What the World Championships taught me is that the NBA teams need more scrappers than stars. The unsung hero was Shane Battier. That guy is the best scrapper there is currently. He's the guy who plays D, gets the tough rebound, then hits the open 3. The Warriors (and every team) needs a couple of those guys. The guys who have been here and left are Cardinal, Najera, and who else? Someone called them "glue guys" the guys who are the glue to the team. Now, you can't win with 5 scrappers, but you need at least 1 or 2. Haslem is like one, so is PJ Brown (past his prime though). Josh Howard is like one but really talented too. Tenacious, never quits, always plays hard. Now look at the sad teams, do they have any? Warriors? Any? Maybe Biedris.
Beans, Ellis, Diogu to name a few. If we sign DJ or Matt Barnes, Nellie will make them play that role to get PT.
Diogu, Zarko, and Andris seemed to be a bit scrappy. Yeah they pick up loads of fouls, but they were good at getting extra possessions. Pietrus used to be a bit scrappy, until he got concerned with foul-trouble. I don't know about Devin Brown or McLeod. Ellis is definitley a bit scrappy. I mean he is scrappy but he does it in such a clean way, whereas Foyle(when he was in shape and focused) or Cardinal are scrappy but also kind of in a ugly/dirty way. However having a Battier type player would be helpful for most teams I believe, including the Warriors. The Rockets could have made a good deal in picking up Battier like that, maybe?
I agree with Philsmith, we need a quintessential scrappy type player that can do a little bit of everything inluding how to shoot free throws, have great effort on D, and to pass the rock and get second chance posessions. I vote Ike Diogu for that role. Even if the guards don't give him the ball, he's always doing something that's good. Definitely in a more noticeable and physical way than Dunleavy IMO. They say Dunleavy does the little things, but he's really hard to notice compared to high energy guys like Najera, Cardinal, Diogu, Jon Barry, or Jerome Williams.
Here's what the Warriors need to get closer to the top: Jorge Is One Tough Hombre . Of all the new Raptors , one stands out from them all . Jorge Garbajosa is showing why he was personally picked by Assistant GM Maurico Gherardini to add toughness to the Raptors line up . ' Jorge is not afraid to fight anybody of his size ' said Gherardini who was GM of Benetton Treviso when JG played for the Euro team in 2001-04. In the 1st two pre season games , Garbajosa was unspectacular but very effective . His 2 successive 3 points shots in the waning minutes of the game vs. the Celtics last Wednesday were impressive . The man has ice in his veins . Garbajosa has solidified his hold on one of the starting spots . He was in the starting line up and was there to finish the game . The 28 year old rookie from Spain , who was named in the all tournament team of the recently concluded FIBA World Basketball Championships , reminds Raptors fans of former Raptor - Charles Oakley . Less the wayward behind the back passes , of course . Just like Oak , he has a strong presence under the board . Oak was not a high jumper even in his early days as the rebound king of the NBA. ' Charles uses positional advantage to corral the rebounds stated one scouting report. Garbajosa works the same way . Another Oak - Jorge similarity is the role as the team's enforcer . ' He'll protect the younger guys on the team' said Gherardini of Garbajosa . Garbajosa even have Oak's scruggly look . Chris Bosh , Bargnani , Calderon , MoPete all sport facial hairs . The Raptors have been transformed from a soft team to a tough one . At least in looks ! A big guy who gets rebounds then strokes 2 threes late in the game and is not afraid to get in anyone's grill. How come the Raptors got him and no one else did? That's scouting.
Well, the Raptors looked internationally, because they realized that they could gain a significant advantage by plucking the better players playing overseas. They bumped their scouting there, along with hiring one of Europe's top GM's as an assistant. With the dearth of quality free agent finds here in the states (since most of them who don't get a NBA gig right away go overseas anyway), things should turn out well for the.
I'm going to think different and wish Troy Murphy could fill the scrapper role along with Monta Ellis. Ellis has shown the ability to go get the ball and play tenacious man-to-man defense. OTOH Murphy will need to be more aggressive and look to pass more after he gets the ball. Maybe it's a pipedream for Murphy, but if he could do it, then the Warriors will be set at center for years to come. Another guy who could fill the scrapper role would be Pietrus. If Pietrus could do that, then he could be another Josh Howard when he had his breakout year. Oh well, it was nice thinking about it while it lasted.
I'd still love to see us grab Mike Gansey-but I do think Nellie will change a few perceptions. Pietrus can be a scrappy type.
Mully/Nellie found our scrapper, Matt Barnes. I hope he can keep his production up (and is not a victim of other teams' scouting).
Yeah-turns out we got a cheaper-more versatile Custodian in Barnes. He has been a nice multi-tool,multi-role guy. The role we probably still like is designated thug. Perhaps not just a cheap shot hacker-but a guy somewhere between nasty and dirty,a guy who specializes in payback and protecting our players from the nasty types other teams have. we got guys getting slammed,hacked,cartwheeled. Murph catches an elbow to the face...no call? Well-fine-we can get ourselves an elbow guy. Note how often Pietrus or Baron drives-scores--ends up in a heap on the floor. Sometimes it's like we are playing tennis and they are playing hockey.
I bet if we went to the line and didn't miss two free throws, teams wouldn't play us so rough. Our shooting was good as of late, but we never know when everyone starts missing again.
<div class="quote_poster">custodianrules2 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I bet if we went to the line and didn't miss two free throws, teams wouldn't play us so rough. Our shooting was good as of late, but we never know when everyone starts missing again.</div> Funny how we're 4th in the league in scoring and last in the league in FT's... how does that work?
Well, I have a nagging suspicion that Barns may not shoot 61% from the field and 59% from the 3 pts . But, in order to be a successful team, every team needs a cheap, scrappy player like Barnes. With Muss, we had Cardinals and Boykins, and Nelson always carried those players like Najera, Buckler and so on. Maybe, this is a sign that we will actually be better...
Barnes could be the scrapper. He'll be cheaper than trying to re-sign MP. What's good about Barnes is he's willing to come off the bench or start. He seems to do better when he starts though. Maybe a future front line of Beans-Ike-Barnes/Dunleavy will work.
