Sometimes, late at night, I have trouble sleeping. I have lots of pastimes. Something I watch TV, drink something warm, get fluffier pillows, whatever. But on certain occasions, I find myself doing this, posting on a basketball message board at 3 in the morning. I guess I have a number of reasons. I'm planning on entering into journalism, and I'd be thrilled to someday have a sports jorunalism position, since writing or talking about such things feels a lot more like fun to me than work. Not to mention, it's just plain sexier than reporting the weather. For whatever the reason, I decide now to see if I've got it in me to be coherent at this hour of the night. I'm of the mind that Chris Mullin is now, as he once was, the most important force for the Warriors, albeit now with dealing than with shooting. I admit, I sort of doubted the initial moves... signing Adonal for so much cash? Signing up Derek Fisher for 6 years? A review now, though, in hindsight, displays the promise Mullin has shown in his young managerial career. I'd say the big issues at the end of last year were as follows - 1) What'll Dampier do? 2) What'll Foyle do? 3) Can Van Exel's knees handle an NBA season? 4) Who on earth will Mullin get to coach the team? The big man situation looked pretty bleak. Dampier had teams clamoring for him, and it was though he'd land in NY, Memphis, maybe Indiana. All decent teams looking to get stronger. Man, damn. Tiredness just set in. Well, that answers that question. I -can't- write a review on Chris Mullin at 3 in the morning. Go figure. Maybe I'll come back to this later. Good night to you all.
Well... just try try relax or U will geat heartstroke! Let Mullin do his job, hes actions latley ware so stupid (with Foyle and 6XFisher ), than in the end he might become unpreaciated genius. In the mean time find some old records of last seson and watch as J-Rich does his dunks!
I still think that they money we paid Adonal was slightly too rich for my taste. I have no doubt that he will play well, however, he has not really proven himself as a starter for a whole season. I still think we should not be paying Fisher 6 years. I would rather have someone else for half that money, LIKE SPEEDY! I think Fish will be valuable for 3-4 years, but in no way 6 years. That will hurt us. I would have rather offered Barry that money or more. I know we offered him more than he signed for in SA, but I would have made it irresistable...
I like the way this Warrior team looks now. Apparently, Mullin knows that post strength is the key to winning in the West, and he has done a good job of putting up a deep frontline. With a starting frontcourt of Foyle, Murphy and Dunleavy and great backups in Najera, Biedrin, Cliff Robinson, Dale Davis and Popeye Jones, the Warriors have a lot of depth up front. The backcourt has not improved by much, but can still be placed in the upper half of the league. This team has a nice mixture of young and old. They might not be very good next season, but I fully expect them to be a playoff lock for years to come.
Well I think that Fisher, J-rich, Dunleavy and Murphy can make some chemestry. Naturaly I hope Biedrins will be of help, and Najera, Robinson and Davis can give a hand. Maybe for those 3 milion, they could risk and call some perspective prospect from Europe, or one of those american leagues. Igor Rakocevic will play in europe, and ther normal players. Maybe under Mullin and Montgomery Rakocevic(or other prospect) could boost there confidence.
Igor Rakocevic didn't do so well last time he was in the nba (got waived two times). He couldn't shoot a lick and he couldn't really get his team involved. Is he even a pure point guard? I like the fact he's 6'4 and really quick and he's considered one of the combo guards in Europe, but I don't know how well his skills translate to the NBA game if he can't be a pure point guard. He'll be like an undersized 2 that can't shoot. He could be like a Jamison Brewer type player possibly.
In hindsight, I endorse all of Mullin's offseason moves. The signings of Fisher and Foyle were not as much as initially reported and both contracts ended up being just a little more than the MLE. For a good shot-blocking big man and a defensive point guard who is a veteran of 3 championship teams, that's not a bad price. Then, we had a pretty good draft from what I've seen so far from Biedrins, who I think will be very good in the future. To top it off, he made a couple of good trades, getting rid of Van Exel's bum knee to bring it depth at the center spot, and getting rid of Eschemeyer's contract and bringing in Najera (who is a hard worker that will really help this team) as well as getting 2 draft picks and cash. To me, one of the most impressive things Mullin has shown me is patience. Instead of hastily accepting BAD offers from Indiana or New York (come on, who wanted the players that NY was offering?), he waited it out longer than anyone thought and ended up doing the right thing, not only for GS but also for Damp. Damp ended up getting the contract he wanted and playing for a good playoff team, and we ended up getting some good pieces in exchange. Who would've thought that would have happened from the way things were going? After all, it seemed that interest in Damp was waning as no one had acquired him by this late in the offseason. I think Mully deserves a lot of credit for this deal. While a lot of us questioned the Warriors' offseason moves initially, I think it turned out for the better because when all is said and done, this team is better than last year's (and even if we have injuries, we are a pretty deep team IMO) , and I feel it will show in the team's record.
That's very true Kobe, couldn't have said it better! I'm really excited about this team and the coming season. Thanks to Mullin we got a group of young talent, experienced guys an tough guys, plus we got a great bench. And the best thing is we still got the cap flexibility to resign guys like Jrich and Murphy.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting custodianrules2:</div><div class="quote_post">I hope Murphy and Jrich have breakout seasons, Murphy especially.</div> IMO, both Murphy and Richardson have already broken out. Murph has had a 12-10 season, and J-Rich averaged 18 points last year. I know that is not the roof of their abilities, but they have already shown the league that they are serious players and are not to be taken lightly.
I think all of you guys have great points but I have to say you guys missed a huge point in transforming the team and that is the new coach. With all of the Dampier, NVE trades and the signings I also lost touch with getting Montgomery. The signings alone don't look like great deals and trading Dampier for Najera sounds descent but GS really has more depth than ever. You have to look at the big picture: We needed an unselfish hard working center and now we have 2. Dampier is more talented than both of them but he needs to defer from demanding the ball. Very turnover prone and seemed to make mistakes and crucial times. DD and Foyle will score a bit but we really need them to grab rebounds, play D and defer to Dunleavy and Richardson. At PF we have a lot to work with: Cliffy can play, Murphy should regain 2001-02 form and Biedrins is talented but inexperienced. Laetnear is just a body and will get the gatorade. SF: Dunleavy is finally going to gain some confidence this year. He'll be more involved in the offense and and get some plays drawn up for him. I hope he works his midrange game more because he is a good shooter and with his height he will be able to get over people. He won't have to beat everyone off the dribble if he does that. To backup Dunleavy we have Najera who won't come in to score. He has a role and that is to do the dirty work. Najera is a Cardinal type player with a better contract so actually we saved money. SG: We are set at that position. JRich is our best scorer and Pietrus is a stud. There didn't seem to be any tension between the two and I expect Pietrus to get a lot of minutes at either the 2 or 3 and set up some "kabawbs". PG: NVE is more talented than Fisher but NVE cannot play team ball and is in pretty bad shape. Fisher is in good shape, plays good defense and knows how to win. Speedy could be a top ten PG in the league. IF speedy stays healthy this could be a great tandem. So after looking at the changes in the roster you can see Mullin wanted players with no egos and who are role players. The type of players we have will defer and let Richardson and Dunleavy score. That's our one two punch. Montgomery has a good roster to work with and is in a good position to succeed. He's a great coach who did wonders for Stanford even though they couldn't acquire top level talent. We need a class act who can command some respect. He hasn't won in the NBA but he'll get more than Musselhead. I expect GSW to be like Memphis. No superstars but a lot of role players who can get it done. We're a talented roster 1-10. I expect playoffs.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting upsidedownside7:</div><div class="quote_post">We're a talented roster 1-10. I expect playoffs.</div>I am also a strong believer in that. Others may say I'm biased but I truely believe we have the team to end the playoff drought. I think the first 15-20 games will give us a good picture of what to expect for the entire season. If this team is able to gel together quick enough, i like our chances.
I'm very optimistic for this team, and more hopeful than in past seasons. Although it'll be a close battle, I expect us to be fighting for one of the final playoff spots until the end, and what kind of chemistry and drive we have will be what pushes us over the top of the pack or behind into another lottery. Also, always have to watch out for those dream-ending injuries, though with the team pretty deep, we should be in good position to handle more than a few days off for some guys due to wear and tear-type injuries.
Speaking of injuries, I think the 3 guys that MUST stay healthy and stay off the IR is Murphy, JRich and Foyle.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Trip:</div><div class="quote_post">IMO, both Murphy and Richardson have already broken out. Murph has had a 12-10 season, and J-Rich averaged 18 points last year. I know that is not the roof of their abilities, but they have already shown the league that they are serious players and are not to be taken lightly.</div> I guess my expectations are really really high then. A lot of people said Murphy wasn't going to be a low post threat and nothing but a perimeter player, but I think he could be a good banger if he can attend a few more big man camps and work on his inside play now that Dampier is gone. He also has shown willingness to attack the basket and dribble the ball from the high post and finish with a dunk or a layup or get fouled (he is the team's best free throw shooter now I believe last year he shot 85%). He can pump fake and bank a shot off the glass and he passes pretty well too. He also has been working on his nba 3 point shot (he could nail college 3 pointers, but the 18 footer was his main weapon since he could nail it unconsciously). I also wanted Murphy to break out defensively and work on his timing on blocking. A lot of people said he wasn't that athletic to block shots or move quick laterally, but neither was Tim Duncan and he blocks a lot of shots because he's got all around fundamentals and some teammates that can really play defense. Murph is also that same kind of smart player and has decent all around ability and I'm hoping he can really prove himself as one of the top power forwards in the west by just dominating the inside with his size and shooting touch. Jrich... I'm still waiting for this guy to average over 20 points a game at least every night and on back to back games. I think he can do it this year with the same amount of touches, granted he makes his free throws and goes back to his normal 3 point shooting accuracy. His 3 point shooting and free throw shooting have been so inconsistent. One game he's nailing 3's left and right and hitting all his free throws, and then another game he's missing everything. I think with Montgomery there, he has a better chance of getting open to score without anyone on him.
As far as J-Rich's 3-point shot goes, he needs to go back to the form he practiced with Mullin in the 2002-2003 season. He had a much more rushed shot last season, and he was trying to shoot them without being set, and also even when set, didn't jump straight up like he had been doing so well. I'm sure his new form (or probably it was more like an older form) was an attempt to try to get the ball off quicker, since it took him nearly a second to square up, but it's clearly affecting his accuracy. I'm still not sure what's up with his free throws, since his form is ok. It could be a matter of fatigue, or just a mental thing. And back onto the topic brought up in the first post - making posts or even writing complex research papers or even technical work can be done with little sleep in the late night/early morning. Just like basketball, it's all about practice. I rountinely post at some of the strangest times.
Good post upsidedown. Personally, I don't think the warriors will make the playoffs, but I'm excited about the direction this team is going. Financially, we're okay. We've got good mentors for our rookies and a great coach (one of few handful to win the John Wooden lifetime achievement award). I was happy with the no-brainer on draft day (Twardzik would have probably found some way to jack that up and picked Rafael Araujo if the Raptors hadn't gotten him first). We don't have St. Jean in charge to make trade decisions (I liked St. Jean's draft picks, but he was a terrible negotiator). There is no doubt in my mind that Pietrus, Murphy, Biedrens, and Jrich will be special payers (and Dunleavy eventually) in the near future. This team is starting to turn around it appears.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rudeezy:</div><div class="quote_post">Speaking of injuries, I think the 3 guys that MUST stay healthy and stay off the IR is Murphy, JRich and Foyle.</div> Wow two weeks is over already? Good to see ya. If we could have avoided injuries last year, we could have slipped in and taken the 8th spot I believed. The problem has always been letting games slip away after having the lead for the entire first half or just the lame substitutions at time by Musselman.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting custodianrules2:</div><div class="quote_post"> The problem has always been letting games slip away after having the lead for the entire first half or just the lame substitutions at time by Musselman.</div> I remember a game just like your quote. We were blowing out Denver in a game. I think it was in Denver and we were up by 20 at halftime. We ended up losing and I think that was the worse loss of the year. If we ended up winning more of those games we had in the bag we would have won at least 44 games.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting upsidedownside7:</div><div class="quote_post">I remember a game just like your quote. We were blowing out Denver in a game. I think it was in Denver and we were up by 20 at halftime. We ended up losing and I think that was the worse loss of the year. If we ended up winning more of those games we had in the bag we would have won at least 44 games.</div> Toronto was by far the worst loss. They were up by 20 at home and they only scored 2 points in the 4th quarter and gave up the lead. Musselman wanted to go all small without any shotblocking in the paint and the Raptors just took advantage of the lack of rebounding and presence in the paint and scored to win in overtime.
