Pietrus one out of ten "Most Likely to Emerge"...

Pietrus one out of ten "Most Likely to Emerge"...

...according to ESPN Insider (Chad Ford-"10 Players Most Likely To Emerge"), but I found it on another online message board. Here's the swipe on MP:

"Mickael Pietrus, G, Warriors

Of the Warriors that got significant playing time last season, only the departed
Brian Cardinal had a better plus-minus statistic on the team. Former head coach
Eric Musselman called him the best defender he had ever seen, and several
opposing coaches around the league agree. Pietrus has the strength and toughness
of Ron Artest, but he's much more athletic and doesn't suffer from bouts of
insanity. Pietrus is still pretty raw offensively, but according to Warriors
insiders, his perimeter shot has gotten more consistent this summer. Given coach
Mike Montgomery's philosophies about defense and playing the right way, it's
just a matter of time before Pietrus makes Jason Richardson expendable."

The other nine are Al Harrington, Samuel Dalembert, Josh Howard, Willie Green, Carlos Arroyo, Tayshaun Prince, Leandro Barbosa, Primoz Brezec, and one of our former guys, Jiri Welsch.

 

But he also took a shot at Mike Dunleavy in the same article.

<u><font color="#800080">Tayshaun Prince</font></u>, F, Pistons

Larry Brown loves him ? and for good reason. Prince is everything people thought <u><font color="#0000ff">Mike Dunleavy</font></u> Jr. was going to be. He's an excellent passer, good shooter and plays the game with unusual maturity. To make things sweeter, he also uses those long arms to create havoc on the defensive end. Now if the Pistons can just convince him to be more aggressive on the offensive end. He passed up way too many open jumpers last year. For a team that needs offense wherever they can find it, Prince could play a critical role this year ? if he's willing to shoot the ball. Expect Brown to use Prince to initiate the offense at times in Detroit next season, leading to increased production in points and assists for the third-year forward.

 

I completely agree with Pietrus being on the most likely to emerge list. I am expecting him to have a great season if he stays healthy. Last I knew, he was injured and had to sit out the rest of the summer pro league. does anyone know the status of that injury???

 

I thought Pietrus was recovering from shoulder surgery. He injured it in the first game of summer league. How could his perimeter shot be improving as he's recovering? Oh well, hopefully Ford's right. Welch just didn't fit in here, especially under Muss. It would have been another thing if Monty and Mully were in the house, but Mully did ship him if Mully really was the one swinging the Jamison-Van Exel deal.

Dunleavy, JRich, and TMurph all should have improved seasons. Maybe not breakout, since they were starters or at least projected before injuries. Pietrus is going to have a good year.

 

Anyone - Given the minutes with potential can produce.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Ice:</div><div class="quote_post">Anyone - Given the minutes with potential can produce.</div>

I am hoping Pietrus will flourish in an increased role off the bench. I predict that he will get more and more minutes as the season progresses. Has a defensive player of the year ever come off the bench?

 

I'm rooting for Pietrus to be the 2 guard that can outquick and outdefend anybody. And even though I have a dislike for players that can't hustle or play defense, Jrich is something special. This year I predict he'll be what Vinsanity is to Toronto and the NBA's highlight reals. We'll definitely need both players like how Reggie Miller and Ron Artest take turns at the 2/3 spots.

 

I think that his athleticism and drive are clear, but as with all athletic and somewhat raw players, the real question will be can he pull the mental part together and play smart. I hope for great things while he's in a W's uniform, though he's got a lot of work to do.

 

A lot of people decided to criticize the Warriors for drafting him but luckily he showed them wrong. He's a great athlete and can lock down some people. He's the reason I'm not too worried if JRich doesn't take his game to the next level. It would be great to have both of them start but their just isn't any room.

 

Pietrus (along with Biedrens) is good insurance until we can find out who is worthy of a max contract. Murph and Richardson better not be greedy because I think we should keep them but not if they're going to demand nba star player kind of money. You can never go wrong with size, rebounding, and shooting touch (unless they're extremely prone to injury) though so Murph is a keeper. I'm a big fan of Jrich but I also want to the warriors to win too and until he can demonstrate top 3 shooting guard skills I won't be too sad if Pietrus takes over.

 

From Media Day
http://www.nba.com/warriors/news/media_ava...ity_092804.html


On possible contract extensions for Jason Richardson and Troy Murphy: Chris Mullin: I have had initial meetings with Jason and Troy?s representation. They are part of our future. After one meeting I felt good about it. We will see where it goes.

.

 

^^^That is good to hear!

 

Pietrus is definately an emerging star. It is pretty obvious. The guy has the basketball body that every player dreams of having.

 

The quickest 2 guard I've ever seen. One of my Laker's buddy says the same thing. He is the fastest guy for his size.

 

The list was just so obvious with the exception of Primo Brezec.

 

Primo sounds interesting, but I bet he's so soft on defense and on the glass, he'll be kind of a disappointment. But maybe he can improve like Rasho Nesterovic or at least have some kind of Predrag Drobnjak type impact in the league. We'll see once the season starts if he gets minutes that is. But going back to Pietrus, I wouldn't mind that guy starting this year. I mean we won't know this guy's offensive game unless we test him in battle. Sounds risky? Yes, but defensively this guy is so money. BTW thanks for the post, superder81.

 

I just hope Pietrus gets the minutes to emerge, I was really high on him in the draft. Hopefully he will spilt some minutes at the 2 maybe even some 3

 

Oh most definetly. Pietrus will get his. I mean I'm sure that was part of the agreement when Montgommery signed. To give the younger guys minutes so they can grow. I mean that was part of the reason Muss was let go.

 

I would love to have Pietrus/Jrich on the same floor together. They'd be a handful in the running game. And if we had Jkidd, Steve Nash type point guard we'd be fastbreaking like mad. Plus we can swap it out so that Jrich can guard the small forward and Pietrus can lock down the two guard.

 

Just caught in the paper that Pietrus is sitting out practice for a bit longer due to his injury. The plan for him is to get back in mid-November, which is a few games into the regular season. Hopefully, it won't impact him too much.