I think he'll be a double double guy again and he'll increase his ppg to at least 18 ppg. He was the scoring option that we missed having last year and he'll make up for lost time. He's a career 44% fg shooter with a high percentage free throw shot. In a game I could see him get at least a 3 pointer, a bunch of mid range shots and a couple trips to the line. If you think about it he's got a variety of ways to score and get others involved because he is crafty, he plays within himself, and he's pretty fundamentally sound. He's got an excellent midrange game and he can shoot over other forwards. Plus, that move where he starts from the high post and brings the ball low and starts to pump fake a midrange shot and then drives is pretty awesome. Also we've yet to see Murphy's back to the basket game where he can post up smaller power forwards. Being 6'11, 245 lbs, I bet the guy can bang all right despite not being known for playing in the paint (since we had Jamison/Dampier/and Fortson and others crowd the paint a lot he had to stand aside). Murphy could possibly develop a variety of moves around the basket (which I know he has). Frankly, I'll be glad if this guy gets the ball more often because I've always felt that Murphy was the guy the club should be building around. He'll never be a great one on one defender, but he can defend the low post and he can rebound, establish position on the floor, pass, shoot, is tough mentally, and is tough physically. I think Montgomery is aware of these abilities and will focus on running an offense for him this year. I think he'll be an 18 pgg 10 rebounds (if Foyle doesn't steal all the boards) 3 assists player
I think 18ppg would be great, but I think 15ppg would still be a stretch. I also think he boards will go down to about 9rebs. Not because of his motivation or anything. I just think he will be playing outside more, thus not be in as good of a position to get a board.
I think we will get to see his 3 point arsenal that Mullin was raving about last year, we never really got to see much of it with his injuries last year. I agree with Warriorfansnc93, I think we will see a more outside oriented forward rather than a banger.
35min 16pts-9rbs. I don't care if he gets his points from the outside, as long as he's strong in the defensive rebounding department.
I'm with meshgearfox. I don't care if he is scoring most of his points from the outside as long as he is grabbing 10-15 rebounds a night. This guy does not shy away from contact and is one of our toughest players. If he proves that he can shoot behind the arc than the opposing team's PFs are going to have a hell of a time trying to guard Murph.
I think Monty will have Murphy bang more in the low post because he's not afraid of contact (like Rudeezy said and plus we all know Murph is tough and he's very fundamentally sound, passes, shoots, rebounds). Plus the dude is really big. He's a walking mismatch against other forwards with the exception of Duncan, Garnett, Brand. Besides we no longer have Dampier to play in the post and I don't think Foyle is a low post threat so I would think Monty would have Murph play in the post because he is capable of beating up on other power forwards with his footwork and size. It just makes sense to make Murphy the focal point of the offense because he can do so many things. God help me if I'm wrong, but I think Murph is the real deal we just couldn't see it because of the team we had in 2002 and the fact he was injured last year.
Things that I like Murphy is that he can get rebound without an effort (Dampier like) and he can make midrange jumper almost automatically. I don't think Murphy will develop post up moves now. Instead, he will hit occational 3 pts. 12/10, and playing starting/backup PF and backup C very effectively. And, he will make us to forget about Cardinals, like how he did last season when he was healthy...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Kwan1031:</div><div class="quote_post"> 12/10, and playing starting/backup PF </div>Who would Murphy be backing up at PF? I would be happy with 12/10, assuming Jrich and Dunleavy don't dissappoint.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rudeezy:</div><div class="quote_post">Who would Murphy be backing up at PF? I would be happy with 12/10, assuming Jrich and Dunleavy don't dissappoint.</div> Cliff Robinson? In all retrospect, I believe that Cliff would be a better fit at PF if Foyle or Davis is motivated enough to get at least 10 boards a game. Robinson is a seasoned veteran who can play good post defense. Despite his lack of rebounding efficiency, I think he would be a better fit since he is more of an outside threat than Murphy and his offensive game is more well-rounded.
I don't really see the logic in starting Robinson over a healthy Murphy. Murph is our future and is a double double guy. This is also his contract year, do we want him leaving to another team where he will get that starting role? I think Murph is a better player than Cliff at this stage in Cliff's career, except the defensive part.
Cliff is a boader line Hall of Famer. I love him, but he's 38. He'll be far more effective playing 20min per game than 35....Oh yeah, what Rude said. Beyond Cliffy, don't underestimate Murphs' learning curve. He didn't miss a game (excluding suspension) his first 2 years, went 11 and 10 in 35 minutes his first season as a starter. Managed to put up 10 and 7 (21mpg) numbers in limited time last year, a season where he played 25 minutes or more in a game only 11 times. By the way, the Warriors were 6-5 in those games, and roughly half were without Speedy Claxton. I don't know if you're going to see a lot of post up moves from Murph, but I would expect more inside offense that is initiated while he is facing the basket, in order to get him to the line more. Look for Murph to be inolved in pick and rolls off of the high block, and coming off picks on the low block, where he gets the ball facing the basket. With his shot, one pump fake is all it will take, then he can attack the middle, and hopefully go to the line more than 350 times this year. All things being cyclical, this will make that 18 footer look all the more open. His defense is still a question.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rudeezy:</div><div class="quote_post">Who would Murphy be backing up at PF? I would be happy with 12/10, assuming Jrich and Dunleavy don't dissappoint.</div> Well, if this organization is capable of starting Fisher over Speedy, Robinson over Murphy isn't much of stretch either. That being said, I do think Murphy will start over Robinson this year. For the long term future, I do think Murphy can be an exceptional 6th man. Because he cannot post up and his defense will be average, I think there is always a good chance that stud PF will replace him as a starting PF. But, as I saw last year, he can also become an instant scoring threat for the club as well. Didn't he average like 10/8 when he played with one leg from the bench? But then, as I said, we cannot keep all our young cores, and signing of Foyle and Fisher made our cap situation even worse. So, somebody will have to go, and Murphy can easily pack his bag and be traded during the season, if his agent demands way too much...
Kwan, we have only 19mil in committed money next year. That leaves at least 26 Million to play with. You don't think we can sign J-Rich and Murph with that? I think it will only cost 17 Million, max, to lock them both up.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting meshgearfox:</div><div class="quote_post">Kwan, we have only 19mil in committed money next year. That leaves at least 26 Million to play with. You don't think we can sign J-Rich and Murph with that? I think it will only cost 17 Million, max, to lock them both up.</div> Just to make things clear, I assume that those numbers came from hoopshype, right? They didn't include team option, and 99%, we will exercise Dunleavy and Speedy, so that's 8 more mils. And, we won't waive Richardson and Murphy, so that's another 8 mils cap hit. So, we will have around 10 mils cap space next year. Everything is good? No. Here is the thing. We will be quite alright when it comes to caproom next year. And, we will probably be fine a year after that as well. However, after that, we will be in world of trouble. This is why. First, Foyle and Fisher will take 13 mils next year and in year 5, 17 mils. And, since it's quite unlikely that they will be moved until last year's contract, it's safe to assume that we are stuck with them and their 14 mils salary slot for next 5 years (average). That leaves 43 mils (caproom) + 10 mils (luxury tax) - 14 (Foyle and Fisher) = 39 mils for 10+ players. Of course, this assumption is based that Cohan will not pay luxury tax and cap will stay 43 mils, so it's not a gospel. Still it will give some future financial picture for us. So, we have 39 mils and have to resign some of Richardson, Murphy, Dunleavy, Speedy, Pietrus and Biedrin. Also, you have to save some money for rest of roster slots. If we assume that 4 players + X number of players on injury list cost around 7 mils (it will probably be far more but let's just assume), we are down to 32 mils and 6 young studs to sign. Obviously, we cannot sign all of our young core, so we have to pick some of our young players for our future, and Murphy can be one of those players, who will be abandoned. And, that's probably why I really hate Fisher's signing. We could have used the cash to retain one more young player. To make things worse, their new contract will probably increase over the time. Meaning, our pay role will be higher than what I projected in year 2006-8. And, as we saw from Nets this year, if owners refuse to pay, the team can easily be self-destructed. And, unfortunately, we have no contract, other than Esch's measy 3 mils to dump in the future, so we won't get any financial reinforcement either like this year and next year. Things may change year after year, and we have no idea what will happen. However, if our young core prove to be studs, we will have to abandon few of them, because of financial strain. And, as we saw time to time, it's extremely hard to dump salary either...
Yeah I'm pretty unhappy about the Fisher signing as well because he's got no upside to be given that much money. What if down the road we happen to get a true franchise player and we got all these good but not great players under contract for a lot of money for several years. I don't know what Mullin was thinking, unless that was the player Montgomery wanted the most and Mullin decided to go after that player for whatever the cost.
My understanding is that the 'qualifying offer' is this, it will take another team to throw down that amount in order for them to be in the game for restricted free agency. If J-Rich and Murph play with the Warriors next year they will have signed extensions. As I stated I think that will only take 16-17 Million, which if we subtract the qualifying offers, there's more than enough. While there is a bit of 'one year at a time' in my logic, there is also a reason for that. There is a new players union agreement coming to vote at the end of the year, and my guess is the salary cap will be another 7 to 10 Million dollars. That means including the exception clauses teams will probably have until about 60 to 66 Million before they actually start paying taxes. This may be a big 'if', but I also think that there is a misconception about Cohan. I think he'll pay for a winner. Just as important, is the perception the rest of the league has of you, if you treat 'players' (not just one) well, the rest of the league takes notice. Perhaps you think I'm spouting shaky economics, but I think of the cap as being in expansion, not stagnation. Living in Brooklyn I know Bruce Ratner for what he really is, a developer that bought the Nets to put him in a better position to build a new stadium, and (what's important to him) commercial development with public funds. He just doesn't want to lose money waiting for approval.
