Mid term reports

Hard to believe but the season has at it's midpoint for the 2007-2008 golden State Warriors. Whilst there's been a lot of most recent dissapointments we still stand ata more then expected position of 25-18 despite being 0.5 games ahead of Utah. Without further adoo this blog has now taken the historic step of compiling a list of the mid term reports.



Kelenna Azubuike: C Hard to believe but once at the start of the season Kelenna looked like he'd become more then a adequate replacement for J-Rich finally convincing the anti Richardson trade camp that we had the scorer to post up the stats. Unforutnately a few months on and even though his PPG average has gone down from 13 to 7 but one thing i can say is he rebounds better and is a solid outside shooter. His defense needs plenty of work but the real question is for many fans will he be a solid 16-20 PPG scorer or will he turn out to be little more then a bench player.



Matt Barnes C- I'm in two minds of whether we should keep Barnes. His play hasn't been to the standard it was of the famous stretch last season but on the other hand he's had a family loss and I expect the second half to work out much better. He's our force on the boards after all.



Marco Belinelli D+ Marco Who?. In all honesty I can't believe he was a 1st round pick and the theroy tht most warrior fans have of the only reason he was selected was his name rhymes with Nellie looks correct. Even from all the hype of all the Youtube mixes where fans were subjected to highlights of him knocking down 25 Footers against admittely against mediocre oppossition the sad fact is Marco hasn't translated this to the NBA level. Although he does escape from an F primlarily because he hasn't got a whole lot of PT his rebounding and passing needs to improve heaps otherwhise he's a D Leaguer.




Andris Biedrins B+ Biedrins is still a few steps away from being along the elite and unfortunateky he hasn't warranted yet the contract extension his agent craved. I think more or less his Defense has regressed his shotblocking skills for example should be a lot more then 1.2 PPG. Most teams excel at using him into a Screen, lay-ins, dunks etc. On the other hand hes's the best finisher near the rim in the League and his long arms can be sometimes an inconvience for Big Centers Despite Warrior forwards, centers, and even Nellie's decision making reluctant to help Biedrins he does need to step up his game if the Dubs want to repeat their postseason successes of last year




Austin Croshere B Croshere reminds me of what I am like in my current basketball days. A scrappy bench player who has two functions Rebound and play sold Defense. That was probably the main reason why he was picked up in the offseason and I can see why. He won't win fans over with a ugly looking offensive game and average defense but the reason for his grade is he does it well.




Baron Davis A+ The only A in this Post and sometimes I struggle to believe that Mullie got rid of Dale Davis for this guy. It's one of his more underated moves but I have a feeling he'll eventually get his props.

Baron has been asked a heck of a lot. Be the main scoring threat and run their offense. Not only has he done this successfully the Defense that wasn't there during the 0-6 statrt has really picked up averaging 2 steals a game. Making these requirements without Richardson was a stern test for Boom Dizzle but most notably he's stepped up. He has also developed a clutch shot just ask the Lakers. Despite the praise offnights like here, here, here or here. However despite these Baron has evaluated his game considerably. No games missed so far is invaluable considering without him the Warriors go from playoff contenders to pretenders immediately




Monta Ellis B- When Monta struggled at the start of the season it looked like his playoff disasters were following him everywhere. However it's January his game has picked up and he finally looks like being a solid 2 Guard to Baron. He has alos started to Rebound as the Bulls (7), Pacers (8), Spurs (9), Magic (12), and Rockets (9 stats show. Yet despite these minor improvements his numbers from last season haven't gone up by much and his defense is particulary mediocre. Often when a quick Guard like Iverson, Chris Paul or Deron williams is assigned to Baron probably because he doesn't pressurise the Guard as much as I'd like. As well as that to get the contract extension questions such as will his offensive and defensive game develop further, will his assists go up. Intersting to see the 2nd half.




Al Harrington C- Dissapointing. His stats are all down from last season but he does a good job on Yao as a positive he's a solid outside shooter and he has a decent demanour about him. Of all the players I've listed his game is the one that has regressed the most from last season.



Troy Hudson F: Would have given the man an incomplete but in the time I've seen him come off the bench he's never looked capable of giving substantial minutes in Davis absence. On the other hand he was injured and why this team hasn't released him since he's of no value is beyond me.



Stephen Jackson B- Critisce his January bricks all you want but 1-6 without him speaks for itself. Asking a Defensive minded player to put up 20 points oer night and guard someone like Kobe, T-Mac or the teams best offensive star to help steam the Defensive flow is impossible. There are very few players in the League that could do what Jacksons doing and unless the Warriors make it easy for him expext more tough going for Captain Jack.



Stephene Lasme NG: No Grade simply because he was cut so Mbenga could come in. Neither made a difference

Patrick O Bryant D+ Decent effort compared to last season where even the D-League didn't improve his game. Even though his 3rd year option wasn't picked up and the fouling still remains a ptoblem at least he has shown glimpses of offensive potential. With Mbenga gone he needs to step uo at a backup Center so can he do it?.



Kosta Perovic E Right when the Warriors need help at Center he's playing in the D- League. Makes no sense




Mikael Pietrus D- A former lottery pick in his 5th season. Ouch but it's a sad fact of life that even after a season where he posted up his highest averages this year it's been more of the same stepping out of bounds etc. His contract runs out this offseason so it should be the case these are the final days of Air France but his character and goofiness has endured him to a small section.



CJ Watson B- Wish he was the pass first this offense needs and defensively he has obvious holes but is worth keeping until the end of the season. With a name like CJ the nicknames would be prosperous everywhere.



Brandon Wright D+ This is depressing although to be fair he's suffered Nelsons well known dislike of rookies. He has the physicality to compete but there is every sign this could be another Joe Smith mistake but on the other hand Nellie would just play him 10 minutes a game -- which, given recent results, he easily can -- I think we'd all see immense growth within a month.



Don Nelson A-I thought last season was an amazing coaching job but thi year the Warriors are 7 games over 500 and talking about the playoffs. Coming from the PJ Carelesimo, Brian Winters and Mime Montgomery era three of the worst coaches ever in the NBA Nelson is like a beer, a cool refreshment.. Having said he definitely has to find a way to use his bench more or force Mullin's hand into getting him some players he feels comfortable playing.