I had discussion with another Warriors fan about Speedy Claxton. He didn't seem to think that Claxton is or should be in our future. I highly disagreed. His argument was that Claxton is not a "true" point guard. As we all saw tonight, this guy makes this team better. Yes he is a scorer but he does so much for this team, especially with his defense. He penetrates and dishes when the defense collapses on him. With Claxton as our future point guard, I am confident that we will finally break that barrier and get into the playoffs. What do you guys think?
Speedy is the man, the team has ran so much smoother since he came back from injury. I can't wait till next season. Did you see him outjump that 6'6 guy on Dallas, can't remember his name though
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting cburson:</div><div class="quote_post">Speedy is the man, the team has ran so much smoother since he came back from injury. I can't wait till next season. Did you see him outjump that 6'6 guy on Dallas, can't remember his name though</div>Oh man I saw that! He out jumped MARQUIS DANIELS. I couldn't believe how high he got. I mean I knew he could jump but he got way higher and they were jumping vertically.
Yep, I saw speedy outjump Marquis Daniels on the jumpball. Definately keep Claxton, his ball stealing ability along with his speed really kills people. Almost blows by anyone he wants anytime he wants. Good ball handler as well.
He's definitely one of the better sleepers, someone bound to improve with time and practice, he knows when and how to play. He is a team player yet one of his own, not a lot of PG's like that anymore, he's willing to not be a star even though he's capable, the likes of him, Kidd and Nash are a rarity.
Yeah that jump ball won by Claxton over that 6 foot 6 shooting guard is going to be a Warriors classic. It's almost as good as that video game style alley oop pass to Richardson from beyond half court (also from the same game). Claxton is such an underrated player though. He's got hustle, speed, long arms and outstanding leaping ability. Plus he's becoming a better finisher around the basket and getting to the foul line at least half a dozen to a dozen times a game as a starter. The man can dunk at 5'10" and I think that's pretty awesome since most people that height can't even get their wrist over the top of the rim. (in fact that's how he looked like he hurt his hand during the Memphis game when he was trying to decide whether to actually dunk it in game or go for the layup, instead he hit his hand against the rim going over/under for the layup). I think that Speedy's ability to play tough defense, find open people and penetrate is what you should have first and foremost in a point guard. The only thing I don't like about him is the fact he gets hurt too easily because his style of game draws a lot of contact and his body is very brittle. Nontheless anybody that can dominate with speed at both ends of the court is great to have. Who else can steal the ball better or block a shot against a bigger point guard trying to post up and back down?
You can rag on Speedy all you want but ask your buddy who's is not better but who is both available and better? He can create, shoot the J a little bit, plays pretty nice D, and will distribute the ball after penetrating. Classic PG qualities. If this was the 80's there would be no question. People fall in love with the scoring PGs but find a scoring PG who has won a title or even gotten there. Zero. People forget that if you have a scoring PG, you have 4 dudes standing around doing nothing.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting cburson:</div><div class="quote_post">Speedy is the man, the team has ran so much smoother since he came back from injury. I can't wait till next season. Did you see him outjump that 6'6 guy on Dallas, can't remember his name though</div> So Vince Carter out jumped Yao who is 1 foot taller.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Kid Canada:</div><div class="quote_post">So Vince Carter out jumped Yao who is 1 foot taller.</div> You talkin bout Yao who is 7'6. People who are usually 7+ feet tall dont usually have spectacular leaping ability. As for Speedy vs. Marquis Daniels. The guy is 6'6. I expect him to leap like Vince. Since Speedy is 5'10 and he outleaped a guy Vince's height. Thats impressive.
What's more important, the fact that he outjumped somebody on a jump ball, or whether he has good court vision and instincts?
OMG somebody actually went as far to compare Claxton outjumping a 6'6" shooting guard to Vince Carter outleaping Yao? Anyone can outjump Yao he's 7'6" for chrissakes. The same way that any athletic leaping guard i.e. Jrich, Steve Francis, etc. can outjump Gheorghe Muresan, Sean Bradley, or Manute Bol. Their bodies aren't built that way to go vertical. That's why the Houston Rockets have Kelvin Cato start the tip off.
Speedy and Dunleavy's younger brothers both play at the same college!! Villanova WHAT A TRIP----------
Yeah I read that somewhere. That's weird. Wasn't there also something with Foyle's cousin playing at the same school of another warrior teammate's relative?
Speedy's one of those good role players that every successful team needs. He's going to be better than the opposing pg more times than not and he's such a good defender that he's able to lock down the opposing pgs that are better than him (Gary Payton anyone?). If he can develop his jumper, he'll become a very effective offensive weapon because he's already able to take just about anyone off the dribble, just imagine how well he'd be able to penetrate if guys have to play even tighter on him. My only problem with Speedy is that he's got limited court vision for a pg, and that's not really something he can improve on. I don't see him having that sense of being able to see a play develop before it happens. That being said, there aren't that many pgs that have that ability and the Warriors offense doesn't really require it to begin with. Still, I think the Warriors should look to draft a pg in the '05 draft. That way they'll be able to secure a back up pg if Speedy keeps improving or they'll have his replacement if he doesn't resign with the team after his contract is up. I can already see guys like Raymond Felton and Jarett Jack being available in the 10-18 range.
Speedy is pretty good considering we were desperate for a good backup last year. Good point guards are hard to find which is why I've been annoyed that the warriors have not selected a point guard in the first round in a very long time. You need a good playmaker to be a playoff team and we just didn't have the depth at the point guard position because of injuries. Now in getting a pure point guard who has excellent vision of the court, can score from deep, take care of the ball, defend, pass, organize and run plays, and is fast,athletic enough to set up other players is almost as hard as finding a good big man who can block shots, rebound, score in the low post, etc.
So who do you guys think will start next year? Speedy or NVE? I'm assuming Nick returns. I would give the nod to Claxton who has proven himself to be a really good point guard. Nick would be great coming off the bench to give us that extra spark. I would love to see both of these guys in the game at the same time late in close ball games to from a Nash/NVE type duo.
Unless something really strange happens, I'm sure Speedy will be starting next year. He's earned it and NVE has said he doesn't mind coming off the bench. I actually think NVE will have more of an Avery Johnson role next year since I see Dunleavy being the primary back up at pg in addition to starting sf. And of course if NVE can regain some of his clutch scoring touch, that's just icing on the cake. Although right now I think Richardson will probably be the primary "go to" guy next year.
I think Nick needs to have a much bigger role than Avery Johnson did this year. We aren't paying him 11 Mill to sit on the bench. I have no problem with him being a go to guy but I think he gets it in his head that he has to be the one to have the ball in the fourth quarter even if he is having a bad night. He trys to do too much too often but I love his aggression. I think we could be more of a Grizz team next year. They really don't have that go to guy but they have a different player step up every game. J-Rich, NVE, and Claxton are the 3 guys I want to have the ball at the end of games.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rudeezy:</div><div class="quote_post">I think Nick needs to have a much bigger role than Avery Johnson did this year. We aren't paying him 11 Mill to sit on the bench.</div> The Warriors have a habit of doing this with players. They get a guy who's supposed to be one of the best players on the team, then he ends up being a total non-factor because the team has someone they like better. In 2001, Hughes and Jamison were supposed to be the two best guys on the team, but by the end of the year Hughes was hardly playing because Richardson and Arenas looked like the future of the team. To me, NVE's main value is his expiring contract. I'm not counting on much from him next year. I dunno, maybe I just had such high expectations for NVE last year, I'm hoping that if I don't expect anything from him next year, I'll at least be happy with whatever his contribution is.
To his defense, he was mostly playing hurt this year. He showed us some glimpes of brilliance against the top teams in the West. He can definately be a contributer next year.
