Mike Dunleavy Quotes

The funniest part is near the end when Dunleavy mentioned that, "one of these years, it's going to break through." LOL. Oh well, you can't bash the guy for being somewhat positive (saying it will happen at some point in time) vs. very positive (it's going to happen soon). He was so unpopular here he is damned no matter what he says. He will get picked apart because of how the organization valued him so highly while the fans didn't quite see it, especially after that huge contract where he got worse and worse after receiving it.</p>

2003 was his best year offensively, but he was a lot more horrible on defense. The guy couldn't stay in front of tree without flopping or getting flat out burnt or shot over. If fans recognize and admire great fundamentals then they probably know basketball really well. The question is how can you take that player (such as Dunleavy) that is well coached and pretty smart and get him to compete physically against the competition that is out there. He has way too many glaring weaknesses no matter where you put him and he's not known as a heavy scorer. So what does that leave? Defense? Passing? Well he doesn't play much defense because he's either too weak or slow to keep up with the fast pace and physical nature of the nba. That and his playmaking are reliant on his foot quickness or strength to create separation from a defender so he can make a direct assist. Otherwise, he's just swinging the ball around for the hockey assist, which we saw enough of and didn't need. He just appears to float or disappear from the game when he's not getting directly involved in the Warriors scoring creation.

His game works best in college where he is a pretty quick guy for his size there, he is one of the taller perimeter players, there are stars on his team like Boozer and Jay Williams and they all have a role and efficient play execution. Dun just doesn't do it in the pros because of the competition that's out there at starter. As a bench guy he should be decent though if he's not expected to show consistent stats categories, but be able to produce when given opportunities. I don't care if he got 20 rebounds one game, and 2 the other if we don't need more rebounds in the game where he only got 2. But if we needed more 3 point scoring, I hope he fills that role and does it at a good clip. But that's the thing with Dunleavy, he complains about his role on teams, but his role is dependent on what he can give the coach every single night. Every single night, I think that changes because of how his body is designed and what his skillset actually is. In games where he plays smaller guys, I don't see him post up much. Only against point guards! Then if he plays power forwards, he drives, but then he can't finish sometime or he loses control of the play. I've seen Davis make better plays on the fly because he has more control using his handles, body, and quickness. Dunleavy is probably about above average for his size in ballhandling, but he's not elite. Then with body and quickness, his coordination, reaction time, jumping ability, lateral quickness all suck. The only thing he has is quick hands, good play recognition, and he can run the floor well for a tall guy, but he absolutey cannot react to anything else at the nba level consistently IMO. The nba matchups end up owning him, rather than him owning the nba matchups. He's just not elite for his position because he has no position. The other prospects we have, do have a great chance to be elite because they have mismatch ability that works out for both ends of the floor. Dunleavy plays one end of the floor about average and the other end he can't compete.</p>

 

- Losing weight affected his post up game? Is there any player who looked more clueless than Dunleavy when he 'post up' against 6'0" PGs? I mean, it got so bad, Dunleavy was always guarded by PGs. Other coaches knew that Dunleavy has no clue about post up or just shooting above oppornent's face. I don't think losing weight really has anything with his 'post up' games.</p>

- Finish drive? From day 1, Dunleavy crumbled like a tofu with the smallest contact, and he never was a player who can finish while absorbing contact. Adding weight probably will only slow him down.</p>

- Dunleavy really needs to look at his game tape, and see if his shooting game is anywhere near decent. The only reason his shooting % is half way decent is because he can drive somewhat. And, isn't it a coach's dream to hear that I just want to be an outside shooter instead of driving to the basket? Especially from a marginal shooter like Dunleavy who shot 28% 3 pts with Indiana?</p>

- Yeah, Nelson is not an expert of human body. He only coached basketball for... gee how long? Was Dunelavy even born when Nelson started to coach?</p>

- Uh, shooting high volume has to do with shooting %? Whether you shoot 2-5 or 4-10, it still is same 40%...</p>

- Is there any other team that allow you to shoot 3 pts more freely than Warriors? Is there any other team that follows a concept "If you can shoot, you should let it go" more than Warriors? Besides, Dunelavy shot 35% 3 pts in here and 28% in Indiana. I probably won't say anything about shooting 40% 3 pts until I actually start to shoot 30%.</p>

- Well, good luck with your breakout year...</p>

 

I wish people would stop caring about that DB. Put it behind us, the Warriors made the playoffs without him, good riddance. Who cares what he says?</p>

 

He tried hard and he did what they asked him to do. That's about all you can ask of a guy. The problem was not Dunleavy, it was the people who surrounded him with Murphy, D-Fish and Foyle.</p>

 

I would put the worst Warriors in recent years were:</p>

Michelle Dunleavy Jr. with ridiculously high contract and waiting to develop into #3 and never doing so. What a mangina.</p>

Troy Murphy + Michelle Dunleavy Jr front line.</p>

Adonal Foyle starting center with ridiculously high contract.</p>

Mike Montgomery as head coach. Did he actually start the front line of Murphy, Foyle and Dunleavy?</p>

Derek Fisher as starting point guard.</p>

Ike Diogu as starting center.</p>

My brain hurts and stomach feels queasy now so I'm leaving.</p>

 

The problem is that too many people, including GM's, get caught up in the whole 'next' phenomenon. That so and so is going to be the 'next whoever'. Scouts see overweight centers w/ high fg %, they see the next Shaq(Eddy Curry anyone?). They see an athletic swingman, he's the next Jordan. And whether they say it or not, if there's a tall white guy who can shoot, he's the next Bird. The problem is that they don't even try to see if he can play.</p>

So I guess what I'm saying is that I wouldn't blame Dunleavey. He didn't draft himself 3rd overall. He and Boozer should have been switched in the draft order that year, and it would make so much more sense today. I never could understand why Boozer slipped so much. Apparently his numbers in college were artificially inflated since he was playing next to such a terrific player in Dunleavey.</p>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (philsmith75)</div><div class='quotemain'>He tried hard and he did what they asked him to do. That's about all you can ask of a guy. The problem was not Dunleavy, it was the people who surrounded him with Murphy, D-Fish and Foyle.</div></p>

So it was the team's fault that Dunleavy sucked? He needed to be surrounded by good players in order to be a star? I'm sorry, but Dunleavy sucked a$$ cakes while he was here, and it had nothing to do with Troy Murphy or Derek Fisher.</p>

It had to do with only one person -- and that person was Mike Dunleavy. I know you were a big fan of his while he was here--and I don't knock you for that--but I think you may at times be a little biased about his skills. The guy would get MANHANDLED by 6' 0" point guards on the block. They would iso him on the block on Sam Cassell, and Cassell would bully him and knock him out of position and Dunleavy would try a turn-around fade-away bank shot brick and it would just be embarassing.</p>

There are two factors IMO: One is that he was drafted way too high and asked to be a franchise guy. He was a good college player but was obviously not going to be an NBA star. So there were unrealistic expectations, granted. But, even so, he's not even that great of a secondary-type player. I mean, he was a 4th option on a team led by Murphy, JRich, and Fisher, and even then he couldn't be relied on to do any one thing consistently. Knock down an open jumper? It's a crapshoot. Produce on the defensive glass? Maybe 6 boards one night, 0 the next. Play defense? Hah! I mean there is just no way to lean on Dunleavy, to rely on him to produce in any ONE role consistently night in and night out.</p>

Even with Indy. Watch this year: just like in GS, he'll have some good games, followed by some rotten eggs. He'll be a $10 mils player only wishing he could play like $2 mils Kelenna Azibuike.</p>

Please. Dunleavy's dissappointing failure to become a solid NBA player in GS had nothing to do with his teammates. He has only himself to blame.</p>

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Some of those quotes sounds like Travis Outlaw's recent quote about not wanting to get hurt getting in shape. Are they similar in talent, impact so far and brain power?

 

I think you guys all have a point:</p>

1.) Dunleavy seemed like a wuss, but he really wasn't when he took on constant full on charges and wasn't acting. Sure, he flopped a bit, but remember this guy isn't the strongest guy in the world and is quite the rag doll a la Dan Langhi/Danny Ferry (Remember those guys?). So some guys suggested he gain weight to get stronger on the blocks, while others say he should lose weight to focus on quickness and agility. But, I think he's caught in no man's land because either way he goes, he's still going to be outquicked or outmuscled at either forward spot because of his "in-between" size and generally slow foot speed and terrible balance/coordination when it comes to physical play. I think that is one reason he can't post up is because he's not strong and coordinated enough to protect the ball and pivot. Tall size is nothing if the player can't use his strength or coordination to stay balanced when taking the shot. I think Dunleavy is just not coordinated or strong in that way just like Zarko Cabarkapa was not that coordinated or strong in the post. Lots of nba players lack this ability, so it's not like Dunleavy is the only guy that sucks at this.

2.) And he wasn't alone in the tweener status. He had guys like Murphy who were really soft on defense and did little else to make others better (but he had good numbers but so what?). Murphy had little inside scoring or quickness of foot to play center or power forward to support our star players. Foyle, was just downright terrible after that contract. I blame him the most because your center is supposed to be the defining piece on a playoff team (which we weren't a playoff team). He lacked everything a big guy needs in order to control the paint except. The only thing he had was shotblocking prowess and a nice attitude. The worst thing he had that killed us was his hands. He couldn't make very many simple offensive plays and it was frustrating. He did very little other than creating a dead ball and you cannot have that in most types of offenses where the 5-man is the most important piece. Biedrins should have replaced him sooner if he had more foul discipline and some other power forward other than Murphy right next to him. But we didn't. Then we got Fisher and Jrich who make the worst tandem of guards because neither can dribble penetrate that well and kick out passes to make plays. Fisher couldn't even run the fastbreak or do the things that real point guards do. And even if they did, guys like Dunleavy would just brick wide open shots. Jrich was probably the only saving grace on this team, but he was no shooting guard and that is why he is gone in favor of guys like Azu and Belinelli who can dribble, make smartplays, and shoot. We can talk about Jrich being gone for money reasons, but it was probably also because of things we all complained about with Jrich's game. This is even if we know that 20+ ppg is hard to replace. A team needs to have a point guard and secondary point guard (shooting guard), so we actually stand a chance of making plays in halfcourt and setting up any big men we might have that can score inside.</p>

3.) We all know Dunleavy is a bit of a pathetic whiner who should be biting his tongue a little bit. The media is going to get on his butt a lot of times and pick out the best of his quotes because the W's fan base absolutely dislikes his play when it comes to the nba. That sells papers and gets attention. He's not a popular cat in these parts. So even if he is speaking the truth, fans are always going to miss the part where he is blaming himself. I think we've got to be fair and treat him as a guy who knows the situation (all too well and he tells the truth). To be fair, we sort of have to treat him like he is being singled out by the media like how fans single this guy out in spite of other flops like Foyle, Pietrus, Murphy, Fisher. Mainly guys who've been more or less bad in their own ways just like Dunleavy was. Dun should be treated like a 2nd round pick like a Bill Walton or a Coby Karl type of guy that will be a nice piece if your point guard plays like a point guard, your shooting guard plays like a shooting guard, and your power forward and center play like real big men. We didn't have that. So naturally, we didn't see much difference to add another tweener if the team wasn't working to begin with because we're nothing but a bunch of tweener matchups with defensive liabilities and no ball movement or ability to create offense. I completely disliked Dunleavy in 2003-2004 season, but after we lost Dampier, Clif Robinson, and Speedy/NVE were gone, I really came to see that our lack of a impact center, a true point guard, and matador-on-defense power forward had more to do with our losing. To me, it wasn't coaches or none of that stuff, it was the GM's f-ing up all the time.

So, I think everyone is right in some way, but Dunleavy sometimes does say stupid things, even though most quotes are probably taken out of context because the readers want to scapegoat Dunleavy. It had more to do with who Mullin and past GMs assembled as a team for the long term. It had more to do with who the coach played and the better rookies not being ready (Beans' fouls trouble, Pietrus' lack of basketball smarts, POB's rawness, Ellis as a point guard etc), and not having a team indentity/chemistry. I've always felt if we were going to start somewhere, it had to be Jrich as the building block, but a team can't win that way if Jrich is not a franchise player. He really wasn't. It was all about what we could do with Baron Davis, but we couldn't do much if we couldn't count on this guy being healthy and we couldn't get rid of Foyle, Fisher, Murphy, Dunleavy quick enough.</p>

 

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C'mon, 'Oop, Dunleavy is straight up gangsta and you know it! His rap album would alone have beaten out Ron Artest's, "True Warier" record label.</p>

 

True, after Indy lost Artest, Jack and Harrington, they needed some gangsta sheeat up in that mutha grab. Obviously Dunleavy fit the bill.</p>

 

You can rag on him and nit pick him to death but his overall record shows that he's improved from when he started and that he's been successful at times. Does he look pathetic when he's got a 6' PG on him in the post and he cannot score? Yes. But he's also shown the ability to score in bunches (and continues to do so in Indiana.)</p>

Dunleavy did not play up to what fans should expect out of a 3 overall pick. No doubt. But he did not choose where he was chosen.</p>

He's a solid NBA player who will play 10+ years in the league. That's probably above average for the No. 3 pick the last 20 years. At least he did not wash out in 3 years like Chris Washburn or is just bench filler like Darius Miles. He will be a better overall player than Billy Owens or Raef LaFrenz.</p>

 

It's not Dunleavy's fault that he was drafted at 3rd or received 9 mils for 6 years. And, I have to say he took a lot of undeserved heat from fans because of his contract or his appearance. However, I have to blame him for not improving since he entered the league. Since his 2nd season...</p>

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03-04: 31.1 mins / 11.7 pts / 5.9 rebs / 2.9 asts / .9 stl /44.9% fg / 37.0% 3 pts / 74.1% ft /</p>

04-05: 32.5 mins / 13.4 pts / 5.5 rebs / 2.6 asts / 1.0 stl / 45.1% fg / 38.8% 3 pts / 77.9% ft /</p>

05-06: 31.9 mins / 11.5 pts / 5.0 rebs / 2.9 asts / 0.7 stl / 40.6% fg / 28.5% 3 pts / 77.8% ft /</p>

06-07: 27.0 mins / 11.4 pts / 4.8 rebs / 3.0 asts / 1.0 stl / 44.9% fg / 34.6% 3 pts / 77.2% ft / with Warriors</p>

06-07: 35.6 mins / 14.0 pts / 5.7 rebs / 2.6 asts / 1.1 stl / 45.4% fg / 28.3% 3 pts / 79.2% ft / with Pacers.</p>

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Basically, his statsnever improved from his 2nd year, and the only reason for thestat improvement in Indiana is because he got nearly 36 mins. His shooting % remains the same. I have to blame Dunleavy for not developing reliable jumper for last five years, and not have a single move against 6'0" pgs. It always amazed me that players like Jamison, who had zero outside jumper, has better outside shot than Dunleavy after all those years. And, even Indiana fans quickly found out that Dunleavy doesn't have a reliable jumper. Also, it has been more than a year that Dunleavy was constantly guarded by 6'0" PGs, and whenever he received the ball in the post, he acted like somebody threw him a bomb. I mean, can't he do anything like a hook shot or just shoot over a player, who's 10" shorter than him?</p>

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There is no question that Dunleavy will be in the league for quite some time, and he seems to have a better time in Indiana for now. But, he will always remain as a stat guy with a defensive liability. And, I don't think it's a coincident that Warriors suddenly improved after Dunleavy/Murphy for Jackson/Harrington trade. He was always a part of Warriors' problem, and I am glad that he is no longer our problem...</p>

 

I agree his stats don't look improved. But his 45% does not look very bad in today's game; look at the guys who are shooting below that figure.</p>

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As for the immediate improvement with Jax/Al, that's more a reflection of Nellie ball than Dunleavy. If they had made that trade with Monty coaching, I don't think you see the same dramatic improvement.</p>

 

Don't you guys think that Dunleavy's stats don't spell out the entire picture? The guy was really inconsistent at shooting. Not only that, I believe he didn't have a role on this team because he didn't have a true position in the entire nba. I mean what is he? He's a tall, slow, weak, ragdoll of a guard who wasn't an honest enough outside shot to open up his driving and passing game. Additionally, he did not take advantage of his size shooting over people or posting them up. His fundamentals were great and he was a fluid basketball player, but his outside shot at times was like Adonal Foyle trying to make a layup. With Foyle, he'll get you at least 50% field goals or higher, but let's take into consideration he fumbles passes, he doesn't take as many shots as other high % centers, and he just shouldn't start...ever... just like Dunleavy shouldn't start or take long outside shots which fly every which way but inside the rim. I'm fine with Dunleavy's game as long as he's a utility guy that can take advantage with his speed or his size against other teams' backup players... Oh yeah, when I meant, "take advantage of his size, " well... I meant kind of. That guy he was posting up would have to be awfully smalll... like your average house cat.</p>

I feel like Dunnothing overanalyzes the game so much why not let him do it from the bench and then he comes in when the Warriors are struggling to find any kind of offense. He might be a nice halfcourt player with the ball in hand. He could have saved us from such players as Mickael Pietrus or Derek Fisher when they got the ball in their hands or when some player is trying to do his best and1 streetballer impersonation. All I know is I feel a lot safer when the ball is in Dunleavy's hands than with any of Pietrus, Fisher, or Murphy doing that dumb jab step move for a brick. Dunleavy isn't that bad of an nba player to me, he's just a bad starter and a bad true position player. I mean at starter, he gets beat by people quicker and he gets outmuscled by people stronger. At least be like Ike Diogu or Speedy Claxton who both make up for something with one or the other (speed or strength). Instead the Dun is weak at both... But maybe not off the bench and he could get into a more comfortable role taking only the shots he feels comfortable with... This means for him: no outside shots until you get something in from closer.</p>

I really liked him during that game when he got thrown out. He was actually taking good shots rather than these forced shots he feels compelled to take because they are playing off of him. He was aggressive... Many people thought it was a turning point for Dun's career. Boy, were we wrong yet again. He couldn't have turned out to be a bigger birth canal of a starting basketball player for the games to come. He's just disappointing... like Pietrus. Both backups from 2002-2003 we got just turned out to be bad potential starters. So considering something vs. nothing (like a lot of teams got nothing in the 2002 draft), I think Dunleavy was at least something in that draft. At least we didn't pick Nikolz Tskitishvilli or Qyntel Woods or Dajaun Wagner. We did get Sjax for Dunleavy right? There, that is something. The player I did like was Chris Wilcox or Nene Hilario, but that's another story. Both those guys aren't your elite power forward that could replace both of Murphy/Jamison and they would still cost a lot of money. If you got 18/10 with solid D max him up. If you don't, why bother on any of the lesser power forwards that don' play defense and don't score that much...</p>

 

Yeah, Dunleavy's shooting % is bit distorted for two reasons. First, he is fairly good at driving to the hoop, and that bumped up his shooting %. Second, he is a very opportunistic scorer. He never try to force an issue, and that's why sometimes Dunleavy goes invisible for an entire quarter. If that's not enough, just look at his 3 pts shooting %. It has been a steady decline since year 3, and now he is below 30% 3 pts shooter. Besides, the point is that Dunelavy never improved his jumper from his rookie season, not his shooting %. Outside jumper is probably the easiest thing to improve, and especially for Dunleavy, outside shot would open up his game considerably, because he can drive and actually utilize his basketball IQ. But, his jumper never improved, and there were times when defender let Dunleavy shoot from outside by giving him a plenty of room and prevented him from driving. That really was painful to watch.</p>

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No doubt Nelson has something to do with last year's success after the trade. But, Nelson also had Dunleavy for a half of the season, and things just never materialized. Besides, Indiana was a PO team before the trade. Although it took some time for both treams to roll, after the trade, Indiana suffered 11 games losing streak and finished the season with 6-23, while we finished the season with 16-5 and 9-1 at the end including monumental upset against Dallas. Besides obvious difference in defense (can you imagine Dunleavy trying to defend Dirk instead of Jackson?) I don't think it is just a coincident that one team without Dunelavy improved the record dramatically, while another team with Dunelavy sank like a rock...</p>

 

Well, and look at his 3pt %. He was touted as a 3pt-shooter in college, and this was something the staff in GS tried to work with him on every year to improve. Yet, his last year in the league in 2007 was his worst 3pt season ever. And, looking over his entire career, the numbers just never improved. I mean, he is basically the SAME EXACT player now as in year 1. Just like Pietrus. That's the mark of a player who is either too slow to get it (Pietrus) or lacks the drive to be great (Dunleavy).</p>

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On the other side of the coin, you have a true warrior like Richardson who came in the league with no fundamentals at all, a PF who turned himself into a 3pt shooting SG. That's all heart and determination. If only Dunleavy could have taken a page from JRich's book of work ethics.</p>