2007-2008 NBA Blog previews: Pacific Division

-Sports Illustrated
One of the great coaches at NMSU does Theus have the Coaching talent to get the Kings back on track

The last of the NBA Blog previews is under way and this time we focus in on the Pacific division arguably the weakest division in the NBA evident by last night in which the LA Lakers along with Golden State both lost their openers at home. However let see what these bloggers had to say about the up and coming season along with yours truly.

Golden State
Golden State of mind
Irish Warriors

LA Clippers
ClipsNation.com


Los Angeles Lakers
Forum Blue and Gold
with Malice

Phoenix Suns
Bright Side of the Sun

Sacramento Kings
Sactown Royalty


How I see the division playing out

1. Phoenix Suns: Baring a disaterous loss of form from two time MVP Steve Nash this is their division to lose. Overcame a big mental hurdle by winning game 4 against San Antonio last season and could argue that after the Donaghy case they were screwed by the Stoudemire and Diaw suspensions. Will be interesting to see how Grant Hill fits in that Offense.
2. Golden State Warriors: The dizzying heights of the Playoffs will come down to earth by the brutal early schedule but there is absolutely no doubt this team has the talent to make a consecutive playoff appearance.
3. LA Lakers: The Kobe scandal will affect this team and an inept front office is seemingly doing everything it can to make sure he leaves. Add to the fact Fisher was their only real offseason acquistion and you get my drift.
4. LA Clippers: From a Game 7 away from the West Conference Finals against the Suns to now missing Elton Brand and Shaun Livingston Clipper fans can be forgiven for thinking their side is jinxed. Will make a playoff push when Elton Brand comes back however.
5. Sacramento Kings: Missing Bibby for the first few weeks the only real Offensive threat apart from Kevin Martin while Artest is committing his usual misdemeanors shows how far they've fallen from a certain Horry shot. Martin is an All star quality Guard though and it's no exaggeration to say that Monta robbed him of the MIP award. More of the same


No doubt whatsoever the Clippers will miss this guy

No extension to Biedrin or Ellis why worry?

A lot of the talk recently apart from the Utah Jazz game and the lowlights has been about the lack of any extension given to Andris Biedrins or Monta Ellis which has been a prime concern for many Warrior fans. Well guess what why worry. At the start of the Mullin era his prime and most glaring mistake was to give Dunleavy, Murphy and Foyle all ludricious contracts which made no sense business or Basketball wise. Nowdaays it appears he has completely revamped his Front Office style and decided to wait after a career year to see if both are able to repeat their past year successes. Such management would not have been done by Garry St Jean or no other GM before him. If anything as cleary evident by last night Biedrins has a lot of holes in his game. He is foul prone averaging 3.7 a game and it seems any time he comes up against a Western Conference elite Forward his game goes haywire which can't happen in the upcoming stretch. In last years Jazz series when the Dubs needed him the most he campe up with awfulness Game 1: 4 points, 5 boards; Game 2: 4 points, 6 boards; Game 5: 2 points, 5 boards. Not what you want in crunch time. I've already posted about Monta Ellis and his character.

Rather then just dish out new contracts after a one year wonder season Mullin has learnt his ways unlike the Knicks and their nonsensical contract to Larry Brown and then dumping him after one year making the mistake of thinking a Coach was worth a $100 million dollars without proving it. They also made the same mistake in Allan Houston and those figures have hurt their salary cap. Mullin realised after the early contracts it couldn't happen again and there would be no more guranteed contracts after just one season. Arguably this means Monta and Andris can use this as motivation to earn extra money rather then just receive a huge contract and lose some of the fire that has happenned to a lot of NBA players. Besides after the playoffs and Monta disappearing it might be the best time to take a second look and like any good GM evaluate

Golden State:96 Utah 117: Just like last year

Sadly when Golden State opened their campaign yesterday I don't think fans thought it would become a mirrage of the playoffs last year or even on opening night last season against the Lakers. Once again it was a case of being outrebounded,outdefended missing Free Throws and just getting owned by the Jazz. We basically saw the same Golden State unit as last year. Once again without Jackson we had nobody to guard Boozer who powered his way in for 32 points and 15 rebounds matching up pretty well against Pietrus. As usual the reliance on Baron Davis going by his injury record is scary despite getting 26 and 10 assisists it should be interesting to see how long he'll play against the Clippers. He showed he was back and the only expectation I have is to stay healthy otherwhise if this is evident this team is going nowhere without him.

Other then Baron Davis a few other players stood out. Mikael Pietrus who earned a lot of critiscm over the summer for repeatedly stepping out of bounds causing silly Tunrovers had a career night going 6-8 from the Field with 17 points and hitting a lot of shot from the top of the key. For one night only maybe he showed he was a legitimate starter at the PF spot. As well as that Keleena who had 11 and showed we're not missing j-Rich, Marco who hit two threes and proved for Nellies case he was worthy of going in earlier and not making the mistakes our other guys would have done. The one positive fans can defintelty take is we won't miss J-Rich as badly as the media pointed out.

Apart from all the postives there were a lot of negatives tonigh. Troy Hudson who's suppossed to be a decent backup PG played horrendous shooting 1-7. He's the type of guard a la Chauncey Billups who has a shoot first mentality and despite his instant offense in case there's the rare night baron Davis is struggling he's simply not the lockdown Defender we need on this team. Monta Ellis was the same he was much more assertive then I've ever seen him yet but it was obvious the injury he sustained in Training camp hurt him a lot. The Rebounding and Free Throws once gain were a killer with 12 missed something that cannot happen against the Clippers. As Nelson said.

They had their way with us," coach Don Nelson said. "They're big and strong at all five positions, and they bullied us around. ... We played one good quarter, and that was the end of us. We missed Jackson for sure, but I don't know if he was a game-breaker."

It was the same with Biedrins inside. He was just abused by Boozer inside who was far quicker and stronger and had some easy layups. Not the beginning Andris wanted but it wasn't helped about the Offense which just had a lack of sync. When Hudson matched up against Deron Williams last season you could see how good Deron was. Time by time he blew by for an easy Layup and always got his players involved. Thats not too say I would take him over B-Diddy but there are times when I wished we had that type of a two Guard combo. It was puzzling to find Croshere and POB not playing often both would have erased the 56 to 37 Rebound deficit with just 7 offensive rebounds compared to Utah's 16 for the Warriors. It was puzzling to find the fact Nellie put these guys in the 4th when perhaps the 3rd quarter would have been a better time. I'm sure sooner rather then later these guys will get more of a contribution.




Overall I hope we can find our sync for our next game against the LA Clippers in a few days time otherwhise it could be a long season

Golden State Warriors V Utah Jazz Preview: It begins

Well tonights the night. It all begins. After a inspiring 2006-2007 campaign where the Warriors ended their 13 year playoff drought with an inspiring trade and a 16-5 run to end the season and shock the Dallas Mavericks Golden State begins where it left off against the Utah Jazz who are coming off their best season since a trip to the 1998 NBA finals. Of course I already earlier posted about Nelsons weird starting lineup and how odd it was to start Pietrus at the 4 baring his Foul Trouble but maybe this was Nellie's eccentricity at work here. No doubt the toughness of the Jazz squad will work them hard they've got a nice bench with Paul Millsap a 6th man off the bench giving them much more Rebounding and hustle in case Boozer gets in Foul trouble. Al Harrington, Matt Barnes and Marco will be the main offensive firepower and further question will be asked such as will POB get much playing time and will T-Hud and Croshere have much of a role to play in this game.

If you are a neutral then there's more to get excited about then the Lakers-Rockets game (which made Golden State bumped off national TV for that matchup). Both coaches are in complete contrast with Nellieball against a structured Offense. The Jazz as proved against Golden State put up points but Nelsons Offense means Golden State alongside Phoenix will be the top team to watch this year. Just a couple of notes Stephen Jackson will be out because of his well known 7 game suspension and Matt Harpring of the Utah Jazz is a doubt because of his Ankle injury. Other then that I expect the Warriors to come out running and gunning likem it's a Game 7 and to win by 8

NFL London 2007 success or failure

The first Overseas game abroad outside of North America was played yesterday and depsite the appalling conditions and the lacklusterness of the Dolphins play there was no doubts that in some parts this was a success. Rather then write an essay on it I think it would be best if I rated it on categories such as atmosphere, quality of game, , Game entertainment etc. So here we go

Atmosphere 6\10: When the registration on the NFL London website finished it was announced there were half a million Ticket applicants. Like I said before in my previous post this figure perhaps didn't conclude the fact that there were multiple registrations or people registering for many Tickets then they had too. Despite all the hype from the NFL UK office about this the atmosphere was flat. It didn't help perhaps that from observations a lot of the fans had neutral NFL Jerseys or BAFL or IAFL Jerseys. Although their were obviously Dolphin and Giants fans about and they made noise it didn't seem to strech from all ends of the Stadium. Of course it didn't help that the quality of the game wasn't the best (More on that later) but there just wasn't the interaction I expected. Towards the end like whats common at any other NFL Game where the Winning team decides to take a Kneel and end the game there was booing from the Fans who wanted more. This left a bad mark on Tom Coughlin the Giants Head Coach and Tony Siragusa who both commented on the fans lack of knowledge when thats not really the case
-
Too much of this.

And not enough of this

Of course I wasn't expecting the crowd to resemble anything close to the Dawg Pound but at the same time the lack of atmosphere in the 1st and 4th quarters were painful. The only time they came together was the Streaker bit wwhich won't want to be replayed by the Wembley staff thats for sure.

Quality of game 5\10: Obviously because of the wet conditions this game was never going to be a classic. The 2007 Dolphins could make a case for being one of the worst NFL teams ever and this was illustrated yesterday with countless silly penalties and Lemons inconsistent performance. Countless times yours truly wanted Beck to come on to show the whole crowd why he was worthy of being drafted ahead of Brady Quinn but sadly it never happenned. Apart from one beautfiul throw to Ted Ginn Jr Lemon was bad. Jesse Chatman managed to materialise a 79 yard Running game but it was obvious how badly Ronnie brown was missed. It really didn't help that when the Booth decided between a 3rd and 4 pass was complete or not the geniuses in the P.A system decided to blare out a Bon Jovi song over the Referees call meaning you couldn't hear it.

As for the Giants they didn't look much like a 5-2 team either. Figuring out Eli Manning passing the ball wasn't going to work they consistently ran it on the ground and to good effect with Brandon Jacobs one of the best short yardage Backs getting 132 yards and looking like Tiki Barber within every play. With Manning running it in for a 10 yard TD run making the Dolphins Defense look stupid the game was over at the half which just had room for a Lawrence Tynes FG to put them up 13-0. Aside from the Running game a few catchable balls wre dropped notably by Plaxico Buress and an assured INT was dropped. Still it didn't look as if they had to sweat it and no doubt after the Skins getting hammered by the Pats they will be happy sitting innd place in a competetive NFC east.

Stadium and Concessions: 8\10 I shouldn't have to say anything about this



So instead I'd rather focus on the concession parts. All around the stadium were merchandise stands displaying the Giants and Dolphins merchandise and various other gear including a NFL 2007 London ball which I couldn't take home because of the ludricious Airport security rules. Having bought more Dolphins jerseys then I can remember I was dissapointed that there was very little else. It said somewhere that there were 32 Merchandise stands yet I counted 16 all displaying Dolphins and Giants gear. Surely realising that there were Saints, Broncos, Raiders, Packers, Cowboys etc etc Reebok could have sold jerseys from these teams. Reebook and the NFL missed a great chance here. The queues were also long as well but I didn't expect anything else. The Pitch itself was in an awful state with most of the Grass suffering but still you have to think with all the preparation going into this event something could have been prevented tat stopped the Field breaking up after 1 Quarter.

Pregame\Halftime show: 7\10: I've never heard of the Felling and based on their pregame performance I'm glad I didn't. Maybe it's because I'm not a major Rock fan but it was dire and it didn't seems as if they were playing live the acoustic TGuitar was definetely off. However the National anthems were quite good with Jocelyn Brown and Paul Potts both on the mark. With Haltime entertainment non existant the real highlight was seeing a Streaker run onto to the pitch and strut his stuff with the officials having no idea what to do.

Overall I'm rating this as a postive experience. Even though my perdicted score was 35-19 and ended up 13-10 Giants at least I got the Lawrence Tynes perdiction right he missed a relatively easy 29 yard FG. Success or Failure well a success in my eyes despite the obviousness of a few empty seats. The man of the Match in my eyes is

NFL London 2007

Yes I know this is a Golden State Warriors blog. Yes I know this is suppossed to be exclusively focused on the NBA. However occassionally this can be a two sport blog and it just so happens that tommorow features a game that for 1st time in it's history will play a regular season game across the pond. The New York Giants take on the Miami Dolphins in what at first glance looks like a one sided matchup. The Dolphins have been plagued by injuries losing Ronnie Brown to an ACL tear, Zach Thomas to a Whiplash from a Car Accident and Trent Green the former starting QB to a concussion. With all these injuries it's a sad fact of life that this game could be a rout in the Giants favour. However I would like to focus on another angle and thats the NFL's plans for expansion abroad.

For those of you who haven't read the news much the past week there have been all sorts of rumours leading up to the game. The one that jumps out on you is the Superbowl in London. Whilst I'm all for expanding overseas the idea of playing a Superbowl abroad is ludricious. You have to consider the different time zones especially since the West Coast is 8 hours behind us and the game is usually a 6.15 PM kickoff 9.15 A.M is too early a time to host a Party never mind getting drunk. The idea of a London Franchise was also laughable.

Traditionally the NFL has struggled to earn a decent following here until recently. You still had the die hard fans who watched Channel 4's Vicious Boys but up until October 27th 2007 there was never the same passion for the sport that has ignited now. At first the NFL reported there was a 500,000 Ticket application a figure which was obviously incorrect and din't take into account the number of multiple registrations etc. Then when the 1st batch of Tickets went on sale we were told 40,000 Tickets went on sale in 90 minutes. It didn't matter to the NFL that you had been a dolphins fan for 20 something years. Like any good sporting organisation they just wanted the money the nature of the fan didn't matter to them . No point in complaining esecially when we suffered the good old American Bowls

Of course it typically doesn't help that in the Weak leading up to the game many Media outlets and players have treated the UK fans as secondary fans. Witness Channing Cowder and his hilariously downright opinion towards London or Tony Siraggussa a fox commentator who seems to have an idea that British fans won't have any idea what the hells going on.

So the only way to counter these opinions is to MAKE SOME NOISE



>


VS


Perdictions: Ted Ginn JR returns opening Kickoff for a TD
Cleo Lemon gets knocked out so we can see why John Beck was chosen as the QB of the future.
Tynes the Giants Kicker misses a few easy ones his punnishment for saying this game was a mistake. See the 7th paragraph
It rains
And finally the Giants to win 35-19

Warriors: 109 Clippers: 103 Preseason game 7

The lat preseason game was a chance for Nellie to rest the starters and allow the second team to have a shot which proved a success in a 109-103 success over the clippers. Despite almost blowing a 23 point lead the Warriors cloes their preseason at a 5-2 finish. With that in mind here are some observations from the boxscore after last nights game.

Will Monta Ellis really be our backup PG. A few days ago in our season preview I was sure T-Hud would get the hnours but Ellis last night finally had the big breakout exhibtion game we anticipated with 27 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. Such a performance means he's ready for action. However he did have a slight ankle sprain towards the end of the game which the Team doctors said they would look at today.

Kosta Perovic I don't know where I stand with him. Signing him to a deal was preplexing enough considering he din't play at all last year but he didn't play too bad 8 points on 3-4 shooting. always puzzled about this pick it seemed it was rushed at the time and considering he didn't play at all last season a waste as well but hopefully he can gel it together this season.

Not too sure where to start with Marco. He once again showed he wasn't afraid to shoot going 3-11 but on the other hand the transition from the Euro League to the NBA is huge.

Harrington has a lot of explosivness that was lacking in his Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers days perhaps attributed to the loss of weight in the offseason. He had 21 points. Also a shoutout to Austin Croshere who like Baron Davis is an LA native. He had 11 points and seemingly lived up to the billing of being our hustle guy


Couresy of nba.com Monta Ellis showing his stuff

2007-2008 NBA Blog previews Southeast Previews

More progress it's now only 4 day until tipoff in the Oracle Arena where we shall look for an unprecedented sencond consecutive Playoff appearance. until then our latest blog preview focus on the Southeast Division which like the Northwest is the have Division. It's truly mixed where the talented like the Heat baring injuries can be really really good the rest really really bad such as the Atlanta Hawks. However because of the Bobcats acquisition of Richardson this has the potential of being a three horse race. Anyway check out these division previews by these knowledgable bloggers.


Washington Wizards

Bullets Forever


Orlando Magic
Believing in Magic
3rd Quarter Collapse

Miami Heat
I want to be a Sports Agent
Crazy from the Heat

Atlanta Hawks
Impending Firestorm

Charlotte Bobcats
Bobcat Bonfire

Here's how I see the division going down.
1. miami Heat- Toughest pick as yet. Baring they stay away from the injury problems which plagued them last year see Shaq, Dwayne Wade etc they have a good shot. Ricky Davis gives them added depth in the Backcourt but on the other hand they are a project and could miss the playoffs entirely evident by their recent preseason form
2. Orlando Magic- Overpaid Rashard Lewis but him and Dwight Howard have the potential to be one of the best Frontcourt partnerships. Stan Van Gundy has been there and done that so he should help Howard become more dominant.
3. charlotte Bobcats- Even without Adam Morrissson they should contend for the 8th playoff spot. Raymond Felton, Jason Richardson and Gerald Wallace are going to bring excitement to something other then College Hoops in North Carolina.
4. Washington Wizards- If Arenas gets injured this team is screwed as evident by the Cleveland series. Problems down low and a bad Defense means they won't return to the Playoffs.
5. Atlanta Hawks- Despite horrific attendances plaging this team they have an exciting young core talent with Joe Johnson, Al Harford, Josh Childress and Josh Smith could turn it around even with nother missed playoff appearance


Enjoy Disneyland

Check out the other blog previews out there Atlantic Division, Southwest Division, Centeral Divisionand Northwest Division



Looks weird but it only means the February 1st game adds greater significance

Golden State Warriors season preview

Like our ESPN and other NBA blog counterparts I decided to post a Season preview of the up and coming season. Do I think we're capable of a second conseutive postseason appearance. Read on and find out.



Last year’s record: 42-40 (0.617)

Players added: Troy Hudson, Marco Bellinelli, Brandon Wright, Stephene Lasme, Kosta Perovic Austin Croshere

Players dropped from Roster: Jason Richardson, Adonal Foyle, Saurans Jaskevicus, Josh Powell.

What significant moves were made during the off-season?: The most siginficant move was the loss of Jason Richardson during draft day in exchange for brandon Wright of the Charlotte bobcats. Although the Warriors lose some of the explosiveness Jason Richardson had going by our exhibition games it is proven Keleena is a better defender and shooter. The player we got in exchange Brandon Wright has had commendable preseason displays and has earned praise from Don Nelson a welcome change from last years incident with POB so it is hoped Wright develops into the big man he is well and tuly capable off. So overall the loss of Richardson isn't as severe as experts think.

The Warriors also went after a veteran 10 year Forward in the shape of Austin Croshere. Despite averaing 2 rebounds a game not exactly any indication he will help our Rebounding problems he comes dirt cheap and probably will get a lot of playing time since Stephen Jackson is suspended. Expect Pietrus at the 4 not to last long. Lastly knowing Monta Ellis isn't a true PG the Warriors went after Troy Hudson to backup Baron Davis which like Croshere's contract was for the vet minumum. Husdon essentially brings better decision making and plenty of expereince to the table. The only negative thing I can bring out is a failed rap career but other then that not a bad signing. He will be competing with Monta Ellis with backup spot but I think it's obvious that after the Seattle game T-Hud has won the right.

2. What are the team’s biggest strengths? Offensively this team thrives under Don Nelsons Offense averaging 106.5 PPG and being involved in several shootouts last season. If anything in todays defensive conscious game they provide a welcome change to the low scoring games you find now.

with Baron Davis and stephen Jackson prgressing well as a nice partnership it is hoped these two continue like this into next season with both especially showing what they can do in several games in the Playoffs most notably Jackson making 7 3 pointers in a row respectively.

3. What are the team’s biggest weaknesses? Devensively this team is suspect giving up 106.9 PPG. Put this contrast with the Phoenix Suns a likeminded Fastbreak team who give up 1002 PPG and would be nice to make some progress at this end. Partly this is because of the rebounding which was atrocious last season the Warriors being ranked along the bottom Offensively. Part of the problem is Stephen Jackson who doesn't play the rebounding role we'd like him to play and Al Harrington both who struggled to guard Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur on the boards. It is hoped croshere will solve this. The Warriors were also bad in the turnover category ranking 5th worst in the League but at the same time ranking the best for forcing the opposition into TO.

Backup Center is alo a problem with POB being hoped he learns the reigns quickly enough otherwhise it could be trouble. POB has been prone to foul trouble in the past and unless he doesn't solve it quickly this could be a long year at this position. The schedule doesn't help matters either five of the first 7 games are against Playoffs teams that have won 50 games or more Utah twice, Cleveland, Dallas and Detroit. This has been eased however by the fact four of those five - and five of the seven overall - will be at Oracle Arena where the Warriors had the best home advantage last season


Position-by-position breakdown:

Courtesy of sports Illustrated


Point Guard: Baron Davis is pretty much a garanteed starter depending of course on whether he stays healthy which is the main question surronding season perdictions. Coming off a Playoffs where he averaged 25.3 points, 6.5 assists, 2.9 steals, and 4.5 rebounds per game the hype has carried on into the next season. He is currently looking for a contract extension as well

Shooting Guard: Monta Ellis will start here. Even after the 2007 playoffs debacle he did average 16 PPG in the regual season and started owning comparrassions to our very own Gilbert Arenas. Despite a lot of question over his character and rumours over the Warriors trading him for a conditional Draft pick which were immediately squashed Monta has the job over Marco who is a very streaky shooter 4 for 23 from 3 point range in preseason isn't going to get you anywhere.

Small Forward: Unexpectedly Kelenna will start here perhaps delighfully if we go by Preseason form. He has proven to be a much better defender and outside shooter then J-Rich and the dropoff won't be as bad as ESPN think. Unknown around draft time he was projected as a poor Outside shooter and now look at him. In fact

Mully called me on New Years' Eve and asked me if I liked sambuca, and I said 'Yeah,' " Nelson recalled. "And he went out there and signed this guy, Azubuike.

"I thought it was a drink and he was talking about a player."

Great story indeed

Power Forward: Pietrus has been named as our starter but I can't see this. Not only is he a foul machine he matchus up terribly against Boozer and will get destroyed on the boards. Al Harrington will probably be the starter this was probably a media trick by Don Nelson to get the media writing about something.Pietrus is an awful dribbler and far too often steps out of bounds with the ball (Bizzarre i know). Hrrington is a better three point shooter percentage wise and exploits mismatches something Pietrus wouldn't have a clue how to do. Hopefully Al comes in straight away.




Center: Biedrins isn't a physical post player but he has all the potential to be our first All Star in years. Averaging 9.3rpg and scoring 9.6ppg he is very durable 82 regular season games plus all 11 playoff games. the one thing I'm concerned about is his inability to create his own shot this came out of nowhere. If he did that more often there is ever possibility he could join the elite of big men in the West such as Tim Duncan, Boozer etc. POB backups him up and whether he'll turn out like last year is another mattter.


Season Predictions:

43-39 2nd in Pacific Division
Playoffs: 7th seed eliminated in 1st round
All Stars: Baron Davis,

Last season was terrific to watch. The Dallas series felt like a Superbowl in the Bay area and boy did we get international attention or what . Are we poised to repeat our playoff appearance. I think so despite after our opening 8 game stretch 17 of the next 26 are on the road which is why slightly below or above .500 is to be expected. February is the month we make our playoff case with a huge home stretch. Against any other Western conference team but Dallas it remains to be seen over a 7 game series can we compete with any others. We have two stars on our team Davis and Jackson however. Depending on if both show up this team can cause havoc against any opononent



These fans have been accussed of bandwagoning despite home attendences remaining well strong before the Playoff run

Contrast

In arguably the most amazing contrast in sports over the past few months the Warriors went from this

Boxscore

to this



In just over a few months the Warriors had becomea bunch of has been on pace to miss the Playoffs for a 13th straight year to becoming the talk of the Playoffs. Every Warrior fan who had supported them through the PJ Carelsimo and Dave Cowens year suddenly had something to talk about. That may Night where we shocked the Basketball wordl was the greatest night of ever being a Golden State fan. Not only was their a buzz through the Bay Area and through Golden State fans worldwide it also put us on the map as well known celebrity fans started jumping on the teams bandwagon particulary Snoop who in the past acknowledged the fact he was a Laker fan.






But like all feel good stories it came to an end. Despite the dunk Utah flat out outplayed us and eventually we came apart because of silly techincals. coslty missed throws that would have iced the game and stupid fouls. Our Playoff dream is over but the number of national TV appearances this season suggest the networks haven't forgotten about us. When june came around Mullin proved he's not really like any other NBA Gm in which he makes calculated risks. Trading Jason Richardson could be a master stroke or a dumb move. It's not an exaggeration to say his GM evaluation is based on this. Then our great servant Foyle left and it was fitting that not too many changes were made but a bigger expectation then the DunMuprhy years. The bottom line is we have a much deeper bench then last year and hopefull T-Hud and Monta Ellis prove that they are legitimate backup PG's to Baron Davis. A deeper bench doesn't neccasarily mean we can compete with Phoenix but the fact that we added phyisicality and depth means 5-2 4-3 would be expected during our first 8 games

Brandon Wright

Even though the exhibition season hasn't had much going wrong for the Warriors good news definitely the real breakout player so far is Brandon Wright when perhaps POB would have been my preferred choice. Never the less according to the San Francisco Chronicle against Seattle he flat out dominated.

We were just trying to stay in front," Wright said. "Make sure a guy helps out, don't give up the block, try to make it a little crowded in there, try to make him think twice about getting (the ball) over the top."

"It lets them use their quickness. It's not a strength move," Nelson explained. "That really helped them defend the low box."

Then Nelson added, as if in disbelief: "Brandan was where he was supposed to be defensively. And he's got something special because he's so long and quick. He got to balls that nobody else on my team could have got to."

This is undoubtedly the best news of the preseason so far. Not only does it mean that Brandon Wright is living up to the fact he was called a stud by most College Basketball Experts he has basically proven to be the Rookie to watch so far. His quickness and wingspan combined with an hopeful ability to crash the boards means he could so far live up to the hype Nellie delivered for him. Will he get playing time or not well thats the question but with s-Jax out there's always a chance. He also has a good midrange J. So overall with Pietrus being extremely prone to fouling (in the Seattle game he fouled out in 12 minutes there is every chance Wright will get a lot of playing time against the Jazz

Trade Update

Faced by a 0-7 record in Preseason and the pressure on Pat Riley mounting the Heat decided to make a Roster change. Antoine Walker was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Ricky Davis and Mark Blount. At first glance I'm not too surprised. Walker had fallen out with Pat Riley ages ago over his conditioning issues and once you fall out with Pat Riley thats it as far as playing for him goes. Miami didn't get a bad deal they did of the horrific Antoine Walker for Ricky Davis and that itself is a winner but the fact that Timeberwolves got rid off Mark Blount is a minor victory because blount is the worst contract in the trade. Apparently according to other News reports that Walker will be bought out and head to Boston

I never though it was possible my opinion of Mchale as a GM could get any lower but it just did. His connection with Boston has affected the trade market see the K.G deal and now he's trying to let Walker head back to Boston because of his playing connections and caddy for Pierce, Garnett and Allen is nonsense. Lets hope the commish starts something. It's all very well and good having a dress code but if you allow your GM's to have your former connections with teas over the priority of your own team then theres something wrong

Latrell Sprewell the star

Back in the 90's before the J-Rich era it was actually feasible to find a much more improved version of Jason Richardson in the shape of Latrell Fontaine Sprewel. Believe it or not and I'm sure Baron Davis will break the trend he was the only Warrior to be selected to an All Star Game, be named on the All-NBA First teamband defensive Team and was even named MVP of the famous McDonalds high School game. Things were going so good for Sprewell and the Warriors that he even had enough to feed his Family.



But like Shaq in Los Angeles good thing don't last for long and the infamous choke job with inept coach PJ Carelsimo who told him to put a little more mustard on those passes meant he was literally forced out. The worst part of it was we haven't had an All Star Game representative for literally 13 years. All Star games are pretty much popularity contests but seeing Baron Davis miss out last year was hard to take as he pretty much in some cases put up All Star numbers. However like other NBA stars the one thing Sprewell has been critisced for is once he realised he could score he didn't play Defense nearly as hard enough but I still think he should be remembered especially with these two cool clips. Thanks to tmedny20 and sickdunks for these

Preseason game 6: Golden State V Seattle

Even though this preseason game is mmeaningless it should be interesting to watch for a few things mainly how Seattle's main star Kevin Durrant gets on. After two preaseaon loses in a row to the Clippers and San Antonio it would be nice to reverse the trend tonight. It's interesting but in Seattle no matter what athlete comes along and tries to shake along the sports trend there e.g. Ichiro, Shaun Alexander or in Supersonics case Kevin Durrant Seattle will always be remembered for the two things it has brought to the world both a popular part of youth culture


I could go for some of that right now

and


One of the best rockers RIP Kurt.

The only question I have for Sonics fans is when are they moving to Oklahoma?. My perdictions would be
Warriors to win by 6 with a certain Bellinelli making 5 from downtown
Going by their record so far the Sonics will prove just how much there missing Ray Allen

Update: Warriors win 126=122

Just a few notes to take after the game.
:With this game deciding who will go to the D League after last night it's obvious Kosta Perovic and Lasme will probably go their. Obviously POB won't because he's our backup center.
: Monta Ellis isn't our backup PG and probably never will be. Three Turnovers in crucnhtime and six for the game I'll let the stats do the talking. However these type of preseason games show him his errors on the cort rather then out of a book

: Brandon Wright had 7 points 6 rebounds, 1 steal, no turnover and played pretty well. Made a case for not being sent to the D-League especially after getting 3 offenive against the likes of kurt Thomas and chris Wilcox both big bruising Forwards.

POB reminded me of Ike Diagou tonight prone to fouling all the time. Three fouls in just over a minute shows the guy needs to cool it down a little on Offense

The Mullin era

When Mullin took over the team around 2004 I think it's fair to say most Warrior fans didn't have a clue what he'd be like as GM. Most NBA players don't convert well to the business or coaching side of the NBA Magic Johnsons short coaching stint with the Lakers or Danny Ferry's imcopetent job with the Cav's being two obvious prime examples. It didn't help that at the start he made some dodgy decisions such as giving Foyle, Dunleavy or Murphy ridiculous contracts. Now that these three and Jason Richardson have now been offloaded the Garry St jean era is now well and truly over.


courtesy of ESPN
His best move.

Mullin has also made the mistake of the coaching side of the ball before Nellie. Unfortunately Mike montgomery was judged to be the best man after the Stanfford cardinals had a magic season the year before but turned out to be a complete bust with Baron Davis infamously giving up on him . Mullin lied several times about his confidence in Monty coming back but revaluated his position because he knew Monty wasn't the best man for the job. Good job there because as we all now Nellie came back and made up for the 1994 gaffle with Chris Webber by taking us to the playoffs or the promised land. He's able to stray the Media from the big story got to love that

He's also done a good job with players. He let Matt barnes test the Free agant market and Barnes comes back cheaper. Pietrus was the same and now he's starting at PF for the opening game suppossedly. Who will forget that trade with Baron Davis and unloading Speedy Claxton arguably one of the more loopsided trades as Claxton has fladed into oblivion with the Atlanta Hawks and Davis proved money in the playoffs. He might have gone after Ron Artest a little harder when he was available because imaging a trio of Davis, J-Rich and Artest flying down the court would have been amazing to watch but judging by the way Artest has given up on the Kings maybe it's not so bad. He even had us dreaming of a K.G deal during the summer which sadly never materialised.


One of his draft day successes?

Mullins drafts have been up and down. Ike diagou was a wasted pick and didn't fit in the system whatsoever. The jury is still out on P.O.B but to his credit he must have known some insight information on Brandon Wright that we didn't to replace J-Rich. Hopefully Marco can turn into something special because then Mullin looks like a genius even though the media will atill say it's Nellies influence. Either way I think our future is in safe hands much more so then under this guy.

Overated team according to Detroit

In one of the latest offers according to a Detroit Pistons website a list of the most overated players are listed. Surprise surprise according to them Monta Ellis is. Not going to dispute this as such as from a previous article I listed the facts that I don't quite think he's quite the next Gilbert Arenas and that he probably won't reach the hype many warrior fans created for him. Depending on how he plays in the regular season he could be a broaderline all star but I don't see him developing into anything else. But anyway moving on Monta this article does have some humerous choices including their outake on Jason Kidd

"

What really elevates his game is his rebounding, without which he would not be enough of a threat to log stellar assist totals, or even stay in the NBA. Triple-doubles are great, but there is a reason why a Nets team anchored by this trio of alleged stars only wins about 45 games per year. Kidd is fine, but he is only a top-tier PG in fantasy.

".


No way jose is this guy overrated

This would seem to be misinfomed at best as right now Kidd is arguably in the top 3 of best NBA PG's at the moment and has somehow managed to take a Nets team with a horrendous Front Court all the way to an Eastern Conference Semi Final. It's worth remembering that when Kidd joined the Nets around 2002 he took a team that had lost 27 games to winning 52 games the year after. Granted he's not a Shooter but surely this type of turnaround should be considered by these fans. Ten postseason career triple doubles and his continuous Defense on top tier NBA PG's mean they don't often have career days. Using off court troubles to boost their point is not relative as well because if we went by this logic Kobe Bryant would be overated.

Marucs Camby

Defensive player of the year? Camby is a good rebounder and shot-blocker, but Denver allowed 104 ppg last season, and Camby’s defensive numbers don’t rate that well. Camby is a very solid player, and will probably deliver double digit rebounds in perpetuity, but one gets the impression that sportswriters are still anticipating a breakout year from the 33 year old

This from a logic point is laughable. Camby was number one along players blocked last season with 3.3 per game and 11 Rebounds per game. Allowing a 104 PPG given up stat and including it in the fact Marcus camby is overated category doesn't make sense either as your basically blaming him for this stat.


Camby doing what he always does

Michael Redd

"Michael Redd is a solid shooter. Thanks to his popularity amongst a couple of influential columnists, Redd is somehow elevated to the status of unheralded superstar. He’s good, but I would expect a superstar to lead a solid supporting cast to 40-42 wins in the Eastern Conference at minimum. He’ll put the ball in the basket all day and all night, but lacks the multi-faceted game to be a real threat"

Calling Redd overated and expecting to lead the Bucks to 40 wins when he only played in 52 of the Bucks 82 games. Once again nonsense.


Deron Williams

Deron is a top-10 point guard, but the assumption seems to be that he will emerge as a superstar this year. At 23, there is room for modest improvement, but he is no sure thing for stardom, and I would take Chris Paul in a heartbeat. I defy you to explain how his career trajectory is substantially different from, say, Andre Miller.

Doesn't struggle like the author says he does he does nearly average 20 points a game after all and 10 assists. Has a lot of growth in his game and could be soon better then Chris Paul. Warrior fans saw him as his true best in our playoff series

The daniel Gibson inclusion is weird as well. At no other stage during the regular season did Gibson prove he was either underated or overated until Cleveland got to the playoff stages against Detroit. It felt as if this detroit fan was bitter. The rest of the article was fine you'll be pleased to know

2007-2008 NBA Blog Previews: Northwest Division

Our 3rd installment of our daily blog previews this time focuses on the Northwest Division . Even though it's home to a nondescript part of the West (God I'd hate to live in Seattle because of the rain) it's home to two of the Western Conference contenders Utah and Denver. Arguably this is one of the least competitive divisions in the NBA because Utah and denver are always 1st or 2nd so what do my fellow bloggers think

Still going strong after 19 years coaching will the Jazz repeat last years success?

Denver Nuggets

Nuggdoctor


Minnesota Timberwolves

http://www.twolvesblog.com/
Timberwolves today


Portland Trailblazers

A portland Trailblazers blog

Seattle Supersonics
Sonics central

Utah Jazz

Basketball john
Daily basketball
Taking it to the Rack

My take on the division goes like this
1. Utah Jazz- Will undoubtedly improve on last years success even with the A.K issue about his contract being a cloud and their fans. The major question for Warrior fans is how are we going to make up for last years playoff failures against these guys come opening night.

2. Denver Nuggets- The A.I Carmelo Anthony combo hasn't clicked yet especially after a 3rd consecutive 1st round playoff defeat to the Spurs but it will.

3. Minnesota Timberwolves- Yes they lost the one and only K.G but judging by the young talent they acquired with the Boston Celtics dropoff won't be huge
4. Seattle- A 30 win team without Ray Allen. Any questions?

5. Portland- no Oden + no Zach randolph = another losing season. On the bright side they have a shot at OJ Mayo?

Pat Burke the unknown

Living in Ireland myself I supposse I should show a sign of appreciation for one of our own. In a country that has been tradionally dominated by mainstream sports such as Soccer,Rugby, Gaelic, Hurling and then Basketball it's pleasing to find one Pat Burke try to find his way on to the Warriors main roster. It may be in doubts as we have to cut two players by October 29th which more then likely will be himself and Tierre Brown but even so these two youtube clips no doubt show a comedic side to the man. Sadly there's no doubt his NBA life will be remembered for these then his playing ability but anyway





Oh and just for good messure why not throw his finest career achievement to date. The fact this is against the Queens makes it even more sweeter



But seriously despite his undistiguished preseason play he might make a decent replacement from Sauranas Jasikevicius as our head cheerleader. No doubt he won't make the team because of our blind faith in Kosta Perovic and Patrick O bryant as our Center. The sad fact is he doesn't quite have the Offensive skills (apart from being a good shooter) to make it in a high tempo offense Phoenix being the obvious example. Oh well

Update: It seems my worst wishes have come true even though I know how bad he was. Pat Burke and Tierre Brown both Training Camp invitees have been cut. From Janny Hu


"As expected, the Warriors made their final cuts by waiving camp invitees Pat Burke and Tierre Brown today. Coach Don Nelson took a long look at Burke, whom he was hoping would be able to backup Andris Biedrins at center, but the 6-11 Irishman "just wasn't good enough" in the end. That means second-round pick Stephane Lasme is safe and Patrick O'Bryant remains the backup center. If O'Bryant isn't ready, then expect to see some of Al Harrington and Austin Croshere in middle relief. Nelson will also take a look at Lasme at the 5, though even Nelson admits that might be a stretch for a 6-8 player who was on the roster bubble"

Our opening game Starting Lineup

Not prone to any type of news during Training Camp Nelson basically announced his starting team for the Opening game against the Utah Jazz on October 30th. No S-Jax means the lineup will be like this.

PG: Baron Davis | SG: Monta Ellis | SF: Kelenna Azubuike.
PF: Mickael Pietrus | C: Andris Biedrins

Before I lay into some of the decisions I have to command Azubuike for winning the Starter spot at SG. Major congrats to our British SG

But some of the decisions here are puzzling. Allowing Monta Ellis to start at SG means there's no size in the Backcourt something Utah will easily take advantage, Putting Pietrus at PF ahead of Barnes or Harrington is weird. Harrington gives us something we need on the boards and essentially Nelson is playing with 4 guards in the lineup?. I would assume O Bryant comes in at some stage to show what he's capable. In other words expect a lot of rebounds from boozer and Okur as Pietrus won't be able to keep them off the glass.

I supposse one good thing we can take from this is between now and ooening night knowing Don Nelson lineups are never permanent . Which in this case is a good thing

2007-2008 NBA Blog Previews: Central Division

10 days to go till Warriors tip off but first we're catchinng up with our latest on blog team previews. With the Atlantic and Southwest divisions covered now it's time for the Centeral or as some fans call it the least entertaining Division in the league even though the Pistons and the Cleveland Cavalliers have both made Finals appearances over the last few years. However credit to all the bloggers here though who have rooted for these teams

Chicago Bulls

Cobra Brigade
Bull Riding

Cleveland Cavalliers
YAYsports
The POJO Dojo
Cavallier Attitude
Truth in a Bullet Fedora

Detroit Pistons
PistonsNationBlog
Empty the Bench
Need4Sheed
Motoring


Indiana Pacers
Indy Cornrows
Pacers Pulse

Milwaukee Bucks
Bango's Bunch

Here's how I think the Central division will turn out
1. Detroit Pistons- Despite losing two conference Finals in a row will more then likely be there again. The closest challengers to Boston in the east a lot depends on how well they replace Chris Webber who could be a noteworthy loss
.
2. Chicago Bulls- This could turn out to be a huge gaffle but I actually think Chicago are much more of a scoring threat then Cleveland with Ben Gordon. Luol Deng etc. Sooner or later when these two meet Chicago will realise that no one else outside of Lebron scores much and that will be the Cavs downfall.

3. cleveland Cavalliers- See above

4, Milwaukee Bucks- Asking Michael Redd and Yi Jinlan to get them to the playoffs when yi din't even want to be here in the first place smacks of desperation.

5. Indiana Pacers. When Murphy and Dunleavy are part of your starting Frontcourt and both expected to do the job Stephen Jackson did (Rebound and hustle) which neither of them did particulary well here then your in trouble

2007-2008 NBA Blog Previews: Southwest Division

No not that Southwest
With the 2007-2008 NBA Season just around the corner it's time for our second blog preview and this time it's the Southwest Division thats been scrutinized. Arguably the best Division in the NBA the last 3 NBA finals representatives have come from here San Antonio twice Dallas once and have every chance of doing the same thing. These fine bloggers know about it too more then Warrior fans know how much we own the Mavs.



San Antonio Spurs

Spur of the Moment
Pounding the Rock


New Orleans
The Hornets Fan
Hornets 24\7

Memphis
Shades of Blue
The New Orleans Hornets Fan
Houston
Hoops blogging

Dallas
Showboating

One again a mighty thanks to Celtics blog for allowing NBA fans a insight into how other fans feel about the upcoming season for their teams. Thanks guys.

Now my take on this division.

1. San Antonio Spurs- Deep down despite all the cristiscm they have for their boring style of Basketball evident in game 3 of last years Finals I still think they are the class of the Division. Age will start to tell but can't look past them for this years title.

2. Dallas Mavericks- We may own them but without S-Jax for our opening season series matchup against them will we continue to do the same?.

3. Houston Rockets- The only thing I'm sure about this team is Adelman will make them play more entertaining ball then Jeff Van Gundy ever did. The only thing I'm not sure is how far will he take them. Oh right 1st round exit again

4. New Orleans Hornets- When your owner makes you pay for a 14.5 million dollar practice facility then you know despite the Chris Cohan hell he'll never approach that level of greediness.

5. Memphis Grizzlies- The only good news for this team Pau Gasol thats it

2007-2008 NBA Blog Atlantic Division Preview

With a new season just days away it's good to see fellow Bloggers get in on the act with a team by team analysis thanks to Celtics blog. as you would expect this being the Celtics blog the Atlantic division which mny have referred to as the titanic division has been previewed. However these bloggers beg to differ

Celtics
Celtics
Loysplace
Celtics 17
Reds Army
Celtics 24\7
Green Bandwagon

Nets
Hooplah nation
Nets Daily

Knicks
Straight Bangin
Posting and Toasting

Sixers

Passion and Pride

Raptors
Hoops addict

The way I see the division.

1. Boston- It's there's to lose it really is
2. Toronto Raptors- One of the young teams in the NBA are my surprise tip in the East.
3. New Jersey Nets- Leagues best backcourt duel in Jason Kidd and Vince Carter
4. New York Knicks- After getting Zack Randolph to combine with Eddy Curry and Jeromme James probably put them too low but does anyone expect any serious progress with Isiah Thomas as your coach.
5. Philadelphia 76ers- They suck flat out suck. Need I say anymore

Is Monta Ellis the future

After some decent regular season stats but horrible playoff ones I think it's fair to assume that for Monta Ellis to join the top tier of NBA Guards he must have a make or break year. We all know what happenned last season. In the regular seasoon he just flat excelled beyond anyones expectaions not only just raising his 3ppg to 16.5 but winnning the most improved player award edging out Kevin Martin of the Sacramento Kings who as much as it pains me to say it was robbed. A couple of game winning shots most notably against the New Jersey Nets and suddenly we started to believe he was the second coming of Gilbert Arenas.
None of this in the playoffs though?

But then the playoffs came. This was suppossed to be his coming out party where he showed he can produce in crunch time. I'm not sure whether it was a combination of a national audience or the fact that the p. The pressure got to him but Ellis played scared. His poor performances and 0 for 5 against Dallas in game 4 or on court mistakes weren't what caught the eye most it was his body reaction. Every time TNT cut to the Warriors bench he had a towel wiped accross his face with the I don't want to be there attidude. It was incredibly disaapointing and a long way away from the Monta Ellis we saw in the regular season. Of course the usual excuses were made by the fans, media, and the Coaches but against the Jazz a rough and physical team Ellis was really exposed. In game 3 for example Ellis was missing shots, turning the ball over and doing all the stuff no player wants to ever do. Had it not been for Baron Davis and his individualisitc play at Guard all Warrior fans would have sit up and taken notice at. Part of this is attributed to the freedom Ellis was allowed in Nellieball and regular season. Nelson from observation isn't a control freak so he allows his players to do whatever they want but when it comes to the playoffs in a close game no coach allows that. Monta couldn't live with that and played scared.

Another part of it is his maturity level. Part of the reason for his low draft standing was character issues and rumours which have been vehemntly denied were the Warriors were looking to trade him for a Draft pick because of his maturity level. Now after this season Monta will obviously want a new healthy contract. Question is how much. Barbossa of the Phoenix Suns got 5 years at 33 Million and Devin Harris of Dallas got 5 years 42 million. Monta will want a deal closer to Devin assuming because it's more money.

So really even though you can't judge a player of Monta Ellis' calibre after one or two playoff series the weaknessess were set out for everyone to see. The next Gilbert Arenas definetly not.

Monta Ellis mix right here .

SG Comparasion after last night

One of the things that hasn't been done this offseason is comparring the play of former Warrior J-Rich to Bellinelli and Azbuike. So without further adoo here is the boxscores from last night from each player.

JRICH vs Atlanta Hawks

29 minutes
8-18 from the field = 17 total points
1-5 from beyond the arc
0-2 freethrows
1 Rebound
2 assists
3 turnovers
1 steal

Kelenna vs Spurs

38 minutes
7-12 from the field = 17 total points
1-3 from beyond the arc
2-2 freethrows
5 Rebound
0 Assists
1 Turnovers
3 Steals

Belinelli vs Spurs

28 minutes
5-13 from the field = 17 total points
1-6 from behind the arc
6-8 freethrows
3 Rebound
3 Assists
2 Turnovers
2 Steals

I guess what it proves is that the drop off of Jason Richardson isn't proving as bad with Marco putting up okay numbers not far from being a elite NBA SG although not as good as some fans thought in other words at the moment he's in the middle in production values . Kelena will alomost certainly be the starter so this chart is indicating more or less how this position is doing and in this case not as bad as Warrior fans thought

Concerns

One of the major concerns that has not been addressed this offseason and to be fair is pretty surprising and it was pretty obvious in the Utah Jazz series is our Rebounding. Free throws being a close second. It seems this offseason was all about cap control and you have to admire Mullin for not giving a Rashard Lewis type deal like the Magic but like it or not the Front office has a lot to answer on this one. The j-Rich deal is a classic example in point. Even though it's not a Mitch Ritchmond for Billy Owens type deal where you trade away an All Star for a unknown quantity the trade didn't really solve the weakness. Brandon Wright who despite his long wingspan hasn't show anything just yet and perhaps just like POB last year could be sent to the NBDL. Lasme will probably be more of the same even though he has been called a sleeper it's just not possible to see him get many minutes this Season especially with Croshere in contention. If anything the Rebounding woes are becasue of Stephen Jackson who is just atrocious on the glass at SF and our Defensive System installed with many Forwards out of position. A good comparrassion to all this and maybe a example to follow would be the Phoenix suns


The only time you'll ever see this on here

The Phoenix Suns are able to to get away with it because Shawn Marrion, Raja Bell and Kurt Thomas are superior Defenders. It also helps that at the 3 Marrion is an unreal Rebounder and those players don't come around often. So we did add 3 point Shooters and going by Nellie words worked harder on Defense but in the end Warriors scarificed Rebounding for defensive versatlity which is fine by me. Just look at the players currently available Josh Smith we can't afford, Drew gooden no way his lack of intelligence is a factor, Wilcox yes but we had nothing to offer Seattle. The lack of big name Rebounders on the market is telling.

So overall aprrehensive about the Rebounding issue but as optomisitic as ever

Spurs 116 Warriors: 111

Not a whole lot you can say about last nights game so I thought I'd let the box score do the talking.


Harrington 14 Rebounds means he could solve our board defiecency although his shooting stats approach on worrisome 7-22. Having not seen the game it's safe to assume by the large number of Rebounds most of them were putbacks but thats still inexcusable.

Pietrus for some reason is bad. He tweaked his back so thats an excuse but at grabbing two Rebounds a game isn't going to win many fans over. One rebound Four fouls not much you can say.

Pat Burke won't make the list of undistgunished Forwards that have made the Warriors roster e.g Chris Taft. his play is that bad.

Stephene Lasme is active looking at the stats 2 Blocks 5 Fouls which can be good or bad. Didn't get any Defensive rebounds however maybe his Size and Weight being a factor?.

Sit Baron Davis down. 17 and 9 in limited playing time means your more then ready for this season. No point trying to rack up a injury in garbage time

Warriors V Spurs

Arguably tbis is the most unimportant part of the preseason the middle stage where many teams decide to rest the starters in fear of injury etc. With that in mind tonights matchup is meaningless with coaches in the NBA PatRiley of the miami Heat being the most recent Coach to claim the NBA Exhibition season is too long and he has to rest all of his starters. Perhaps that could explain some of their results they lost by 40 to the Magic but still nones counting. Have the Spurs by 10 but really no one cares.

Now this is a little more interesting. Taking off a typical NFL Films production Baron Davis agreed to be miced in our 2nd preseason game against the Lakers after sitting out/ Our training Camp blog quotes

"During the Warriors' final preseason game in Hawaii last week, Baron Davis agreed to wear a microphone while sitting on the bench. Knowing he wasn't going to play in the game, Baron interacted with teammates and definitely kept himself entertained".

Kobe Bryant somethings up

Whilst this blog is devoted religiously to the Golden State Warriors it's also still worth looking at news from around the NBA and at the moment they don't much come bigger then this.



Arguably Kobe Bryant is the best player in the NBA. For years he was spoiled by success as himself and Shaq brought glory to a town that had disappeared and suffered baren years. Game winning shots etc and Three Chsmpionships. However once he suffered a Finals upset to the Pistons Shaq departed to Miami and Kobe has been left to pick up the pieces of what has been a shattered NBA team. After two 1st round exits both at the hands of the Phoenix Suns just 5 months ago Kobe did the unthinkable and asked for a trade. Or perhaps he didn't denying on the Stehen A. smith show he ever said such a thing. Now it has all resurfaced again after various media outlets leaked the story of Buss meeting Kobe over the summer where Buss said he's willing to resurface overs availaible for kobe. It's easy to see why Kobe would want to leave. For starters the mangaement haven't gotten him the Superstar he has demanded to play alongside (Derek Fisher doesn't count). Adding to that the trade which involved Caron Butler for kwame Brown was a big mistake. Caron Butler has become an Eastern Conference all star while Kwame Brown has yet to live the hype of the 1st pick of the 2001 Draft

Other bad decisions by the Lakers involve not trading odom for Boozer exactly the beast they would have needed and declining to trade Andrew Bynum for Jason Kidd. Jason Kidd proceeded to average a triple double in last year's playoffs, and then follow it up with an encore by starring alongside Kobe Bryant in the Olympic Qualifying tournament last summer. In other words they decided to keep a Project Center and passed on a All Star Guard. This could have been the lineup


Point Guard: Jason Kidd
Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant
Small Forward: Caron Butler
Power Forward: Carlos Boozer
Center: Chris Mihm or Ronny Turiaf

Keep imaging it because the only chance is gone

Unasnwered Questions

According to our website www.warriors.com there are 13 days 11 hours and 42 minutes until the opening game of the NBA Season against the Utah Jazz. However along the fan base there are still questions unanswered that have to be opening night or else we could end up this years version of the Clippers. Opening night can be downplayed by many NBA coaches but in Nelsons case I don't think he can

Any sort of misfortune has to be handled. On our first 8 game stetch 5 of the 8 are Playoof teams from last year. Without Stephen Jackson or Jason richardson and having a History of not handling bad luck well there will be all sorts of pressure on Al Harrington and Andris biedrins to step up their game and get us a few early W's. The jazz destroyed us inside and on the boards last year so the opener should be interesting on that regard. Physicallity is often a worry as well because as the Jazz showed us in the playoffs we simply didn't have the Forwards to matchup Boozer or A.K 47.. in the first two games Jazz combined won the rebounding battle 63-33. This has to be stopped if we are to repeat our success. Any sort of Davis hamstring problems and our season could be down the drain and create serious implications for the future.

I'm looking forward to the new season already

Al harrington 6th man or not?

One of the classic things coaches like to do around training Camp time is involve debate around any certain topic. Last year Nellie tried to make us believe Dunleavy could play a serious role on this team which didn't happen. Now this year after Sundays dissapointment he's opened up talk of who will start for the golden State Warriors at PF.

Al Harrington has been talked about as a 6th man before which makes sense. He plays three different positions, be a big time scorer and fit in Nellie ball perfectly coming off the bench. However Nellie has been quoted as saying Matt Barnes, Mickael Pietrus and Austin Croshere were all candidates to start at power forward. Depite the fact we're stacked in this position there is seemingly no advantage to starting Barnes, Croshere or Pietrus over Harrington .Neither rebound well, neither are better Shooters and both lack a decent midrange game e.g. Barnes is just like stephen Jackson both commite silly Turnovers by Dribbles. However his stats are identical to harrington e.g. Rebounds etc.. New acquistion Austin Croshere probably won't get much PT even though he looks like he can crash the boards he's been cold right from the start of exhibtion.

The other debate this has caused is Azuibuke and Monta Ellis. Both primarily are SG yet despite lesser expereince Azuibuke has probably forced himself into a starters spot. Azuibuke has the Rebounding and physicality Ellis lacked last year and was obvious in the playoffs where he played scared lacking some of the confidence with the Jazz series showing that particulary. An obvious reason would be much of the freedom he was allowed during the regular season was gone because in close games any sort of mental lapse was inexcusable. Now that Keleena is on his back it will be interesting to watch. At this stage the three things Monts needs to work on are his ball handling, Vision and Character. Do this and the starting position here could be more interesting.