<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">?and with the 5th pick in the 2005 NBA draft? There are a number of ways the Warriors could go with this pick, including Hakim Warrick, who has told anyone who?d listen that Golden State will be his future home. However, Danny Granger, if he?s available, makes the most sense at this spot, ironically, due to the similarities in him and Mike Dunleavy?s game. Granger is an extremely versatile forward, capable of playing both the 3 and 4 position depending on the match up. </div> link It's an interesting read, I totally disagree with it, but it's an interesting read. My problem with the writer, and most people that are disappointed in Dunleavy, is that they look at him as a bust as the #3 pick even though they consider him to be a pretty good player. He's a very good player, and he's improving every year. The fact that he was picked #3 shouldn't really matter any more. Personally, I think Dunleavy is a perfect fit on this team. He doesn't have an ego, he doesn't need to be "the man," he's happy doing whatever it takes to make the team work better, just like he did at Duke. Why would you get rid of him? I also totally disagree with the idea that the Warriors NEED to draft an impact player with this pick. Their rotation is set, the only thing missing is a low post scorer and I'm willing to bet Murphy is going to be much better in that respect next year. I say the Warriors should either take Diogu or a flyer on one of the high potential guys.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="2"> Golden State has been underwhelmed by the contributions of Mike Dunleavy and for the sake of this article I?m going to assume that they?d prefer to keep Rodney White for short money than continue to use Dunleavy as their starting small forward. Moving Dunleavy will help them acquire more veteran talent, most likely in the frontcourt, and allows Pietrus to start alongside Richardson and Davis. </font></font></div> I don't know about Dunleavy showing "underwhelming" contributions as of late. That writer doesn't know what he's talking about and as they say with "assume", it makes an "ass" out of "me" and "u" (the writer). No way we're choosing blackhole Rodney White over Dunleavy for money's sake. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="2"> Troy Murphy is an excellent rebounding power forward, one of the best in the league in that category, and his unorthadox outside/inside game makes him a difficult matchup for most teams. That is if he can stay healthy. </font></font></div> Troy Murphy has an inside game? I must have missed it all those times he was getting stuffed by 6 foot guards while trying to score close to the basket. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="2"> Finally, Andris Biedrins is an impressive looking young center out of Europe. The young Latvian is a true back to the basket post bruiser atypical of most European bigs. Biedrins will only be 19 at the start of next season, but his minutes should equal those of a ?starter? as his skill set is far superior to incumbent Adonal Foyle, who should not be difficult to supplant. </font></font></div> Back to the basket bruiser? All right we know Biedrins can score some against weaker power forwards now, but c'mon he scores on pick and rolls and putbacks... I think he's better than Foyle with the exception of blocks, but there's a reason he only gets 19 minutes a game or less. He can't stay out of foul trouble. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting wtwalker77:</div><div class="quote_post">My problem with the writer, and most people that are disappointed in Dunleavy, is that they look at him as a bust as the #3 pick even though they consider him to be a pretty good player. He's a very good player, and he's improving every year. The fact that he was picked #3 shouldn't really matter any more. Personally, I think Dunleavy is a perfect fit on this team. He doesn't have an ego, he doesn't need to be "the man," he's happy doing whatever it takes to make the team work better, just like he did at Duke. Why would you get rid of him? I also totally disagree with the idea that the Warriors NEED to draft an impact player with this pick. Their rotation is set, the only thing missing is a low post scorer and I'm willing to bet Murphy is going to be much better in that respect next year.</div> I agree that the swing position is our least of worries, but I think what makes Granger so appealing is that he is athletic, extremely long at 7'2-7'3 wingspan, is a good individual defender and puts up numbers despite being unselfish. I don't think we need to have a small forward more than we do with finding some decent bigs that can score 50% in the paint, get fouled, rebound, and alter shots inside. Murphy can get better inside on offense, but you have to admit that his defense is pretty attrocious when transitioning from offense to defense or in the halfcourt other than post D and he never contests shots. He also doesn't pass the ball much for a guy that has passing skills, which is probably why Dunleavy gets some support with this aspect. Troy can see over the top of defenses and can put the ball right on the money if he just improved his floor awareness a little, but it still doesn't help us where the team is most vulnerable which is when the other team has the two Warrior forwards all on one side of the floor and then the other team gets the ball moving side to side to shake things up. Even if we put Pietrus at the 3 or have JRich at the 3, we're still undersized and outmuscled in the post. Granger is supposed to be the answer at that position but we could easily find some defensive role player like Chris Jeffries or Ansu Sesay to fill in that role when our guards can't play defense at small forward. Let's just say any upgrade of either Dunleavy or Murphy on defense and Foyle on offense would be a plus. No finals/playoff team has gotten far unless they had at least a starting 5 that could hold their own without fishing their teammates out of position to come and help. I'm sure Foyle's stats can even improve if he's not having to shift around so much and cover two spots on the floor. I'm hoping this upcoming pick is a defensive/inside scoring power forward or a center because realistically Murphy can't do it all. He's not built for it. Look what happened to Mehmet Okur with the Jazz. Pretty numbers, doesn't equate to wins... I'm glad we didn't take Clif Robinson's advice and snatch him up. With Dunleavy, the verdict is still out there. He seemed to do really well with his wide open baseline jumper as of late. Before he used to miss so badly when wide open. Plus with Baron Davis, the two seem to work together because they know basketball and where to be when receiving the pass. There was BDiddy to Dunleavy and Dunleavy to BDiddy and both could put the ball right where the other guy likes it on the break. Also, Dunleavy playing power forward against non-scoring power forwards seemed like a pretty good weapon. I think he demonstrated some killer crossovers in that one game against Dwight Howard, which looked pretty cool and made Dun look like a different kind of player.
Okay here's the rest of the article <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="2"> Because of the up-tempo style the Warriors want to play Granger should be able to slide right into the rotation with little difficulty. He would essentially replace everything Dunleavy brings to the court minus the negativity. While this seams a bit foolish at first glance, the fact of the matter is that the pressure to produce has affected Dunleavy?s confidence level. Because of this, Dunleavy has a tendency to disappear for long stretches and his aggressiveness has never been at the level it needs to be for a starting forward on a playoff team. Granger has an almost identical game to Dunleavy?s, but he comes in with a clean slate and without the expectations of being a team savior. Granger may even be able to start in place of Dunleavy as Pietrus? streaky scoring ability make him an ideal sixth man option off the bench, think Tony Allen and Ricky Davis of the Celtics last year. Although the Warriors have a few holes to fill in their rotation the team has a stellar starting five and should be very competitive no matter who they acquire. While the frontcourt could use a veteran to push Foyle further down the bench the team is pretty high on Cabarkapa?s potential and rightfully so as he can play three positions for spot minutes. Trading Dunleavy should also help the team acquire more veteran depth considering the fourth year forward has shown enough flashes in his game to warrant some team?s attention. While Dunleavy still has a lot of upside and has improved every season in the league his production to date relative to the lofty slot he was drafted in, 3rd overall, have taken him out of favor with the home crowd and put the pressure on the Warriors to make a decision on his future. Danny Granger has no such pressure, as the fifth option on offense Granger can focus on moving without the ball and making plays. I?d expect him to garner over 20 minutes per game this season and put up solid numbers across the board. </font></font></div> There is a good chance that Granger might even be Dunleavy-like. Some of these all-around guys could be jack of all trades, master of none. Plus will Granger be injury prone? I'm actually hoping we can increase our toughness in the paint and not worry about small forwards when we have 4 other guys under contract that can play that spot. Next year's draft we have two first round picks and I'm sure we can patch up small forward rather easily or trade for one in the event we let Dunleavy walk.
I have 3 problems about keeping Dunleavy. 1. Mullin might overpay him. Id like to think he's learned from his mistakes and he's also not under as much pressure as last offseason. 2.Theres a huge defensive hole in our starting lineup with Murphy and Dunleavy playing together. One of them needs to leave the starting lineup if we want to do more then just make the playoffs. 3.We also have Zarko who can do about everything Dunleavy can and has shown he can do it more consistantly.
If,as seems the case,the finalists for our pick are Granger,Diogu.Warrick,the idea would seen to be a guy with good scoring-RBD-Defense ability,very unlikely to be a flop While there are a lot of differences,any of the 3 could possibly play some at either F,if just for some matchups. Look at our front court,most everyone could play 2 or more spots,and we should have a lot of packages from small ball to triple towers
I'm just hoping there's upgrades over who we have now, rather than who would be a nice role player on our team.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting UltimateWarrior:</div><div class="quote_post">I have 3 problems about keeping Dunleavy. 1. Mullin might overpay him. Id like to think he's learned from his mistakes and he's also not under as much pressure as last offseason. 2.Theres a huge defensive hole in our starting lineup with Murphy and Dunleavy playing together. One of them needs to leave the starting lineup if we want to do more then just make the playoffs. 3.We also have Zarko who can do about everything Dunleavy can and has shown he can do it more consistantly.</div> I hope Dunleavy (or Pietrus for that matter) isn't the reason we lose Zarko, if Zarko goes to FA. Out of the whole crop of 6'11+ Euros, Zarko seems to have the most successful game after SF/PF guys like Dirk and Toni Kukoc. Too many skills to let go, even if he is a wussy on D. It's not like he doesn't care about D, it's probably that he's still too weak much like Dunleavy at times, who has made strides in getting stronger. Compare Dunleavy to his rookie year and he's looked a lot heavier. Also I hope we don't lose Pietrus because every team could use one of those energetic defenders that can score in bunches and take it strong to the hole. When he's on, he's fabulous, when he's off I hope he stays out of foul trouble when playing defense because here's a guy that can lock down 6'3 combo guards like Steve Francis or Gilbert Arenas (most of the time, just not that one 4th quarter).
