I think realistically we are out of the running for the playoffs even though we aren't mathematically eliminated. We just have too many problems to be considered a playoff team . 1. I think the first thing to do is to identify the problems this team has and try to fix them. Then maybe we can identify the players we want to keep in the process. This method is better than the way the Warriors have been doing it in the past. They identify the players they want to keep and hope they get better and the problems are fixed afterwards. 2. We won't be able to sign free agents, so we can't get any help there. 3. The draft. Ah yes, we're very familiar with this position -- heading for the lottery. Can we get a player who can help us right away with a #9 or #10 pick (likely spot where the W's will pick)? At least, Mullin has done well in selecting draft picks.
Identifying problems with the team is a good idea -- what are they? And, as far as the summer, the Warriors will be in a better position with Troy coming off base-year and MDJ no longer poison pill, such that trades are possible, cap room is possible, free agent signings are possible. But I don't know which ones.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AlleyOop:</div><div class="quote_post">Identifying problems with the team is a good idea -- what are they? And, as far as the summer, the Warriors will be in a better position with Troy coming off base-year and MDJ no longer poison pill, such that trades are possible, cap room is possible, free agent signings are possible. But I don't know which ones.</div> One problem would be giving up too many points in the paint and lack of rebounding. Foyle can block shots, but that's not enough. Maybe we don't have to trade for a center as AB can start there next year. I'd like to see him start every game from here on out to see what he can do. Taft, if healthy, can back him up, but getting a backup center/PF might not be a bad idea. I think MDJ will become BYC so he'll be very difficult to trade (will need a team with cap space willing to take him) and we won't be able to sign any FAs because we're over the cap .
Problem: Lack of ball movement Possible causes: No inside game, lack of trust, no memorization of plays, no chemistry, screens not being used, screens not being set right, lack of dribble penetration or player movement to create separation between passer and receiver, team doesn't like Monty Problem: Why is there no inside game? Possible causes: Foyle, Murphy, Dunleavy locked up for double digit figures. 8 man rotation includes (Foyle, Murph, Dun, Jrich, Baron, Dfish). That's six so it leaves two to three open spots with the 9th guy seeing very little action. That means Pietrus is a lock, Biedrins is a lock since we lack a center, and possibly Ellis or Diogu seeing some burn as the 9th guy. Diogu sees little minutes and Biedrins isn't a deep position kind of guy, he's a score when he's open at the basket kind of guy on the pick and roll. Also we can't shoot which causes more defenders to dare us to shoot and crowd the paint. Also we lack dribble penetration since Pietrus is out of control, Murphy is too slow and too focussed on scoring once he puts the ball on the floor, Jrich can't dribble without it going off his foot, and Dfish is too slow and out of control against point guards. Baron is always hurt and when he's not hurt, nobody has an idea where to move once he makes his move. This makes it hard to score inside. We cannot run a fastbreak to score inside the paint because we lack rebounding, guys who can push and make good decision on the break. We don't move off the ball and cut toward the hoop like we sort of did when we won a few games. Possible Solution: Get the deadweight outside jump shooting or clumsy paint players out, keep developing Biedrins/Ike. Find better vets that know their role and do their job well. We need guys who have good hands and have the footwork and thrive on physical contact to create separation in the paint and get deep position inside. We need guys who can handle the ball, shoot a wide open jumper to space the floor, be able to pass, and have quickness on their side to get by defenders. If you don't have a good lateral amount of quickness, there's no burst of speed. But then you also need the first step and the ability to make adjustments in midair and absorb contact. Jrich probably has almost everything but ballhandling and lateral quickness. Start learning some plays to get open guys that can't dribble so well, cutting toward the hoop without the ball. You don't create offense inside by standing around, you get it by cutting or establishing position on a size mismatch. The one gripe I have is none of forwards or centers do post-ups that well, only Jrich and Baron. Dunleavy posting up a 6'4 guy only to hook shot airball it, is downright laughable. Problem: Ike not getting minutes at PF Possible causes: We lack rebounding, Troy gives us rebounding and the bonus of more consistency scoring the ball (at 42% shooting though and pourous help D and no shotblock presence). Dun sucks at SF, and we need the dribble penetration and passing to come from somewhere since he's the only guy who knows how to direct offense without always looking to score for himself. He can't dribble passed small forwards but he can take power forwards off the dribble. Possible Solution: Get rid of either Murphy or Dunleavy. There's no reason Monty wouldn't be playing the ideal big man unless it's partly because of the 8 man rotation being occupied by 4 overly paid players, two star players, and Pietrus + Biedrins. Problem: No interior defensive presence (also perimeter defense). Possible causes: Only one true shotblocker back at a time i.e. Murphy/Foyle or Dun/Biedrins. Teams can isolate the weakness and attack it i.e. attacking on the switch by forcing the big man to come out or isolating Murphy. Poor perimeter play causes us to play a half-zone where perimeter defenders expect help once they shield a ballhandler to go toward a trap. If the help never arrives it's a layup if there's no shotblockers willing to save a layup. Also, if the shooter gets the Warriors stuck in no man's land with all that running around, it's an easy two or three. Also the defensive scheme doesn't allow the big guys to stay home and protect the basket because our perimeter defenders aren't good enough to stay on their guy without expecting some form of help. Possible Solution: Kick out the poor defenders on this team that don't do much else besides scoring. Even if we have Shareef Abdur Rahim, it still doesn't help the fact all of his teams have an annoying trend of not playing defense or doing the dirty work for the good of the team. Get true position players that can actually guard their matchups. A lot of defense is effort, but its also lateral quickness, strength and the ability to read the angles and the offense the team is throwing out. Problem: Lack of trust, lack of team chemistry Possible causes: Guys not hitting their shots or finding ways to get better shots, guys not catching the ball, guys not being very reliable defenders. Not the right compliment of skills to play inside, fastbreak or allow for an accurate perimeter shooting game. Half court doesn't fit this team's style. Warriors don't fit any style. Possible Solution: Get the kind of talent that keeps the team game play honest. Guys who hit wide open shots almost automatically, guys who can defend, big players that can move decently, can catch and finish inside. Problem: We have many players that can't create their own shots Possible causes: Lack of decision making on the fly, lack of ballhandling skills, lack of quickness, lack of strength, lack of footwork, lack of courtvision, no elevation, no willingness to play physical, no ability to make adjustments against shotblockers. Possible Solution: Get guys that have some form of matchup with either power or quickness as well as the ability to put the ball on the floor or play with their back to the basket while being able to finish over players or adjust when there is contact or a possible blocked shot coming. What good is size if they don't use it to their advantage in creating their own shots? What good is taking a jump shot and not finding ways to get it in closer or draw the foul if the defense is not giving the guy easy looks. The other solution is to pass more and run their routes precisely and quickly so their defender is chasing them off the ball. We need screens, good passing and play memorization for this. Problem: Shooters... real shooters make their free throws. Possible Solution: Find the guys that hit at least 80% from the line, otherwise what is the point of trusting these guys down the stretch when teams don't mind fouling them or letting them settle for threes? All this Baron Davis/Antoine Walker like play gives you plenty of points, assists, rebounds or what not, but what about turnovers, free throw %, and fg%. Yikes...
GSW have a good team, but are in a tough conference. They've won some big games but haven't made the transition to defense that will separate them. Another good PG and another SF, which I'd make a priority. They need a 6'7"-6'9'' player who can shoot facing the basket, who is a very good one-on-one player, and who can score 16-25 points a game. Then do what they can with the front court, but don't expect to reach the desired level next year. It should be a 3 year plan, with a committment to reducing opponents to under 97 points a game, at least. Take Pietrus, Richardson, Murphy, Davis and a couple of the best large men who can defend and finish and add smart pieces over 3 years and the Warriors will fill arenas (and become a 3 or 4 seed.)
Look to the future and have patience. This is the 5th youngest team. Yes Cohan has overpaid but what do you want the old Clippers where everyone leaves when their contract is up? Goodbye Harper, Lamar, Manning, etc? Move the ball. If you do not have low post presence, you must move the ball and make the other team play some defense and get some cuts off the ball. The Warriors are the worst of both worlds, no low post and then its just stand around and jack up a 3. Simple, elementary basketball. That may be some coaching but you need someone to listen and execute too. Remember Dave Cowens? That guy was the best post-Nelson coach (two 50 win seasons) we've ever had here and he got run real fast. Why? Because the players flat out quit on him and did not listen. And people blame Cowens. That sucks. Quit giving the players the doubt and make them take responsibility for their lousy play.
murphy needs to learn how to box out and play some defense. you notice he can never do well against good PFs?? i.e. Garnett. He has those good nights where he gets like 14 and 15, but those are against teams with average PFs. HE needs to box out more and learn how to play some D
no guy would go out and try to get a good spot in the lottery. the more they win the more they attract good free agents.
We need to trade Foyle, Fisher and Dunleavy for Garnett. Note to Chris Mullin: Make this happen. The Wolves get nice compensation in: an out-of-shape, over-priced, under-sized center with an ambasador's mentality; an over-the-hill, slow, jack-happy point guard with a shoot-and-brick-first mentality, and a guy who has all the intangibles but will average 3 points and 1 rebound as your starting small forward. The Warriors get the proven MVP of the league. If I were Chris Mullin I'd do this.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting custodianrules2:</div><div class="quote_post">Problem: Lack of ball movement Possible causes: No inside game, lack of trust, no memorization of plays, no chemistry, screens not being used, screens not being set right, lack of dribble penetration or player movement to create separation between passer and receiver, team doesn't like Monty Problem: Why is there no inside game? Possible causes: Foyle, Murphy, Dunleavy locked up for double digit figures. 8 man rotation includes (Foyle, Murph, Dun, Jrich, Baron, Dfish). That's six so it leaves two to three open spots with the 9th guy seeing very little action. That means Pietrus is a lock, Biedrins is a lock since we lack a center, and possibly Ellis or Diogu seeing some burn as the 9th guy. Diogu sees little minutes and Biedrins isn't a deep position kind of guy, he's a score when he's open at the basket kind of guy on the pick and roll. Also we can't shoot which causes more defenders to dare us to shoot and crowd the paint. Also we lack dribble penetration since Pietrus is out of control, Murphy is too slow and too focussed on scoring once he puts the ball on the floor, Jrich can't dribble without it going off his foot, and Dfish is too slow and out of control against point guards. Baron is always hurt and when he's not hurt, nobody has an idea where to move once he makes his move. This makes it hard to score inside. We cannot run a fastbreak to score inside the paint because we lack rebounding, guys who can push and make good decision on the break. We don't move off the ball and cut toward the hoop like we sort of did when we won a few games. Possible Solution: Get the deadweight outside jump shooting or clumsy paint players out, keep developing Biedrins/Ike. Find better vets that know their role and do their job well. We need guys who have good hands and have the footwork and thrive on physical contact to create separation in the paint and get deep position inside. We need guys who can handle the ball, shoot a wide open jumper to space the floor, be able to pass, and have quickness on their side to get by defenders. If you don't have a good lateral amount of quickness, there's no burst of speed. But then you also need the first step and the ability to make adjustments in midair and absorb contact. Jrich probably has almost everything but ballhandling and lateral quickness. Start learning some plays to get open guys that can't dribble so well, cutting toward the hoop without the ball. You don't create offense inside by standing around, you get it by cutting or establishing position on a size mismatch. The one gripe I have is none of forwards or centers do post-ups that well, only Jrich and Baron. Dunleavy posting up a 6'4 guy only to hook shot airball it, is downright laughable. Problem: Ike not getting minutes at PF Possible causes: We lack rebounding, Troy gives us rebounding and the bonus of more consistency scoring the ball (at 42% shooting though and pourous help D and no shotblock presence). Dun sucks at SF, and we need the dribble penetration and passing to come from somewhere since he's the only guy who knows how to direct offense without always looking to score for himself. He can't dribble passed small forwards but he can take power forwards off the dribble. Possible Solution: Get rid of either Murphy or Dunleavy. There's no reason Monty wouldn't be playing the ideal big man unless it's partly because of the 8 man rotation being occupied by 4 overly paid players, two star players, and Pietrus + Biedrins. Problem: No interior defensive presence (also perimeter defense). Possible causes: Only one true shotblocker back at a time i.e. Murphy/Foyle or Dun/Biedrins. Teams can isolate the weakness and attack it i.e. attacking on the switch by forcing the big man to come out or isolating Murphy. Poor perimeter play causes us to play a half-zone where perimeter defenders expect help once they shield a ballhandler to go toward a trap. If the help never arrives it's a layup if there's no shotblockers willing to save a layup. Also, if the shooter gets the Warriors stuck in no man's land with all that running around, it's an easy two or three. Also the defensive scheme doesn't allow the big guys to stay home and protect the basket because our perimeter defenders aren't good enough to stay on their guy without expecting some form of help. Possible Solution: Kick out the poor defenders on this team that don't do much else besides scoring. Even if we have Shareef Abdur Rahim, it still doesn't help the fact all of his teams have an annoying trend of not playing defense or doing the dirty work for the good of the team. Get true position players that can actually guard their matchups. A lot of defense is effort, but its also lateral quickness, strength and the ability to read the angles and the offense the team is throwing out. Problem: Lack of trust, lack of team chemistry Possible causes: Guys not hitting their shots or finding ways to get better shots, guys not catching the ball, guys not being very reliable defenders. Not the right compliment of skills to play inside, fastbreak or allow for an accurate perimeter shooting game. Half court doesn't fit this team's style. Warriors don't fit any style. Possible Solution: Get the kind of talent that keeps the team game play honest. Guys who hit wide open shots almost automatically, guys who can defend, big players that can move decently, can catch and finish inside. Problem: We have many players that can't create their own shots Possible causes: Lack of decision making on the fly, lack of ballhandling skills, lack of quickness, lack of strength, lack of footwork, lack of courtvision, no elevation, no willingness to play physical, no ability to make adjustments against shotblockers. Possible Solution: Get guys that have some form of matchup with either power or quickness as well as the ability to put the ball on the floor or play with their back to the basket while being able to finish over players or adjust when there is contact or a possible blocked shot coming. What good is size if they don't use it to their advantage in creating their own shots? What good is taking a jump shot and not finding ways to get it in closer or draw the foul if the defense is not giving the guy easy looks. The other solution is to pass more and run their routes precisely and quickly so their defender is chasing them off the ball. We need screens, good passing and play memorization for this. Problem: Shooters... real shooters make their free throws. Possible Solution: Find the guys that hit at least 80% from the line, otherwise what is the point of trusting these guys down the stretch when teams don't mind fouling them or letting them settle for threes? All this Baron Davis/Antoine Walker like play gives you plenty of points, assists, rebounds or what not, but what about turnovers, free throw %, and fg%. Yikes...</div> Yow, that's a lot of problems! I'm not sure if we can resolve them all . I can see why some people have thrown up their hands and said to blow the team up like the Orlando Magic and build around Monta, Ike, AB and Taft. Of course, with our contracts that's easier said than done. My suggestion for solving the free throws is hiring a free throw trainer. And free throws aren't lay-ups. I think 80% is considered excellent for an NBA team. 75% is very good-excellent and even 70% is very good. Steve Nash? We should be bowing down at his feet if we had someone who can get to the charity stripe on a regular basis and hit his percentage .
All of Custodians problems are solved by defense, running and freethrows, IMO. Sometimes we overanalyze things
