Baron rumors...

I dont feel jumped on because here is my point. Even though Jrich is one of my favorite players on the team Baron has at least made the All Star game. Jrich has not done that yet regardless of the excuses. IMO his game is too limited. Again, I love him, but Baron is the real All Star. Last summer he said his goal was to make Jrich the league scoring champ. He fell far from that even with Baron playing. IMO Baron was a little too unselfish. When it comes down to it, I dont think Jrich is the natural and true leader of this team like Baron is. Baron is like Batman, while Jrich is like Robin. He is his trusty sidekick. What Baron says goes. As Baron goes, this team will go. We have seen that already when he is healthy. Again, I love Jrich but the REAL key to this season is Baron staying healthy and him playing well.

 

edit: Steve Nash could probably do it if he wanted to.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Warriorfansnc93:</div><div class="quote_post">I dont feel jumped on because here is my point. Even though Jrich is one of my favorite players on the team Baron has at least made the All Star game. Jrich has not done that yet regardless of the excuses. IMO his game is too limited. Again, I love him, but Baron is the real All Star. Last summer he said his goal was to make Jrich the league scoring champ. He fell far from that even with Baron playing. IMO Baron was a little too unselfish. When it comes down to it, I dont think Jrich is the natural and true leader of this team like Baron is. Baron is like Batman, while Jrich is like Robin. He is his trusty sidekick. What Baron says goes. As Baron goes, this team will go. We have seen that already when he is healthy. Again, I love Jrich but the REAL key to this season is Baron staying healthy and him playing well.</div>


I do agree that Baron is the best player on this team. Call me a homer but, when he's healthy, he's one of the top 10 players in the league.

The problem is consistency. It's like the kid in school who is so damn sharp he doesn't have to do his homework, and can just ad-lib on an exam and still pass. That's how I was in school (not to flatter myself, believe me). In middle and high school, I just skated by on my natural talent and never really put in the hard work. I could doodle in class, not do homework, and get Bs on the tests and pass classes. My father was a teacher who always stressed dilligence, discipline and accountability. It wasn't until after highschool, however, that I finally started to realize how valuable his teachings were.

IMO this is a good analogy for Baron, because IMO no one in the NBA has more natural basketball talent than he does. There may be better athletes, like LeBron and Wade, but he's even close there. The problem is, like Allen Iverson, Baron has been able to go through life riding on that immense wave of natural talent he possesses. Sure, he hears the coaches or critics say things like "oh, if only you could drop 10 pounds" or "man you could be the greatest if you'd just become automatic from the charity stripe." He's heard doubters throughout his career. But every time he drains a clutch three, or drops a thunder-dunk on a 7-footers chrome dome, he's thinking "what now?"

IMO it's true: "you don't know what you got until it's gone." Therefore, in life we need to work to appreciate what we have and not take it for granted. Everyone comes to their own realizations at different points along their paths, when they're ready to meet them. For Baron, he really could be the greatest, or close, if he decides to combine that endless pool of raw talent he has with a dilligent, disciplined, dedicated drive to embrace the now and demand excellence from himself. That's what Jordan had.




Now, for JRich. I disagree that he's Baron's "Robin." He's clearly not the better player, but remember before Baron got here, JRich was single handedly winning games, and after Baron went down, JRich kept producing. He's had his ups and downs, and when you combine his shortcomings (freethrows, defense, assists, turnovers) with the fact that SG is stacked in the West, it's no wonder why he hasn't flirted with all-star status. Honestly he may never be an all-star, though he definately is deserving of it. JRich is still not a good enough ball-handler to single-handedly take over at any time, but he has had several dominant performances when he just gets magma-hot and no one can guard him. What's insane about those performances is that he gets on fire from the outside. He'll start curling around picks and launching near-blind rainbows that are pure cash, draining threes, hitting back-to-baskete turnarounds, and such.

Why do I bring this up? Because, when JRich gets on fire from the outside, I get a big warm fuzzy feeling in my gut, because I know he earned that shooting spree through dilligence, dedication, and desire. He worked his a$$ off to become a better shooter. JRich has that dedicated work ethic to demand the beest from himself. He is a superb athlete, but he has only a fraction of the basketball talent Baron does. What has separated JRich is that every year he has taken on a personal challenge of improving the weakest areas of his game. When he came out of college, he couldn't even shoot a 15 footer, let alone a three. So now, after seeing his consistent improvement every year, when he goes bananas on the Mavericks and goes lights-out from three, I just have to smile and tip my cap to his dedication to the game. Now, if Baron decides to take on the same personal challenges, the sky is the limit.


P.S. About dominant scoring point guards in the playoffs, I forgot to mention that Steve Nash led Phoenix in scoring this past post-season at 20.4 ppg (tied with Marion), and took them to the Western conference finals.

 

I like AI a ton. The man gives it everything he has. but no way in the world i swap Baron for him at this point in their respective careers.

 

Jrich just seems to succeed in any type of game you throw him in slow or fast... as secondary option scorer of course. He's not unstoppable like T-mac or Kobe or Ray Allen/Michael Redd when they are hot. Baron is unstoppable up to a certain point when it comes to ballhandling. There's no way a distributor should be a first option scorer, though. I would like Ike and Jrich to become first options by going to whatever matchup is unstoppable and will force a double team and get trips to the foul line. A guy like Jrich should be able to shoot free throws if he can control his mental game. I mean he already shoots a way better fg % than Baron Davis does. Baron is also young enough to improve and add more things to his game.

 

[quote name='
When was the last time a team with their pg as their leading scorer went deep into the playoffs?

[/QUOTE']

How about when AI took the 76ers to the finals against Shaq and Kobe...

 

J Rich has emerged as a genuine GO-TO scorer. Unstoppable? Guys do have freaky games-Jamison had a pair of 50's back to back. kobe dropped 80 on Toronto. But,generally- J Rich is a guy who can get 20-30 even if the offense is Montyball at it's lamest and the D is bogging the W's down.

If---and its a huge if...If we replace the plodding perimeter junk with something dynamic,get points before the defenses get set up-find ways to have Ike-Monta-Murphy-Pietrus-Dun-? all in optimal situations,then J Rich really becomes hard to contain. J Rich was productive as the bail out when the "play" failed...which was pretty often. If the W's can dictate the game-rather than be stuck with salvaging off whatever the Defenses force us into-then J rich is working with an edge instead of against the tides.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Warriorfansnc93:</div><div class="quote_post">How about when AI took the 76ers to the finals against Shaq and Kobe...</div>
That don't count No east coast teams.

If we count the East, we'd be the Wizards.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Warriorfansnc93:</div><div class="quote_post">IMO he should be averaging 24ppg while Jrich is regulated to 2nd scorer status...</div>You want to give more shots to a guy shooting 38.9% and fewer to the one shooting 44.6%? No thank you. Unless Baron is getting most of his shots from under 10 feet or better yet at the rim, I don't want him shooting. I'm also willing to give Baron one more year but he needs to make some changes in his game and decision-making, immediately.

 

What has happened to Baron Davis? He is just going downhill

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">

How about when AI took the 76ers to the finals against Shaq and Kobe...</div>
Besides, Eric Snow was point guard.

 

No one is gonna get traded..watch

 

Somebody's got to get traded, just not Baron Davis. The Warriors IMO are close to making the playoffs, but they need to upgrade everywhere except the backcourt. Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Adonal Foyle ain't too athletic and they lack certain fundamental skills for their respective positions. They also lack the ability to take advantage of a size mismatch and fail to stay honest on the defensive end when they do (they ain't the good kind of tweener like KG, Dirk or Wade). Troy Murphy has the jump shot and rebounding, what else does he do? Dunleavy Jr. is nothing special in any department unless his jump shot is rolling (just like with Dampier). Foyle blocks shots, what else does he do? We just don't have enough players that are both consistent and have enough facets to their game to play both ends of the floor and as a team. Of those three, I like Dunleavy Jr. and Troy Murphy for certain things as starter, but overall I'm disappointed in what we have as a 5 man unit. Foyle should never be starting. What was Mullin thinking?

Outside of Jrich/Dunleavy, I feel like the rest of the team needs to be a prototype position on both ends of the floor. Baron Davis is a real true point guard (with some flaws of course that no all-star guard should have). Ike Diogu is a real power forward (with size as an issue and the fact he has to gather leap a lot to come up with rebounds). I like Baron and Ike. Center is still up for grabs and these days we'll take any center that can emulate a guy playing bigger than he really is... Even if it's a non-prototype center like Marcus Camby.


BTW what up Aznxballer, nbaman, umair15, and HiRez.

 

Guys, don't break this up:

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Guys, don't break this up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFjkkB0zvw4

 

The Answer to your problem is Al Harrington

 

He'd help some, but the guy's not going to solve our problems rebounding, shooting, playing defense, passing, etc. Plus, he's a tweener and not really the all-star kind. For anyone getting paid 8 mil to 11 mil per year they better do at least three things well or be very balanced. Not worth it IMO to give up a big man for to ignore the fact we still have Dunleavy that wont' be rid of.

 

Baron needs to show, well lead the Warriors. Plain and simple. That means giving maximum effort and demanding maximum effort from his teammates. Injuries are a part of the game but Baron has not been hurt by some freak play, its been nicks that some would say are due to lack of conditioning. We need to see the real Baron, not the guy who kind of does his conditioning.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting philsmith75:</div><div class="quote_post">Injuries are a part of the game but Baron has not been hurt by some freak play, its been nicks that some would say are due to lack of conditioning. We need to see the real Baron, not the guy who kind of does his conditioning.</div>

He landed on LeBron's foot last season and sprained his foot. I'm pretty sure thats not from lack of conditioning. I'm not saying he's conditioned, just that many healthy people sprain their feet that way and it's not due to poor conditioning.