SB Nation User Blog: runandgun

The worst is over

runandgun — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 23:35:16 -0000

Alright, I think the Warriors downhill slide hit a rock bottom with the worst team in the NBA, the Thunder (what kind of a name is that?) beat us in the final seconds in a heartbreaker at home. Ouch. But you know what? Didn't bother me that much. Kind of gotten used to it.

But not only was that pretty much the worst possible loss the Warriors might dream of, but it was the last game without Monta.....So I think its safe to say, it can't get any worse then that.

Even with another heartbreaker on Friday night, I am still encouraged by that game. Monta looked good, the team looked completely different. They didn't fall behind big early like they have so many games. They were competitive throughout, showed glimpses of how dynamic they can be. And that was with Crawford, Wright and Belinelli on the bench and Randolph waiting in the wings. Against one of the best teams in the NBA..........pretty encouraged by that game.

Because say what you want about the current state of the team, I think its pretty undeniable that the Warriors have a ton of young talent:

Monta: Star player, should be one of the best players in the NBA when fully healthy.

Biedrins: Good center, every good team needs one

Crawford: Not a CP3, Williams, Rose or even Bibby type PG, but is still better then avearge.

Bellinelli: Should also be a good guard

Wright and Randolph: Two very talented young forwards, should only keep getting better.

With all this young talent, its very hard not to be optomistic about the future of this team. Not just for the next few years, but if they keep this core nucleus together, this team could be a top contender for the next 8 - 10 years with how young they are.

Add that PF/good defender/good rebounder and I really believe this could be one of the top teams in the NBA.

If only they could trade SJax and Magette to clear cap to sign Boozer....

Oh well, even if they don't do that Mully has done a good job of assembling a talented roster, can't wait to see who else he adds and the current guys reach their full potential .................

Untouchable or Untradable

runandgun — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:46:17 -0000

I have been thinking about the Warriors a lot and wondering what they need to do to get on track. For anybody who knows anything about the team, you know that the Warriors have a lot of talented players. I think they are 1 or 2 moves away from being serious contenders. (of course, when Monta comes back that is).

I would like to know who people think we should trade. Not who to trade for, because I think that is unreasonable to speculate on without any legit rumors. But based on a scale of 1 - 10, 1 being "Untouchable", don't trade this player under any circumstance. 10 being, we should have already traded this guy, just get rid of him. 5 would kind of be: open to trading him, but also open to keeping him too. How would you rate each Warrior player?

Here is my list:

Monta: 1

Randolph: 1

Biedrins: 2

Turiaf: 3

Belinelli: 3

Morrow: 3

Azubuike: 5

Kurz: 5

Crawford: 5

Wright: 5

Williams: 7

Nelson: 7

CJ: 7

SJaz: 9

Magette: 10

Fire Nelly, Patience has run out

runandgun — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:21:52 -0000

As probably most of you are, I am dissapointed with the teams performance thusfar. But I was not ignorant that the team just lost Baron and Monta was out, I didn't expect the team to be in first place either.

But I did not expect what I have seen thusfar and I am putting most of that blame on the head coach.

Defense---The team on the court looks like the worst coached team in the NBA. When you see a team so undisciplined on defense in regards to moving their feet and getting in front of people, you can blame that on the head coach for no enforcing that.

Offense---When you see a team has its offense basically like a playground offense, the guy with the ball just tries to go 1 on 1 with the defender and score. THAT is not a very well coached team.

Strong Leadership----When the coach does not stand up to highly paid players that are underperforming and sit them on the bench, especially in a rebuilding year, that also speaks to weakness on the coaches part.

Setting the tone----Saying things to the press like "this team will not make the playoffs" I don't like that. Even if you think that is true, keep that to yourself. Still compete. The guys on the team still want to win, the fans still want to win. However much of a longshot you think it is, keep competeing, don't just throw in the towel like that. Horrible message. Saying "I'm not having fun coaching this year". That's not a great message either. Not to mention your poor body language and hang dog look on the sideline. Terrible example coach.

Developing Young players----This was the last straw for me. I didn't like last year how Nelly burned out his starters and then enevitably in the 4th quarter they would fade and the team would lose. Especially late in the season. You have to get the backups enough minutes and experience so they can compete and keep the starters fresh. But fine, this year he is playing the young guys more and we can see flashes of what may be possible from some of them.

But the last straw is his saying to 19 year old Anthony Randolph to tell his agent to seek a trade. What was he planning on getting out of that? To ruin an extremely young players confidence? To completely alienate probably the 2nd most talented young player on the team from the Warriors? To try to create another Al Harrington situation where a player demands a trade? That is absolute garbage. Randolph has more heart then anybody on the team and ton of talent, how do you treat a young player like that? It's disgusting.

I want Nelly fired. Promote one of the assistants as interim head coach. If that assistant does well then sign him long term. If not, keep him as an assistant next year and hire someone new. But Nelly absolutely has to go. His act has way overstayed its welcome.

Poll

Should we fire Nelly or keep Nelly?

Fire Nelly, Patience has run out

63 votes

Keep Nelly, have more Patience

30 votes

93 votes | Poll has closed

Petition to Sign Carlos Boozer

runandgun — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 03:05:52 -0000

As some of you may or may not know, Carlos Boozer said recently that he will opt out of his contract after this year and become a free agent.

I think we all know that the Warriors biggest weakness is a lack of a big body for defense and rebound purposes. And just so the team doesn't get pushed around so much.

So many times I hear that talked about on here and people say "We need someone like Carlos Boozer". Well, why not the real thing, actuall getting Carlos Boozer?

Because we have all the other parts. Regardless of how bad the team is doing, the Warriors have some good pieces:

Biedrins: Solid Center

Turiaf: Good backup Center

Monta: Star player

Randolph, Belinelli, CJ, Azubuke: Good depth to mix with Monta at the guard spots

Wright and Randolph: Young talent with some height

Then you throw in Boozer, you have the power forward that is the only real missing link here.

Magette and SJax I left off the list because I don't think the team needs Magette and I am currently extremely frustrated with SJax's performance this year. Both are way underperforming in regards to how much they are being paid. If the Warriors need to clear some cap room, I would be fine with trading either or both of these guys for somebody or some players with expiring contracts so they can bring in Boozer.

I know a trade like that may be difficult to find, but 29 other teams out there, maybe one of them would have use for Magette of SJax and be willing to make a move. I don't know, but this seems like a move that would drastically improve the team and make them an immediate contender.

This should be the number 1 objective of the Warriors off-season.

Sign the peitition if you agree.

Outsiders Points of View Part II

runandgun — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 06:07:30 -0000

Ok, I posted my thoughts before a few weeks ago. I appreciate all the responses, I think most people were pretty objective in their posts and I like hearing different peoples perspectives. If they are well thought out and reasoned then I am big enough to adjust my views:

Biedrins: I know a lot of people didn't like some of the stuff I said about him. I still think he is an average center in this league. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to have him on the team. I think he does a decent job with some things. But lets keep it real, by virtue of being the only tall player on the court for the Warriors he gets the majority of chances for rebounds and garbage points. So his stats are skewed a bit causing some people to overrate him. I have liked his defensive effort better the last few games, I will say that.

Unlike some of the people on this board, I don't think and am not expecting him to be a star. I think he can be an adequate supporting piece, and I am fine with that.

Maggette: I have changed my thoughts on him quite a bit. He is a strong scorer. He can play 1 and 1 pretty well sometimes. The problem is, he doesn't fit in the offense whatsoever. Driving and getting a few free throws is ok, but its not really what the offense is about. Its not about isolating and letting someone go 1 on 1 with another player. We had the entire team with that mentality on the last road trip and they didn't look like a team at all and it was pretty ugly. Thankfully they have gotten back to passing more and it has helped. Not to mention, they have plenty of other guys that can play Maggette's position without the high salary. That seemed like a panic signing after they lost Baron. If they can trade Magette, I would accept virtually anything. He could have more value in a different offense, so maybe they can work something out, but I have read things that make it seem like that may be difficult.

Stephen Jackson: Man, he is in a funk. He dribbles himself into trouble and then throws an errant pass or just throws it directly to the other team. Or he is trying to jump into guys to get a foul and then complains to the ref that he didn't get a tic e tac call. I just think he needs to relax some and give the other guys a chance and play more team ball. I will give him a break though because I know how competitive he is and I think he is just trying to do too much.

Randolph: Now this is what you look for in a young player. I don't know if I have ever seen a player play with more emotion. I love his heart and fire. His athletism doesn't lack very much either, except maybe to gain a little weight. I am very optomistic about him, I think he could be a star. I hope he can continue to get playing time, he will probably make some mistakes, but he is only 19, I think they should let him work through that.

Belinelli: Got to love that he is finally getting a chance. I have to admit I hadn't seen him much before the last few games. But obviously he has some game. This guy is so slick out there. He has that poker face and does that no look pass to the open man or ball fake. I think he just needs more opportunity to find his shooting touch, I think that will come even more. I love his court awareness, when he drives he always seems to know where the open man is and finds him. I think that is lacking with some of the other guards. I hope he continues to get minutes.

Morrow: Obviously this guy can shoot. I am really happy about him, but they need to find more ways to get him open. Other teams are aware of him now and its tougher for him to get an open look. He is the type of player that you bring in after the starters need a breather and you run every other play through him and not lose any offensive power. I hope they can utilize him more.

Don Nelson: Man, I don't know. I don't like how he says that the team has no chance to make the playoffs. Maybe the chances are slim, but you do have Monta coming back, I don't think you should say that as the head coach. I also don't think that you should say you are not having fun this year. Those are not good messages. As the coach, you need to set the tone. Obvioulsy he hasn't done a good job of that this year. The lackadasical play sometimes and the poor defense I put some of the blame on him for. Even if you think the other teams have better players or you are overmatched, you still need to approach every game as if you can win. You need to have a good gameplan. If the guys don't execute, then they don't execute, but at least they can have that experience. The can know what it is to succeed or fail, you don't get as much out of it as a player if the coach is playing it like a summer league game.

CJ Watson: He seems to have some Maggettitis sometimes trying to go 1 on 1 so much. I don't like that. He needs to realize he is not the best player on the team like he was in the D-league and be more selective with his shots. I do like his heart and desire and his seeming to be in the right place at the right time a lot of times.

Team mentality: I think there is a switch inside the players heads that when they are tied or closing in on a good team, they think to themselves "wait a minute, we are not as good as these guys, we need to stop shooting good or playing defense" and enevitably the other team goes on a run. That stems from the head coach some, but the players need to be more mentaly tough. Not giving up the easy baskets and when the other team leaves you open for a shot, you make them pay for it. Good teams do those things and there is not reason they can't.

Villanoava: I wondered about this guys, he has alopecia. He did a benefit or something for kids with alopecia, I think that is pretty cool. Luckily for him he still looks ok because that is kind of the style for many players, to have a shaved head. But instead of shaving his head every other day he doesn't have to do anything. He doesn't have any facial hair either, I kind of envy that. But the eyebrow hair, that's kind of the only bummer, I wondered about that before, now I know.

Sean Battier: This guys head though, I don't know what to say about it. I never really watched that Fox Sci-Fi show in the early 90's AlienNation, but he looks like one of the alien people on there. Not trying to be mean, but those dudes had the little ridges they same way he does. Also he still is a good looking guy (not gay), so not saying anything bad, just don't understand what those ridges are about.

Rasheed Wallace: What is up with that patch of hair he is missing? It looks like a divot. It looks like Charles Barkley put a golf ball on his head and took a swing at it. I mean, I understand he probably had some kind of accident or something when he was young or got cut. But they can do some amazing things nowadays with hair transplantation. He has plenty of other hairs that they could take from around his head and place it in that spot and you wouldn't even know that he had that spot before. I don't know how much it costs, like 10,000 or so, but Rasheed, you are a multi-millionaire, $10,000 to you is like $1 to a normal person. If I had that divot, I would pay $1 to get it fixed. You really must not care about it at all. That's your perogative I guess.

Outsiders point of view

runandgun — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:45:16 -0000

Hey, I don't have a basketball team in my city of San Diego, so I adopted the Warriors a few years ago. I hope that is ok. I am in the Golden State after all.

Anyway, been watching the last handful of games on NBA league pass and I have some observations from an OBJECTIVE point of view. For proof, read my opinion on the Chargers, their O-line is playing poorly, defense is below average, are disfunctional and some of that falls on the coach, but they are overrated for sure.

Anyway, my general thoughts on the team thusfar:

Biedrens - I posted about Biedrins last year and was scoffed at by virtually everyone. This guy is overrated. I'm not saying he's terrible, but he is an average player right now at best. I understand he is still young and probably will improve, but he is not strong with the ball. It is so frustrating to see him post up, turn one way and someone just knocks the ball out of his hands easily. Every time he gets the ball in the post he shoots and a lot of times gets a turnover or bad shot attempt. Also he looks lackadasical sometimes and I hate that about him. Nelly should sit his butt down on the bench when he makes one of those lackadasical plays, maybe that will wake him up.

Randolph and Wright: I don't know why the Warriors felt the need to get two guys so similar. That being said, I like both of these guys. I think they are both better then Biedrens and more talented. They just need some seasoning. Especially Randolph, he shows flashes sometimes, I think he's going to be great. Glad to see them in the game more of late.

SJax and Maggette: Consumate veterans, scorers, every team needs guys like this, but I don't think either of them are cornerstones, but good complimentary pieces

CJ Watson: This guy is the real deal, what a competitor and tremedous heart. Love him off the bench

Morrow: Needs work, they need to utilize him as a 3 point specialist more, that should be his specific role

Crawford: Is this what the doctor ordered or what? I know we haven't won since we got him and has taken a few games for the chemistry to gel, but this guy is a very good player. He is not on par with a Rose, Kidd, Williams, but he is an above average point guard and even better in our system. He needs to teach some of the other guys how to do a jump stop. I played B-Ball in high school and we practiced that every day, he does it perfectly, I love when he leads the break, does a jump stop perfectly into a 3-pointer, pretty much the entire rest of the team needs work on jump stops, you can't shoot consistently fading away or leaning, without a good jump stop you are going to be an inconsistent shooter.

Monta: The forgotten one. I really hope he comes back healthy and doesn't rush things. And when he does, I really think this could be one of the toughest teams in the NBA. Because I think Monta is one of the top 20 players in the NBA right now. He will bring a dynamic of creating opportunities not only for himself but he will take pressure off the other guys and make everyone better.

Team Defense: All of that means nothing if the team can't play better defense. Because right now it is brutal. Move your feet and get in front of somebody. You can't expect to win consistently without a better effort on D. How many times does a player make one move and cut to the basket for an easy layup before you get the message and start moving your body in front of them? If a team is shooting hot from the perimeter then not a lot you can do about that, but you can a least hinder teams from getting those easy layups. Move your feet please, somebody take a charge every once in a while. When is the last time someone on the Warriors drew a charge? I can't think of even one.

Along the same lines of team defense, these guys need to get more aggressive also with rebounds. I don't want to see Biedrins do anymore arms rebounds, move your body into position. That and the loose balls, these guys need to fight for the loose balls, those posessions are so important.

That kind of stuff comes down to coaching, I'm sorry, but Nellie needs to do something to get these guys in the right mindset to be agressive on defense, agressive on rebounds and looseballs. And if a player is not performing on that end of the ball, then take his butt out the game and put in somebody else who will.

That's my rant of the day, sorry so long, but been bottling it up inside for too long, this team is too good and too talented to be underperforming so badly.

Long Distance Fan Perspective

runandgun — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:23:02 -0000

Hello, this is my first post. I am a fan of the Warriors, and dare I say a bandwagon fan. I don't live in the bay area, so I think its acceptable, I just like the run and gun offense and the Warriors are fun to watch. There is no basketball team in my city, so I adopted the Warriors, I hope that is ok.

Anyhow, as someone looking in from the outside it was pretty clear how things went down with BD getting benched in the Suns.

Nelly saw that the team, after the Nuggets clearly handled them in Oakland, could not contend for a Championship. Heck, he said that he didn't think they could even make the playoffs without Webber just a few months ago, what has changed? Nothing, no Webber, still horrible defense, inconsistent sloppy play, that is not going to get it done, even if the Warriors somehow could eek their way into the playoffs and Nelly knows it.

So Nelly tanked the Suns game. Why eek your way in just to get beat down by the Lakers in 4 straight? That doesn't make any sense. At least this way we get a lottery pick and have a better chance of getting the big man/defensive player/rebounder the team most obviously lacks and needs.

Also, dump BD. I like him, but he is getting older, has been injury prone in the past, he knows this is a contract year, probably why he somehow managed to stay injury free, I wouldn't expect that to continue in the future. Dump him, sign Ellis to the point and Belinelli can step up, get the big man you need somehow, I don't care how, maybe the draft or some kind of trade, but with BD out we will have much more money to spend.

Also, a lot of you seem to be high on Biedrins, I am not drinking the water there so maybe I am immune, but the guy is average at best, he is rough to watch, it looks lucky every time he scores, he is so frail and his free throws are about the ugliest thing I have seen on a basketball court. Harrington isn't much better though, if you are going to have a team that relies on 3-point shooting, why not get some of those? It doesn't make sense. That's why Belinelli would be good as a starter, he is probably the best 3-point shooter on the team and he is sitting bench. Dump BD and his large contract, use that money on a big man and move Belinelli up the depth chart.

And this is old, but how in the world did they let JRich go? That guy was so electrifying, I was bummed about that. Brandon Wright is so thin, please someone get him on some protein powder, he looks like he is about to blow over.

I am so frustrated with the team right now, I only get a few games on espn and they break my heart just about every time.

I LOVE LOVE Ellis though. This guy is the real deal, LOCK HIM UP. He is a guy to build around for the future.

Do something Mullin, I wish we could get JRich back, that guy was awesome, how can you dump a guy that places an ad in the newspaper like he did? I don't get that. Oh well, I would love some feedback from this if I am wrong or what because I don't live in the Bay and don't always get Warriors news.

Also, the post about dumping Nelly was not a bad idea either, get a coach with the same run and gun mentality but a coach who isn't afraid to throw his bench players out there and give his starters a much needed break and pace them for a long season.