<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Andris Biedrins was not a happy player last week, not with Kings forward Kenny Thomas facing him straight-up after almost every shot the Warriors attempted. "He wasn't even going for the rebound," Biedrins said with an exasperated look. "He let the other guys get it. He was just blocking me off, you know?" We know. Everybody knows. The secret is out on the Warriors' upstarts after five straight wins, a share of the Pacific Division lead and a 117-105 victory over the Kings on national television. Biedrins and Monta Ellis have been two of Golden State's most efficient scorers and perhaps its two best defenders this season. Opposing coaches now know that Biedrins, 20, is a force inside with his length and agility. They know that Ellis, 21, can cross midcourt in two blinks of an eye and drive the lane in another half-blink. So here comes the hard part: The Warriors' center and point guard of the future must continue to emerge with their anonymity shrinking by the day. "That's part of the game," coach Don Nelson said. "They're already playing Monta to go to his weakness, and they're going to start doing the same with Andris. "They're just going to have to get better going the other way and we'll have to get more creative going to their strengths." One of those strengths is speed, and it reflects the Warriors' blistering start. Golden State (7-3) has its best opening mark since the 1994-95 season, but faces a challenging week against the up-tempo Suns and Nuggets and the red-hot Jazz. Phoenix might be the only team built to run faster than the Warriors, and with both teams' starting point guards -- the Suns' Steve Nash and the Warriors' Baron Davis -- ailing, the pressure is on Ellis to dictate tonight's breakneck pace. By now, scouting reports will note that the second-year guard from Mississippi's Lanier High School is prone to throwing lazy entry passes and favors his right hand. So Ellis, who worked especially hard in the summer on handling and finishing with his left hand, is doing extra drills with assistant coach Keith Smart after practices and shootarounds. Ellis said he hasn't noticed defenses forcing him one way or the other yet, but knows "eventually, it's going to come." When it does, it will be even more important to play at a fast pace, according to special assistant Mitch Richmond. The quicker a player is, the harder to catch and the tougher to guard. Ellis is "at his best when he's on the move," Richmond said, and the theory also applies to Biedrins. The Warriors ran Seattle out of the gym Saturday night with Ellis scoring a career-high 31 points and Biedrins adding 13 rebounds while contesting shot after shot. Sonics coach Bob Hill had a preview of Biedrins last season when the Latvian center put up a season-high 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Seattle, and Hill said Biedrins scores most of his points off "garbage baskets." "He's very athletic," Hill said. "He's 6-foot-11 and they don't ask him to score a lot. He can jump and he can rebound and he can run and set good screens. You gotta run with him." Or foul him. Hill needed only one look at the stat sheet to realize that the best defense against Biedrins is sending him the free-throw line. Biedrins is shooting 52 percent from the line. Of course, Biedrins hit two free-throw tries with four minutes left to help put Saturday's game out of reach. And if the scene in the locker room afterward was any indication, both he and Ellis are ready to continue their ascension. As reporters swarmed Ellis following his career game, Biedrins laughed and shouted, "Monta, Big Time" across the room. "Yeah, you with me, Dre," Ellis hollered back. </div> http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...SPGINMGDHC1.DTL
I think Monta will make the adjustments, I'm a little more worried about Andris' freethrow shooting. That's going to constrain him until he improves dramatically, and that's not an easy thing to do. I still love having him out there, but his game will never reach the next level without decent, consistent freethrow shooting. That's one reason why I think it's important to hang onto Ike right now, and keep him playing. Ike can get to the line a lot and convert. Much as I'm loving what Andris is doing, right now I'd rather see Ike out there than him down the stretch in a tight game.
<div class="quote_poster">HiRez Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I think Monta will make the adjustments, I'm a little more worried about Andris' freethrow shooting. That's going to constrain him until he improves dramatically, and that's not an easy thing to do. I still love having him out there, but his game will never reach the next level without decent, consistent freethrow shooting. That's one reason why I think it's important to hang onto Ike right now, and keep him playing. Ike can get to the line a lot and convert. Much as I'm loving what Andris is doing, right now I'd rather see Ike out there than him down the stretch in a tight game.</div> Biedrins hit some clutch free throws in the seattle game
Possible sophmore jinx next year? Those two have to get better if they want to stay ahead of the defensive guys adjusting to them. Nobody is unguardable unless they develop all the weapons to make the use of their speed and length.
Shoot. Both AB and Monta shoulda been in the Rooks-Sophs game. Monta should make it this year as a Soph. I blame Monty for AB not making it. It's not like he helped the rooks develop starting Foyle at center.
Andris now officially qualifies for the NBA FG% list, where he is #1, by a large margin. 73.2%, next on the list is David Lee at 64.5%. He's also tied for 5th in blocks (this does not even take into account the number of shots he's altered, which by my unofficial count is pretty high). Monta is #2 among point guards in FG% at 51.7%, or #7 among shooting guards, depending on what you're calling him. Pietrus is #5 among SGs at 53.8%.
