CLAXTON SHOWS HE CAN START AS WELL AS HE FINISHES In 29 starts in 2003-04 (Warriors 15-14), Speedy Claxton averaged 13.6 points, 5.3 assists and 1.97 steals. Before being forced to sit out 20 games with a fractured second metacarpal in his right hand, Claxton had started 19 consecutive games (10-9 record), averaging 15.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.32 steals in 34.3 minutes during those 19 contests. ?KWIK? LEADS WARRIORS TO BIG TIME BACK-TO-BACK With some huge 4th quarter heroics from Nick Van Exel, the Warriors engineered an impressive road-home back-to-back sweep of Phoenix and San Antonio. Golden State finished-off the sweep with a 91-89 victory vs. the defending NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs on 11/29 after posting a wire-to-wire 92-83 victory in Phoenix the night before (11/28), a place where the team had lost four-straight and 34 of its previous 37 contests. Versus the Spurs, Nick Van Exel scored 16 of Golden State?s 23 points in the fourth quarter -- including 14 of the last 17 (with an assist on the other basket) -- and hit a three-pointer with 20.9 seconds left to give the Warriors a 90-88 lead in what turned out to be a 91-89 victory. One night earlier in Phoenix, ?Kwik? scored 10-of-his-12 points in the final quarter to help hold off the Suns. LITTLE GENERAL HELPS HOLD THE FORT With fellow point guards Speedy Claxton and Nick Van Exel both on the injured list late in the season, Avery Johnson stepped-in and provided valuable minutes at the point guard postion. Over his final 11 games played, Johnson averaged 8.3 points, 5.3 assists and 1.09 steals in 21.0 minutes -- scoring in double figures five times. He registered a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists in 19 minutes vs. Washington (3/26), marking first double-double since recording 18 points and 16 assists with Denver at Minnesota on 2/15/02. In his last two games played in 2003-04, the ?Little General? averaged 14.5 points (.556 FG%), 5.5 assists and 3.50 streals in 26.0 minutes, including a season-high 16 points in his last game of the season at Boston on 4/2. He was subsequently forced to sit out the team?s final seven games with a strained right hamstring. <div align="center"> Link </div>
Speedy showed he is more than a backup PG. Van Exel showed that he is a team player who will play hard but that he's a little too old and too expensive for a young, up and coming team. Avery was a true professional. He is not a necessary part of an up and coming team. Thank you for your professionalism but any minutes he would take should go to Speedy and anyone else.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting philsmith75:</div><div class="quote_post">Avery was a true professional. He is not a necessary part of an up and coming team. Thank you for your professionalism but any minutes he would take should go to Speedy and anyone else.</div> I disagree. I think having Avery and his leadership will only help the Warriors especially because they are young. He is a leader on the floor and is under control in clutch situations, and I think only good comes out of having a guy like that. I think he will retire anyway, but if he's not retiring I think they should try to bring him back.
Yeah they should. That was one sweet move that A.J. did against Juan Dixon. He did a behind the back pass fake to freeze his defender up and then did a layup. Pretty quick and slick for an old guy. Juan Dixon has pretty fast foot speed too.
I'd love for the Warriors to resign Johnson, but I'd rather him not play. I think he'd probably perfer that as well. Right now I see him as an assistant coach that can come in and play if injuries dictate it.
I think the Warriors should be fine at PG next year if they can stay healthy(and with Speedy and NVE that could be hard). Speedy like shown in the previous posts can start and create and be a PG that Muss likes. And then NVE can come in and knock down a couple of big shots, late in games, something the Warriors struggled with at times. Also hopefully NVE's legs get better so he could penetrate a little better, he was a little struggling at that with his bad legs. Also NVE was a big reason why Damp had his BIG season. In the draft I would like to see the Warriors get Devin Harris though. I think Devin would be a lot of help if NVE or Speedy go down, and Devin is another playmaker that the Warriors could use. I would be happy if the Warriors go into next season with Speedy/Harris/NVE as their PG's next year. Damp going and Devin possibly going a little too high, will probably get this team to draft a big man. But Devin would be a fun player to watch on this team. Maybe he could be like this years Dwayne Wade or Arenas. And to go with the Avery Johnson. I liked Avery as well. He gets to the hoop almost at will, even though he is almost 40 and only goes left. There were times that he missed so many layups, and you'd go "Agh!"(one/third in how can you miss that and the other third because you wanted it to go in and the last third because you just watched this old 40 year old beat the other team's defense so easily and you only deserve to get 2 points if you do that) but he was fun to watch.
Speedy Claxton has proved the haters wrong, while Avery'Grampa'Johnson has told why he's still playing. Avery Johson brings veteran leadership to a great team. Avery and Clifford Robinson honestly have to be the best veterans in the game right now after Shaquille Oneal, Karl'The mailman' Malone, and Chris Webber. The Warriors should bring back all three next year and if Avery retires bring back atleast Speedy Claxton and Nick VanExel.
I remember I didn't like Speedy because he was playing badly after he had one really good game. It wasn't until I found out he was playing injured at the beginning of the season(groin pull) that I started laying off him. But man when he showed up Allen Iverson and locked him down. I was like damn, now I know why Philly drafted Speedy. He's got tight defense, great speed and athleticism despite lack of size, and he can finish a layup through traffic and get to the line and the opposing team over the foul limit. Speedy was a backup A.I. that could guard much taller, heavier opponents and get to the line a bunch of times. Speedy is good though, but NVE is still king when it comes to court vision and accurate passes though. Just watch all the great highlights where he was involved. It was his passing and sixth sense for finding open teammates and getting them involved that was so fun to watch this year. It's too bad NVE's attitude kinda of sucks.
Speedy is doing well making the transition from backup guard to starter. He's had to handle more minutes, learn to run a team in a different style by a different coach, and he's had to fight through injury. That guy sacrifices his body so much to get to the line and its greatly appreciated since too many guards settle for J's. NVE will be the bomb if he ever gets healthy because he's got such great court vision and passing ability, but his knee problem might be career altering. He might never be the same Kwik again especially at his age. I've always hated his shot selection, but nobody seemed to complain when he drills the impossible to make shots in the clutch. A.J. I like because he's just a true professional like Popeye Jones, Cliff Robinson, Calbert Cheaney. Those guys didn't whine during the losing streak and they helped keep the younger players focussed to win and play for pride. And in the end, they found out they are a very talented tight knit team.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rudeezy:</div><div class="quote_post">. ?KWIK? LEADS WARRIORS TO BIG TIME BACK-TO-BACK With some huge 4th quarter heroics from Nick Van Exel, the Warriors engineered an impressive road-home back-to-back sweep of Phoenix and San Antonio. Golden State finished-off the sweep with a 91-89 victory vs. the defending NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs on 11/29 after posting a wire-to-wire 92-83 victory in Phoenix the night before (11/28), a place where the team had lost four-straight and 34 of its previous 37 contests. Versus the Spurs, Nick Van Exel scored 16 of Golden State?s 23 points in the fourth quarter -- including 14 of the last 17 (with an assist on the other basket) -- and hit a three-pointer with 20.9 seconds left to give the Warriors a 90-88 lead in what turned out to be a 91-89 victory. One night earlier in Phoenix, ?Kwik? scored 10-of-his-12 points in the final quarter to help hold off the Suns. </div> This brought tears to my eyes. Gawd I love that boy.
NVE is an awesome playmaker. If we keep him and he is healthy, the warriors will have excellent depth at the point guard spot.
