Warriors to take a Flyer on rookies D-League not in immediate plans Janny Hu, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, October 21, 2005 Don't expect any Warriors to participate when the NBA Development League tips off Nov. 18. All indications are that Golden State wants its rookies on the big-league roster to ensure quality of practice over quantity of minutes. Asked this week if rookie Chris Taft was likely to be sent down, coach Mike Montgomery said "probably no." He said his players will benefit more from working with the Warriors' training staff and coaches than being immersed in a faraway system. "When it gets to the point where a guy just needs to play the game, then that's maybe where you utilize that league," Montgomery said. "But the D-League is not connected necessarily to us, even though the players are ours. "The system they're going to run, the things they're going to do, the terminology they're going to use -- there's not really much of a connection to us. So if a guy goes down, I don't know if he's going to be better for it." The Warriors seem to believe rookies Ike Diogu, Monta Ellis and Taft are better off on the regular roster, especially while they figure out what the D-League has to offer. Officially, Golden State is affiliated with the Fort Worth Flyers, along with the Mavericks, Lakers and Blazers. Unofficially, no one knows what that means. Teams have the option of assigning first- and second-year players to the D-League, but no more than two at a time. There is no minimum or maximum length of stay, but players can't be sent down more than three times in a season. Warriors vice-president Chris Mullin said Thursday he would "play it by ear" and described deciding factors as being "situational." For example, if a starter or reserve were sidelined by injury, it's certain one of his rookies would be on hand. But if there were a long break in the schedule -- the team has a five-day layoff in January and a four-day break in March -- Mullin could choose to send someone down to get solid minutes. Diogu hasn't played this preseason because of a fractured hand. Ellis has netted 63 minutes through four exhibition games, while Taft has participated in the last two. Of the three, Taft appeared the likeliest candidate for the D-League because of his injury-riddled summer and training camp. But with Diogu sidelined by a broken hand, Montgomery said Taft would be one of the guys on the Warriors' roster. "That gives me a good feeling," Taft said. "But at the same time, I'm just a guy who's coming into practice every day trying to learn and get better. I've been off for a long time, and this past week, I'm really starting to feel like I'm healthy." Briefly: Derek Fisher (dislocated middle finger) will be a game-time decision for Saturday's game against Seattle. ... Wednesday's paid attendance of 17,323 represented the largest crowd for a preseason home game in Warriors history. "It didn't look like 17,000, but at times it sounded like it," forward Mike Dunleavy said. "That gives us a lot of energy. A lot of guys on this team thrive on that, so it was nice." E-mail Janny Hu at jhu@sfchronicle.com. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...SPGQIFBR4U1.DTL
I hope we send one guy down to NBDL and that's Akindele. He's like Samuel Dalembert. No baskteball I.Q. but lots of potential.
