Well it looks like barring any major blockbuster trade, the Warriors that will take the floor this year are the same as last years except for Fisher and the additions of POB and Owens,Brown and Mcleod. What does that mean? Hopefully the Warriors will realize that this is the team they are going to compete with this coming year. There won't be any help coming anytime soon so Dunleavy has to play his ass off everynight and Baron has to stay healthy I just hope that Montgomery lays the law down on what he expects from each player and each player comes ready to play.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Duckmyster:</div><div class="quote_post">Well it looks like barring any major blockbuster trade, the Warriors that will take the floor this year are the same as last years except for Fisher and the additions of POB and Owens,Brown and Mcleod. What does that mean? Hopefully the Warriors will realize that this is the team they are going to compete with this coming year. There won't be any help coming anytime soon so Dunleavy has to play his ass off everynight and Baron has to stay healthy I just hope that Montgomery lays the law down on what he expects from each player and each player comes ready to play.</div> I am not sure if this roster being the same as last season's roster is a completely dreadful for this team. This season they just need to find that magic, that spirit, and that intelligence of winning the close games. I remember in the two seasons that have been the most successful over the past ten years(excluding that shorten season, where the Warriors seemed to be in the playoff race for a good period of time) was when there were some great bench performances from players like Cardinal and Boykins. This season, once again, and like very many other Western Confrence teams facing each other, this starting squad really may not be capable of blowing teams away and giving great comfort. If the Warriors can find a way to get that extra boost from the bench, both the players and the coaches who reside there at the start of each game, then I can see this being a successful season. Frankly, I say why won't their be some great performance from the bench this season? The beginning of last season, the winning part of last season, the bench performed solid with good performances from Pietrus(before the injury), Fisher, Taft, and the others. This season, the bench mostly has more experience as a group with Ellis, Diogu, Andris, Taft(kinda), Zarko, having one year in the NBA, with no rookie wall to hit or run into, and a year in which the coaches got to know these players to know just how to use them, that much better. There are quite a few players on the roster this year though, or at this moment. The only two subtractions have been Calbert Cheaney and Derek Fisher. Additions have been, as Duckmyster mentioned, Keith McLeod, Andre Owens, Devin Brown, Patrick O'Bryant, and Kosta Perovic who may not be on the official roster for a year or more. Baron/Jason/Dunleavy/Murphy/Foyle McLeod/Pietrus/Brown/Diogu/Andris Ellis/Owens*/Zarko/Taft/POB* *=inactive roster I really like the defense from the bench, especially with the addition of Devin Brown, and the team (hopefully) recognizing how much impact Ellis has on that side of the ball. Also this is the projected lineups, especially starting. If it were mine, I would be thinking more of Diogu starting, but I guess I'd mostly leave it up to training camp, preseason, and I suppose the coaches to choose. I would definitley think about starting someone else at center however, such as Taft who is a better rebounder and younger and fresh than Foyle. Though I also believe that competition in the preseason workouts and camps and the actual preseason games should find out who should be the starting center. Deciding which players are going to be on the inactive roster is giong to be difficult. I can see Owens being one of them and maybe POB as well. There are 13 player active rosters now, right? This should be a fun season, at least it should be very interesting. There are so many ways this team may end up going this season; both good or bad.
I agree with you clif25 that we should start somnebody else at center but Montgomery should take a page from Art Shell and make the front court players play for the starting job. If last years starters play good during traing camp and exhibition games then they get to keep their jobs if not let some of the young guys start if they outplay the starters. The backcourt should stay the same unless Monta's play warrants otherwise. Hopefully the old saying of the best trades are the ones not made comes true. The Warriors have broken my heart many times but I will still remain optimistic that this will be their year and make the playoffs.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Blazers are just one of several teams the Bucks have had discussions regarding Magloire. I was told earlier this week that Golden State could still be in the picture for Magloire as well. The Bucks have an interest in Warriors' big man Troy Murphy, although his lengthy contract - five years, $50 mliion - would appear to be a major hangup.</div> http://journaltimes.com/nucleus/index.php?blogid=24 C'mon Magloire! A nice thing about him is he can play power forward or center. He's definitely leaning more towards center, though. Not enough ballhandling, but okay midrange shot, inside scoring skills. He could teach the young guys a thing or two that Foyle can't.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting VinsanityVC15:</div><div class="quote_post">You guys lost him. You guys never go after players good enough i think the gm needs to go.</div> It doesn't matter if the GM goes because the ownership will just hire another clown who has to undo the previous GM's mess and still can't put together a team.
Magliore is so overhyped it makes me dizzy. We don't need him in the way of minutes for THREE CENTERS who we now have invested in. We MUST bite the bullet and play all 3 and let things fall into place however it does. Mullin did one very good thing-turned Fish int 3 disposables. The other? He did nothing damaging....unless you count not replacing coaches. I saw a segment of games where Murphy played equal to Brand-Dirk etc. I want that to be an asset we use-not treat as a problem,or just waste. I'd LIKE to think that Mullin has learned and we will progress forward instead of cancelling out every bit of success with something foolhardy or backward. We have seen some prime time moments from most of these players-and typically Monty has failed to take what WORKS and weave it into the big plan. Looking at who Mullin has assembled should give some sense of his vision. Looking at Montyball-it's hard to see a Monty vision thats at all similar.
In paper, we did get worse. We traded away flawed, but productive guard for 3 bags of salary cap cleaner. So, our backcourt is now in hand of often injured star with very young players with no track records. We drafted projects, who won't help our team for quite some time. We couldn't acquire any help despite having number of young talents and Murphy, who still have a value. In other hand, all Western teams improved. And, we are hugging a powder keg named Davis-Monty feud. Even if I am a Warriors fan, the situation doesn't look good. But, there are reasons for a hope as well. First, we really underachieved last year for various reasons, and we have enough raw and young talents to be a PO team. Certainly, we don't have right pieces, and it will take a lot of works and a smart plan. Do I trust Monty to do the job? No. I don't know how 2 years old coach is being called as a 'rookie' coach by two most classy players in the team. And, since that wasn't a open criticism to the public, I can only guess what they are exactly think about Monty. That has been said, he should have learned something from last two years and make an adjustment for the success. Because he didn't do anything, any improvement will be a plus. Also, players like Davis, Dunleavy, Murphy, Foyle, Pietrus, Zarko all had sub par years to simply horrible years. And, it's hard to believe that they will duplicate or even become worse players than last year. If some of them bounce back, our club will be better. Maybe, I am reaching for a hope in here, and my best argument is "Because we didn't do anything last season, anything will be positive". But who knows? This year may be the year things will finally click when fans don't expect anything...
Look, the end of the '04-'05 season and the beginning of the '05-'06 season went about as well as they could have. The middle and end of the '05-'06 season went about as poorly as it could have. It was basically the same roster for both of those stretches, so I don't get why people are projecting doom and gloom. Are the Warriors as good as they showed when Baron first arrived? No. Are they as bad as they showed through most of last year? No. They're somewhere in between. And since this is such a young roster and they have another year of experience under their belts, they should be better than the average of those two stretches. Would a Murphy for Harrington swap improved the team? No, it would have hurt the cap situation and caused a logjam at sf while leaving the team unproven at pf. The team would have an overpriced sf on the bench (be it Dunleavy or Harrington) and scrambling to find luxury tax space to resign whichever young pf they decide to go with. A Dunleavy for Harrington swap would have made more sense. But, since Harrington would be making more than Dunleavy and, arguably, only giving modestly better returns, I don't think that would have made much sense either. Most of the roster had down years. The only one that showed improvement was Richardson. I'm counting on Richardson continuing his progression into an elite sg because he's given me no indication otherwise. I'm counting on Davis to be in better shape and remain healthy because he's spending the year with Grabow instead of doing his own thing. I'm counting on Dunleavy having a better year because he's not playing under the presure of a newly signed contract. I'm expecting a sophmore slump for Ellis since he'll be the #3 guard this year and teams may start to game plan for him. I have no idea what to expect from Diogu, Biedrins, or Taft, since none have played enough for me to get a handle on them. O'Bryant shouldn't see anything more than garbage time since he needs to get stronger and just plain learn how to play better. The one I'm worried about is Murphy. He regressed slightly last year and has seemed to totally lose the fire he had in his first two years. He's had to endure trade rumors all offseason and he's got several young guys itching to take his place. This is going to be a make or break year for the guy. Personally, I still love him and I'd love to see him regain his aggressiveness. I'll be rooting for him, but this is the first year that I'm not optimistic about him. Pietrus, right now he's an afterthought to me. I'd much rather see Ellis at sg than Pietrus and I'd rather see Dunleavy/Richardson at sf. Same goes for Zarko. Foyle's Foyle, the sooner he's traded, the happier I'll be.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting wtwalker77:</div><div class="quote_post">Look, the end of the '04-'05 season and the beginning of the '05-'06 season went about as well as they could have. The middle and end of the '05-'06 season went about as poorly as it could have. It was basically the same roster for both of those stretches, so I don't get why people are projecting doom and gloom. Are the Warriors as good as they showed when Baron first arrived? No. Are they as bad as they showed through most of last year? No. They're somewhere in between. And since this is such a young roster and they have another year of experience under their belts, they should be better than the average of those two stretches. Would a Murphy for Harrington swap improved the team? No, it would have hurt the cap situation and caused a logjam at sf while leaving the team unproven at pf. The team would have an overpriced sf on the bench (be it Dunleavy or Harrington) and scrambling to find luxury tax space to resign whichever young pf they decide to go with. A Dunleavy for Harrington swap would have made more sense. But, since Harrington would be making more than Dunleavy and, arguably, only giving modestly better returns, I don't think that would have made much sense either. Most of the roster had down years. The only one that showed improvement was Richardson. I'm counting on Richardson continuing his progression into an elite sg because he's given me no indication otherwise. I'm counting on Davis to be in better shape and remain healthy because he's spending the year with Grabow instead of doing his own thing. I'm counting on Dunleavy having a better year because he's not playing under the presure of a newly signed contract. I'm expecting a sophmore slump for Ellis since he'll be the #3 guard this year and teams may start to game plan for him. I have no idea what to expect from Diogu, Biedrins, or Taft, since none have played enough for me to get a handle on them. O'Bryant shouldn't see anything more than garbage time since he needs to get stronger and just plain learn how to play better. The one I'm worried about is Murphy. He regressed slightly last year and has seemed to totally lose the fire he had in his first two years. He's had to endure trade rumors all offseason and he's got several young guys itching to take his place. This is going to be a make or break year for the guy. Personally, I still love him and I'd love to see him regain his aggressiveness. I'll be rooting for him, but this is the first year that I'm not optimistic about him. Pietrus, right now he's an afterthought to me. I'd much rather see Ellis at sg than Pietrus and I'd rather see Dunleavy/Richardson at sf. Same goes for Zarko. Foyle's Foyle, the sooner he's traded, the happier I'll be.</div> Excellent post all around, Walker. Well said, and clearly stated. I totally agree about the overall state of the team. I agree about your comments regarding JRich, Baron, Pietrus, and Foyle. I agree in a sense that it's a good thing the Harrington trade didn't go through, although I disagree that a swap of Dunleavy for Harrington would yield only modestly better returns. I like Dun, and honestly hope he can fulfill the role Mullin had envisioned this year, but Harrington would have been a solid upgrade at that position IMO. Dunleavy has different skills, and his court vision, passing ability and versatility is what this team needs. If he gave 15-5-5 while providing the intangibles, I'd be thrilled. But as of yet he's underperformed. perhaps someday he'll surpass Harrington in value, but for now IMO that trade would be a clear upgrade. As far as not having a handle on Biedrins, what more do you need? He played good minutes his rookie year and significant minutes in year 2. Granted he hasn't had starter minutes yet, and he has a lot of room to grow, but IMO he's played enough to show that he'll provide some things Foyle won't: good hands to finish in the lane, quickness, and athleticism. I'm not saying he'll be a star but i think he'll come out this year and challenge for the starting role. Taft? I agree -- who knows. Ike -- actually, as much as I love his game, I still wonder what showing he'll provide this year. I hope he challenges Murphy and really gets aggressive -- and I do believe eventually he'll be a quality starter -- but at least for the first half of the season it's hard to tell what role he'll be assigned / he'll earn. Monta -- yeah, kind of like Pietrus. Pietrus flew under the radar for a while, then teams learned he only has one and a half moves, and always goes left off the catch. Then he slumped. but IMO Monta is way too versatile to get "figured out." His repetoire is way too robust. I agree teams will D him up more, and he may have some ups and downs (like Noah Lowry or Matt Cain of the Giants) but I sincerely believe it's only a matter of time until he's got a shoe deal and kids in NY are sporting his jersey. Also, when he does hit some adversity this year, I expect him to fight through it. I don't expect to see a regression of any kind, ala Pietrus. As far as Murphy, I agree he's endured alot. He had to deal with the trade talks even last season, as well as this off-season. It's a shame too, because Troy Murphy is the sole player who carried this team on his back early last season. When Baron went down, and JRich slumped, Troy was Mr. Steady with his shooting and he absolutely carried this club to several wins last year. But the talks won't go away. In fact, I expect them to only heat up as the team nears the Feb. trade deadline. Perhaps by that time he'll have worked his way into All-Star status and either secure his job with GS or be worth a king's ransom via trade. Either way that would be a good thing for the Warriors.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">As far as Murphy, I agree he's endured alot. He had to deal with the trade talks even last season, as well as this off-season. It's a shame too, because Troy Murphy is the sole player who carried this team on his back early last season. When Baron went down, and JRich slumped, Troy was Mr. Steady with his shooting and he absolutely carried this club to several wins last year. But the talks won't go away. In fact, I expect them to only heat up as the team nears the Feb. trade deadline. Perhaps by that time he'll have worked his way into All-Star status and either secure his job with GS or be worth a king's ransom via trade. Either way that would be a good thing for the Warriors. </div> I wonder if Murphy goes back to his chucking in order to get his ppg up and forgets about team play so he can get out asap
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting CohanHater:</div><div class="quote_post">I wonder if Murphy goes back to his chucking in order to get his ppg up and forgets about team play so he can get out asap</div> Well, I wouldn't necessarily call it chucking because he was specifically asked, by management and coaching, to work on his outside shooting two off-seasons ago. He did exactly that, and developed a legit 3point shot to boot. Who here would have expected Murphy to be nailing threes when he was first drafted out of Notre Dame. Not me. What's more, his shot was one of the most consistent things in the league for the first half of the season last year. He knocked down that top-of-the-key-three over and over and over again. He had one of the highest 3pt % in the league for a while, lol. But the second half his shooting dipped, probably because of fatigue (legs) and beacuse of trade talks. Part of me thinks that Murphy likes to fight his own teammates for loose boards and not play D so he can collect the the loose boards simply to pad his rebounding stats. Afterall, he has a "reputation" to uphold lol. But another part of me believes he has been a valuable --albeit unorthodox -- cog at PF. His game is different than the prototype heavy-hitting big man, but he's provided a sorely needed perimieter threat to a team that is otherwise laughed at from the outside. In a way, though, perhaps it's both. If he keeps chucking, i won't mind if he can hit 45% FG and 40% 3ptFG. Let him pad the stats if it means a Warriors win.
I think by the end of the season- Murphy had cut down the 3 pt stuff-in half,became a good defender-at lest in certain type defenses,both Biedrens and Diogu had got over fouling excessively. The seson ended with the Fish flavored jammed up perimeter mess-and that really limited Pietrus after he got shafted on some charge /travel calls in a pair of games. MP has just a few killer tools-and between 2 whistle happy refs,Monty,and Fish,a couple were taken away. What was left was a lockdown man-on-man defender trying to play an illconcieved and complex semi-zone. While Fish stalled-defenses packed it in. MP could still nail the corner 3-but some teams were wise that he's money from the corner but not a threat up top. If the W's RUN,use a lot of motion,then there are lanes. Meanwhile MP can learn a good pullup J. Monta and Ike-by seasons end were looking like they could drop 15-25 pts pretty often. J Rich looked like he could get 25 no matter what the D did. Baron seems to get that he has to be in good shape....I'd guess he's also thought about the 3 chuckin' too. No doubt Baron would prefer to run,push tempo. The thought scares Monty,he wants control more than he wants success-and that's gonna finish him. Dunleavy is a mystery to me. When I go to gamelog and check out individual games-I'm a bit surprised he did have a fair amount of real good games-however-in between he had a lot of games that were HORRID. Foyle had moments that were quite awful-or comical,depending on whether we won....but with his minutes,relatively few touches,shot attempts...the damage was limited. On offense the diff between Foyle- Magliore=4 pt a game...and Mags played more minutes. If Dunleavy can just quit having those REALLY sucky games-kind of stabilizes,sometimes mediocre but never just dreadful----that's another nice boost. Even with Monty-a team ranging from 20 yrs to 26 is very likely going to improve. I can't say that with Monty-any improvements will even show.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting REREM:</div><div class="quote_post">Dunleavy is a mystery to me. When I go to gamelog and check out individual games-I'm a bit surprised he did have a fair amount of real good games-however-in between he had a lot of games that were HORRID. Foyle had moments that were quite awful-or comical,depending on whether we won....but with his minutes,relatively few touches,shot attempts...the damage was limited. On offense the diff between Foyle- Magliore=4 pt a game...and Mags played more minutes. If Dunleavy can just quit having those REALLY sucky games-kind of stabilizes,sometimes mediocre but never just dreadful----that's another nice boost.</div> My problem with Dunleavy is the same problem I had with Dampier. They're so mentally fragile that if they don't hit their first few shots in a game, they don't ever get on track for the entire game. I would love to see a game log that had a scoring breakdown by quarter as well. I would bet that in 90% of the "good" games that Dunleavy and Dampier had, they had outstanding first quarters. Dunleavy is slightly different from Dampier in that Damp needed touches in the first quarter or he'd get pissy, pick up two quick fouls, and go to the bench, whereas Dunleavy didn't need touches right away. For him it all depended on whether his first few shots fell. I would also go further with Dunleavy and say that in the other 10% of his "good" games where he didn't get it rolling in the first quarter, he got it rolling in the third quarter. It's like he needs halftime to regain his confidence. I don't go to many games, but for those who do, do you ever notice a difference in the way Dunleavy (or anyone for that matter) shoots the ball during halftime warm ups when they're having a good game as opposed to bad? I dunno, perhaps I'm seeing things that aren't really there because I'm sort of the same way when I play, but it's always seemed like Damp and Dunleavy's best games only happen when they gets rolling early. And AlleyOop, as for the modestly better returns thing. I just think that Harrington wouldn't get enough touches to be the scorer he was in Atlanta, and if he's not scoring, he's not really doing anything.
The reason I called it chucking btw, isn't when he shoots off a pick and fade, or in the flow of the offense. It's when he was shooting off of the 1st pass when the team hasn't even setup (not even transition 3s). Murphy cut this down significantly at the end of the year. I hope he doesn't go back to this.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting CohanHater:</div><div class="quote_post">The reason I called it chucking btw, isn't when he shoots off a pick and fade, or in the flow of the offense. It's when he was shooting off of the 1st pass when the team hasn't even setup (not even transition 3s). Murphy cut this down significantly at the end of the year. I hope he doesn't go back to this.</div> I hear ya. Gawd, I hope the whole team doesn't go back to this lol Ditching Fisher will help. Now if Troy, Baron, Pietrus and company can swing the ball a few times and not just jack it up, this will be a good thing
I just raed on the Oregonian that Baron might be on the trading block along with Iverson. so maybe a trade for each other is still in the works? An espn report said that Baron had gioven the Warriors an ultimatium it's either Baron or Montgomery.
If this is true, I really hope Mullin chooses Monty over Baron. Obviously everyone knows it is the coach and his scheme that wins ball games, not the players. Baron has just been a disraction to this team, and without him Monty can lead this group to the playoffs. Mullin will be crazy if he chooses Baron Davis over the future hall-of-famer Mike Montgomery. <font size=""6"">HA HA HA JUST KIDDING!!!!</font>
