over too often and not helping his team nearly as much as his all-world athleticism suggests he should. Oh, but he could rebound.

But those early days in Oakland passed, and with them went many of Randolph's bad habits. Eventually, injuries took Andris Biedrins and Brandan Wright out of the action and out of complete need, Randolph started playing. And he started playing much much better. As much of a disaster as he was as a "3" early in the season, he showed tremendous potential as a real big man. His rebounding, the lone bright spot early on, remained stellar. As important, as a 4/5 limiting most of his shots to those in the paint, his FG% approached 50%, and his 2nd half TS% remained right about at the league average. While he has yet to show any sort of passing fancy to warrant further SF consideration, when confined to the paint, the turnovers dropped considerably. Randolph went from a major on court liability to the asset that everyone wanted him to become. Night and day. Rich and Poor. Good and Al Davis. The contrast was that extreme.

Outlook 2009-2010:

Randolph has certainly grown into the hype and hopes surrounding him. His name appears as the only real "untouchable" on the Warriors roster. His summer league performance indicates mostly that he significantly outclassed the competition, and he looks to build on the the success enjoyed at the end of last season in a bigger role this year. While he must continue to refine his shot and shot selection to be able to carry a greater portion of the offensive load and give the Warriors a real threat in the paint. He will need to reduce his fouls and show more defensive discipline as well. But there is every reason to believe this is possible. Nelson now says that Randolph turned his work ethic around and is now perhaps the team's hardest worker. With Wright now sidelined for somewhere between a few months and eternity, Randolph will have every chance to shine full time at PF, though in Nellie's offense that is predicated on versatility, he will have much opportunity to flash those skills that excited many early last year as well. As a 4 able to put the ball on the floor at times who is also a beast on the glass who can swat shots with authority. HOF potential like Lakers' versatile big man Lamar Odom suggests?

Let's not get so far ahead of ourselves. Odom also said that Randolph could shoot the three, of which there's yet no evidence. And while he did seem to find some success with a shot off the right elbow, outside of the paint, AR has a ways to go. His opening performance against the Clippers shows that his willingness to shoot -- 13 shots in 10 minutes -- may precede his ability to knock 'em down. The part of his offensive game that has worked has not been effectively all that different from that of front-court mates Andris Biedrins or the once again injured Wright. Wright, despite appearing to have fewer weapons upon which to draw, managed to both take and make more shots per minute on the floor. Randolph must show that his skills warrant getting him the ball in designed sets. There's still quite a bit of polishing that needs to be done before booking reservations to Springfield. But as long as he can clean the glass with the best of them, he should get opportunities to improve.

Believe the reports of him having grown to 7 feet tall and adding 20lbs of muscle if you want. Pictures still show him to be a bit shorter than Andris and he still isn't going to intimidate anyone as a hulking giant. Regardless of all of that, Randolph should inherit the mantle of our most untouchable asset and shows real (yes, here comes that word) potential to take us far. Despite bad contracts to Maggette and Jackson, questions about the ability and/or attitude of the team's two highest paid players Ellis and Biedrins, the busted wing of fellow forward Brandan Wright, if Randolph develops into a star, it will hide the multitude of sins. It provides the best hope for something better.

Please live up to it, Anthony.

Anthony Randolph

#4 / Forward / Golden State Warriors

Height: 6-10

Weight: 205

Born: Jul 15, 1989

College: L-S-U

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
2008 - Anthony Randolph	63	17.9	3.2	6.8	46.2	0.0	0.1	0.0	1.6	2.2	71.6	2.0	3.7	5.8	0.8	1.3	0.7	1.2	2.2	7.9

2009-2010 Golden State Warriors Preview

Anthony Morrow: Ammo + Chocolate Rain
Stephen Jackson: O Captain, My Captain
Speedy Claxton/ Devean George, Acie Law: Wouldn't Count on It
Brandan Wright: Injury Prone
Stephen Curry: Let There Be Hope
Monta Ellis: Back in the Saddle
Corey Maggette: The 6th Wonder of the Oracle
Andris Biedrins
Anthony Randolph
Ronny Turiaf
C.J. Watson
Mikki Moore
Kelenna Azubuike

Coming 10.26.09 to a web browser near you...

Golden State Warriors 2k9-2k10 Super Preview Blowout Special!

Poll

Is Anthony Randolph our best hope for the future?

Yes!

440 votes

440 votes | Poll has closed

Acie Law, Speedy Claxton, and Devean George- Wouldn't Count on It :: 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors Player Recaps and Previews

jae — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:08:50 -0000

via acielaw.yardbarker.com

Law. Claxton. George.

There is always a chance that one of these players will step up and contribute.

But I wouldn't count on it.

Law, Claxton and George are all about the numbers. And in this case, those numbers are, $2,216,160, $5,209,454 and $1,600,000, or a combined $9,025,614 in contracts that potentially come off the books at the end of the season. Potentially in that the Warriors still have until the end of the month to exercise their right to pay Law $2.9 million to return for a 4^th year in 2010-2011, but unless Acie suddenly discovers how to shoot or pass like an NBA point guard should, odds of this happening would appear low.

Another number: $11,382,017.50. That's how much salary the Warriors can bring back by parting with this trio in an even trade. It is not the sort of figure that can open up space for Bosh or Stoudemire nor should anyone expect their respective teams to simply hand over either of the talented big men without some real assets coming back; were it merely about clearing cap room for PHO or TOR, they could just as easily wait and let their guys walk. But its a move in the right direction and the sort of pieces that might allow the Warriors to upgrade Ellis or Biedrins for a more expensive (and presumably better) player.

Will this happen? That is an unknown, but Trader-Don has never been afraid of pushing for a big deal and reshaping his team. Once Al Harrington's contract was exchanged for Jamal Crawford's, adding another year of big dollar payments for far less productive, after a fit of insanity extended Stephen Jackson, making him infinitely more difficult to deal, it seemed unlikely that the Warriors could do more than dream about that kind of deal. But now, so long as they do not actually wander onto the court during a regulation game, Acie, Speedy and Devean have the potential to help this club, simply by continuing to cash their absurdly large (by anything but professional basketball standards) paychecks.

Of course, where the Warriors are concerned, worst case scenario being not altogether improbable, there is a possibility that any or all of these players could wind up playing. There are rumors that Law was once one of Nellie's favorites, so much so that he was willing to offer up a younger, less proven Monta Ellis for Law's draft rights. This should be discounted for the most part. Two years in the NBA provides more data indicating that Law was not so valuable. He has not shown that he is able to get a shot off, though he does appear to take good care of the ball. Still his passing does not seem to be sufficient to overcome the anemic individual offense. Indeed the Hawks were point-guard poor when they took Law, a "need" pick at #11 in the 2007 draft. While it is still possible that a new environment will ignite his play, at 24, his upside would seem to be somewhat limited. Nonetheless, Nellie may still be interested in Law-the-player instead of merely Law-the-millionaire-who-can-make-a-deal-work-with-the-convoluted-rules-of-the-NBA-salary-cap. We can only hope that the pre-season provides enough enough time for Warriors' brass to make this decision.

Speedy Claxton similarly has never been much of a shooter, but as his name indicates, when healthy he can move in a transition offense. On those rare days, he was once a blur. If history is any indication, he won't be healthy, and when healthy, he too is a woefully inefficient scorer with adequate but none too amazing passing numbers. Claxton's size makes him a defensive liability if he cannot pester the ball-handler.

In contrast, George once had a reputation as a solid defender. One fears that he may be the "beef" GM Larry Riley so desired, but an inadequate rebounder and a poor shooter whose offense consists of a three point shot that should not inspire fear in opposing defenses, one hopes that George was merely a free $1.6million dollar trade matching coupon, as his salary is being paid by the Raptors. Maybe he can instill a bit of defensive pride in practice that will carry over into games. Maybe.

Devean George, a complimentary player!

Unless your fantasy league has a split pot for going low, this trio is not going to help with the numbers. The only numbers that matter: $2,216,160, $5,209,454 and $1,600,000.

Around the Association: 2009-2010 Sacramento Kings: It's all up from here

jae — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:13:15 -0000

A quick confession: Though Sactown Royalty blogheads probably would not believe it, after my beloved Warriors, I am a Kings fan. More than a half-decade living in the Central Valley, a period that coincided with the exciting Webber/Divac/Bibby/Peja Kings a period that coincided with the Kings being the greatest threat to knock off the Lakers, instilled in me a fondness for our NorCal neighbors. And though I do not own a cowbell, I have stepped foot inside Arco to cheer for the home team. There was no joy in watching them lose to anyone other than our Warriors. And I really do wish them and their fans success.

But this fandom (if only fandom-lite) is not at the expense of objectivity. Objectively, the Kings were not any good. Good teams do not lose 65 games a season. Good teams do not find themselves 29^th in the league in rebounding percentage and 30^th in the league in in defensive efficiency and 25^th in offensive efficiency. Such are the sort of numbers associated with a team struggling to even remain competitive. There's not much silver lining there. Last season, the Kings just plain stunk.

That's yesterday's news though, isn't it?

New faces:

Tyreke Evans (Draft #4 overall)

Omri Casspi (Draft #23 overall)

Jon Brockman (second round selection, rights acquired from Portland)

Sergio Rodriguez (G, Trade from Portland)

Sean May (PF, FA signee)

Desmond Mason (G/F, FA signee)

Gone:

(With luck) The stench associated with being the worst team in the Association.

Despite the league's worst record, the Kings lottery numbers were not called and they slipped to 4^th in the draft, denying them a shot at Blake Griffin. When the #4 pick arrived, SAC selected Tyreke Evans, a 6'5" guard fresh off his lone season with the U of Memphis Tigers. Evans has demonstrated athletic skills that should allow the Kings to try him at either guard position and the strength to match up defensively against forwards. Evans is an intriguing selection; his game had not yet caught up with his talent. His assists indicate a willingness to share the ball, though he was turnover-prone, perhaps as a result. He is a strong rebounder for a guard as well. While Evans did not shoot particularly well from the field and showed some questionable judgement in firing up far more shots from behind the arc than his present abilities would seem to justify, he found a way to score, often finding himself at the FT line. Evans has the potential to be a do-everything sort of player, a perfect fit for a team coming off a 17 win campaign, needs everything.

If he can adapt to the challenges of being an NBA point guard, Evans will give the Kings a solid young duo, teaming with swingman Kevin Martin. Few rival Martin's ability to score efficiently. A lethal threat from beyond the arc, Martin also shows an uncanny ability to draw fouls and convert from the stripe, unexpected from a player so adept with the jumper. With Martin around, the Kings have potential to stay in any game given his potential to match points with anyone. If Evans does not rise to the occasion directing the show, point guard duties would seem to fall on Beno Udrih or the newly acquired Sergio Rodriguez. Udrih was something of a disappointment after looking reasonable in his first season in Sacratomato. Rodriguez is very solid distributor who takes good care of the ball, but is an exceptionally poor shooter.

The front-court is young and seems to excite the Arco-Bell-Ringers. Jason Thompson, considered by many to be something of a "reach" pick when selected 12^th in the 2008 draft, proved the draft "experts" rather wrong rather quickly. Athletic and skilled, Thompson gives the Kings hope as talented big men do not come around often. The 6-11 power-forward distinguished himself as a scorer and was a respectable rebounder, something the Kings desperately need. A healthy Sean May could help. It is unlikely that Sean May will be healthy.

This desperate, almost Warrior-style need for rebounds is in part the fault of the young center, Spencer Hawes, who, contrary to the opinion of many a Kings blogger, has sucked. No matter how subjectively "good" Hawes has looked, no matter how much fans may fall in love with his shooting range, Hawes's poor FG% (an unacceptably low for a center 46.6%) and substandard rebound rate make him a significant liability. Whatever advantages his outside shooting (Hawes connected on an almost NBA average 34.8% from beyond the arc) his inability to pair this with the sort of interior game necessary to make him an even average hurt the team. The penchant for the outside shot also meant that the young Republican was pathetic at getting to the line and rarely able to compete on the offensive glass. The Kings finished dead last in offensive rebounding percentage and second chance scoring opportunities as a result. It is possible that Hawes will find ways to score efficiently, though it is less likely that his rebounding will improve to acceptable standards. Scoring points though is the single skill most associated with big paychecks and fan approval in the NBA, so even if he thwarts efforts to win games, he may well still be errantly considered a 'good player'.

Outlook:

If only because there is very little room to fall, the Kings promise to be a more competitive and more successful team this year. The continued excellence from Martin, further development of Thompson, promise from Evans, despite ill-founded hope for Hawes, should inspire faith for the Kings faithful that the darkest days are behind them. While it would take minor miracles for them to seriously compete for an appearance in the post-season, they now have several solid pieces upon which to build.

For more on the Sacramento Kings check out Sactown Royalty:

2009-2010 Around the Association

Introduction
Atlanta Hawks: Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. The Hawks are for real.
Boston Celtics: Sheed in Green + Another Answer
Charlotte Bobcats: They Do Exist
Chicago Bulls: Ring Around the Rose-y
Cleveland Cavaliers: Now or Never
Dallas Mavericks: The Curse of the Dampier
Denver Nuggets: If it ain't broke...
Detroit Pistons: The Return of the Bay Boys
Houston Rockets: Yao-ch!, that's gotta hurt
Indiana Pacers: A One Man Show
Los Angeles Clippers: Warriors South No More
Los Angeles Lakers: Big Brother, Little Brother
Memphis Grizzlies: Going Back to Vancouver
Miami Heat: Need to get the point
Milwaukee Bucks: Saving a few buck$
Minnesota Timberwolves: Donde esta Senor Rubio?
New Jersey Nets: The Year of the Yi
New Orleans Hornets: Two first names, one great point guard
New York Knicks: Is it summatime yet?
Oklahoma City Thunder
Orlando Magic: Are they Vinsane? You be the judge
Philadelphia 76ers: Are they (Elton) Brand New?
Phoenix Suns: Who knows?
Portland TrailBlazers: The Fire Keeps Burning
Sacramento Kings
San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards
Rewind

Around the Association: 2009-2010 Phoenix Suns- Who knows?

jae — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:42:15 -0000

It's far from clear what the 2009-10 Phoenix Suns will be. It's far from clear *who* they will be. In the mean time, there's intrigue, and still quite a bit of firepower.

Tough to predict, it won't be boring.

New Faces:

Earl Clark (F drafted #14 overall)

Channing Frye (PF/C signed as a FA)

~~Sasha Pavlović (G/F)~~ Contract Bought Out

~~Ben Wallace (C)~~ Contract Bought Out

Departed:

Shaquille O'Neal (C, traded for two guys who aren't on the roster)

A Clear Plan (lost to time, trades and the ravishing axe of the bottom line, fighting desperately to avoid huge luxury tax penalties.)

Prognosis:

This is no longer the up-up tempo team from a few years ago that could honestly contend for a title. It isn't even the team from a year ago that stayed in playoff contention up until the bitter end of the season. Shaq is gone, in a move largely designed to avoid the luxury tax. Everyone else is older. The present state-of-the-Suns is best described as "in flux", which is a euphemism for "this can't possibly be a plan for a winner; we don't really expect this to last; anyone and everyone could be traded".

Indeed Doc Brown's marvelous time travel engine might be welcome in the Valley of the Sun, to go back to a time when the Suns were a serious threat to win it all, a time when Steve Nash directed the most effective offense in the game, when the Matrix defied opposing forwards to figure out his game, when Stoudemire was fiece on the boards and D'antoni outdid Nellie with fast paced, uptempo play that wore most opponents into the dirt.

But while this is not a contender, and conventional wisdom suggests that anytime between when this article finds life with the "submit" button and the trading deadline more or less everyone on the roster is fair game for trade, the Suns still remain a reasonable potent team. Trade candidate #1, Amar'e Stoudemire should be recovered from a pair of unlikely eye injuries. When healthy, he is one of the most dangerous offensive weapons in the league. He is equally effective finishing off the ever-common Nash assists and bull-rushing the basket, frequently getting to the line where he's an uncharacteristically good shooter for a man his size. Stoudemire is already the subject of trade rumors, including a draft day doozy that had him ever so close towards sporting a Bay Area local address. As a potential free agent should he opt out of the last year of his present contract, Stoudemire is an intriguing commodity, though any team interested will almost certainly want to work out a contract extension first.

With Shaq gone, Stoudemire will shoulder most of the interior scoring load while Coach Gentry waits for his "youth movement" of Channing Frye, Earl Clark, or perhaps 2nd year C Robin Lopez to provide any sort of complement. Perhaps being closer to his alma mater will push some new life into Frye, but at present, he's a jump-shooting big forward who more often than not sees his jumper miss the mark. He's a substandard rebounder. While more regular playing time -- and this is all too probable the case -- his performance will likely rise, he will not help build a winner. Clark is a versatile, athletic forward, long on "potential" though his college performance does not suggest that he will be an immediate answer as an NBA forward.

Trade candidate #2, top assist-man Nash is not the same player who won back-to-back MVPs, but he's still one of the elite shooting guards in the league and among the top passers in the game. Phoenix recently signed Nash to a 2 year extension. While this may mean they intend to keep him around as a bridge of stability, a team on the verge of a championship may still be willing to part with some value to gamble on Nash's last legs.

Having been dealt twice in as many years, shooting guard Jason Richardson (trade candidate #3) would also seem to be potential trade bait. Golden State fans know that he's a more than capable scorer, though with a shrinking cap and 2 more high dollar years left on his contract, the potential suitors are once again limited to those willing to pay big for immediate rewards.

Stoudemire, Nash and Richardson are joined by speedster guard Leandro Barbosa and forward Grant Hill (back for another season at age 36), all able scorers, all efficient in this effort. Together, the Suns should still be able to shoot their way into games. The problem will come when they try to stop the opposition. Hill is the only Sun who was ever known as a superior defender, though at 36, he is no longer the stopper he once was. Nash, Richardson, Barbosa and Stoudemire have never been known for their defense. If Amar'e can regain his rebounding form, he could be an asset in that regard, but someone else will have to force the opposition into missing some shots, something that the current cast hasn't shown themselves able to do. This is not a club build for defense.

Prediction: Who knows? If no one is traded, this team could still challenge for a playoff slot. But if anyone (or everyone) is sent elsewhere for picks and "potential" all bets are off. Rumors will certainly fly. Will the Suns?

For more on the Suns, check out our SBNation colleagues at: Bright Side Of The Sun

2009-2010 Around the Association

Introduction
Atlanta Hawks: Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. The Hawks are for real.
Boston Celtics: Sheed in Green + Another Answer
Charlotte Bobcats: They Do Exist
Chicago Bulls: Ring Around the Rose-y
Cleveland Cavaliers: Now or Never
Dallas Mavericks: The Curse of the Dampier
Denver Nuggets: If it ain't broke...
Detroit Pistons: The Return of the Bay Boys
Houston Rockets: Yao-ch!, that's gotta hurt
Indiana Pacers: A One Man Show
Los Angeles Clippers: Warriors South No More
Los Angeles Lakers: Big Brother, Little Brother
Memphis Grizzlies: Going Back to Vancouver
Miami Heat: Need to get the point
Milwaukee Bucks: Saving a few buck$
Minnesota Timberwolves: Donde esta Senor Rubio?
New Jersey Nets: The Year of the Yi
New Orleans Hornets: Two first names, one great point guard
New York Knicks: Is it summatime yet?
Oklahoma City Thunder
Orlando Magic: Are they Vinsane? You be the judge
Philadelphia 76ers: Are they (Elton) Brand New?
Phoenix Suns
Portland TrailBlazers
Sacramento Kings
San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards
Rewind