Finally....
Today has been a great day thus far. So much hoops coverage. From Bill Simmons to endless articles about all teams. The Bulls looked good last night. Andrew Bynum even looked good last night! But as the Daily Dub, our focus is obviously on the team that plays its games out in Oaktown. I will be in attendance tonight for what I'm hoping will be a 114-101 Warriors victory over the Kobe-less Lakers.
I must say though that I was a bit surprised to see the the Lakers come back and win that one last night. Especially the way the Suns were filling it up in the first quarter. Though basketball is unlike baseball in its standings watchings, I was definitely rooting for the Suns as the Lakers are much more likely to be a team the our Dubs are going to contend with for one of the final(gulp) playoff spots in the west. While I am even somewhat of a fan of the way the Suns play basketball, I conceed that they are one of the elite teams in the West. They will win the pacific division, and hence, when they play any of the other teams in our division, (with the exception of the Warriors of course) I will be rooting for them.
That being said, I digress into what I think are some of the major keys for a sucessful Warriors season.
In no particular order......
1. The Development of the Young Players:
Andris Biedrins, Monta Ellis, Ike Diogu and to an extent Dujuan Wagner are all going to be counted on to make significant contributions off the bench for the Warriors this year. Unlike the Suns, who have the luxury of bringing Amare, Raja Bell, Barbosa and James Jones, all veteran players off the bench, the Dubs do not have that luxury. The sucess of our season will in a large way be determined by how quickly these guys can grasp defensive and offensive schemes and how quickly coach Nelson will start to believe in them as real NBA players. If he does not, and Baron, Jason and the rest of the starters are forced to play major minutes, the effectiveness of the small ball line up will not be fully utilized.
2. The Real Mike Dunleavy:
Like it or not Dubs fans, I think that the season as a whole rests on the shoulders of Mike Dunleavy. To this point in his career, he has not shown enough consistency to warrant the staring nod on most NBA teams. Whether the Warriors are trying to justify taking him so high in the 2002 draft, or whether they truely believe he can be a special player, and solid contributor on a team with playoff aspirations, he needs to play (much, much) better, and more consistent than he has previously. When I say that I'm thinking at least averages of 15 points and 6 rebounds and 5 assists for the season. Luckily, coach Nelson believes in the tools that Dunleavy posseses and will use him as a point forward that will allow the offense to at times be run through LilDun. While other coaches have attempted for short periods of time to do this, we all know that Nelson is committed to running, and he loves to have his bigs initiate the fast break. What is even more crazy is that I actually believe that Dunleavy can do this, and I really hope for our sake that Nelson figures out how to use his abilities to create offensive mismatches.
3. Health of the Starters:
Over the last two seasons, Davis, Richardson, Pietrus and Murphy have all missed extended periods of time due to injury. The losses of any of these key players for more than a few games will place added pressure on the reserves, and it remains unknown as to whether the reserves will be able to step in an contribute consistency on a nightly basis. Therefore the overall health of the team is paramount if the Warriors want to even think about the playoffs.
4. Free-throws:
By now we all know the stats. The Warriors lost an agonizing 14 games last year by 3 points or less. It didn't help that the Dubs were close to the bottom of the league in free throw percentage. 71%. However, even with the all the emphasis this preseason, the added assistant coach who specializes in free throw technique, through the preseason, the Dubs were shooting right around the same clip. Games in the NBA are won in the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter. If the Warriors, especially Davis and Richardson continue to languish towards the bottom of the league in Free-throw accuracy, they will definitely miss the playoffs.
My prediction:
For whatever reason, I believe that Nellie will be able to make enough schrewd moves that the Dubs will come out on the winning end of a majority of games.
45-37 (8th place in the west)
I must say though that I was a bit surprised to see the the Lakers come back and win that one last night. Especially the way the Suns were filling it up in the first quarter. Though basketball is unlike baseball in its standings watchings, I was definitely rooting for the Suns as the Lakers are much more likely to be a team the our Dubs are going to contend with for one of the final(gulp) playoff spots in the west. While I am even somewhat of a fan of the way the Suns play basketball, I conceed that they are one of the elite teams in the West. They will win the pacific division, and hence, when they play any of the other teams in our division, (with the exception of the Warriors of course) I will be rooting for them.
That being said, I digress into what I think are some of the major keys for a sucessful Warriors season.
In no particular order......
1. The Development of the Young Players:
Andris Biedrins, Monta Ellis, Ike Diogu and to an extent Dujuan Wagner are all going to be counted on to make significant contributions off the bench for the Warriors this year. Unlike the Suns, who have the luxury of bringing Amare, Raja Bell, Barbosa and James Jones, all veteran players off the bench, the Dubs do not have that luxury. The sucess of our season will in a large way be determined by how quickly these guys can grasp defensive and offensive schemes and how quickly coach Nelson will start to believe in them as real NBA players. If he does not, and Baron, Jason and the rest of the starters are forced to play major minutes, the effectiveness of the small ball line up will not be fully utilized.
2. The Real Mike Dunleavy:
Like it or not Dubs fans, I think that the season as a whole rests on the shoulders of Mike Dunleavy. To this point in his career, he has not shown enough consistency to warrant the staring nod on most NBA teams. Whether the Warriors are trying to justify taking him so high in the 2002 draft, or whether they truely believe he can be a special player, and solid contributor on a team with playoff aspirations, he needs to play (much, much) better, and more consistent than he has previously. When I say that I'm thinking at least averages of 15 points and 6 rebounds and 5 assists for the season. Luckily, coach Nelson believes in the tools that Dunleavy posseses and will use him as a point forward that will allow the offense to at times be run through LilDun. While other coaches have attempted for short periods of time to do this, we all know that Nelson is committed to running, and he loves to have his bigs initiate the fast break. What is even more crazy is that I actually believe that Dunleavy can do this, and I really hope for our sake that Nelson figures out how to use his abilities to create offensive mismatches.
3. Health of the Starters:
Over the last two seasons, Davis, Richardson, Pietrus and Murphy have all missed extended periods of time due to injury. The losses of any of these key players for more than a few games will place added pressure on the reserves, and it remains unknown as to whether the reserves will be able to step in an contribute consistency on a nightly basis. Therefore the overall health of the team is paramount if the Warriors want to even think about the playoffs.
4. Free-throws:
By now we all know the stats. The Warriors lost an agonizing 14 games last year by 3 points or less. It didn't help that the Dubs were close to the bottom of the league in free throw percentage. 71%. However, even with the all the emphasis this preseason, the added assistant coach who specializes in free throw technique, through the preseason, the Dubs were shooting right around the same clip. Games in the NBA are won in the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter. If the Warriors, especially Davis and Richardson continue to languish towards the bottom of the league in Free-throw accuracy, they will definitely miss the playoffs.
My prediction:
For whatever reason, I believe that Nellie will be able to make enough schrewd moves that the Dubs will come out on the winning end of a majority of games.
45-37 (8th place in the west)
posted by DailyDub at 2:49 PM
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