The Rundown

Draft:

The NBA draft is on Thursday, which is equivalent to the NBA finals as far as Warrior fans are concerned. As you all know, we have the 6th pick in a 5 player draft. Awesome!

In preparation for the draft the dubs have made a couple moves:

1.) Dubs swap second round picks to save a couple mil.

2.) Dubs send Mags + 2nd rounder to Bucks for Gadzuric and Bell. This was purely a salary dump as both Bell and Gadzuric are merely there to provide some depth.

Personally, I liked Mags, I thought he was a pretty capable guy. Sure he made too much $$$ and the fans boo’d him whenever he took a jump shot, but he played hard, he didn’t cry like our other players and he produced. Of course the dubs are in the middle of  being sold and there is some balance sheet cleaning going on. So, as much as I liked him, I have no quarrels with him being traded.

Lets see if the Warriors make any more moves before the draft. As of right now, if Cousins is not there, I would trade the pick, whether its up or down, the dubs have as good a chance drafting at 12 as they do at 6 in regards of finding someone that can help this team.

Depth Chart:

Point Guard: Curry

2-Guard: Ellis Morrow / Bell

Small Forward: Azubuike Williams

Power Forward: Randolph B.Wright / Vladman

Center: Biedrins Turiaf /Gadzuric

Scary right? That lineup is not going to do shit in the western conference. As much as I liked the idea of building around Monta and Andris before, now it doesn’t seem like it will get us into the playoffs.  Biedrins has not been coming around as anyone had hoped and Monta seems like he just doesn’t want to be here.

Its pretty obvious they need to build around Curry and even Randolph. Of course, to do that we will need a new coach because Nelson doesn’t give Randolph any fucking slack. I mean, if this guy was able to get consistent minutes and work through his mental mistakes he would be miles ahead of where he is now.

Take Curry for example, he didn’t look good at all in the first couple of months of the season, he had some bright moments but he also had a lot of stupid rookie mistakes. Yet, he never was yanked and in turn he gained his confidence and just played bball. The end result was a spectacular season and a promising future. Nelson needed to do the same with Randolph and better let him play this year.

CJ Watson is a unrestricted free agent and I’m pretty sure he won’t be coming back. I like CJ and think he is a great little back up point guard, but he deserves better than playing for the Warriors, good luck CJ!

Expectations:

I don’t expect to be wow’d by anything. I don’t think our front office has enough balls to make any changes that will have a major impact. The only thing I can see is more salary dumping and the drafting of a prospect that will be ready in 5 years.

The Dirty Warrior

Goodbye Anthony Randolph, hello Dirty Warrior. We’ve seen impoved play by the rookie forward for the better part of the past few weeks, yet we’ve never seen him put all his qualities on display in one single game. Well, I think last night we got a pretty good glimpse of the total package, which was filthy. Randolph simply kept the Warriors in the game for stretches at a time. His energy, shot blocking and finishing around the rim is really impressive.

There is one thing that is a little concerning however… it seems to me that even though he is a quick jumper (a la lot of blocks), on the offense of zone it doesn’t look like he has much lift? Even his dunks, it doesn’t look like he is really getting up that high. I know a couple games ago we saw him on the break away take off for a dunk and he ended up being like 2 feet short because he had no lift. Maybe he’s tired? Who knows, but hopefully as he gets stronger his jumping gets a little more consistent. A 6′11″ athlete like himself should be skying above the others.

Anyways, the dubs lost, which is fine, I’m more concerned with watching our young guys play anyways so we can access next year. I wish Brandon Wright was around, would love to watch him get a bunch of playing time. Maggette had a good game too, he is a dope 6 man. 6 man of year next season.

Wow. Did we really just lose to the Clippers?

Man… last night sure sucked the fat one. Heading into last nights game I was feeling pretty good. The Warriors have been playing good basketball lately, Marco and Andris are back and best of all we were playing against Baron Davis and the Clip show, oh and I also had them on the line for ESPN’s streak to a million.

The game started off so well too, up 25-11 with about 5 minutes left in the first quarter… I was sure I was going to have a nice easy relaxing night… that was until Baron hit a classic Baron 3, with no time on the shot clock and 2 guys on him. After that… well, it was ugly. Baron started actually trying (probably the only game this year he has even remotely tried in) and Eric Gordon wouldn’t miss a shot. For a terrible shooting team we sure made them look good (but we make every team look good). Our D was atrocious and our offense wasn’t much better.

All said and done, I started feeling better when I thought about it… I mean, who really cares how we finish the season. I know they want to finish strong but it isn’t going to do anything except give us a worse pick. I’d rather Nelly keep going with the youngsters so we can see a little more or Randolph, Morrow and Belinelli. It also would be great of Brandon Wright ever came back, what the fuck happened to him? His arm fall off? As much as it sucks losing to Baron, cause he is a little bitch, its all good, the dubs are still a better team that the Clippers and next year were going to impress.

Do you believe!?!

Dubs Basketball… Baby

Wow… do you people realize how close bball season is? It is right around the f’n corner baby! I am so fired up! I am a little nervous that my man Monta can’t ride a moped, what a dumbshit. But, lets just hope he makes a full recovery and gets back to form quick!

I’m feeling rather optimistic… right now… so lets take a little look at what we have going on.

Position Rundown:

Point Guard: Well, this is definitely not going to be our strength, with Monta out, the job is handed to C.J. Watson, Marcus Williams, and Dan Dickau. That is not the most intimidating trio of point guards I have seen. Lets hope Marcus Williams really raises the bar and is one of those pleasant surprise players. As of now though, If I had to rank the point guard position, it would be a 5/10.

Shooting Guard: Well, not sure who exactly our shooting guards are in a Don Nelson lineup, but lets just say Marco Belinelli, which has always been a super summer league star, lets hope he can show up this year and contribute. Cory Maggette, I think C Mag is going to have a great year with the dubs, he is motivated, he doesn’t have to play for Dunleavy anymore, and is going to get a lot of shots. I like Cory.

Small Forward: Stephen Jackson will likely be playing the 2/3 with Maggette, of course Capt. Jack is the leader of this team and lets hope he plays as well in the beginning of this year, as he did in lasts. Kelenna Azubuike should be solid, good d and some tough scoring… plus, the x-factor Anthony Randolph, who knows if Nelson is going to play him or what, but damn, the boy looked good in Summer league. I’m hoping the kid impresses in training camp and gets into some games early in the season to establish himself as the real deal.

Power Forward:Al Harington apparently lost a bunch of weight this off-season, which is a good thing, he usually has a big ‘ol ass and can’t get off the ground. Lets hope he is a little more athletic and his inside game has improved. He supposedly worked on his inside game all summer, so lets see. Brandon Wright is another baller who is going to be a big question mark. He looked good in his limited action last year, lets just hope he gets some minutes and turns out to be as good as we all had hoped. Richard Hendrix, the boy looks big and strong, but again, doubt Nelson will give him much p.t. especially with the fact the dubs are always playing small ball.

Center: Andris Biedrins, I’m glad they locked up my boy, I think Biedrins is a great young center and I am glad we have him locked in at a good price. I hope he gets a little more minutes this year, maybe 35ish a game, I think that would go a long ways to helping the dubs win more games. I’m also pleased with the addition of Ronnie Turiaf as the backup center. I think he will be solid and a serious upgrade when Andris is on the bench.

Off-Season Contracts:

Cory Maggette (5yr. 50mil): At first I shrugged and was confused. Baron just opted out… there were reports that Mullin was offering everyone and anyone big huge contracts… then Maggette was signed. At first I thought it was desperation, that it was rushed, but after taking some time to digest, it looks like a legit deal. Cory can get to the line, we all know that, and that is something that the dubs could never do (Baron could but he can’t make his free-throws). Maggette is going to give the dubs a player that can literally stop the opponents momentum in just a couple times down the floor. The ability to get to the line and stop the flow is key, and he does it as good as anyone in the league. I like this deal, 10 mil a year for a proven scorer is not overpaying. 

Monta Ellis (6yr 66mil): Ellis is key, I really hope he makes a quick recovery and gets back on the floor. He is so much fun to watch, so explosive and utterly unstoppable with that mid-range game. Monta is the future of the dubs, there is no doubt about it, he is only going to get better as he gets bigger/stronger. Monta is going to be an all-star year in year our in only a matter of another couple seasons. (probably would have began this year if he was healthy). I’m anticipating, maybe not this year, but next year he will be averaging 25+ a night.

Andris Biedrins (6 year 63mil incentive deal):Can’t recall the exact facts but I know I saw them at one point, and the incentives are not easily obtainable (some are). Either Way, for less than 10 million a year the dubs have a legit center for the next 6 years, gotta love it. Beidrins was also named Captain this year w/ Captain Jack. I think thats a pretty nice reward for the 22 year old baby center.

Ronnie Turiaf (4 year 17 mil): Solid, helps the dubs, hurts the fakers. Ronnie will play a key role in a lot of games for the warriors. This was an important deal and again, 4 mil a year is not a lot of money for a quality big man.

Projections

I think the Warriors are going to be decent this year, not great, not terrible. The loss of Monta and a huge amount of road games in the beginning of the year will make it tough for us. However, looking to the future I see a bright road, mainly because, I like our young core, but I also like that many other teams in the Western Conference are running out of time.

The Mavericks, the Spurs, the Rockets, the Nuggets, the Suns, these teams are on and going to be on the decline starting this year going forward. The Mavs, they are not what they use to be and are probably going to have to shake that team up here shortly. The Spurs aren’t getting any younger, I don’t see them sustaining their run much longer, they will begin to dip. The Rockets, there aren’t going to be many more years of tracy/yao combo, its obviously not working if they can’t get out of the first round of the playoffs. The Nuggets, this team is already over the salary cap, again another team that can at best barely make the playoffs but can’t get out of first round. The Suns, with Nash getting up in years, Shaq on his last legs, I don’t see them being what they were and don’t see much brightness for the future. All of these teams are going to suffer. 

In the meantime, the dubs will be young, they will have some cap room coming up with Foyles numbers coming off the books shortly, plus Jacko and Harrington’s contracts expiring soon. Lets hope that our young guys develop and can take on the bigger roles as we move into the future. Andris, Monta, Turiaf, these type of guys will have to be the leaders… and I think they will. I think the dubs will finish right around .500 this year and will be in a playoff hunt.