It is somewhat a dissapointment that the majority of the players who are part of the future of the Golden State Warriors is injured. The future of this team, as i see it, is JRich, Speedy, Murphy, Pietrus, and maybe Dunleavy(but i wouldn't be upset if the Warriors traded him to move up in the draft or to bring in a good young big man like a Tyson Chandler, or a first round draft pick). However, Speedy is injured and is probably out for the year, or maybe 3 weeks. And Murphy has been out for most of the season besides playing at 70% for a week or two. So there goes about half of the future of the franchise. Now what is there to watch? These are the only things i could see as reasons to watch the Warriors: 1)the development of Jason Richardson-he has really stepped up and has taken this team in his hands and has been the Warriors new/current leader. I LOVE it. 14 free throws and his scoring and confidence ever since the all-star break has been amazing. 2)The development of Pietrus(i hope he gets this much playing time in the future as well) and also to see what Dunleavy is all about. I have been very disapointed in the production of Dunleavy since the all-star break. Also playing in that rookie game but not playing in the Warriors games after the all-star break, supposivly because of an injury from before the all-star break, doesn't give me a good impression. Also, i don't see Dunleavy playing with that much passion or fire. Is it because he's tired and it's somewhat late in the season, or is he just this passion-less? Dunleavy now compared to Dunleavy at the beginning of the season is totally different. I HOPE this changes. Pietrus on the other hand played well and is someone i want to see given a lot of minutes. I remember when Cheaney was out earlier in the year he came in and played very well, and he did the same tonight. I would enjoy watching Pietrus play at least 10 minutes a night for the rest of the season.
I am with you Clif. It is very hard to watch this Warriors team play now. They had so much promise at the beginning of the season. Call me ignorant, but I thought this was finally the year where we would break through and make it into the playoffs. We have been played with an unbelievable amount of injuries that has destroyed our season. I will continue to watch the Warriors because I love them, win or lose. But this season has definately been a disappointment.
Werd Clif, Glad I didn't see the game because I was busy. But man I'm so glad we played Pietrus finally. He sounds like he had a decent defensive game with 2 steals and a block. A real spark. I know offensively, he isn't as great, a bit selfish (doesn't pass when he should), but defensively he's a stud. And Dunleavy is neither! Not impressive at all. Sorry, I'm not too found of Dunleavy. And never have, but the potential is there so I try to root for him. So much hype and ever since they promo him to death on the Warriors website and on the commercials this year and last year, it has made me think the front office is trying to cover up another busted draft pick or their weak attempt to lure Dunleavy Sr. to the coaching staff. Another Danny Ferry or Trajan Langdon from Duke if you will (Great shooters with great fundamentals but not fast/strong enough to compete). I won't be upset if they trade MDJ, but I'd give him another year to bulk up and see if it makes a difference since obviously they can't make him faster. I didn't see the game, but you know if he ain't scoring, it's assumed he ain't giving much defense. He does provide good numbers in rebounding, which is sad because it shows that this team is a weak rebounding team with the loss of Murphy this year. At least I know why Dunleavy's guy is wide open on the perimeter when Mike is trying to go for that board. Am I wrong or just hating? Opinions?
Injuries burried the Warriors season....that simple. Coming into this season with a whole new look, I thought they were going to break through as well, and be high in playoff contention. I thought wrong, started off the begenning month of the season 8-7, finishing it off with a 4 game W streak. Went 6-10 the next month, went 6-9 the next month. As you see how I'm writing this, they couldn't keep a consistant pace up of winning. Only one month this season where they played .500 ball. Seems like the team just fell apart towards the end of December and the begenning of January. Here comes Febuary, thought they should have made a trade as they continue to struggle. Year has definetley been a dissapointment, I thought they had the weapons this year to be in contention. Oh well, there's always next year.
custodianrules2- I think you are hating. Seroiusly though, I wouldn't not say that Dunleavy doesn't know when to pass and when to shoot. He has a high bball IQ and I think he makes great decisions out there. The guy is playing to the best of his ability and you can see that he is working hard. I think a lot of us Warriors fans have just grown impatient, especially after seeing what Carmelo and Lebron are doing in their rookie seasons.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rudeezy:</div><div class="quote_post">custodianrules2- I think you are hating. Seroiusly though, I wouldn't not say that Dunleavy doesn't know when to pass and when to shoot. He has a high bball IQ and I think he makes great decisions out there. The guy is playing to the best of his ability and you can see that he is working hard. I think a lot of us Warriors fans have just grown impatient, especially after seeing what Carmelo and Lebron are doing in their rookie seasons.</div> Impatient is what we have become alright, but I feel that Dunleavy must produce at a high level right now for us to go somewhere with what's left of this season.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Trip:</div><div class="quote_post">Impatient is what we have become alright, but I feel that Dunleavy must produce at a high level right now for us to go somewhere with what's left of this season.</div>I think it is safe to say that this season is going to go anywhere, even if Dunleavy begins to play like an all-star.
At this point last year, Dunleavy started to see more minutes and put up some decent numbers. With the loss of NVE and Speedy, I'm excited to see if the W's can do anything with a lineup of Dunleavy, JRich, Pietrus, along with Uncle Cliffy, Cardinal, and Damp in there interchanging Damp and Cliff... since the Warriors didn't really even try to fastbreak this year and are content with passing the ball around till about 10 on the shot clock, i don't think it would hurt them having Dunleavy bring the ball up and high post Cliff and have him pass down to a posting Dunleavy... i want to see him run the show... he's supposed to make everyone better around him and we see that at some points in a few games, so how about letting Dunleavy show what he can do. and on D, Muss can put Pietrus on the point or go with a zone/trap/amoeba... or whatever they were doing in the begining of the year when they actually looked like a good defensive team. I also think Foyle is on his last legs as a Warriors, i just don't see them signing him if he's asking for anything remotely close to a pay raise. he's just not worth it at this point...last year he showed awesome signs of improvement, but this year he just seems like at stiff... i haven't seen any blocks, in fact what stands out in my mind is his futile atempt to draw a charge of Bonzi this past week and he just stood straight up as Bonzi hopped past him...embarassing.
LOL...I feel your pain custodianrules2. It has been one depressing season although we have had some highlights.
Oh yeah I'm still watching the Warriors. I want to see Pietrus in action and also if Brian Cardinal will reach the 40 point mark so I can change my sig.
I kind of see where the Warriors are headed in terms of having a solid nucleus of young players in JRIch, Speedy, Murph, Pietrus, and Dunleavy, but what bothers me is that we have no big center to build around. Hopefully, Damp will stay, or maybe, we can sign Yao in the 2005 offseason! Seriously. Has anyone else heard the rumors? They say that the reason why Cohan made all the trades last offseason was to get cap room for the offseason in 2 years, mainly to sign Yao.
That'll be the day when that happens!!! I love our young nucleus, but I'm worried about Murphy. Foot injuries are hard to come back from sometimes and hopefully by next year he'll be ready for some burn.
This season is pretty much like the season from 2 years ago when Jrich and Arenas were rookies. Jrich had started a few games but after the all star break, began to break out and score alot of points. Maybe it was the confidence factor of winning the slam dunk championship. Then Arenas began to start at PG instead of Larry Hughes. We all were crying for Arenas to start and began to see what potential that kid had. Now I equate Petrius to Arenas. The playoffs are a lost cause, but the season is not. We can continue to develop players like Jrich, Speedy when he returns, Dunleavy, Murphy if he EVER returns, Cardinal, and most of all Petrius. I would love to see him back up Dunleavy. Cardinal to start and Cliffy to back him up and Damp.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rudeezy:</div><div class="quote_post">The day Cardinal scores 40 is the day....nevermind.</div> ... Dunleavy loses his starting role forever. hahah. Oh well the good thing about Cardinal is he's when he is shooting poorly he'll earn points the best way he knows how, at the foul line and by passing. And he'll still hustle for every loose ball and draw charges to get his team extra posessions even when the team is down.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting kobeonfire:</div><div class="quote_post">I kind of see where the Warriors are headed in terms of having a solid nucleus of young players in JRIch, Speedy, Murph, Pietrus, and Dunleavy, but what bothers me is that we have no big center to build around. Hopefully, Damp will stay, or maybe, we can sign Yao in the 2005 offseason! Seriously. Has anyone else heard the rumors? They say that the reason why Cohan made all the trades last offseason was to get cap room for the offseason in 2 years, mainly to sign Yao.</div> I don't think it's going to happen but maybe. That would be like a dream come true to get the league's current second best center. Not everyday you come across a 7'6", 310 pound guy that can move like that, block shots, hit free throws, dribble the ball, set huge screens, and possess the accuracy and range of a shooting guard. That turnaround fadeaway jumper is impossible to defend and the guy can hit the 3 point shot if you let him. Plus he can pass well which is essential if you're trying to run the ball through him and set some backdoor plays. The only weaknesses I see in him is that he's not aggressive enough to get those rebounds, he's too unselfish, sometimes he gets down on himself, and he gets too tired easily. He's got the strength, but he plays like he doesn't want to hurt anybody so he shys away from contact. Maybe it's because one time he did, who knows. The one time where I saw that he was aggressive it looked awesome. He took away a defensive rebound from his opponent by ripping the ball out of his hands and throwing it down for a two handed dunk. Trip from the Rockets forum is probably going to say something about this.
I think there's a possibility that he comes here. We have the money, and Yao has expressed interest in playing for a team with such a large Asian fan base as the Warriors.
I think it would be more like the fact he can move his family here where there's more of a Chinese speaking community and they won't feel as homesick or out of place since they'll have Chinese speaking people to talk to that were born in China. Plus, I don't think he really cares if his fans are Asian or non-Asian because that would be just really a lame reason to switch teams.
^ yeah, it is a pretty stupid reason. Especially when he has things going for him in Houston- they're starting to center the offense around him, and he's been doing well under the tutelage of Ewing and Van Gundy.
