Article: What Needs To Improve

Two weeks in Hawaii and I come back to find that absolutely nothing has happened in Warriorsland, which isn?t necessarily a bad thing.

Two trade exceptions expired and the team still has their full mid-level exception. Whether they use it or not we?ll have to see. In the meantime, Warriors fans can only hope that the players are working out hard and on their weaknesses.

Having said that, here is a brief list of what I wish each Warriors player improves on from last year:


Adonal Foyle: Conditioning to begin the season. Foyle always seems to have terrible starts only to finish strong and make a big impact. With his huge contract, he must be ready to contribute in November.

Troy Murphy: Attitude, confidence, post moves and defense. When Murphy is right, he plays fearlessly and with an attitude. When he struggled last season, you can tell his confidence was a little shaken. He?ll never be a great post player or defender, but he can always improve in those areas. His transition defense was atrocious at times last season.

Jason Richardson: Ball-handling, free-throw shooting and better first step. He often loses the ball when in traffic and that has to stop. He also needs to get to the line more and shoot a higher percentage once he?s there. I didn?t mention the defense because he really improved last season. I?m assuming he?ll keep improving in that area. And despite his great athleticism, he doesn?t have a great first step to the basket.

Mike Dunleavy: Toughness, rebounding, shooting, defense and post skills. I know, sounds like a long list, but he?s playing for a contract and he has the potential to be a much better player. For a guy his height, he should effectively post smaller players, something he hasn?t done his first three seasons. At the end of the season, his 3-point shot was lights out. I hope he?s working to keep it that way. Toughness and rebounding go hand in hand, and this is the biggest area of concern for me. When he?s grabbing rebounds, the rest of his game seems to flourish. When he?s not, the rest of his game disappears.

Baron Davis: Conditioning. There isn?t any more you can ask from him than what he did after the trade.

Mickael Pietrus: Rebounding and decision-making. This guy has scary talent, and when he?s on we all know how valuable he can be. First he needs to play a full season. Once that happens, everything else should fall into play. Must be more aggressive on the boards and not stand around.

Zarko Cabarkapa: Defense, rebounding and post moves. When he got minutes, he was a waking mismatch on offense. He can take you off the dribble and create or hit the 3. He could use some better post moves in case teams figure it out and put small guys on him. His defense was pretty poor and must improve some.

Derek Fisher: Given his talents, there really isn?t too much he can improve on. Don?t get me wrong, for a point guard he can be a better ball handler, passer and decision-maker but do you really expect him to improve on those things in his 10th year? Love him or hate him, he is what he is.

Andris Biedrins: Post moves, patience and discipline. In the minutes he gets, he picks up a ton of fouls. He must learn how to avoid cheap fouls yet still be aggressive. He has the ability to get his shot in the paint, and in the summer league games it appeared as if that lefty hook has improved. Keep working on it big man.

Calbert Cheaney: I?d give his cheerleading skills a nine out of 10 last year, so he can always strive to be a 10.

http://warriors.realgm.com/articles/110/20...eds_to_improve/

 

Thanks for the find, Montay.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting custodianrules2:</div><div class="quote_post">Thanks for the find, Montay. </div>


thanks, just trying to keep the forum active in the dog days of summer.

 

It's all good. The forum will be plenty active when the season starts. I betcha the Warriors forum by itself will cause a site crash because of all the W's fans + the bandwagoners + the fairweather fans logging on.

 

I like the article, except I don't think either Murphy or Zarko will ever develop a post move ...

 

Yeah it's a hard sell on Zarko, but Murph could end up becoming like a Mehmet Okur type player in the post, maybe? The problem is the majority of good post players are effective with either hand and because there's like, what, only four major post moves with two coming from each side of the low block? Z can't score with his left and Murphy can't score with his right so that limits them right there. I think the only true ambidextrious guys on our squad are Diogu, Baron, Dunleavy and of those BD and Diogu are the types that bang and use quick footwork to get inside. Jrich can also score some from either side of the post or make driving layups at least with his left hand, but it's obvious he'll always favor the right.

Are there any good, right handed or left handed only post players? I think the only guy who can get away with not being very good with his left hand is Shaq but that's because he's just plain overpowering. But that's not to take away from the fact he's got good control of the ball low in the post and passes well so he can call for a re-post or get others involved. It's not a good idea for most bigs to get deeper in the paint with the ball if they aren't strong enough anyway or can't avoid turning the ball over on the double team. But if the'yre getting fronted on the re-post or they're trying to create some offense, they'll need to be good enough with the ball so they can score inside or they can run some backdoor plays for the 4 or 5 man. Even if Troy Murphy was a post guy, I just don't see him being that good in the post or hitting any shooters or cutters. He'd be totally selfish or unaware or something, I think. So maybe Murphy as a post player is a stretch at times since he's more inclined to force the action rather than give up the rock.

 

i actually see golden state at the 8th seed. They will battle the lakers,memphis, and maybe minnesota for it.

your major compition is memphis and lakers because no one knows what to expect from the lakers at this point.

memphis becuase they made the playoffs last year and have made up for all their losses this off season except for the loss of stro

 

I think Murphy will be able to utilize some post moves next season. I also think we will be a suprise team like Phoenix and Seattle last year. I dont see the 8th seed. I see the 4th seed...