We knew NVE wasn't really motivated to be a Warrior based on the way he acted and played (injuries or no injuries). The article generally sums up NVE's attitude and motivation. http://proxy.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story...marc&id=2146710 He was deadly from behind the arc, he was a pretty explosive scorer going to the hole, from midrange or from downtown. He was Sam Cassell/Derek Fisher/Chauncey Billups type clutch in the 3rd and 4th quarters. He really made guys like Jrich and Dampier a lot better as a playmaker and leader. It was the first time we've had a veteran playmaker that was at least a one-time all-star that knew how to run a team like a pure point guard and could do a lot of things required in a good point like shoot, dribble, see the whole floor, and pass. I mean if you watch the games in 2003 where NVE was reasonablly motivated and wasn't reinjuring his knees, you can see the type of things that he did that Baron does for the team right now. Just imagine if we had a Dampier like center that has the strength and decent athleticism to be dominant in some games. But, I'm just curious whether any Warrior fan ever admired the guy? I thought maybe if NVE was healthy he could have led the 2003 team to the 8th seed like the Memphis Grizzlies keep managing to do without any true franchise players. Some say the talent and the execution wasn't there, but I remember at one point we just hit rock bottom when we were flirting with a .500 record and suffered injuries one, two or three deep at important positions like center and point guard.
I admire his toughness. There are some similarities to him and Boomdizzle in terms of attitude. Had the guy not been injured he would have been a great contributor; oh, and 5 years younger...
I remember it was bitter sweet when we got him. He played well in the playoffs and he would have helped our team quite a bit but I also knew that he wont be happy here and that he was old and injury prone. Its too bad he couldn't stay healthy, if he played more we would have won some more games and if we won more games he would have been more committed to playing for us.
Considering that Jamison is my favorite Warriors and how he was dumped while receiving NVE, I can't say I am a fan of NVE. I appreciated how he made Dampier better, but he was injured half of times, and he simply didn't live up to being a clutch player in 4th quarter. I didn't hate him, but I didn't miss him either, when we traded him for Davis...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Kwan1031:</div><div class="quote_post">Considering that Jamison is my favorite Warriors and how he was dumped while receiving NVE, I can't say I am a fan of NVE. I appreciated how he made Dampier better, but he was injured half of times, and he simply didn't live up to being a clutch player in 4th quarter. I didn't hate him, but I didn't miss him either, when we traded him for Davis...</div> Wow, NVE not living up to be clutch in the fourth? Haven't you seen those video clips that have been floating around where NVE literally was cluch as hell in 03? A healthy NVE is way better than Jamison if you ask me. Not to mention he can be a great playmaker too, can't see Jamison being able to do that.
He was clutch with Dallas, but with us? We focused balls on NVE for most of the first half in that season, but he only won 2-3 games in 4th quarter for us. At the end of first half, we started not to focus on NVE in 4th quarter anymore because of disappointing results, and then NVE was injured/'injured' in second half. At the end, we shipped him out without a hesitation. Besides, while Mullin and Muss didn't meet eye to eye, they agree on one thing; NVE was a cancer in the locker room. NVE has more flavor and he can score in 4th quarter, which Jamison can't dream of, but in terms of overall skill, I can't see how NVE is better player than Jamison. Not only overall stat difference, NVE was as inconsistant as you can get. In one day, he is capable of winning the game with his 4th quarter action, and in other day, he can completely destroy the game with all those chucking and missing. In other hand, Jamison could give consistant 20/8 every night and give teams a chance to win everyday. Besides, one is coach's dream player, while another one is a cancer, if he sees things he doesn't like...
Nick Van Exel was rather clutch in a few games. I remember one game primarly against the Spurs where he almost alone beat the Spurs towards the end of the game. He played well for how good or bad his health was. He couldn't beat his man and make it to the hoop often, but he was rather very good at getting at least to the free throw line or elbow, and then turning around or stepping back and knocking down the shot. I also believe Nick Van Exel help motivate and form the personality and motivation of Jason Richardson. This was the first year that Jason will be the main player, as Arenas and Jamison were not on the roster that year. Jason took it on his own to be like NVE and force himself to be the man to make this team win late in games, rather fail or success it would be on his shoulders. And who would be better than NVE to learn how to step up and be clutch, to have a baseball's closer mentality per-say? There may be a couple of other players that would help in this area, but nothing is lost much if you have NVE helping out in that area. I believe that Jason also learned how to pass and distribute the ball better from NVE as well. As mentioned NVE was good at getting the big men-Dampier- involved and working. And I noticed that Jason likes to dish to the big man when ever he can as well, a little similar to Nick Van Exel. As far as saying that Nick Van Exel was my favorite Warrior- I would say negative to that. However that is mostly because I like all of the Warriors players-though for many times not so much Dunleavy.
I kinda see what you mean Kwan about Jamison. Can't give up an allstar for a washed up player. I wasn't too big of a fan of Jamison because he played so relaxed, he was soft on D, he was a ballhog, he was a tweener, and he was way overpaid for what he did. He didn't make anyone better and very few SF's, SG's do actually. But nevertheless, the fact he was paid like a franchise player when he didn't carry the franchise was the worst part. I loved his scoring, consistency and his ability to draw fouls, although he was such an awkward player to watch, especially shooting at weird 45 degree angles off the dribble. It's just a good thing that NVE equated to Dale Davis, which landed us Baron Davis, so it's looking good so far in how things have panned out. And it's like what Clif mentioned about what NVE left behind for J-Rich in terms of motivation (whether the media painted it that way or not JRich wore 37 Kwik armband for a reason). The veteran presence was key for a team primarily consisting of young guys who might not have been ready for the pressure. I remember at first I hated the trade because Jamison was our guy. After we lost Arenas to FA, it's like the W's just didn't care anymore. But things looked a lot more like a team after the ballhoggers left and we had a PF/C combo that could actually defend and pass, and two point guards that could get defenders to collapse on them.
