Biedrins having breakout season

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">If only the free throw didn't exist.

Then Andris Biedrins could go an entire day hearing about everything he is doing, as opposed to the one thing he isn't.

"I know, I know," Biedrins said last week. "I'm trying to get better."

The Warriors' 20-year-old center is off to a blistering start this season -- foul shooting aside -- in helping Golden State to its first winning record in 10 months.

Not only has Biedrins forced his way into coach Don Nelson's starting lineup, but he's leading fast breaks, getting isolation play calls and cleaning up around the rim.

"He's been great," Troy Murphy perfectly summarized.

He's been the Warriors' best big man, and the proof was on display in the first quarter of Saturday's 111-79 blowout of the Pistons. After Baron Davis forced a turnover by Nazr Mohammed, Biedrins pushed the ball in transition and found Jason Richardson for an open three-point attempt.

Four minutes later, Biedrins put a spin move on Mohammed, then backed him for a turnaround jumper and foul. A few minutes after that, Biedrins stepped into the lane and blocked what appeared to be an uncontested shot by Pistons guard Lindsey Hunter.

In short, Biedrins is providing the type of two-way interior presence the Warriors desperately have been missing.

"I feel really good," Biedrins said. "I was just waiting for my chance."

The third-year center from Latvia didn't get that chance under coach Mike Montgomery -- partly because of Montgomery's preference for Adonal Foyle and partly because of Biedrins' own inability to stay out of foul trouble.

That hasn't been the case in Nelson's up-tempo system, in which Foyle has been stuck on the bench as Biedrins' role grows by the day. At least a few times every game, Nelson has isolated Biedrins at the elbow and charged him with hitting the cutter or taking his man. Other times, Biedrins cuts to the basket off pick-and-rolls and makes himself an easy target for teammates.

"As a point guard, you want somebody big like that who can finish," Davis said. "You can throw the ball up and he's going to get his hands on it."

Biedrins would be leading the league in field-goal percentage if he had enough baskets to qualify. He is shooting 77 percent after making 24 of his 31 attempts, and he needed 26 after seven games to be officially listed among the NBA leaders.

He's averaging 6.6 rebounds in 24.4 minutes per game, and that's not including the rebounds he has tipped to his teammates. With his quickness and hyperactivity, Biedrins is systematically proving to his coach that he can play major minutes.

Nelson was worried about his center's ability to avoid fouls. So far, Biedrins has had only one bad game. He fouled out in 19 minutes against the Hornets on Thursday, but still managed to grab six rebounds.

Nelson was worried about Biedrins' shot-blocking ability. As of the weekend, Biedrins ranked fourth in the league in total blocks (15) and 10th in blocks per game (2.1).

Nelson isn't as worried as much anymore.

"His whole game is pretty good," he said. "It's only the free throw that's his nemesis."

After trying the Bo Kimble, one-handed approach to start the season, the left-handed Biedrins is back to stabilizing his free-throw shot with his right hand. He met with Holger Geschwindner, Dirk Nowitzki's personal coach, when the Warriors were in Dallas last week and received a lesson in practicality from the shooting specialist.

"You shoot free throws with one hand and jump shots with two, so he said there's no point," Biedrins recalled. "It's different shot, so just try to put the other hand there, too."

Biedrins went 31 percent from the line last season. He's off to a 46 percent start this season, but hit two clutch free-throw tries against the Hornets in Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

Bring up free throws and Biedrins smiles and he shakes his head. If only free throws didn't exist, he'd be having the dream season. </div>

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...SPGNOMBJ2E1.DTL

 

I love this guys hustle and long arms. So long as he stays out of foul trouble.

Watched O'Bryant Sat. night and he is doing what Biedris used to do, think he's sticking his arms up straight when in fact they are crooked and as such are an automatic foul call when contact is made. Andris seems to have learned, I only hope POB does too.

 

I shudder when trying to think how GS plans to re-sign Monta, Ike, and Beans. Is it me or are those three guys going to earn big contracts that the Warriors will not have cap room to afford?

 

That's the fear, alley oop.

I also like Andris Biedrins alot more now that he's developed some go-to moves. Love his offensive rebounding, putbacks, great hands, quick footspeed, and aggressiveness. He doesn't showcase his leaping ability much, though.

His draft comparrisons in 2004 were guys like Chris Bosh (without the shooting), Jermaine O'neil, or Kenyon Martin. The lowside is Jeff Foster. Maybe Beans is definitely a power forward if he can develop some shooting. He's got some ballhandling, pass, and post up skill.

 

Yeah, I mean for being what, 20 years old? He's already showing he can play at the NBA level. He's a legit 7 feet, quick, athletic, and has a rather hard-nose for the basketball. Much more willing to bang than guys like Dunleavy and Murphy.

And he blocks shots!!

I can see Biedrins getting an agent like Drew Rosenhaus and getting talked into demanding 6 years 70 million -- and at the rate contracts are being handed out lately, the way he's been playing he'll earn that somewhere... other than GS

 

We'll see what the market says. I hope we're not so starved for a center we won't consider POB and what he might show. I hope we find a franchise guy or a guy that will be good for us for a lot of years and doesn't need to be taught a whole lot of new stuff.

It's like, after not eating for a day or so, any decent food sounds good enough to overpay I hope we don't overpay for Biedrins because other GMs are willing to outbid us. If we're talking a force on both ends of the floor, I'll buy it.

 

I may sound irrational or like a fanatic, but I'd trade JRich if it meant being able to keep Monta and Beans.

I'd look to package JRich with a bad contract, like JRich and Foyle or JRich and Dunleavy. I think Monta and Beans are going to deserve big contracts, at some point, and I think they'll be worth it.

 

I wouldn't say Biedrins is looking like an elite big man but he's looking damn good.

 

Yeah, definitely not leet, but looking solid. He could be a defensive player averaging a double double. If ever becomes 20/10 on 50% fg with a few assists, a steal, 70% free throw shooting, 4 trips to the line a game, and a few blocks. Damn... If he Biedrins could stay out of foul trouble more often, there's no reason to believe he could be a better all-around rebounder than Murphy some day. Biedrins might have that potent combo of strength, quickness, athleticism, with an uber long wingspan.

 

<div class="quote_poster">custodianrules2 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Yeah, definitely not leet, but looking solid. He could be a defensive player averaging a double double. If ever becomes 20/10 on 50% fg with a few assists, a steal, 70% free throw shooting, 4 trips to the line a game, and a few blocks. Damn... If he Biedrins could stay out of foul trouble more often, there's no reason to believe he could be a better all-around rebounder than Murphy some day. Biedrins might have that potent combo of strength, quickness, athleticism, with an uber long wingspan.</div>

If Andris averages 20 points per game, that would be insane. I do not know if that is very possible. I mean Murphy is pretty good offensively and he has yet to come close to 20. But yeah, if Andris averages 20/10 we will be looking at a player like Elton Brand, Tim Duncan, and Chris Bosh (has Marcus Camby averaged 20 points?).

Also if Andris ever becomes a 20 point per night player we will be hearing a lot about "Hack a Lat" that will make Shaq look like or seem like Rick Barry.

I think the scoring would come from Ike or Murphy from the front court, which is why a Murphy or Ike with Andris front court so appealing.

But yeah, it is great to see Andris playing so well. He is the counter-response to the people who disregarded the Warriors front court as having anyone who could be a force defensively in the post this season.

 

Whoa, you guys are a little optimistic. In order for him to average 20 he'd need to shoot 80% from the charity stripe. And no matter how much he practices FT's I don't see him getting past 65%. He's just not a shooter.

I see him becoming a 14-9 player.

 

<div class="quote_poster">AnimeFANatic Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Whoa, you guys are a little optimistic.

[...]

I see him becoming a 14-9 player.</div>I think that's a little conservative. Yes, his freethrow shooting will hurt, however, his extremely high FG% means he's much more efficient than anyone else. Assuming he can learn to stay on the floor (and I think he will), he can also be a monster rebounder. He's especially adept on the offensive boards. In 30-35 minutes, I don't think 18-14 or so is at all out of the question for Andris, even with poor freethrow shooting. I wouldn't be completely shocked if he leads the league in rebounding some day. He has a nose for the ball and he can beat other bigs to it most of the time. Another factor is the Warriors running, uptempo game, which should generate more available rebounds on both ends. And although it won't show up on the stat sheet, you will see every game a number of times where when he can't secure a rebound, he's still able to poke it out to a teammate.

 

It's exciting to ponder how Andris will turn out. Maybe he's somewhere between Pau his first year in the league and Tyson Chandler on a good day. Anyone think Tyson Chandler is stronger than Biedrins still? I thought Chandler was still a stick compared to Biedrins now.

 

Biedrins is one of these projects where his upside is pretty darn high. We know he dominated the much older competition in his league back in Latvia (it's a weak league but the kid was playing against adult men at age 17). If he fills out, he can probably use a lot more of the drop step moves and short range hooks which got him noticed in the first place (I mean Latvia doesn't have much to show).

<font face="verdana"><font size="-1">These numbers: 18.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.82 blocks in 11 games against professional competition (not the strongest euroleague, mind you) but the kid was only 17. That's freakin' sweat. He's aggressive, gets real mean and physical, is left handed so he could play opposite of the post Ike Diogu sets up on. It's just a matter of this kid staying out of foul trouble and being able to matchup physically with the rest of the big men in the league. Also, he needs to improve on his shot mechanics, but everything else he's pretty well developed surprisingly. He's actually got some dribbling skills decent for a 7 foot guy and he makes some smart passes. He just has some really bad habits on D even though his effort/physical skill is something to laud since we have both Murphy and Dunleavy.

http://www.interbasket.net/players/biedrins.htm

FIBA (under 18) </font></font>PPG 21.8 RPG14.4 APG 2.6

Maybe if Biedrins stayed in Europe for a few years, he could have gone as high as Darko Millicic at some point in the previous drafts.

I dug this up from year 2004 when Biedrins was first drafted:
http://www.justbball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21352

 

<div class="quote_poster">AnimeFANatic Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">
I see him becoming a 14-9 player.</div>

I will take him as a 14-9 player. That is practically all star numbers nowadays at center...

 

He's better than Chandler right now because he has better hands.

Forget the $$$, Larry Ellison is going to eventually buy the Warriors and $$$ is not going to be a factor, especially with signing our own players.

Funny how you stereotype guys, Euros are great shooters, and here you get a guy like Biedrins who makes Chris Dudley look good. Someday he'll realize you don't have to shoot a line drive (however, Kareem shot them that way and still made 75%-80%.)

 

Considering that Cohan didn't express any desire to sell the team nor Ellison will just open up the bank and make this team's payroll NY ver. 2, I wouldn't say forget financial aspect. Also, unless Ellison buys this team within 2 years, signing both Biedrins and Ellis will be mission impossible.

As much as I like to see both Biedrins and Ellis improving each day, I am getting really scared about resigning both of them. Because at this rate, we will have hard time resigning just one guy. Foyle's buyout will help signing Roberson and Barne, but it won't help resigning Ellis or Biedrins. As a matter of fact, the buyout will leave majority of Foyle's contract for next 3 years, and that may actually damage the chance of resigning them.

In ideal, we would like to resign both of them after this season. But, I don't think chance of that happening is very slim, providing that we have 3rd year option for Monta. Mullin has less than two years to clean up the mess he made and make rooms for Biedrins and Ellis...

 

At this point I'm praying that Cohan bites the luxury tax for just a few years.

 

I'm nervous about what Mullin might do. He's not so good with money, you see... I'd take anyone of the San Antonio/Detroit Pistons assistants and put Mullin as talent scout until he learns about the financial aspect of managing. Because another financial blunder could happen if he's too attached to a certain player. Let's say Biedrins upside is higher impact Tyson Chandler.

How much will we spend on a mostly all defensive player? If it's too much, we better hope that guy can grow to carry us offensively, defensively, and make the team better. Otherwise he's too much like how Kenyon Martin, Zach Randolph, or guys who mostly play one end of the floor and make max dollars. Their numbers are good, but what's the point if the budget only allows a few more "okay" players that can fit under that budget? What happens if Zach Randolph scores 20/10 and allows as many points on defense. What if Randolph is surrounded by guys who don't hide Randolph on defense or make Randolph better? That's why I was hoping for a bit of balance to the power forward/center positions. I think it should start with defense first and the ability to score at least double digit points, and then passing, shot creation can come next.

What I'm sort of hinting at is if we want to commit large amounts of money we do it for a franchise player. Otherwise, we have to play it like the Pistons did by distributing money resources towards a good starting five that can all play defense and work towards their strengths. Right now our strength is our backcourt. If Baron or Ellis goes down, then I think Biedrins won't be as effective because people need to set him up in order to score. I know with Ellis he is a major factor because his position is supposed to help point guard distribute the ball when the point guard is being pressured.
Jrich unfortunately still has trouble handling the ball even when healthy and his defense is just okay to above decent against shooting guards... I just hope we're seeing a pattern in what fits together as a true core. I think a true core has a balanced big man with two pure backcourt players that can shoot, dribble, play D, and pass. I think small forward and the other complimentary big are important but they will blend in with the star in the paint and the backcourt. The most important positions in the league are point guard and center, but we need a power forward or shooting guard to emulate those positions if point guard or center are lacking... Well, we have a point guard, A undersized SG prospect and a PF/C prospect. Jrich is a small forward. High scoring, can score from anywhere, can rebound. He is a not a setup guy like a shooting guard should be like Ray Allen, Vince Carter, T-mac, etc. All we need is another PF/C. Could that be Ike or POB? Hmm...

Also we need to get taller one day because Ellis/Jrich would make a really short shooting guard/small forward.