<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">OAKLAND, Calif. - (KRT) - The simple answer to the question is "No." No - there is no way to get a handle on whether Andris Biedrins, the 18-year-old from Latvia who the Golden State Warriors selected with the No. 11 pick in last week's NBA draft, can contribute in 2004-05. Then again, depending upon whom you ask, there are a variety of opinions as to how relevant that single issue is. What is relevant is that Biedrins, introduced in front of a few hundred fans in downtown Oakland on Tuesday, is going to try to contribute - A.S.A.P. "The first year will be hard," acknowledged Biedrins (pronounced BE-a-drinsh). "I know the Warriors are a young team. I like that I'm young, too. They're young. I'm young. I'm going to work hard in the summer, and I'll work hard so Coach (Mike Montgomery) can see I can help the team in the first year." Biedrins' first test will come in about two weeks, when he suits up for the Warriors' summer league team in Long Beach, Calif. He'll join Mickael Pietrus, the Warriors' first-round selection last summer, on that squad. "When I look at Andris," Warriors executive vice president of basketball operations Chris Mullin said, "it's everything that is about to happen." How fast, though, likely will depend on a few issues, some outside, some within Biedrins' control. Erick Dampier and Adonal Foyle, who have formed a tandem at center for the Warriors since 1997, are free agents. Their departure - or return - likely will affect Biedrins. Although Biedrins is considered a power forward, Mullin indicated on draft night that it's possible Biedrins could end up a center. When? Again, there's no way of telling. "There are two ways to look at it," Montgomery said. "One is he just turned 18. We need to be patient. It's not a whole lot different when you're looking at a big kid in recruiting. We think his learning curve is going to be quick. He's going to get stronger. We have to teach him things, like playing with his back to the basket. Things he hasn't been exposed to. Still, the NBA has the best players in the world. Everyone needs to be patient. ... I think he can help, but we're not going to throw him to the wolves." Because of size (6-foot-11, 240 pounds), circumstance (being left-handed) and setting (being from Eastern Europe), Biedrins has drawn comparisons to Darko Milicic, whom the Detroit Pistons selected with the No. 2 pick in last summer's NBA draft.</div> Bling Bling! http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews...state_warriors/
"The first year will be hard," acknowledged Biedrins (pronounced BE-a-drinsh). "I know the Warriors are a young team. I like that I'm young, too. They're young. I'm young. I'm going to work hard in the summer, and I'll work hard so Coach (Mike Montgomery) can see I can help the team in the first year." I don't like the use of "young team" at all. There must be people around him or the team saying that this is a young team. I don't like that phrase. This team is primed to win right now. I can see that this team isn't entirely old, but the use of the word young so much in the quote doesn't make me too happy. JRich and Murphy are going into their 4th seasons, Dunleavy into his 3rd, Pietrus into his 2nd, and then add the vets like Cliff and NVE and Speedy who is going into his 5th season I believe. Having the phrase "young team" go around so much isn't good, or as good as I think a "growing team" would. "Young team" sounds more like an excuse. A "growing team" sounds like a team wanting to win and compete. I know it isn't a huge deal, but I first don't think this is a young team; and second, I don't like the idea of them categorizing their team by "young team" which sounds like an excuse. And what does this quote mean? "When I look at Andris," Warriors executive vice president of basketball operations Chris Mullin said, "it's everything that is about to happen."
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Clif25:</div><div class="quote_post"> And what does this quote mean? "When I look at Andris," Warriors executive vice president of basketball operations Chris Mullin said, "it's everything that is about to happen."</div>lol..I was wondering the same thing. What I like about Biedrins is the fact that he feels he can come in and make an immediate impact and is going to work his ass off for playing time. That is the way it should be.
that quote from Mullin "When I look at Andris," Warriors executive vice president of basketball operations Chris Mullin said, "it's everything that is about to happen." I was wondering about that and figured he was misquoted. If he wasn't misquoted then I think Mullin is b.s.ing hands down. "Its everything that's about to happen...". translates to: "We've got a huge project on our hands, we don't know what's going to happen, therefore anything could happen and hopefully its good and its going to happen soon". With quotes like that Mullin could add to the talent behind the "greatness is greatness" commercials. Sheesh.
I hope this kid can help this year, but the odds if Foyle and Damp do not return, this kid is going to be forced to play. I hope that works out in his favor. As far as the quote is concerned, here is how I read it. For a long time, all Euros had the same game. Soft, unathletic, like to play outside no matter what the size of the player. AB is the complete opposite. He is athletic 35" or something verticle leap. He is tough and likes to play down low. Not only that, he plays physical down low. Mullin thinks that the Euros are starting to evolve and they will not be so 1 dimensional and soft. AB is the beginning of that. That is how I read Mullins comments.
I hope we can get Zendon Hamilton at center at least. He would have made training camp last year if it werne't for all those guaranteed contracts we already had. Here's what I would have done. I would have waived Sanchez first and then signed Zen the same contract extended to Brian Cardinal.
Ive got a good feeling about this kid. This post over at Mercury got me even more excited <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I found AB to be very down to earth, extremely mature for his 18 years and he did not have a posse, which is rare nowadays. Physically he has the frame to add another 20-30 pounds and play center in the NBA since he prefers to play in the paint. Since AB has been in the U.S. for a little over 2? months, his daily schedule has been working on basketball skills 9 AM till lunch break, lifting weights in the afternoon for a couple of hours and then playing basketball after dinner. He did this 6 days a week until his foot blisters were infected and his doctor shut him down. AB's refusal to work out for Philadelphia was well documented by the 76er media. But AB told me that Toronto and Phoenix in particular tried very hard to get him to come in for a workout. After AB blew off the Suns? repeated requests, they traded their #7 pick to Chicago. He visited only one team after the Chicago pre-draft camp. A week before the draft, AB came to Oakland and met everyone of significance associated with the Warriors. Everyone felt very good after this meeting. Mully talked about his scouting trip to Europe last January with Bill Duffy. He scouted a number of top European prospects. On the plane ride back home, Mully was dead tired but just could not sleep because he could not stop thinking about AB. FIBA confirmed Mully?s opinion on AB when they named him All Euro League at center after he finished this past season as their 5th leading scorer. Yet his offense is supposed to be the weakest part of his game. On draft night, we all saw AB in tears when he was drafted at #11. His greatest wish to play in the NBA for the Golden State Warriors had come true. As I walked around the Warriors? facility awaiting the start of AB?s press conference at City Center, I couldn?t help but notice so many people from the organization grinning from ear to ear. If the fans show some patience with AB and Mully makes the right off-season moves especially concerning Damp, the Warriors could really be headed to places we previously could only talk about. </div>
I have no idea what Mullin was trying to say with that quote. I'm assuming we'd need to hear it in the context of the interview to know exactly where he was going with it. The only thing we know for certain is that the Warriors got the guy they'd targeted since May. If he's been under the microscope since then and was still their #1 guy on draft night, I think that speaks volumes about Biedrins' potential. As for Biedrins "young team" comments, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Even if he'd received coaching from Montgomery, Mullin, and his agent prior to meeting the media, I wouldn't expect an 18 year old kid speaking a foriegn language to be media savvy. But even if the comments were intended, the truth is that the Warriors are a young team in every positive and negative meaning of the term. There isn't a single guy with more than 4 years experience who is in their long term plans. While their core is another year older and another year closer to being able to compete with the big boys, teams this young. I don't think the team is using their youth as an excuse, in fact, I wouldn't ascribe any connotation to it other than the fact that no one in their core has more than 4 years experience.
Concerning Mullin's quote, I don't think it was that deep. It just sort of makes a good sound byte, something like saying "This kid has great potential and and an organization, we do too" without making sound like the potential is so far away. Besides, those other terms are overused, anyway. Biedrins hasn't been speaking English regularly until he moved here a few months ago and essentially picked up the language by immersion in the L.A. area. Maybe that's where he picked up the bling-bling, too, though that's more common everywhere. He's done a pretty good job without an interpreter, although he's prone to mumbling. Hopefully he'll tear up the summer league and keep developing well.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting UltimateWarrior:</div><div class="quote_post">Ive got a good feeling about this kid. This post over at Mercury got me even more excited</div>Those are good points, walker, zhone. Hey ultimatewarrior, if you like Kmart, AB might just be the bigger version of him, but we'll see. I like the mercury article btw.
