<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Two fighting to make Warriors Roberson, Barnes, both without contract, are hanging tough in camp By Geoff Lepper, MEDIANEWS Article Last Updated:10/12/2006 12:16:01 PM PDT OAKLAND ? After Monday's public scrimmage, Warriors captain Baron Davis had a little fun at the expense of two of Golden State's younger players. Rookie Patrick O'Bryant and training-camp invitee Anthony Roberson were called out to the Arena's center court, where they engaged in a rousing game of Duck Duck Goose with several young children. For O'Bryant, a first-round draft pick who signed a deal this summer that guarantees him more than $4 million, it was moment of levity in his first NBA training camp. For Roberson, who went undrafted after leaving Florida last summer and does not have a contract in place for this season, it might have felt like a metaphor for the roster roulette he's playing. Warriors executive vice president Chris Mullin said Wednesday that his club would start whittling down its 18-man roster sooner rather than later, and he wasn't kidding. Just a few hours later, the team announced that Dijon Thompson, another invitee, had been cut, leaving Roberson and Matt Barnes as the only players in camp without a guaranteed contract. "My back is against the wall, but that's a part of this league," Barnes said. "You've just got to go out there and try to perform." Both players have done their best to make an impression on coach Don Nelson in the short amount of time available. Roberson, playing for the White squad against the starting five on Monday, scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Barnes, meanwhile, has been informed by Advertisement Nelson that his hustle and energy are what the coach is looking for in a final roster spot. "That's what he's been telling me, so I'm going to keep going out there every day and try to do the little things, the intangibles, the diving on the floor, hustling, and stuff that it seems like they can use," Barnes said. The Warriors have 15 players with guaranteed deals and can carry no more than that after Oct.30. But Andre Owens, one of three players who came from Utah in the Derek Fisher deal, and Chris Taft, a second-year big man, both make less than $700,000; if the Warriors choose to write off one of those salaries as a loss, they'd have just enough room to squeeze in Barnes or Roberson without running afoul of the NBA's dreaded luxury tax. "Anywhere you go, you're always fighting for a job," Owens said. "You don't think about things like that. You've just got to play your best." OFFICIAL WARNING: The Warriors had their annual meeting with some of the league's referees and heard what's on tap for greater enforcement this season. One big change, from the Warriors' perspective: The "Euro Shuffle," the jump-but-not-quite-stop preferred by Golden State forward Zarko Cabarkapa, among others, is supposed to be called a travel this season. When that news came out, joked Troy Murphy, "Zarko started cursing in his native tongue." Another topic of discussion was the NBA's new system of fines meant to keep players and coaches from protesting calls in such over-the-top fashion. "To me, that's tough. It's a natural instinct for a lot of people," said Mike Dunleavy, who had some especially animated discussions with officials last season and did so again during Monday's scrimmage. "If you're accused of doing something wrong and you didn't do it, it's kind of hard to hold it back. If you strip a guy and it's all ball, your natural reaction is to do something." </div> http://www.insidebayarea.com/warriors/ci_4480155
Roberson averaging 20+ in the only pre-season games is pretty convincing. While Barnes being depth at SF..that's not gonna be big if he's usually not activated. Roberson could ace out Wagner to get frequent minutes.
Depth chart would look interesting. PG: Baron/Ellis/Mcleod/Wagner SG: Wagner/Roberson/Mcleod/Ellis SF: Jrich/Pietrus/Dunleavy PF: Troy Murphy/Ike Diogu/Zarko/Dunleavy/Taft C: Biedrins/Zarko/Murphy/POB/Ike/Foyle/Taft Lots F's and C's, but not a whole lot of them with the strength or well-rounded game for it. Even Ike is struggling defensively and sometimes on the glass, but rebounding may be more of the fact he'll box out for other guys. Let's put it this way, if we're talking balance of offense and defense we don't have much choice in our big players. It's one thing or the other and very few pass, dribble and shoot.
