<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">OAKLAND - Not too long ago, Warriors forward Mike Dunleavy came across a quote by Winston Churchill. The appropriateness floored him. If you are going through hell, keep going. "It just hit me," Dunleavy said. "Hit the nail right on the head with that quote. I felt like that summed up everything going on with this team, with me. You just got to fight through it." Hell is probably the best way to describe Dunleavy's season, his fourth in the NBA. He's averaging 10.2 points on 39.7 percent shooting, including 23.2 percent from 3-point range. He's complementing his bricklaying with just 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 30.3 minutes. Unfortunately for the Warriors, his season is a microcosm of the team itself -- inconsistent, fragile, disappointing. Not that the Warriors' failures can be pinned solely on Dunleavy, but the player point guard Baron Davis has called the X-factor hasn't been much of a factor. "It's just been so frustrating, from a team and individual standpoint, just not being able to get it done," Dunleavy said. "That wears on you. That's no fun." Undoubtedly, the Warriors needed more from Dunleavy -- 15 points, six or seven rebounds, four or five assists per game would have been ideal. They needed him to be the fourth, sometimes third scoring option, taking the pressure off guard Jason Richardson and Davis and forward Troy Murphy. They needed him to present matchup problems for slower power forwards and shorter small forwards. They needed him to help forward Murphy on the boards. The Warriors offense, or their propensity for abandoning it, deserves some of the blame. The guards' shoot-first mentality often left Dunleavy uninvolved on the perimeter, and idleness is not the solution for a rhythm player. Still, most of the blame falls in Dunleavy's lap. He begged for the Warriors to get away from "street ball" and run something other than isolations and pick-and-rolls. The Warriors responded by putting the ball in his hands more, letting him initiate the offense. He demanded more of a presence in the offense, instead of relying solely on Davis' improvisation with the ball. Injuries to Davis, Richardson and Murphy presented the perfect opportunity for Dunleavy to take over. But no matter how many opportunities he's had, he's never consistently produced. No matter how much work he's put in, and he's taken took thousands of shots before and after practice, he just hasn't converted with regularity. That's basketball's version of Hades. "It's baffling to me," said Dunleavy, who over the previous two seasons shot 45 percent from the field. "Pretty much, for me, this season (comes down to) the inability to put the ball in the basket. I mean it's been unbelievable."</div> Source
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">But no matter how many opportunities he's had, he's never consistently produced. No matter how much work he's put in, and he's taken took thousands of shots before and after practice, he just hasn't converted with regularity. That's basketball's version of Hades.</div> I thought basketball's version of Hades was being a Warriors fan. When will the madness end? Even the Clippers are better than us and they took like how long to get good?
They made the right signings and off season moves. And bam, a playoff contender. I hate the "waiting" game that the front office and Dunleavy fans try to feed us. Building for the future, yeah right. Signing Foyle, Fish, and Dunleavy to huge contracts is not building for the future.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AnimeFANatic:</div><div class="quote_post">They made the right signings and off season moves. And bam, a playoff contender. I hate the "waiting" game that the front office and Dunleavy fans try to feed us. Building for the future, yeah right. Signing Foyle, Fish, and Dunleavy to huge contracts is not building for the future.</div> I know the reason why, AF. I was just saying that for humor. Suns definitely made that huge turn around because they made the right moves to build around their core. Baron came after, so we were stuck with Foyle/Fish/Murph. Also, Dun was playing hot last year and was a major component of that successful run last half season. It's probably why Mullin jumped on him... ugh.... never trust Dunleavy. We've seen it before when he gets all hot, and then super cold for weeks at a time.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting custodianrules2:</div><div class="quote_post">Also, Dun was playing hot last year and was a major component of that successful run last half season. It's probably why Mullin jumped on him... ugh.... never trust Dunleavy. We've seen it before when he gets all hot, and then super cold for weeks at a time.</div> Know what hurts me more than the signing itself? The fact that he is becoming a restricted FA... That itself shows that Mullin isn't acting like a smart GM. I mean if it was some all star caliber player then sure, sign him before he becomes a restricted FA. But this is Dunleavy we're talking about, damn you Mullin!
We signed the wrong Dunleavy. Dad was available but took the Clips job instead. He has made Baylor look good, I imagine he could make Mully look like a good GM too. Mully might not have made all the signing as Dunleavy might have had some imput, but who knows.
Yes he's not performing. But home many other guys in the league try and bitch and moan about the coach or others instead of taking responsibility?
Dunleavy did have a legit excuse regarding poor team play, but he's not really helping the Warriors case by his poor shooting ability. There's only so many things the guy can do for his team because he's mentally/physically not that good by himself. He can't post up, he can't take small forwards off the dribble without turning it over, he can't split defenders without wandering into a charge, he can't even shoot free throws or open jump shots at times even though that's his shot. Now I know as the son of a nba head coach, this guy knows what this team should be doing to take higher % shots and moving without the ball, but it's frustrating because he's not really leading by example. There's breakdowns left and right, but he can't worry about that, he just has to play through. He took responsiblity for his own actions, but I think he's been frustrated that nobody knows how to play team basketball. They just try to play rookie ball and run it and hope something comes of it, rather than executing like a team. I think part of these frustrations have to do with guys who don't set good screens, they don't box out or do the dirty work, team members aren't patient or under control, guys just don't know the right way to play and are used to playing what they did under Musselman, or the guys who do play aren't any good under any style. I saw some great assists that Dunleavy dropped right into Foyle's hands and he fumbled it. Unbelievable, especially because the times we've lost close games, Foyle simply catching it and finishing it at close range would have been the difference... and other times we could have needed Dunleavy and others to make free throws, shoot those open jump shots that you're supposed to make... I just wish Dunleavy was aggressive in at least following his own miss, but I guess he gets worried that our transition defense is so bad, we'll be finished if he doesn't get back there after clanking it.
For Warriors to play team basketball, they need to do two things imo. 1) Fire Montgomery and get a coach that will get all the players on the same page. 2) Trade Baron Davis as he's not a team player. Maybe it depends on who the coach is, but so far in Baron's career, he hasn't been a very coachable player.
just want to ask, does anybody know why baron didn't play at all for the last 2 games? is he injured?
If the Warriors fired the coach right now and replaced him with somebody else, it'd be the same crap. This team has too many flaws to be a successful well coached team and I think one of the biggest flaws is inability to execute as a team and run plays, to play individual defense, to get inside with either dribble penetration, moving off the ball or a having a post game, and inability to shoot (as in anywhere on the floor, off the dribble, from midrange, at the free throw line, wide open shots from deep, etc, etc.). Also nobody sets any proper screens or looks to use a screen, people hardly box out which results in offensive rebounds off missed free throws or easy 2nd chance points for the other team while our guys just stand around. The list goes on. Firing Montgomery and replacing him with some other "teaching" coach or Musselman type coach who is reluctant to join a losing team will be like putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound. This team lacks fundamentals, it lacks a foundation to stand on and anyone who doesn't see this obviously hasn't seen the Warriors for the past 12 seasons. Then we go through the same tease every season where we finish stronger than we started out, and hope for next season with the promise of playing how we played in the last 30 games of the current season when playoffs are improbable. I think fans have forgotten what good basketball is supposed to look like or what a true team looks like. It certainly wasn't what we did with Musselman run n' gun even though that's the style that worked. We need to do more because we're predictable in pretty much any style unless we gain more weapons to score the ball and defend. Settling for low % jumpers or dribbling the ball back and forth wasting the clock or just running really hard at the basket isn't going to get it done.
