Hey, remember oh about eight or nine months ago when the season had just started? ESPN was doing a monthly coaches approval ratings thing and Montgomery was near the top with like a 94% fan approval rating. Seems so long ago...
Mmm... Good time when we went 13-6. PO wasn't even the discussion and it's matter of whether we can get a home court advantage or not. Then, we went 21-42... Not as devestrating as the year Webber was traded (7-1 to 19-55), but 2nd most disappointing season I ever witnessed...
Yeah that was weak. For a few days I had this feeling like "OMG, it's actually real, people are writing good things about GS, even Magic and Kenny are saying good things on TNT, they even had a little "time out" with Baron Davis and JRich shopping for clothes. This team is actually legit, I can't believe it!" It was weird to finally be rooting for an NBA team that was expected to make the playoffs. I started to feel sorry for the other teams -- I was like "oh it's cool Atlanta, you guys have some nice young pieces there, keep your chin up, you'll make it like the Warriors have someday." I was imagining Boom Dizle and JRich on those playoff TV commercials "2006 NBA playoffs -- now showing at an arena near you." It was surreal. Yep. Well, whatever it was, it wasn't real. That happy-wagon lost three wheels and hit a boulder as it careened off the dusty trail. That was the ugliest meltdown I've ever seen from any of the Warriors, Giants, or 49ers.
The sad thing is this franchise has never proven the ability to win under its current head owner. While our backcourt looks sexy, underneath the skin it's too flawed to win without any solid backcourt depth or any frontline bigs. If we were to run more, I'm convinced it would change the final numbers of the game, but not the outcome. This is because we don't play defense and we still can't shoot or rebound or control the foul problem. In the 4th, we still don't have the type of execution that can beat an organized defense. New coach or not, we're very limited by the types of players we have. Guys like the Nuggets under Jeff Bzdelik proved they could make the playoffs with a frontline of Camby/Kmart with Melo and Andre Miller at pure point and use high altitude homecourt advantage to outlast opponents. Guys like the Memphis Grizzlies were perennial 8th seeded, early round exit playoff teams that were more balanced at all the positions than we were (they had less projects, way more guys who could play now that weren't busts). The rest of the losers either have teams that can't get a high fg%, can't shoot, can't play defense, or have guys that don't fit together in chemistry or teamwork. If that doesn't describe every one of the Warriors teams since '94, then it's obvious we weren't guaranteed playoffs under any guy. We're just too imbalanced and too darn exposed out there. Anytime we run, we just run ourselves out of the ball game unless its when we're out of the playoff picture. Then no opponent really cares about transition D or getting up for us. Plus, our rookies don't really look unstoppable until defenses start to figure them out. It's like how Melo had some hangups in '04, Jrich had some hangups in '01, and Pietrus became pretty easy to stop. Hopefully, the fact Ike and Ellis can create their own shot using technique and strength or quickness can be hard to guard much like when Boykins or Iverson moves with the ball. We just need to have something on our side that is hard to react to and we can react to the other team's style of play.
The only solution I see, when free agency and trade scenarios aren't helping this team get better or more balanced, is to wait on trading our tweeners. Let's see if guys even got better this year. I recommend lineup change, though. If it means Murphy gets his feeling hurt or we move somebody other than Foyle into the center spotlight, so be it. I just wish there was an answer for small forward, because we are so weak in that area. Baron also needs to stay healthy as we lack decision-making and ballhandling in many other guard positions. We'll lack a lot of experience in the new lineup, but experience sure wasn't helping when we brought in guys like Dfish and Foyle. WTF? At least NVE, Dale Davis, Clif Robinson were good enough at one point in their careers where they were all-stars. Cheaney was at least a 14-17ppg scorer milking the midrange shooting game as starter. Even an unused guy like Popeye Jones could offensive rebound. I just hate it when our teams are too old to stay healthy or compete, or too young to know the right way to play. We are one of those top 5 youngest teams in the NBA that also didn't make the playoffs. There's definitely a connection and those other young guys didn't even have much older veteran play compared to us. Another reason why I like good quality vets is that not only can they contribute now in limited minutes, but they can teach a future impact player something good. Part of the reason Jason Richardson has transformed a lot of his game is due to guys like Nick Van Exel challenging Jrich to thrive in pressure situations and guys like Calbert Cheaney teaching him to make use of the post game and midrange game against weaker, smaller shooting guards. There's also personal coaches working with Jrich, but it helps to have other senior teammates reinforcing those lessons being taught. When our best senior teammates are Derek Fisher, a poor decision-making shooting guard, and Foyle an NBDL player, that's just lousy for guys like Ellis or Pietrus or Biedrins or maybe even Ike. I bet Ike watching Foyle shoot over the backcourt was like WTF? Why am I the unlucky bastard at #9? Outside of the starters, who probably are as good as they're going to get, all of our bench was darned rookies who either need to make the same adjustment Richardson has made every season or they just aren't ready now and won't be for some time (big men).
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting wtwalker77:</div><div class="quote_post">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.</div> That's a good observation about the two, Wtwalker. I think those two just don't have fun when their backcourt or inside guys don't get them set up in the way they want it. I do think Erick Dampier's motivation was complicated. He's a good Jamaal Magloire type center when he wants to be, and also overrated in the same way. Some of it may have involved money, the other might have been the fact we had a pure point guard depth that could penetrate, score and make an interior pass very well so that a guy like Damp could catch it. The '03 Warriors also had a variety of other passers and scoring threats who could set him up (Jrich/Clif Robinson/Dunleavy/Cardinal could all pass well inside, drive a little, and make the outside shot if there was no pass available) and no Murphy or Jamison or Arenas to hog the ball in isolations. Despite Dampier having some clumsiness catching the ball low, in no way was it as bad as Foyle catching it high or to the chest. At least Dampier finished with authority rather than putting up a wussy layup. I mean layups aren't bad, but at the same time layups don't spell any kind of presence that one owns the paint unless one is using a lot of footwork and strength to uproot or fake out post players out of their defensive position. Dampier is clearly the more physical, polished player in terms of everything, and I wish we could have upgraded Dampier rather than downgraded long term in the most important position in the NBA. But that's the nature of that position in today's nba... it's being replaced by smaller guys who can actually play. Our closest, smaller position of power forward doesn't even closely resemble a center when we tried to go the route of Clif Robinson at C, Murphy at C, Diogu at C, Zarko at C. Just doesn't work. Not physical enough or tough on the glass. A guy like Dampier is like Shaq's analogy. "Gotta feed the big dawg, if you want him to protect the yard." Then again, it's a catch 21 as Dampier has problems catching the pass and the Warriors again have very few passers from PG and PF compared to year '03 and Jrich's ability to handle the ball and Dunleavy's shot often affect how they can get the ball to other players. I think Dunleavy's situation has more to do with the fact he's a rhythm shooter having to play more without the ball in his hands and having to catch and make long distance shots. It's not really his game to hoist or finish (unless along baseline) when there's very unreliable dribble penetration or inside/post game to begin with. On Duke, he had many threats to go to, in addition of being a matchup nightmare because of his freakish-by-college standards of being 6'9-6'10 at small forward with guard skills and a fundamentally smart game for a 3 man. There was really no other small forward at that time that came close to being ready for that matchup. Who was the second best small forward at the time? Caron Butler, who was more of a raw power forward than a 6'7 swingman? But when we look at the context of Dunleavy trying to do those things he was well known for in college, he's now on a Warriors team with very few fundamentals and inside/outside game than the Duke squad, he's having to play in a league where 6'10 at the small forward position doesn't mean anything unless you play like it, and he forgot how to shoot like he got nervous or distracted or something. I mean airballing a free throw is unheard of for a pure shooter, even by Jrich's free throw shooting standards. That's just something one can't pull the strings short on on two occassions by missing the basket almost completely. His outside wide open jumper in the same way. It barely ticks iron. What can we say? Weak mental game for a guy whose game is suppose to be mental. Where's the mismatch on this guy if his shot isn't falling? He doesn't use his ballhandling because there's no quickness, there's no strength for a post game to create separation against a player, and there's no shot to punish guys for playing off him. All in all, he's one of the weaker all-around players in his position IMO. A smart, special player these days has to be one or the other in strength or quickness. Can't lack both and then can't shoot on top of that. It's just missing everything in terms of balance or top 5 talent. What sucks is Jrich and Dunleavy are supposed to be covering each other's positions because Jrich is more like the small forward that can beat people in two of those ways offensively (quickness/strength) while Dunleavy actually provides the guard skills as a secondary point. Shooting guard is supposed to be the secondary point.
