With the Number 3 pick of the 08 Draft Minnesota select

OJ Mayo

Dopest Slam cover ever

The T-Wolves make the smart move taking the best player. From this pic there is a slight hint he's NBA ready

NBA Draft.net / Draft Express

Irish Warriors 2007-2008 report Card: Brandon Wright

The J-Rich trade has been dicussed to death by the pro and anti camp so I will leave that out of this final report card. Unforunately while Wright did show a little bit of promise his slender body caused major problems for him during his few stretches of playing time. It didn't prevent him from being totally ineffective there were times during the year where he was easily able to get off the ground for putbacks and blocks and he also had the speed to keep up on a fastbreak. That being said any team that had a player who weighed more and was stronger his body was a big liability. He struggled on defense against bigger players and often found himself knocked out of the way on both offensive and defensive rebounds perhaps a reason for not much playing time. Nelson overcoaches a lot so it was the prospect of a big mismatch which kept Nelson from turning to his rookie when the team needed either a substitute or support for Andris on the front-line.

The lefty Slam!

On the plus side He was surprisingly further along than I thought. He was labeled a project so much during the draft that I was thinking he wouldn’t be able to contribute. He turned out to be better than expected. He knows how to use his length and athleticism. He brings energy on both ends and does what he can do, which is about what you should expect from a rookie.

The biggest question this offseason for Wright is not about bulk he will eventually have the body of Duncan, Bosh or Jackson but will he lose some of the playing ability. Wright has an undeniable smoothness on the court, from his moves around the basket to finishing on the break. If he adds 20-30 pounds of muscle, it’ll add force to his game but might risk the other elements. Still, it’s a risk the Warriors are going to have to take if he is to join Biedrins as a potential twin tower partnership with hustle and shot-blocking. It won't happen when you routinely get knocked down on your backside. But the highlights were always phenomenal and it’s clear it’s all about gaining experience and strength with Wright

Overall Grade: C+

Props to BBJ for compiling virtually every Warrior player and moments of the Season in these videos. Truly unstoppable baby!

Irish Warriors 2007-2008 Report Card archive

Chris Mullin C+

Kelenna Azubuike C-

Matt Barnes D-

Marco Bellinelli D+

Andris Biedrins A-

Austin Croshere C-

Baron Davis B-

Al Harrington C-

Stephen Jackson B+

Patrick O Bryant Incomplete

Kosta Perovic Incomplete

Don Nelson B-

Mickael Pietrus D+

CJ Watson C+

Chris Webber Incomplete

Irish Warriors 2007-2008 Report Card: CJ Watson

Trying to follow in the footsteps of the greats isn't a bad idea

On theory Watson desverves an incomplete grade. He didn't do a lot to make his teammates better. He proved adequate at getting the ball from the endline to the top of the arc at the other end, but once asked to quarterback the team in a set offense, he didn’t do much. The question is would he be worth a roster spot. I presume the Warriors will either draft or sign a back-up point guard again this off-season, as they attempted to do last year with Troy Hudson. I’d give Watson an edge over most second rounders, but I’d rather give a first rounder or free agent a chance to run the second squad. It's not that Watson was bad but he just never showed or didn't do a whole lot to show he was capable of running the second unit

He's not the pass first backup PG the Warriors desperately need and he hasn't shown any indication of being a shut down defender against other PG but he produced when he got the minutes, and that’s all you can ask from a guy who started on a 10-day contract.

Now the only piece of youtube and even though this blog doesn't endorse it you have to laugh a little just for injuring the most annoying player in the League



Overall Grade: C+

Irish Warriors 2007-2008 Report Card: Andris Biedrins

Since it appears that the Warriors and Andris' reps are in the midst of hashing out a contract extension and given the "excitement" I seem to have stirred up with my take on the contract extension decision, I thought it would be a great time to drop the man's 2k6-2k7 Irish Warriors Report Card.

Here's 5 things that made Biedrins' 07-08 campaign absolutely golden and 5 things that hopefully he can work hard on and improve upon for We Believe 3.0.

Healthy- The man just shows up nightly. He played in all 82 regular season games plus all 11 playoff games.

Near Doublicious: Andris pulled down 9.3rpg and scored 9.6ppg. Guys with those numbers don't grow on trees.

Low Volume, High % Scorer- It sounds kind of funny, but that's exactly what he is. He's far from a big time scorer or threat, but he's effective when he does take shots.

Hand it to Him- This guy has amazing hands for a big man. He's the polar opposite of Erick "hands of stone" Dampier in that regard.

Run 'Dris, Run!- Very few big men can run with the likes of Boom Dizzle, Monta, Jax, Barnes, MP2, and Harrington. Luckily one of them rocks #15 for the Dubs.




Improvements

Stop the Fouling- With 304 fouls (3.7 per game) Biedrins was tops in the league in whistles. (Interestingly enough Al Harrington led the league in fouls the previous season-

Change that Shooting form- I don't know if he'll ever be able to completely correct that hideous shooting stroke, but he'll never be a prime time player without some type of jumpshot or hookshot a la Shaq. No one's asking for Ray Allen here, but if Biedrins is going to be a high impact player on both sides of the ball he needs to add a lot to his offensive repertoire.

Improve Dribbling- For as much as he's billed as an athletic basketball player, Biedrins has virtually no handle. That highlight dunk against the Suns where Biedrins drives to the hole for a thunderous dunk pretty much came out of nowhere (the dribbling part). If he can add some type of handles to his game he'll be a much more dangerous offensive weapon as that highlight emphatically illustrates.

Avoid Fatigue- Their were stretches last season where Biedrins looked worn out. He was pretty much the Warriors' only big man and it had to be tough to have to face the bigs of the Western Conference, but let's see if he can improve on this. Much of the Warriors success' is tied to Biedrins becoming a more consistent rebounding force this season.

Coming up Big Against Big Players- If the Warriors are going to make the jump from 8th seed darlings and him from exciting young player to legit star or All Star, Biedrins is going to need to come up against the likes of Carlos Boozer, Tim Duncan, Amare Stoudemire, Pau Gasol, Elton Brand (probably 2 seasons from now though- very sad to see), the big and brutal Nuggets' frontline, Tyson Chandler (he can't be getting 14, 11, 9, and 15rebounds when he faces the Warriors like he did last year) and even Al Jefferson who will be putting up big numbers in the West for at least the next 5 years or so. When the Warriors needed him most to give Boozer some trouble in the 2nd round he came up with some pretty dismal performances (Game 1: 4 points, 5 boards; Game 2: 4 points, 6 boards; Game 5: 2 points, 5 boards). I'll spare you Boozer's lines since those are utterly painful for us We Believers to look back at.

It’s safe to call 07-08 Andris’ breakout season given that (1) he put up fantastic numbers while largely exhausted from two years of non-stop basketball and (2) the performance will earn him a ton of money with his new contract. Still, during my most blindly optimistic moments, I get the sense there could be even better things to come.

The biggest question surrounding Andris as he moves into the prime years of his career is simply “what else can he do?” Given his physical gifts — soft hands, quick lateral movement, tremendous body control — there is little reason why he can’t develop a diverse offensive repertoire


Overall Grade A-



Irish Warriors 2007-2008 Report Card archive

Chris Mullin C+

Kelenna Azubuike

Matt Barnes D-

Marco Bellinelli D+

Andris Biedrins A-

Austin Croshere C-

Baron Davis B-

Monta Ellis A+

Al Harrington C-

Stephen Jackson B+

Patrick O Bryant F

Kosta Perovic Incomplete

Don Nelson B+

Mickael Pietrus D+

Chris Webber Incomplete

Irish Warriors 2007-2008 Report Card: Chris Webber

Thats a good indicator of how his return went down


Wow who would have imagined it. After leaving the Franchise in such a stormy manner after looking every bit as Dubs fans could have imagined Webber came back. After reuniting with Nelson 14 years later after a hopefully Hall Of Fame career he looked destined to finish on a high. Unfortunately it was a fiasco.

It was hard to see exactly where the Warriors front Office would see help from Webber considering he hadn't played since the Pistons and the Cavalliers Eastern Conference Finals which was 7 months before when Webber joined. The signing’s biggest impact on the team may have been the “hey, look over here” effect it generated during the trade deadline rush the busiest in recent memory. I don't think it was a publicity stunt it seemed Mullin and Nelson honestly believed C-Webb could help the team. And there were times when Webber wasn't completely broken down. He matched up well against Boozer despite another loopsided loss and in the Celtics game he seemed to know Garnetts offensive and defensive weaknesses inside out. Unforuntately it was obvious to all that had the Webber of 06-07 been signed the Warriors might have won a few extra games

I honeslty much like Mullin thought Webber would help this team. And there were glimpses where he did show us what he was capable off his passing was still solid, could set screens for teammates,nice rebounding, crafty defense on Kevin Garnett, some picks and swats but in the end it was all a tease. All the problems that he have such as a low hoops IQ,complete lack of interior passing, a player who looks to pass before shoot and the long awaited big body in the paint. However Nelson deserves credit for at least trying . They needed and still need a big man in every possible way and webber becuase of his salary and experience was the atttractive option

Webber linkfest

Webber reunited with Nellie?

Webber likely to become a Warrior tommorow

Webber signs with Golden State

He retires End of an era

Webber Press Conference

Overall Grade: Incomplete

Irish Warriors 2007-2008 Report Card: Mickael Pietrus

The funny thing with Mickael Pietrus coming off a career year with 11 PPG was drastically overvaluing his contract finally finding himself forced to accept the Ws’ qualifying offer. During 9/10ths of the Warriors season he did very little apart from a stretch where he actually looked as if he'd be a late factor in the Warriors push to the playoffs. Unfortunately once he got a mysterious groin injury he spent a crucial stretch during our playoff push modeling pastel sweaters from the bench. Unlike some lucky players, he failed to time the 1/10th of the season when he actually delivered so as to earn a big contract (looking at you, Austin Croshere, with that famed Finals performance). Pietrus, like a long line of athletically gifted and mentally or motivationally challenged players before him, continues to show just enough potential every so often to keep people mildly interest.

All his numbers declined across the board and he just averaged 7 PPG this year. Having said that his play picked up late in the season, negating a horrible first half of the season. He evidently relaxed when the trade deadline passed. What he gained with stellar bench play, he lost with an elongated groin injury but There’s some distant chance that MP might be back next year with the Warriors if he finds no other takers, but I can’t see him returning to play under Nelson given the ups and downs experienced this year and the quality players ahead of him in the depth chart. MP actually impressed me with his late-season stint at power forward (he grabbed more rebounds there than Al), but MP’s rotation spot with the Warriors has proven to be a dead end. He may find success somewhere else, but I’m guessing Pietrus will find the out of bounds lines on his new court just as east to step back upon as those at the Arena.

Now for some Youtubness





If only you got extra points for highlights!

Overall Grade: D

Irish Warriors 2007-2008 Grade Archive

Chris Mullin C+

Kelenna Azubuike C-

Matt Barnes D-

Marco Bellinelli D+

Austin Croshere

Baron Davis B-

Monta Ellis A+

Al Harrington C-

Stephen Jackson B+

Patrick O Bryant F

Kosta Perovic Incomplete

Don Nelson B+

2007-2008 Irish Warriors report card: Don Nelson

Nelson. A 1,000+ winning coach who has the magic of turning around less then fortunate Franchises see the Dallas Mavericks or last season where I thought he has a more valid case of being coach of the year then Sam Mitchell. Yet despite a much better year adding 6 wins I don’t think he did as good a job. That said, he did a solid job. I don’t know how many coaches could squeeze 48 wins out of this roster. I thought they’d get 42 or 43 wins and miss the playoffs. I wasn’t sold on the hype, so Nellie gets credit for making the Warriors practically a 15-win team. In many cases the assistant coaches like Keith Smart or Larry Riley seemed to be the case for the Locker room not falling apart

Highlights:
• 48-34 record
• Nurtured Ellis into a productive force despite his obvious flaws. Though Nellie believes Monta’s brightest future is at PG, he didn’t stubbornly stick to that and went with a small backcourt. Turning Monta loose was at SG was key to the team’s success
• Same thing applies for Biedrins. Nellie would much rather a center who can shoot from outside. But he, instead, milked Biedrins for what he could bring. He probably shouldn’t get kudos for that, as that is what coaches do. But with Nellie’s judgemental coaching style, its worth mentioning
• Gave responsibility to Keith Smart, presumably the next head coach. Smart ran practices, led the huddle during timeouts, addressed the team in the locker room after games, etc. It is important that the players see Smart as head coach when he does take over, and Nellie helped make sure that happened by letting Smart spend some time in the big chair.

Posing for the swimsuit issue gets you nowhere!

Lowlights:
• Ran Baron and Jackson into the ground (and tried to run Monta in the ground) because of his lack of faith in reserves. Justified or not, you can’t play 82 games with seven players.
•He ruined a lot of players confidence, which is counterproductive to the task at hand. His irregular rotation and sharpe tongue didn’t bring out the most in everyone - namely Harrington, Barnes, Pietrus and Azubuike.
•Failed to get rookies of the future much-needed playing time, which means they’ll still be green next year (not so much B-Wright), just like Kelenna and Patrick were still raw this year. It’s hard to believe Belinelli and Watson couldn’t give anything if given some decent playing time.

One argument is that the Warriors won 48 games and that is a major plus. But another argument is that they misses the playoffs by a game because they couldn’t beat a suspect Denver team at home. Nellie is a major reason for both.

Overall Grade: B+

Irish Warriors Grade Archive

Chris Mullin C+

Kelenna Azubuike C-

Matt Barnes D-

Marco Bellinelli D+

Andris Biedrins A-

Austin Croshere

Baron Davis B-

Monta Ellis A+

Al Harrington C-

Stephen Jackson B+

Patrick O Bryant F

Kosta Perovic Incomplete

Irish Warriors 2007-2008 Report Card: Kosta Perovic

One word to summarise Kosta's 2007-2008 campaign. Raw. He may be big and long which is exactly what the Warriors need in a big man and he does actually have post moves he can use over a 6'5 and above Frontcourt player but the guy is still raw. Yet a typical Don Nelson team wouldn't be the same without a wacky foreign Center something Kosta has adjusted to. During his late season performances one main encouraging sign was his willingess to throw his size around down low and take up space. Kosta’s minutes against Shaq went from being a classic “isn’t Nellie crazy” story to a viable strategy in a few quick minutes. He's always been offensively skilled if reports from the D-League are anything to go by and his Blocking and Rebounding seem to be encouraging.

Best place for him

What was the most noticable attributes was when he got in the game he showed a nose for the ball and made a bee line for the front off the rim both on both offense and defense. Still a bit slow but man he knows he’s a center and doesn’t pussy foot around the perimeter. He may be still raw but the Warriors could use some more of that.

The question surrounding Kosta is simple: will Nellie find time for him to develop? We spent an entire season watching Andris yanked only to be replaced at center by Al Harrington or Mickael Pietrus. Kosta would allow the team to go bigger or slide Andris to power forward (as the team did successfully during the Phoenix game). Still, given Nellie’s big man track record and the limited minutes Andris saw this season, I’m not sure how a slower big man like Kosta fits into the Warriors’ game plan. Of course, some great rebounding and shot-blocking during the summer league would go a long way towards forcing Nellie’s (or any other coach’s) hand.

To put it bluntly the use of the mid level exception of 2.3 milliion for Kosta will be known as the worst since the Knicks did the same to Jerome James

Overall Grade: Incomplete

Irish Warriors 2007-2008 Report Card Archive

Chris Mullin C+

Kelenna Azubuike C-

Matt Barnes D-

Andris Biedrins A-

Marco Bellinelli D+

Austin Croshere C-

Baron Davis B-

Monta Ellis A+

Al Harrington C-

Stephen Jackson B+

Patrick O Bryant F

Irish Warriors 2007-2008 Report card: Patrick O Bryant

Every decade has it's own Todd Fuller right. Well for POB he's never won any Warrior fans over. There's not a whole lot to write about POB except that he had a year to forget. From first round pick to bench player to D-League player, his season continued to spiral downwards.


He did a lot of this last year

To be fair it's not that POB is neccesarily a bad player but maybe it's just he doesn't fit in Golden State. This is a fast team that wears it’s emotions on his sleeve. He’s too slow and he doesn’t LOOK like he’s trying hard enough. He has some offensive skills and he can protect the rim - if his confidence is up. It hasn’t been since he’s been in Golden State. Maybe it's to do with the prank J-Rich pulled on him in his Rookie year

Hotsizzle869

But on the negative side in reality O’Bryant was a non factor even in garbage time. After posting amazing numbers in the NBDL, he came back and got pushed around and was consistently out of position for both blocked shots and rebounds. Hopefully he’ll figure it out but it’s going to be somewhere else. The sad fact with hindsight never would have been a Warrior if Nellie had signed on to coach in early June last year. Still, he did almost nothing with the time he had with the team and only made slightly more noise in the D-League. It's still too early to say he doesn't have the will to succeed at this level, but the signs aren't good. Of course, big men need an extra year or two, so he could be know for more than his tasty cheesecake this time next year.

Surprising but he did have a big game this year against the Clippers with 12 points leading a minority of fans to hope that in Jacksons absence he might carry on tht sort of form. Alas he went awol up until this nasty throwdown.

TacoBellinelli



Overall Grade: F

Chris Mullin C+

Kelenna Azubuike C-

Matt Barnes D-

Andris Biedrins A-

Marco Bellinelli D+

Austin Croshere C-

Baron Davis B-

Monta Ellis A+

Al Harrington C-

Stephen Jackson B+

Irish Warriors 2007-2008 Report Card: Stephen Jackson

Stephen. Jesse. Jackson.
People in Indiana can't stand the man. The soft fans in Dallas can't stand the man. The refs can't stand the man. The NBA's vanilla fanbase can't stand the man. David Stern and the NBA's PR department can't stand the man.

But us?

We love him

Before he was run into the ground by Nelson Jackson was starting to prove just how hot an offensive threat he was. Before he hit the wall this year, Jackson was shooting a higher percentage, rebounding more, and getting to the line with regularity. He had a career year. He averaged 20 points for the first time in his career. He averaged four assists for just the second time in his career (both coming with the Warriors). He shot his best percentage from 3-point range ever. He averaged 39 minutes, five more than last season. His previous career high was 36.8. So Jackson certainly had a big year.

Much like the 06-07 Barnes many of the NBA experts attrribute Jacksons rise in scoring to his role in Nellieball otherwhise if he was still playing with the Indiana Pacers his scoring certainly wouldn't be like it was the first half of the season. On the contrary in my eyes because the Warriors offense relies a lot on non PG ball handling something which Jackson is really suited to. Also, compared to Baron’s contract and Monta’s soon-to-be contract, Jackson is a downright deal for a 20 point a night scorer.

Perhaps his weaknesses were his frequent inability of decent decision making hard to defend but I will say that when a game really does depend on scoring points asap, Jackson tends to be good about taking the ball to the hole and looking to get fouled rather than pulling up for a quick three. Because of all the playing time accumulated under Nelson he didn't get back on defense as quick as he did last season and certainly in the months of March April where S-Jax is found willing he dissapeared most notably the Spurs, Dallas or denver games. He wasn’t the stopper he proved to be a year ago, and he didn’t make it to the defensive end way too many times. That is mostly due to the amount of minutes he played. Yet he made huge strides in controlling his temper. He wasn’t the stopper he proved to be a year ago, and he didn’t make it to the defensive end way too many times. That is mostly due to the amount of minutes he played yet he is crafty and his game has almost no reliance on athleticism. It’s a combination that should allow him to continue to improve long after most NBA players have peaked.

Jax- I hope you're reading this man. I just have one simple request. I can live with the turnovers. I can live with the sparse rebounding totals. I can live with all those 3pt attempts. I can even live a few of those techs. BUT I can't live without that frisk intro with you and Matt Barnes during player introductions. Forget what David Stern might say or think, you gotta bring it back!

Illini50

If you don't get pumped up everytime you watch the Warrior intros from last season's amazing run, then you need to run to the ER and get your pulse checked- seriously.)

Overall Grade B+




Irish Warriors 2007-2008 report cards

Chris Mullin C+

Kelenna Azubuike C-

Matt Barnes D-

Andris Biedrins A-

Marco Bellinelli D+

Austin Croshere C-

Baron Davis B-

Monta Ellis A+

Al Harrington C-

Irish Warriors report card 2007-2008: Al Harrington

The one main problem that Al had as part of the 2007-2008 season was his inconsistency. He came up huge some games and completely disappeared in others not exactly what a bench scorer is required for. In some games he would have a big 1st quarter then misteriously disappear for the next few games. There's no question that when Harrington gets hot he's an ideal Nellie bench player hitting threes, going to the basket with purpose, scrapping for rebounds he then reminds every Warrior fan we got an added bonus by getting rid of DunMurphy. Unforuntely his inconistency was all too telling this year. The fatigue excuse doesn’t work given the minutes he was playing nor does the out of position since it's relatively unclear how he would have done against Small Forwards then Power Forwards or Centers. Arguably, the change of position would have simply eliminated his biggest strength this year: excellent defense on some larger, less mobile players. Offensively, he still would have been shooting jumpers and getting bogged down on half-hearted attempts towards the basket. He should have rebounded better, though. His average dropped (from 6.4) to 5.4 per game. Though he would have a hard time rebounding from the perimeter, that shouldn’t impact his defensive rebounding. Plus, he shot his worst field goal percentahe (43.4) since 2002-03. It was a tough year for Al. His ppg and minutes dropped, too

There's no doubt Al's a nice guy who gets on well with his teamates but it's difficult after this season to see where he fits in with the Warrior plans. Wright is not a Center unless he suddenly beleives he's capable of being one, If they manage to obtain a big bruising PF or Center as many fans hope that will cut into the minutes, . Andris, sitting on a fat new contract and a steadily increasing body of skills, isn’t about to give up minutes at center, Kosta also has to be considered,At small forward, Jackson will continue to play 30+ minutes a night, not to mention spill over minutes from Azubuike and Belinelli should Nelson decide to go small. The point being it;s difficult to see where Harrington lies in future Warrior plans. He’s not a bad player to have around, but won’t play anywhere close to the minutes needed to justify his $9.2 mil salary.

On the other end of the trade, Al has the skills to be a complimentary piece to countless teams around the NBA. Unless the Warriors convince someone he can be more, they shouldn’t expect much in return.It’s unlikely that any of the teams under the cap would want Harrington or his deal, but Mullin might be able to find a team willing to swap one or two 08-09 expiring deals to save the $10 mil will owe Harrington in 09-10. Progress? Only for Cohan’s accountant.

Overall Grade C-



Irish Warriors report card archive
Chris Mullin C+

Kelenna Azubuike C-

Matt Barnes D-

Andris Biedrins A-

Marco Belinelli D+

Austin Croshere C-

Monta Ellis A+

Baron Davis B-

Irish Warriors 2007-2008 Report Card: Baron Davis

So good he owns former MVP's

He averaged 21.8 points in 39 minutes, his highest marks in those categories since 2003-04, whe averaged 22.9 points in 40.1 minutes. He also set a career high in rebounds, 2.7 to 1 assist to turnover ratio, 33% from 3, 4.7 rebounds per game. were all impressive stats compiled. Yet what held baron back was the lack of a true backup PG which meant unfortunately he was ran into the ground. To an extent you can't blame Nelson one bit you play your best players and hope they can mantain their athletiscm but during the Nuggets, Spurs and Dallas games Baron wasn't the Baron of last season looking totally wiped out as he completed the unusualness of completing a injury free season

But where Baron falls short — and this is only a shortcoming because he is expected to be elite — was being a point guard. Baron proved two things this season: 1) he is still a top-notched scorer and 2) he can stay healthy (though that is relative). Unfortunately for the Warriors, they only need No. 2. Golden State doesn’t need Baron to be a dominant scorer, but a playmaker. They are better when he’s not the leading scorer. His assists (7.6) dropped under 8.3 for the first time since he joined the Warriors. His field goal percentage also dropped (42.6) fairly significantly off last season’s career-best 43.9 percent. They needed him to make stuff happen for everyone else, not get his. Last year, he played like Chris Paul. This year, he was Gilbert Arenas. They are much tougher to defend when he’s racking up 15 assists than when he’s scoring 40. Plus, he was bad down the stretch.

Oene lingering question this year is whether Baron should opt out. If he remains a Warrior, we have little incentive to move him. He’ll be motivated in a contract year and, should the Ws decide to part ways at the end of next season, the team would gain tremendous cap flexibility. There’s also the lingering basketball issue of how poorly this team played without Baron on the court for long stretches and the absence of another true point guard ready to fill the role. I’m not denying that the team has problems with Baron running the show, but they’re still not as large as those when he’s completely unavailable. Baron gets one more year of Cohan’s money, the Warriors have one more year of taking the good with the bad in Baron’s game, and then everyone gets to sort things out for real next summer.

A mixed year for Baron but there was no doubt he was excellent before he was run into the ground. Here's hoping we pick up a dependable backup PG to avoid this scenario

Overall Grade B-




Irish Warriors 2007-2008 report Card archive
Chris Mullin C+

Kelenna Azubuike C-

Matt Barnes D-

Marco Bellineli D+

Andris Biedrins A-

Austin Croshere C-

Monta Ellis A+

Irish Warriors 2007-2008 report card: Monta Ellis

He really took his game to another level this year. His became a reliable offensive weapon, partially filling the void left by Jason Richardson. There’s no question this dude has the potential to be the next. But looking at just this season, he was atrocious on defense, and that hurt the Warriors in the long run. If Baron is going to play 40 minutes, Monta has to guard the Allen Iversons, the Chris Pauls, the Tony Parkers, etc. He couldn’t this season. His best defense was getting 30 himself. Plus, Monta has the tendency to force offense and take quick shots at the wrong time. He was excellent on the boards, though, and he’s already a much better ball-handler than he used to be.

During the middle third of the season, when the Warriors often struggled against average to poor teams, Ellis was the player most often arriving with clutch shooting or spectacular drives to bail out the team. He grew during this stretch from just one of the Warriors’ options into their go-to scorer when points became hard to find. His mid-range jump shot has become a thing of beauty, the death-defying thrill of his drives still hasn’t worn off, and he played for most of the season with a good sense of his strengths and weaknesses. Davis, Jackson, Harrington, and Biedrins all stumbled at points this year. Monta never let up.

The ultimate question for Monta is no longer will he be a superstar, but rather what type of superstar. He’s already one of the most effortless scorers in the league, able to shoot over small, quick players and blow past taller, slower ones. It became clear at the end of the season, however, that Monta scoring at will is not enough for the Warriors to succeed against the best teams, particularly with Davis struggling. For Monta to be a marquee player — the type you build your team around — he needs to improve his playmaking and defense. The prior area I’m not too worried about. Monta is still terrifyingly young, showed improved court vision and decision making this year, and steadily took over the responsibility of running the team as the season progressed. He’s not a born distributor but shows clear signs of being able to hold down the point spot the same way Iverson and Wade have

Overall grade A+

Irish Warriors Report Card Archive

Chris mullin C+

Kelenna Azubuike C-

Matt Barnes D-

Marco Bellineli D+

Andris Biedrins A-

Austin Croshere C-

Irish Warriors report card 2007-2008 Austin Croshere

For the vet minimum Croshere was a steal. However since he's in a contract year as well estimating his salary over 44 games rather then 82 becomes a chore for the Front office. Despite his back being the source of his problems and reducing his potential productivity Croshere gave energy off the bench with scoring, rebounding and attempting to play Defense. Bad backs, however, rarely get better with age. The Warriors could use a player they can rely on for more than half a season of basketball.

Depending on how the Warriors’ off-season shapes up, it might be worth bringing Austin back again just to have another veteran on the team. This year, however, the young guys will be a year older and less in need of veteran supervision (and maybe the youngsters should have been supervising Baron at his birthday bash). Croshere’s return to this team will likely come down to (1) whether he wants to come back and (2) whether the Warriors find someone in the summer league or training camp that makes enough of an impression to trump the quality 10 minutes the Warriors can count on from Austin 30-40 times a season.

He was big in spots this year when he did play. He often was key energy off the bench. But his shot was suspect (sorry, I expected him to be a shooter and his injury prone demaeanour meant his grade dropped considerably since the midterm reports

Overall Grade: C-

Irish Warriors 2007-2008 Report card archive

Chris Mullin C+

Kelenna Azubuike C-

Matt Barnes D-

Marco Bellinelli D+

Andris Biedrins A-

Irish Warriors 2007-2008 Report Card: Marco Bellinelli

See the resemblance?

Whether it was the differences between NBA and European ball, his young age, Don Nelson, or simply the hangover of summer league hype Marco's rookie campaign was a bust. It took 82 games before the Seattle contest showed some of the red hot shooting we knew he was capable off and made him a Summer League star in 07. That said it probably didn't help he was used as a benchwarmer for most of the season Did the final game against the Sonics show he needs time without the pressure of being yanked off the court or if the burst of scoring after a few lesser performances is just proof of his inconsistency. I'm guessing a bit of both

It was pretty obvious from the get go Marco was going to rot on the bench and his body language displayed very little self confidence. In the latter stages his appearances earlier in the season made it difficult for him to fin his rythym. ). I suspect we might have just caught Marco that final evening while he was hot, compared to the few other nights he wasn’t feeling it. On the other hand Marco whilst sitting in the disgruntled section of the Locker room (with Barnes, Pietrus and Harrington) never had the gauge to complain. I actually think he could be a decent 6th 7th man off the bench to help bust zones or shoot in the half-court but at the moment it is impossibly hard to think as him as a starter.

His main weakness is Defensively. There were quite a few ugly moments when he was on the court where smaller, faster players simply faced him and blew right past him. His lateral movement is far from impressive, although his sense of spacing and defensive timing improved as the season continued. Hopefully for next season he can learn Defense isn't about speed from Players like Jackson. By knowing when to commit and when to back off, a defender can minimize certain physical advantages. His hands look incredibly quick which can allow a little more room for error when getting back on Defense. Still, I can’t help but shake the image of an Ellis / Belinelli back-court giving up bucket after bucket as the Warriors’ guards either fail to fight through screens to challenge shooters or get abused by players facing the basket, looking to penetrate. Both are young, so I’m hoping it’s not too late for someone to instill some defensive fundamentals.

That said, like Perovic, he’s cheap, young, and full of potential. If the Warriors have to give him up to get something else bigger done, he could be gone.

Overall Grade: D+

2007-2008 Report Card Archive
Chris Mullin: Grade C+

Kelenna Azubuike Grade C-

Matt Barnes Grade D-

Report Card: 2007-2008 Season Kelenna Azubuike

Representing Great Britain

It may seem hard to believe but as the season began Azubuike made fans actually think J-Rich wouldn't be missed. Most Warrior fans attribute his beginning to a significant role during Novemeber right when Stephen Jackson was suspended and a big East Coast road trip lay ahead. However his rise to stardom was in the vegas summer League where him and Bellineli were the two stars and earned attention for his gritty defense something which mantaained his spot on the Roster.



After a terrific November where even this game winning shot against the 76ers Azubuike was highlighted more for his Defensive performances where he arguably performed better against Kobe then anyone else we've thrown at him the latter stage of the season. Azubuike also went from playing above the rim in the early season to fighting below it for rebounds or loose balls by the end. To me, the changes signify a player looking to fit in however he can. When the Warriors needed a scoring two-guard, he was it. When they needed a pseudo-power forward, he hit the boards. And when the original defensive stopper - Jackson - struggled to stay with his man, Kelenna stepped up to the challenge. MP should have been taking notes on how to perform in a contract year. Azubuike will likely be nicely rewarded right before his opt deadline of June 25th

Nuggets owned us this year except for this play!

If you want weaknesses he stepped out of his role too much, especially down the stretch, and he wasn’t as consistent from behind the arc. His defense was poor (Kobe exception)sometimes, but that could be expected from a second-year player. He's also developing knee problems already which could affect his Contract demands. Basically he wants more money then the mimimum deal he was offered. The Warriors would need to ask themselves is investing money at a possible injuy prone player worth it and his PPG average from 12 in November went down to 8.5. Two questions for fans next season is can he become more then a bench player and average 12-15 Points off it or combine the gritty intelligence of his late season games with the high-flying scoring of his early-season minutes. Interesting times lie ahead

Overall Grade C-

Kelenna Azubuike Irish Warriors Archive

Midterm Report Cards Grade C



2007-2008 Irish Warriors Report cards Archive
Chris Mullin C+

Report Card 2007-2008 NBA Season: Chris Mullin

The're here. It's time to rate and grade the Players and Staff that made up the 2007-2008 Golden State Warriors. For the first time since my midterm report Cards it's now time to rade and grade each and everyone and see if their grades have changed or have they remained the same.

Chris mullin going retro

The 2007-2008 season was perhaps one of Mullins biggest tests in terms of continuing the success the year before as the Warriors advanced to the postseason for the first time in 12 years. Unfortunately while this year saw the greatest Western Conference playoff race since 1987 meaning the Warriors didn't make it back a couple of questionable moves never helped. I still mantain the Richardson trade was a mistake because we just didn't have the production of Richardson throughout the months of March or april. Whilst Wright got his 6 and 5 and being outplayed by Jared Dudley Richardson went off for 42 and had an explosive March. Think that sort of production throughout the season and I mantain thats a 52-55 win team.

Even with the Wright trade Mullin never seemed to make any attempts at getting a big man not counting the Chris Webber debacle. Just when it seemed the Drew Gooden, Ron Artest or Kurt Thomas rumours would never stop he goes out and gets a near 40 year old big man who didn't play since the Pistons fell to the Cavalliers in the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals and was all out of sync. Two Forwards who don't produce much = not much of a chance of repeating that success. As well as the Troy Hudson mistake or the Draft errors it would be very easy to go overly critical on the guy.

On the other hand you can't really. He's put Golden State back on the NBA map by bringing back Nelson second winnengest coach of all time, He made the trade which gave Indiana Murphys contract even though Harringtons stats are disspapointly similiar. But most of all he's given the fans who suffered through clueless coaches and mediocre players something to actually cheer about. For that he deseerves a solid if not spectacular grade.

Overall Grade: C+

Irish Warriors Archive on Chris Mullin
Draft Grades
Mullin becoming Knicks GM?
Mullin to New York no way
The Mullin era
Irish Warriors Hall Of Fame: Chris Mullin

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.