The Daily Dub

The Pressure

2007-04-30T19:10:00.000-07:00

Hello Again.
I guess I need to make some changes to the blog. I stopped for a while right around the 6 game east coast swing in which the Dubs sunk to a season low 9 games below .500. But I never stopped watching, and I certainly didn't stop rooting and I definitely kept on heading out to the Big O.
Anyway, why I am writing today? The Pressure of course. I was busy reading up on the huge game 4 win last night (which, I'll get to more later of course) on Goldenstateofmind, when I stumbled across a link to this blog! WTF! How long had that even been there. I guess I should say thanks to those crazy Dubs fans. I have no idea how long its been there. Definitely a while, since I haven't posted in forever. But more than anything I felt like, well what the hell, the Dubs are in the F'ing playoffs. I need to blog about this. So without further adieu, here we go......

By now, you know all the stories, the Dubs finish down the stretch, the Clipper home collapse, the return of health of Baron and JRich.
But as I sit here typing, and thinking about what I should write about for the first time in 3 months, the thing that came to me, and I've thought this varying times during the year, was that THIS TEAM, THIS YEAR felt different. My first inclination was when Baron hit that shot against Houston at home to get the win. The second was the Monta buzzer beater to beat the Nets, and the third, was the comeback, and subsequent win at home against the Bulls. In previous years, that Ben Gordon 3 would have gone in, similar to the pre trade Stephen Jackson dagger to end the home Indiana game. But along the way, the Dubs sucked it up, they got healthy, they came together as (a new team, post trade) and they learned how to win, just in time to squeak into the playoffs.

Games 3 and 4 were amazing. They were my first two playoff games, and man were they amazing. On Friday, we got the parking lot around 4:40. For the next two hours, a steady stream of cars and dank smoke filled into the parking lot in what would be one of the greatest weekends of my life thus far. The crowd Friday was crazy, and the team kept feeding into their emotions. The game was over by the half, the Mavs looked stunned, and it just turned into a second half party, and a great Friday night.

Last night, the game was closer, the Mavs did a better job of dictating the tempo, Josh Howard was unstoppable in the first half, and only a amazing BD half court heave with 1.2 on the clock tied the game at 49 a piece. But honestly, could anyone else have done that other than BD? To borrow from the FSN radio spot
He's a warrior take it straight to the hole
Baron Davis Golden State ballin' outta control!

Baron is seriously ballin', showing all haters and detractors that his game is legit, a combination of power and speed that Dallas has been totally unable to stop. The only thing that has stopped Baron thus far is his own ejection from game 2.

The other reason I wanted to start up this blog thing again, and back to a point I was trying to make earlier, is that there is something special going on here. As you probably know, a win tomorrow, or in any of the final three possible games, an the Dubs will have pulled off the GREATEST UPSET IN THE HISTORY OF THE NBA PLAYOFFS. Yes, an 8 seed has beaten a 1 seed before. In fact, it has happened twice, once in 1994, and once in 1999. But those series were best of 5. This is a best of 7. Part of the reason the NBA changed the 1st round to 7 games was to prevent something of this magnitude from happening. But this team feels different, from the SWAG to fans to the size of the current bandwagon, there is a certain mojo about the Dubs, and everyone knows it, and more importantly loves it.

I think the Dubs win it tomorrow, but I'm not going to make predictions, because I said earlier, I was done with that for the year. But hey...I already got my money on it. Go Dubs.

Weekend Recap...

2007-02-11T22:04:00.000-08:00

You win some you lose some. But with the Warriors, seems like they lose more than win. Had I written the recap about the Bulls game earlier in the weekend, I was going to say comment about what a great win it was for the Dubs, a game to build on, and mostly, how things at the Arena feel a bit different this year, even though their record pretty much sums up the last 12 years.
It probably has to do with the fact that I've been in attendance for the Rockets, Nets, and Bulls games, all won by the Warriors in the last possession.
But tonight's game against the Hawks is another reason why the Warriors will be counting ping pong balls in May. A playoff bound team would somehow find a way to win tonight's game. Granted the Dubs did a miraculous job to even have a shot at the end, to win it. But missed free throws, combined with some uber athletic play from the Hawks swingmen prevented any such miracle.
Josh Smith and Joe Johnson were unbelievable for the Hawks tonight. Smith probably had 6 or 7 dunks, and its quite easy to see why he is an NBA Slam Dunk Champion. Dude probably gets up as high as anyone in the league. The opening tip was a ominous sign for the tonights game, as the Hawks won the tip, then threw an alley oop to Smith for the first of his various monster jams.

Smith also was awesome at the defensive side of the floor, making a more than a few layup/dunk saving blocks. Once his jumper from the outside starts to fall, he is going to be a really tough match-up.
For a team who's recent past has been almost as bad as the Warriors, it is actually good to see them preform so well on their recent west coast trip (5 road wins in a row). The Hawks are the youngest team in the NBA. And with Joe Johnson, Smith, Marvin Williams, Josh Childress and Sheldan Williams, they have a good young solid core. If only they had taken Chris Paul or Deron Williams last year with the second pick in the 2005 draft, they would probably be a playoff team in the eastern conference. That being said, I certainly wish tonight's outcome had been different.
But the Warriors don't have too much time to dwell on it, as they are probably already in route to Denver for tomorrow night's game. Stephen Jackson meanwhile is not on the team flight, as he is taking a 5am flight to Indianapolis to attend the hearing of the man accused of running him over in the infamous strip club incident from this past off season. He is then going to immediately fly to Denver and if he makes it, will be in the starting line up according to Coach Nelson. It will be interesting watching his play tomorrow, because you have to believe that he will be some what fatigued.
Marcus Camby and Allen Iverson are said to be game time decisions.

They are who we thought they were...

2007-02-08T14:09:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess it sure wasn't 5-1.

I certainly don't have much to say about last night's loss. No Baron, hardly any Monta (though very glad he was able to play at all).

Lets recap.

I said: Warriors roll the Cavs without Lebron.
Actual result: Cavs roll Warriors without Lebron.

I said: Warriors use momentum from Cavs win, to beat the Hawks in what would be their first win on the second night of a road back to back.
Actual Result: Hawks roll Warriors.

I said: Warriors roll 76ers because they are the worst team in the East, they have no Allen Iverson, and they are still the worst team in the East.
Actual Result: Warriors give up a triple double to Andre Igudala, and need a lefty spin move layup from Al to win it. They survive barely when the new AI, misses at the buzzer. Warriors 1-2 on the 6 game trip.

I said: Warriors beat Charlotte, because they are a better team, and they rolled em in Oakland a week before.
Actual result: Warriors roll for first half, but too much Gerald Wallace and Ray Felton in the second half, and the Warriors are now 0-13 on the second half of a road back to back.

I said: In the statement game of the year, Warriors crush Indy as Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington have big games in their return to Indy.
Actual Result: Hey I got one right! Warriors roll Pacers as Stephen Jackson has a huge game, and the ex Warriors do what they did with their previous team.....Not much. Dub win.

Interesting side note: The Pacers are still having trouble with adhering to the laws of the United States, even without Stephen Jackson.

I said: Warriors lose to Minnesota, thinking about getting home to the O, and too much KG.
Actual Result: Warriors lose to Minnesota, thinking about getting home to the O, and a triple double for KG in 31 minutes. Oh by the way, apparently Ricky Davis was unstoppable too.

OK, What we learned about the Dubs:

They still cannot play defense.
They have trouble rebounding the basketball, especially on the defensive glass.
They thus give up a lot of second chance points, because they cannot Windex the glass.
We are not a better team without Baron Davis.
We really need Monta, and his 17+ a game.
We are going back to the lottery.(as this blog title has stated from its inception)

So, the next stretch of games, include 3 of 4 at home, against the Bulls, Hawks and Knicks on Valentine's day. Sandwiched between a road game on the second half of a back to back, in the mile high city of Denver (gee, wonder how that is going to turn out)

Anyway, I think I said yesterday that I'm not making any more predictions. The Warriors are by nature, too unpredictable.

Indy Recap

2007-02-06T22:11:00.000-08:00

Better late than never.

I rushed to the club last night to watch the game, and was pleasantly surprised to see the Dubs were up 18. Mike Dunleavy, was 1 for his first 9, which I guess you could say we were used to. I for once was happy to see him play up to his normal ways.

I know a lot of folks in the national media have been saying that this is just one game, and that they think Indy got the better of the deal, but for Warrior fans everywhere, I and many of the folks who saw the Dunleavy/Murphy era can fully conclude that even after only 9 games, the Dubs fleeced the Pacers. If not only for the fact that we dumped aproximately 35 million in future salary.
Add me to the list of folks that are extremely surprised that Rick Carlisle continues to run Dun/Murph out together in the starting lineup. Did he not see any of the Mike Montgomery era? Granted, having Jermaine O'Neal down low definitely helps out, but as usual, Murphy was yanked early after a successions of Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington layups. What we gained from the trade, was a couple of players who are better suited to play Don Nelson's style. I think it has been evident, that with Harrington and Jackson, either, or both of them are capable of scoring 25 on a given night. The same cannot be said about the players we traded away, and for that reason, along with unloading future salary that can be used to sign other more deserving Warriors, Chris Mullin made a great deal.

So after horrendous games against Cleveland and Charlotte, if the Dubs can somehow figure out how to beat KG and Minnesota tomorrow night, they will be exactly where the were when they left for the six game trip. That is two games under .500, but still very alive for the last playoff spot in the west. I'm not going to make any more predictions this year, because at this point I've been awful. Its hard to predict for a team that is so inconsistent. Hopefully Baron will be back, and hopefully Monta is on his way to feeling better (as he had a scary bone bruise mid way through the third quarter).

Tip is 5pm PST. Hope you are watching.

Find these on sale soon.....

2007-02-01T15:14:00.000-08:00

2007-02-01T15:03:00.000-08:00

We have images!
Man I've been waiting for someone to show me how to do that for a while. Thanks to my boy Tknoles for his help (albeit, minimal, I'm just an idiot Dub fan, with no computer skills)
Check his blog here.

Teetering.....

2007-02-01T10:55:00.001-08:00

Thanks to the geniuses at Fox Sports Bay Area, last night's loss against Atlanta was not on TV. Perhaps they knew something heading into the year, or perhaps they remember Joe Johnson going off on the Warriors for 44 last year.
Oh well, no matter, the Warriors are officially teetering on falling into the annual NBA draft lottery abyss. Side note: I actually considered changing the tag line of this blog in my post trade giddy-ness, but something (maybe 12 consecutive years of losing) got the better of me, I maintained sound judgement and left it at "NBA Draft Lottery, Here We Come."
Tim Kawakami took the time today to very clearly point out exactly how the Warriors are going to have to finish in order to possibly snag the final playoff spot in the tough western conference. 23-13 finish, with 20 road games remaining does not seem that attainable for a team that only has 4 road wins as we enter the 4Th month of the season.
Barring a miracle, it just ain't gonna happen folks.
But the bright side, is that Warrior fans can now start our annual tradition of looking to college basketball, and watching intently as the major draft prospects play important games. We get to speculate which underclassmen will enter the draft, and which will be smart enough to stay in school to avoid being drafted by the hapless franchise that is our Golden State Warriors. I'm not sure who to feel bad for at this point.
Lets make a list just for fun
1. Jason Richardson: Though Adonal Foyle has been on the squad longer, Jason is the heart and soul of the team. Before his injuries this year, he had improved his scoring average his first 5 years in the league. Every summer, he would address one or two weaknesses in his game, and come back better. I expect the same from him going into this summer, as he is the consummate professional. Yet he is a career loser. His squad in Golden State have never come close to sniffing the playoffs. He finally is rid off the two stiffs (DunMurphy) he had to play his entire career with, and has to watch helplessly from the bench as his team fades into their 13th year of NBA oblivion. He might be on the decline athletically as his knees may finally be letting him down. And lastly, there is no foreseeable hope in sight.
2. Baron Davis: Unlike Richardson, Davis has experience winning, has received the personal accolades, but his tenure in Oakland has yet to produce anything other than a few memorable alley oop highlights, and late season wins against teams coasting to the playoffs. His reputation around the league is still that of a coach killer, and team cancer. He is obviously one of the top true point guards off the dribble, but its debatable as to whether or not he makes his teammates better. BD fans will insist that his assist and steal numbers are those indicative of a top point guard, but the number in the wins column, just aren't there. He took it upon himself to be the leader and face of the team last year, but clashed with Mike Montgomery, and ended up just trying to play 1 on 5 to win games. Granted he is playing his ass off this year, he is having perhaps one of his best seasons, yet he has been surrounded by teammates who do not have his natural athletic ability, and haven't been able to provide consistent support to help the team win games. BD is 27 this year, and as the third pick in the 1999 draft, he is in the middle of what should be his prime. But as he pointed out post Cleveland debacle on Tuesday, the defensive effort and winning know-how is not there from the rest of his team, and he is starting to get sick of it.
3. The Fans: I don't know what the numbers reflect for this year, but the Warrior's have increased their attendance at Oracle arena each of the past 4 seasons. Frankly, its dumbfounding that a perennial losing franchise could continue to draw so many die hard basketball fans. Is it because fans are there to constantly see the other top draws of the Association come in and play ball? I don't know. It can't be because of the product on the court. Granted the Warriors have been pretty good this year on the home floor, but still, 4 years in a row? 12 years and counting of no playoff basketball. Around the country, Warriors fans are considered some of the best and most knowledgeable. Is this because we continue to support an inferior product, or are we just crazy, liberal, easily forgetful people? I wish I knew. I mean..... I'll definitely renew my season tickets next year. But then again, I'm not exactly the soundest money manager.

I predicted the other day that THIS road trip was going to be different. Hey, I was feeling optimistic at the time, silly me. 5-1 I predicted. Well, that is obviously wrong. Is 4-2 still possible. Sure it is. But at this point. The team needs to take the rest of these games one at a time. I can only hope that today's practice is a spirited one. Phily is not a good team. They should be beat. We can discuss the Bobcats, and 0-11 on the second half of road back to backs post tomorrow night's game. This team is a few more losses away from losing the season completely. However, I'm afraid its already gone.

By the way, did you see what Kevin Durant did last night?

It all begins here...

2007-01-29T21:17:00.000-08:00

The Warriors are about to embark on their most important road trip of the season. They play 6 games in the next 10 nights away from the O in Oakland. 5 of those games are against eastern conference teams, with only 2 of those teams currently holding winning records.

Taking their two game winning streak on the road to Cleveland tomorrow, early indications are that the Dubs have caught a much needed break for tomorrow's game. All everything Mr. Lebron James (the number one pick in my fantasy draft by yours truely)most probably will not be playing because of a sore toe.

This is so huge for the Dub squad which have only won 4 games (good for second worst in the lig)on the road this year. Without Lebron, the Cavs are not a playoff team. I expect Cavs coach Mike Brown to slow it down, avoid the running game that the Warriors will love to play and dump the ball into Z and have Larry Hughes and others cutting trying to get layups and high percentage shots. Of course, I also think that without Lebron, the Cavs will not be the same team that stole a win at the O last week, in the debut of the DubThugs. The Warriors are semi rolling, and motivated to get this trip off to a good start. A win tomorrow at the Q (Quicken Loans Arena) could propell the Warriors into a winning streak, which they desperately need.

I also think that this tirp could see another trend of this season's Dubs come to an end. They are currently 0-10 on the second night of road back to back's. Wednesday nights game is in Atlanta, against the Hawks, and I'm sure that AL will be eager to show (one of) his old team(s) what they are missing. Stephen Jackson was also a Hawk in the not too distant past, but more than anything, the Dubs NEED this game. They currently sit at 21-23, two games under .500, and with Minnesota's win against Phoenix tonight, 2.5 games out of the final Western Conference playoff spot.

After Atlanta, the team has Thursday off, and then they are onto Philly and Charlotte on Friday and Saturday nights. So in essence, the Dubs play their next four games against probably 4 of the worst 6 teams in the league (of course, that includes the Cavs sans Lebron).

Sunday is another off day, before what I now look forward to as the match up of the year. Monday, Februay 4th, the new look DubThugs play the Indiana Pacers, who amazingly now start Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy. I think Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington will do exactly what they did to the those two soft front court players back in early December....pre-trade, which is to say, DOMINATE. I am definitely going into work early to leave early. My prediction, is the Dubs will run them off the floor, and win by Double digits.

I know this is a bold statement, but I'm feeling the momentum of Saturday night's laugher against the Bobcats. I'm thinking the Dubs win tomorrow, and use the the momentum to go 5-0 on the first 5 games of the trip. Don't think they will beat Minnesota in Minnesota to end the trip, but then again, if they actually go 5-0 in the first five, anything can happen.

So I'll have to keep track, but anything less than 4-2 on this trip will be a dissapointment. 4-2 would put the Dubs at 25-25, and back at .500 after the trip. I really feel that the new players are starting to come together, understand their roles, and yet still want to play hard to please Coach Nelson, their new teammates, and generally show the NBA community that they are difference makers. We'll see.

Yeah!

2007-01-25T14:06:00.000-08:00

Great finish at the O last night. Monta saved the day, Baron, and possibly the season.

I've watched him play a lot this year, and while he has his faults and shortcomings, there are a few things I do love about him.
Seems to me that everytime he comes into a game, he almost always hits his first shot. As a bench player at any level, you don't have time or the luxury as a starter to let the game "come to you." You have to "get in the game." Monta does this extremely well. I'm continually impressed by the way that he
A. Turns the corner
B. The lift on his jumper

Monta made a bunch of great plays last night, and he will certainly be remembered for the shot he made to win the game, but how many people will remember the layup he converted at the end of the 3rd quarter? He got the ball with about seven seconds to go, raced up the court, turned the corner on the ancient Cliff Robinson (a former Dub Fav) and layed the ball in with .8 seconds to go. This was a huge basket because it cut New Jersey's 6 point lead, to 4 to start the 4th.

Last night's 1st quarter was extremely difficult to watch. First off, the Dubs made Mikki Moore look like an all-star. The Dubs were called for traveling on 3 of the first 4 possessions and if you ask me, the Sarunus/Baron back court should be ditched forever. What made it worse was Vince Carter was doing whatever he wanted. Last night was the 3rd time I've seen him play in person, and the first time that he has been completely healthy. Let me just say this. The hype is real. Carter's main flaw is that his motivation is not the same as a Kobe or Wade. His skill set is just as good if not better, and he can certainly still jump out of the gym. On his jump shot, the ball comes out of his hand effortlessly with perfect rotation. He took two 3's in the quarter, and both were nothing but net. In the second half, Nelson was smart and the Warriors double teamed him everytime he touched it. No matter, Carter finished with a career high 13 assists. If only he could find a way to play motivated night in and night out. Oh well though, thats not my problem.

Back to the Dubs. While Stephen Jackson had his second tough outing in a row, Al Harrington was again, offensively awesome. 29 points on a variety of scoring moves. The best of which was a reverse spin dribble around his man and finish at the tin. The antithesis of DunMurph...if you will. Harrington also got himself to the line, and his clutch free throws with 27 seconds to go put the Warriors in the position they needed so Monta could make the final shot. I think Harrington is going to be a 20+ guy a night in a Warriors uniform. The Warriors need his low post moves, and when the offense is stagnant, or needs production, especially in the half court, I think they may have found a consistent option. Granted he is still in his Eastern Conference body, but once Nelson gets him to lose some pounds, he is only going to get better. I'm getting more and more excited watching his play with every game that goes by. As Nelly pointed out, if he can only improve his rebounding numbers, he is going to be awesome.

As Kawakami pointed out, the win last night could have saved the season. Mid January is a bit early to be issuing such bold statements, but had the Warriors dropped last night's game (at home) they would have fallen 5 games under .500 instead of the 3 they are now. A win Saturday is very conceivable, and then, 5 games into the trade, the Warriors will hit the road to play six very beatable Eastern conference teams including my (newest) most anticipated game of the year, the Warriors vs. the Indiana Pacers on monday February 5th. For now though, Ellis can bask in the glory of his clutch game winner, and then Emeka Okafor and Charlotte Bobcats come to town on Saturday night.

DubThugs

2007-01-23T20:29:00.000-08:00

The DubThugs is my new name for our team. Even my dad was commenting to me how different the team looked on TV last night. "They are much more athletic" he said.
"Its like they are a whole different team"

Exactly.

Last night during that run midway through the second quarter, I got giddy. It was starting to sink in. I was never going to have to wait for Mike Dunleavy to be something he is not. Instead, I was watching Al Harrington make moves not seen in a Dubs uniform since Chris Webber was a rookie. You know.....an actual athletic post move and finish. I had to pinch myself, because even though we (I feel like I can say we again) were everywhere on the court, making steals, getting out on the break, I knew that the Lakers still had the great equalizer. Kobe. In the end, we all knew what happened. Baron went down, and so did our chance to win.

But now that its been a few days, I want to address some positives and point out that Warrior fans (for the first time in a long time) have something to be excited for.

Stephen Jackson: I even wrote about him on this blog back on December 1st. He is a bad dude. I'm willing to forgive his indiscresions in Indiana, and give him a new beginning in Oakland as long as he continues to:
be 6'8, freakishly long, athletic and generally a bad ass dude. It was so refreshing to see him play with some emotion on Saturday night in his debut. He took the mic and addressed the crowd, and then, played his best game of the year, and almost pulled out the win for the Dubs. Frankly, if they had Baron they would have won the game, and Jackson would have been the hero. Instead, Dubs fans were just offered glimpses of what we haven't had in a long time. A seriously tall guard/forward combo, who can shoot, drive, defend, and make free throws. The Warriors get a lot of deflections in the way they are always switching their defensive schemes. You can add Jackson to the list of Davis, Barnes and Biedrins as guys who always seem to come up with the ball when its to be had in their area.
Indiana fans were quick to point out that Jackson often gambles for steals on defense, and waits around in the back court to complain to the refs while his man is busy streaking up the court. I did notice a bit of this on saturday, but Dunleavy used to do that too, but without offensive production. I think Jackson is going to get a legit chance to play a lot of minutes for Coach Nelson, and is going to get plenty of shots to stay happy. I'm glad he is on my team, because frankly the Warriors have been so soft for so long.
Al Harrington: While anything other than an aweful debut would have contributed to a win, last night, we saw probably what Chris Mullin had in mind when he aggressively went after Harrington in the off season. Like Jackson the night before, Harrington did everything but rebound the basketball. He had 31 on an array of post moves, aggressive drives, jumpers and three pointers. I also saw him initiate the break a bit, which is going to be needed because that is one thing that Dunleavy was very capable of doing. I was so giddy to see an athletic post player making solid basketball moves that translated into points. Because lets face it, both Dun and Murph just couldn't finish with any sort of regularity.
Sarunus J.........: I don't know how to spell his name correctly yet, so for now, he is just Sarunus. He is another thing that a winning team needs. A decent back up point guard. Not sure he can defend anyone, but as long as he can run the offense effectively while Baron takes a breather, I think we will be ok. Definitely an upgrade on Keith McCloud.
I think Josh Powell is going to get some run too. Did anyone else see that shot block he had during his brief stint in the 2nd quarter? That was a serious rejection! Dude is another type of player we haven't had. An athletic front court player. I think Nelson will figure out what he has with Powell and he will start to get some consistent mintues as well.
I'm really looking foward to tomorrow night, not only because I'll be at the O for JKidd and Vinsanity, but because I think the Dubs are going to get their first win with the new squad. It was unfortunate that the first two games of the new era went down as they did, but both the Cavs and Lakers are solid playoff teams. Their are only 40 games left, and the Warriors are currently 4 games under .500 and thus out of the playoff picture. I think they can make it, but I'm not sure they will. One thing for sure is that it will be exciting to watch, as this team as they are now assembled will be one of the more entertaining outfits in the league. The Warriors already lead the league in fast break points scored, so with the addition of Jackson, Harrington and Powell all running the lanes now instead of the other stiffs, those statistics are only likely to go up.

One interesting side note about tomorrow's game will be the return of Jason Kidd to Oakland. In the past, Jason has gotten the better of the Dubs, but I just don't think he is going to have enough fire power without RJ (Richard Jefferson) in the lineup.

Regardless, I'm just so excited that the slow white era in Oakland has transitioned into something much faster.

I'm In Shock.....

2007-01-17T21:28:00.000-08:00

(Editor's note: This post was written during extreme levels of intoxication, and while being inturrupted twice by female roomates on the day of the trade.)

I just checked ESPN.com for the score of the Dubs game. They are down 14, 79-93. I checked the box score. Our line up is of 5 guys and Renaldo Major, called up from D league today. He has played one minute. I laughed out loud. The rest of the box score inclued Al Harington, Stephen Jackson and Sarunas Jasikevicius. Their caption was has not entered the game.
At this point, the game is over. Brand, Casesell, Ross, Mobley, and Maggette are all in double figures. This game was suppossed to mean something in the over all scheme of 2007. But tonight it was just a fill in game until the New Warriors take the floor on Saturday night at the Arena with Al Harrington at power forward and Stephen Jackson at small forward against Lebron James...and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
But back to the trade. Who won? Who Lost?
At this point, most people and myself included know the Warriors won. They traded two slow white guys for for two athletic black dudes and immediately upgraded their entire team. John Hollinger from ESPN.com is using his P.E.R. (player effieciency rating) to determine that Ike Diogu might be the player that in ten years, this trade is named after. But you know what.....
I don't care at this point. The fact that Mullin was able to jettison the rediculous contracts he handed to Murphy and Dunleavy makes this deal a win for the Warriors. Nelson figured out in one game that those two couldn't play in the same front court together, and he never played the two together again. Now the Warriors are much more athletic in the front court, and their only remaining white player happens to lead the NBA in field goal percentage.
Sounds like a winning a formula to me.

Open Auditions

2007-01-16T17:38:00.000-08:00

I seriously felt like yeterday, Mike Dunleavy and Corey Maggette held their own personal open auditions to be traded away from their current teams. For the third time this season, I've had the opportunity to sit in great seats in the sideline club section, instead of my normal vantage point in the corner. From row 8, i was not close enough to hear what was said, but could see the expressions on the players faces, which is often times.....priceless.
Both Dunleavy and Maggette came off the bench, and had respectively good games. For Dunleavy, the Warriors got something that they thought they would have all season. 3 3's in 13 point second quarter, and a total of 13 rebounds for the game. He was everywhere, he played hard, and for once, with what seemed to be sense of purpose. Perhaps he wanted to show his dad, and his dad's team he could play. But my thinking is that he wanted to show the front office of his dad's team, that he was worth trading for. For all Dunleavy's supposed multi skills in his 6'9 frame, what he is not is a stong NBA forward. He is too soft to finish with any kind of regularity, and his jumper is not as good as many thought it would be coming out of college. What he does well are the little things. He doesn't seem to have much of an ego, which is important in a game of ego's. When the Warriors win, and they go on these sputs of running and gunning, I often see Dun making the extra pass, helping it swing from the strong side, to the open shooter in the corner of the weak side, often Pietrus or Barnes. Nelson has recently called him a "blend" player, which i took to mean a great role player, and someone who can blend into the offense. Coincidentally, the Clippers could use a player like Mike. I watched yesterday as Monta Ellis took whoever was in front of him to the rim. He spun around Maggette and Livington for hoops. He took Cassell and Mobely off the dribble for layups. After each bucket, the Clipper players glared at each other like
1. They couldn't believe this kid just took them to the hole with such ease and
2. WTF was the other guy doing to help out.

I saw no accountability. Now I'm certainly not saying that Dunleavy is capable defender, he is not. But he would be perfect for a team like the Clips who need that player on the floor to make the extra pass around the perimeter to Ross in the corner. Or someone with enough basketball savvy to continue to dump the ball into Brand when he is feeling it. Currently, the Clips have 5 guys in their starting 5 who would prefer to shoot everytime. Then, they bring Maggette off the bench, and he definitely wants to shoot it.
When Magette came off the bench in the first quarter, the Warriors where in their normal 2-3 match up zone with Dunleavy on Maggette's side. The Clips swung the ball to him, he took the pass, made one strong dribble towards baseline around Dun and went in for the layup, 2 points. He is almost the exact opposite of a small forward than Dunleavy. Though they finished with almost the exact same line, both with 18 points, Dun got 9 of those with his 3 3's and Maggette earned his from the line. What Maggette can do that Dunleavy can't is attack the rim. He is not much of a three point shooter, but the Warriors have enough guys who love to do that anyway (the rest of the team). The Dubs need a slasher who can finish at the rim, and just as importantly, who has the respect of the referees when he goes to the rim. Also, something Dunleavy has yet to earn. Dun, for all he is supposed to be able to do is just an highly over paid role player. Maggette, though he comes off the bench would be a starter on most teams. Deep down, I know that both players would welcome a change of scenery. And while Maggette does have an ego, and isn't exactly a choir boy, he does well what many Dunleavy doesn't and vice versa. I know that it is not Dunleavy Sr. who is opposed to bringing on his son, but rather others in the organization who wonder what would happen if the rest of the team felt like a coach was giving his son preferential treatment. At this point, I think both teams would benefit from a trade and I can't wait to see if both players as hard tomorrow as they did for Dr. Martin Luther King.

Um yeah...

2007-01-11T22:36:00.000-08:00

Apologizies for not getting this out sooner. I guess I was torn. My Warriors played literally, their worst game of the year, yet Dwight Howard, put on one of the best individual power forward performances in the last 10 years. Acording to the great Elias Sports Bureau, "Dwight Howard scored a career-high 30 points and collected 25 rebounds in Orlando's 91-76 victory at Golden State. Howard became only the second NBA player in the last 10 years to reach those levels in a regulation game. The other was Lorenzen Wright, who had 33 points and 26 rebounds for Memphis on Nov. 4, 2001."
So, um, yeah, I guess you could say he was ballin'. Dover and I just sat there. I was in amazement of A. mostly Howard, and:
B: The hotness of Andris Biedrins girlfriend, who, I guess I haven't mentioned in this space yet, but sits one row in front of me at the games, and DAM she is FLY. Way too tall for me, obviously a little too tan for the middle of January, but so obviously Scandanvian/Eastern European looking with her natuaral blond hair, pointed nose, and style of a girl who is bangin' an pro basketball player.
Back to Howard, all i kept saying anytime he came to our side of the court, was "look how fucking big he is." Even though he and Andris are about the same height, and approximately the same age, Howard dwarfs Biedrins. From the opening tip, (which he won) to the final free throw that netted him his career high of 30 points, he was cleaning the glass, and dunking on anyone the Warriors through at him. I don't remember Karl Malone at that age, before his jumper, and crafty below the rim moves of the back to back finals years, but I honestly think that this dude is going to tilt the balance of power to Eastern conference fairly soon.
I have nothing to say about the Dubs. They should have won this game. Up 5 at the half, which included 10 first quarter turnovers, they missed 21 of 25 shots and all 3 three point attempts in the third quarter on their way to scoring 10 points. Truely dismal.
Baron is hurting. The whole team is hurting. Pietrus started the game wearing the mask, (which incidentally was the result of a DHoward elbow to the nose from their meeting in early December), which he later threw to the scorers table in disgust. BD came out of the second half without both black wrist guards that he started with. It didn't matter. The Dubs gave up a season high 56 rebounds to the Magic, of which, well, you can guess, Howard had most of. The Warriors are lucky that the only have to see the Magic twice a year, because this kid is going to be SHAQ type special. Hopefully you read the link from yesterday's post from Eric Neel of ESPN.com page2, because the Magic guards don't even have the patience yet to run the offense through Howard. He score all his points on put backs and about 12-15 shots a night. Once they start running the offense through him, and if they can get a legit point guard, other than Carlos Arroyo or Jameer Nelson, the Magic are going to be sitting atop the Eastern Conference for years to come.
Dubs bounce back tomorrow against the defending NBA champions Miami Heat, to even their record at 19-19.

Love of the Game

2007-01-10T16:54:00.000-08:00

This post (via Truehoop) today by Henry Abbot pretty much sums up why I love the game of basketball, and why I continue to buy season tickets to a team that hasn't won a meaniful game in over 12 years. By the way, if you don't already make it part of your regular internet rotation, Truehoop is definitely one of the best authorities for all that is the game of basketball.

"I have been surprised--although not, upon reflection entirely unsympathetic--at the many comments and e-mails I have received saying, in essence, how dare you cover Jason Kidd's divorce on this basketball blog?

It has kicked off a little tug of war within me, I'll admit. I don't want to be some mindless gossiping jerk. And I confess a certain admiration for those one or two sportswriters in the nation who could write about it but prefer not to, for instance Dave D'Alessandro:

As for the Kidd Stuff, I am reluctant to share details for two reasons -- it's not our business, and there are kids involved. It's fair to say this, though: It's been going on for much more than a month, and it hasn't affected the guy's performance in any discernible way, but if there is any slippage, it's something the organization will undoubtedly have to consider as they make their offseason plans. It is my earnest hope, however, that they don't use the same, sanctimonious public methods that Jerry Colangelo used... We all feel bad about this, because Jay's a great guy, but c'mon -- you must have other things more serious in your life than to ruminate on the difficulties of a couple you've never met. I know I have one: The paper wants me to write a column about this whole mess, just when I felt like taking a nap. So far, here's what I've come up with for my thesis: "Marital strife -- why I'm against it." I'm not being glib, I'm just wondering why this is anyone's business, mindful that I'd get a cogent argument from some gossip page pinhead.

And I'm not the only one wrestling with this. Here's Sam Rubenstein:

Ugly, ugly days out in the swamp. It really says something about the way sports is covered that the New Jersey Nets were playing exciting basketball for years and it received less local coverage than the boring to disasterous Knicks, but as soon as some off the court personal stuff happens, they’re front page news... What am I supposed to do? Respect his wishes to not delve into his personal life and focus on basketball? It’s a good thing he doesn’t play baseball, cause with the moral highgroundalizing (I invented that word. Don’t swaggerjack it) that’s going on today, he wouldn’t make the Hall of Fame anymore. But do we pay attention to this, or just let the Kidds be? It’s not like they were just some quiet, innocent couple that was forced into the limelight. Joumana was once a key story line of a playoff series. Their son is a bigger NBA child star than L’il Dun or Mister Allen Iverson. This is public property. I don’t know what to do.

I have to go home at some point this evening for dinner, so I don't have time to spell out all of my many thoughts on the matter. (And I'll confess, I'm interested in a nuanced discussion of what should be out of bounds to protect the Kidd children--as they are not only presumed innocent, but are also the one party who could be hurt here but does not, as far as I know, have lawyers and advisers watching their back. They also probably would do well to have mutual admiration and love of both of their parents, which is tough when they are trashing each other in public.) But I think my main argument for blogging about Le Divorce Kidd on TrueHoop is something along these lines:

Throughout the course of human history, there has been a tradition of storytelling. While the nature of those stories: the medium, the setting, the social structures etc., have changed again and again and again (the paleolithic version of the blog, known as "the campfire," was a lot more fun, but it makes your clothes smell smokey) the underlying themes that appeal really haven't changed all that much. Through Shakespeare, Chaucer, the Bible, any soap opera, the New York Post and the fat majority of just about every story ever loved by the masses, you will find the same stew of underlying themes, ladeled directly from a bubbling cauldron of love, struggle against long odds, peculiarities of character, revenge, family, honor, and gristly tidbits of scandal. (The above list is also sometimes paraphrased not entirely inaccurately as "sex, drugs, and rock and roll.")

I'm sure there are other ingredients too, but you get the idea. It's hard wired. There are things humans tend to find delicious. That's what makes a good story. Not necessarily good for the participants, but good for the audience. Everyone who works in communications (journalism, movie-making, advertising, PR, marketing, song-writing, almost any kind of art) knows about this on some level; their ability to succeed depends in part on mastering their understanding of this.

The people who have made us love the NBA certainly know this, as they have been exploiting it for as long as they have been successful. You won't see the words "backdoor screen" in a single NBA TV promo, because they have barely marketed basketball to us at all. Instead they have long been selling us all those human interest, timeless-appeal stories. They sell us "Reggie Miller, the villian." They sell us "just about every other NBA player is a great guy who reads books to children!" They delicately hint at selling us "will-he-explode-on-TV-tonight Ron Artest." I was at Madison Square Garden for Stephon Marbury's first home game as a Knick, and it might as well have said "Welcome to the Prodigal Son Returns Night" on the marquee, because everyone in the building knew that was the story. They sell us "keeping it real Allen Iverson." Every Christmas since Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant had their soap-operatic split, the NBA has pitted them against each other as our Christmas present.

I read somewhere recently, and I wish I could remember where so I could link to it, that David Stern patterned the NBA's marketing of its players after Disney's marketing of cartoon characters.

If that's not true, it might as well be.

As a business approach, the modern marketing of the NBA was never really about basketball, per se. It's about those timeless plotlines--which are really what "celebrity" is all about--jocked up in a basketball setting and ready for delivery to our living rooms. If NBA basketball was sold on the shelf in grocery stores, it would say "Human Drama, Thrills, and Heartache!" on the label.

There are good business reasons for that. There might be a few thousand people worldwide whose pure love of basketball is strong enough to compel them to buy NBA season tickets. (I am very thankful that of that group, many seem to read TrueHoop. I'd like to consider myself part of the group--and as a lifelong player and watcher, the joy of the game runs deep in me--but the truth is that's only part of what drives me; some of my favorite things about basketball, like Pat Conroy's My Losing Season and everything Gary Smith has ever written about the NBA--those things are driven mainly by the universal plot themes of all entertainment.)

The way to make big money in sports is to get non-sports fans rooting. In high school, the fans are thick with parents and potential prom dates who scream loud but know little about sports. They are there for the human interest in the players on the court. As the players get better and better, that process goes onto steroids.

That's what the Super Bowl is all about. That's why the NBA Finals are so important. That's what all those timeout hype-mania events are about (although I find most of them totally annoying and distracting, but that's a topic for another time).That's the All-Star game attempts to tap into. It's a human drama, so big and exciting you can get into it even if you're only somewhat interested in sports.

Side note: in a bizarre twist of fate, I had an extra seat to a skybox at the All-Star game in D.C. I brought along a friend who could not name one player, and had never knowingly seen a basketball game in his life. The All-Star Game is made of 1% basketball and 99% razzle dazzle. I told my friend to wear the loudest suit he owned. There were celebrities everywhere, and lots of free food. He had a spectacular time.

Of course, the way the NBA markets itself is only the tip of the iceberg. You'd also have to consider every sports endorsement ever done, including by Jason Kidd himself. With the exception of those Better Basketball ads--which actually are about basketball--they almost all beg you to focus on the universal thoughts, ideas, and character of the human more than the hoop skills. Here's Jason Kidd driving his SUV to the Meadowlands, talking about himself. Here's Michael Jordan in street clothes, walking into the stadium, thinking about the universal theme of failure. Grandmama. LeBron's character, that is so complex there are four of them. There's Vince Carter (and, for that matter, Ben Wallace) on the cell phone, dealing with the kinds of family issues we all deal with, in a commercial that has nothing to do with basketball other than the fact he's in uniform.

So, when Dave D'Alessandro tells us that we "must have other things more serious in your life than to ruminate on the difficulties of a couple you've never met" I feel like he has made a minor violation to the NBA's unwritten contract with fans. Caring about the fortunes of those exact strangers is, by design, 90% of the reason we buy tickets. Of course we freaking care about this couple. They're people we have been talking about day in and day out for years--even when they weren't marinating in that stew of human drama. (And Joumana has long been part of the basketball story too. In that series with the Celtics Kidd fought for his family honor, we were told. We fretted for them when dad plowed into little TJ sitting courtside and hurt him. When Jason was a free agent, deciding between San Antonio and New Jersey, Joumana was a big factor in the decision. She has also been employed by NBA TV, at times to interview her husband.)

Now that all hell is breaking loose in their lives, well, it's hard to see why we'd stop caring now. Any interest we have in it doesn't come from some insane part of us. It comes from a normal human part of us, egged on by millenia of storytelling tradition and David Stern's cast of Disney characters."

Food For Thought...

2007-01-10T09:34:00.000-08:00

Saw Baron outside the OC last night. Said hi, wished him luck tonight. He was getting into a cab with some homies. Didn't recognize em, but hey, I guess he's allowed to have non-NBA friends. I like that Baron hangs out in the city. All the other professional athletes seem to stay in the suburbs playing video games and doing who knows what.

Anyway, some links for your Warrior enjoyment, or dissatisfaction.

Make sure to read the Eric Neel article at the bottom about Dwight Howard. Going to see him at the O tonight. Should have my thoughts tomorrow. Peace.

Kawakami's official Merc piece today.

Kawakami's blog today, a follow up on the article.

Eric Neel on Dwight Howard.

2007-01-08T15:39:00.000-08:00

So its been a while. But the Dubs are still .500. Its been 7 games since I last posted. As predicted, the Dubs held serve at the O. They have won 6 in a row at home. They unfortunately did not win the games I thought they would win at Sacramento and at Memphis. Granted they have been playing through major injuries, but hey, so has every other team in the association thus far.
The quick off the top of my head recap.
Dubs got off to the good start by waxing the 76ers behind a career game (at the time) from Matt Barnes. They beat Boston. Done and Done. Two games you expect to win. They then lost the next night to Sacramento. While I think that the Dubs are a better team, and their record proves that, they are 0-8 in the second half of back to back's on the road. It was encouraging to see them beat NO/OKC on the road 3 nights later. This was a win that they needed, had to have, and ended up getting. The loss at Memphis was unfortunate. If only the Dubs could have played against the Mike Fratello led team, instead of the new coach (Barone is it?) Memphis will undoubtedly play better in their new uptempo style down the stretch. But still, they are the worst team (record wise) in the West. The Seattle game was one that worried me because I felt like Ray Allen could go off and offset any a few good performances by the Dubs. Well, he did indeed go off for 38. Luckily, the Dubs and Matt Barnes made the plays down the stretch, and got the V. Last night's Suns game was predictable. The stat on the TV said it all. The last 9 games the Warriors have played in Phoenix have been the second half of back to backs, and in only one of those games had the Suns played the night before. The Dubs record in those games..... 1-8.
So after that important stretch that started on December 26th, the Dubs are still what I thought they were..... A .500 team.

Wednesday night at the O starts a new important 8 game stretch. Orlando starts the normal January parade of Eastern Conference games to the Arena. The Dubs have traditionally (in the last 4 years) fared well at home against the Eastern Conference. The Magic game will be tough, as the Dubs narrowly escaped their game last month against the them in Orlando. They are the second best team in the east. Still, Wednesday's game is the first of a stretch of 8 games where the Dubs play 6 in Oakland. In my mind it is possible to go 6-0 in those games. Will it happen? Doubtful. The Warriors are too banged up. Baron has been playing too many minutes, and he admirably tried to give it a go last night, but both his wrists are hurting from a hard fall in the Seattle game. If he can recover, the home games against Orlando, Miami, the Clippers, Cavaliers, Nets and Bobcats can all be won. However, my prediction is that in this 8 game stretch, the Dubs will go 4-4. They will probably lose both road games to the Staple center this month. Jim Barnett was saying that two Clipper games next week are the most important of the month. I tend to agree with him. If the Dubs could somehow win both games, they could finish 5-3 over this stretch.
Essentially, I see the Dubs as a .500 team, if Baron does not miss a significant number of games. If they can stay even until Jason Richardson returns, and then in the first 3 weeks after his return, while he aclimates himself back into the lineup, I think they will have a chance to make a run into the playoffs. Regardless, I think this team is definitely growing before our eyes. Should be interesting.

As the World Turns...

2006-12-26T19:20:00.000-08:00

Tonight starts a stretch where the Warriors can start to make some good. Philly, Boston at home, at Sacto, NO/OKC, Memphis, then back home against Seattle. Again, these are games that the Dubs should win. 5-1 in this stretch would be great, 4-3 would be acceptable, but 3-3 would be, in my mind, a disapointment.
Its been a while since I last posted, and the Dubs split their Florida swing, losing to the inferior Florida team, but more importantly, losing Monta Ellis for who knows how long. While the beginning of the trip was dissapointing in the losses to Toronto and New Jersey, it was encouraging to see the Dubs win two in a row on the road. I think this will inspire confidence in the team in the road games to come. While it is indeed tough to win on the road in the the Association, an aspiring playoff team such as the Dubs should be able to knock off Sacto and Memphis. Two of the poorer teams in the West.
It will be interesting to see how the Dubs fare tonight without Ellis. Though he has been turnover prone, his 18 per are second on the team to Baron, and his poise, and ability to get to the tin, are second to only Baron. The 76ers are without AI, but have won 2 in a row, and might be starting to find themselves without the volume shooting guard. Regardless, the Dubs have been excellent at home, and a win tonight (if) will be a good sign. I have heard however, Jim Barnett describe the first home game after a long road trip as the eqivalent to another road game. I am hoping that the 3 days off inbetween games will eliminate any homesickness.
On another note, the Daily Dub is off to an East Coast scouting trip and will not be able to view many of these imporatant games with the normal vigor that I would while at home in the Sco.
I only hope that the Dubs don't fall apart and lose the important playoff positioning that they have worked hard to gain in the first 29 games. Hope everyone had happy holiday season.
Prediction: Warriors by 7

Try as they may...

2006-12-21T12:47:00.000-08:00

The Warriors just could not give away last night's game. Watching the second half was almost like torture. You could see it unraveling before your eyes. The 10 point half time lead, up to 14 on JRich's last of his 4 made field goal attempts (out of 17). Then.... the turnovers, the missed outside jumpers. The lead was 5 at the start of the 4th and quickly dwindled to 1.
Baron Davis is all the Warriors have on any given night. I was surprised to see that he is shooting a career hight 42% from the field. He has been ballin' and I wonder if all the minutes played (all 24 in the second half) will start to catch up to him and wear him down? Regardless, we needed every one of his 31 last night, and in the end, it was his amazing fadeaway jumper from the left baseline that provided enough of a difference. The Warriors had a shot to increase the lead on their final possession, but predictably, missed. If Boston, and their coach Doc Rivers not been more ineffective than the Dubs last night, it would have been another loss. But instead of calling time out, Doc let the guys play. Paul Pierce didn't have enough, as he was double and then triple teamed at the top of the key. He ended up fumbling, losing, then regaining the ball, only to have it tied up for a jump with .6 seconds remaining. I still thought the Dubs were going to lose at this point. In case you haven't seen David Lee's amazing tip in from yesterday's Knicks-Bobcats game, anything can happen.
But amazingly, the Warriors won. They absolutely needed to win. Today they get a day off before going up against man-child Dwight Howard. The NBA's leading rebounder at 12.7 a game. I can't wait to see how we try to defend him tomorrow. He could easily have 30. Not looking good for the Dubs.

Musings

2006-12-19T14:49:00.000-08:00

A lot of happenings in the NBA recently. A fight broke out in New York, AI is reportedly headed to Denver, and the Warriors still suck on the road.

Some of my friends were giving me shit about the title of this Blog. But until we are proven otherwise, the Dubs are headed to the NBA draft lottery. The Warriors have made losing on road part of not only an art form, but inevitable. Last night was classic Dubs. Play super for 3 quartes, tons of fast break points, a swarming defense. Up 3 at the half and 6 after 3, they surrender an 18-2 run to start the 4th, and end up losing by who knows what. What is the deal? I wish I knew. Outside shots that fall for 3 quarters don't in the 4th. Baron continues to play out of his mind, nearly recording his third triple double in as many games. However, it was Jason Kidd who recorded his 81st career trip-dub, and it was the Warriors who fell to 1-9 on the road.
Seattle, Toronto, New Jewsey, Boston, Miami (without Shaq). These are all teams that a supposed playoff aspiring team should be able to beat. I mean, Seattle was without Ray Allen, Toronto without Chris Bosh, and NJ got nothing from Carter last night. All loses.
Part of the problem I see is that the Dubs have no interior presence besides Andris Biedrins. And even AB is only 20, and still growing into his body. He is much improved from last year, and is a dam good shot blocker. But one guy inside is not enough. JRich came back last night to give the Dubs nothing. Diagu has been activated for 3 games now, and has given us nothing.
Is it possible the Warriors can still make the playoffs? Sure it is. Is the season over? Not at all. But seriously, the only way that this culture of losing is going to turn around, is with some wins. I'd like to see less BD in the 4th quarter and more Monta. BD has taken all the tough shots down the stretch since he's been here. He has delivered on occasion like last Thursday against Houston. But sometimes we need to switch it up. Give Dun a shot, give Ellis a shot to make a play.
As long as they continue to settle for shooting jumpers, its going to be a long season.

Inother hoops news:

How do you replace the NBA's leading scorer for 15 games?
Replace him with the NBA's second leading scorer.

Denver has reportedly traded Andre Miller, (former Dubs first pick) Joe Smith, and two first round draft picks in this spring's upcoming NBA draft for Allen Iverson.

I'm really interested to see how Iverson and Anthony co-exist when Anthony returns from his 15 game suspension for punching Mardy Collins in Saturday night's brawl at Madison Square Garden. It has been well chronicled that both guys need their shots to score. It has been well chronicled that AI has never played with any comparable talent in his 11 years in Philly. However, it has been less chronicled that when AI has had even a little bit of talent, he can be an effective distributor of the roundball. Denver traded away their only legit point guard. They have Earl (the pearl) Boykins (also of GSDub fame) but he is more 2 guard in point guard's body. JR Smith is another player who needs his shots. However, almost every championship team from last year back until the Seattle Supersonics won the NBA title circa 1979 has had two super stars on its team, with the notable exception of the 2004 Detroit Pistons. I'm talking about Jordan and Pippen, Shaq and Kobe, Shaq and Wade, Duncan and Ginobli or Duncan and Robinson(to name a few). So in reality, this is a move that should help Nugetts. Not sure its going to happen for them this season, but I think as AI gets older, the Nugetts will become legit Western Conference title contenders.

Lastly: As I only saw the brawl in New York on highlights, i'm not really going to take a lot of time commenting on it. But one thing I've read that I agree with is that when fights happen in the NBA, the outcry from the national media and from the common fan/observer is that the lig is full of thugs. But in hockey or baseball, which are sports that are not predominantly african-american, the outcry is minimal.
Also, how come the NFL doesn't have the image problem with all the various off the field offenses that are committed by some of its players, that the NBA has? I'm just asking.....

Side note: Hope everyone saw Gilbert Arenas requested 70 extra tickets from the Lakers on Sunday, and then dropped 60 on Kobe, including 16 in overtime (to beat the aformentioned Earl Boykins) for most points scored in an overtime quarter.

Warriors at Celtics tomorrow night. Celtics have won 4 in a row.

These Are Busy Times

2006-12-13T12:02:00.000-08:00

Never have the Warriors been more in the national media spotlight than they are right now. It seems that various talking head across the country seem to think that the Dubs are the leaders in the Allen Iverson give-away sweepstakes.
Personally I'm torn. I would love to see a superstar, the magnitude of Iverson playing his home games at the O. Iverson brings an unquestioned resume of being one of the toughest/quickest/unstoppable players ever. His career scoring avg. is 28 points a game. He is a former MVP and USA Olympian. Something that the Dubs do not have.
However there are two guys the Warriors have stumbled on recently, Andries Biedrins and Monta Ellis who I think are not worth trading. While its uncertain whether they will blossom to become the caliber of player that Iverson is, their potential at this point is extremely promising. Biedrins especially is the type of player that doesn't come along very often. (i.e. a 7 foot center, with exceptional hands, a motor that doesn't quit, and a great attitude)
If the Dubs could get away with giving up anyone besides these two, I think it would be worth it to make a trade.
Make sure to check out Bill Simmons today for his take on the greatness of Allen Iverson.
Also, it should be noted that the Dubs shot the lights out last night against the Kings from Sacto. Matt Barnes went bananas, all the while leading to my theory that he is the same player as Mikhael Pietrus, and hence, Pietrus is expendable. (especially in any trade for AI)
Barnes scored the most points last night, but check out what the Elias Sports Bureau (stat geeks) had to say about Biedrins performance:(via espn.com)

"The Warriors jumped out to an early lead over the Kings and ran to a 126-113 victory in Oakland. And while Matt Barnes had career highs of 32 points and 11 rebounds, the Elias Says Player Of The Night has to be Andris Biedrins.

Biedrins scored 20 points and had 14 rebounds, shooting 7-for-7 from the floor and 6-for-6 from the foul line. No player in NBA history had ever had a game in which he had as many points and as many rebounds, with perfect shooting from both the floor and the line (minimums: five field-goal attempts and five free-throw attempts)."

Lastly for full recap of all the rumors flying around, no one does a better job than the crew at a golden state of mind. They have all the rumors covered.

Let the trade rumors swirl......

2006-12-08T09:38:00.000-08:00

Links for Friday reading.

Iverson is apparently on the block. Some thoughts about him in a Dubs uni.

Chris Mullin has written a Christmas card to the fans.

Oh, and Janny Hu, the SF Chronical writer who is by far the worst of the Dubs beat writers, has this puff piece on Andris Biedrins.

Dubs match up against the the NO/OKC Hornets tomorrow night from the Big O. JRich is now out indefinietly with what is being described as a cyst on the back side of his surgically repaired knee. The good news (if you can call it that) is that it has nothing to do with actual knee surgery or previous condition.

Enjoy the weekend.

Texas Two Step

2006-12-05T15:57:00.000-08:00

9-9 or .500 is either tied for 8th and in the running for the playoffs, or tied for 11th and in the running for Greg Oden. Not much positive to report. Tracy McGrady is another game time decision for the Rockets tonight. Hopefully (for the Warriors sake) he'll be out. Dubs need a victory bad. They've been demoralized the last three loses, including just getting their butts handed to them by the Spurs last night.
I think BD and Monta will bounce back tonight. Otherwise, it could be a long flight home to Oakland.

Monday Bullets

2006-12-04T12:17:00.000-08:00

Big two game roadie starting tonight in San Antone. Status of Ginobli is a game time decision, as he has yet to come back from his strained back injury. The Spurs have been on a mini skid with him out of the lineup, including a loss to the Dubs last monday night.
However, the Dubs haven't done much to impress since that win, including losing two games and playing down to the level of their competion. Check out their ineptidute here.

Other news of note:

This from Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune (via hoops hype)

"If the Bulls can't get my personal speculative favorite, Kevin Garnett, you can see the Warriors' Jason Richardson being a possibility.

Golden State is showing why good coaching does make a difference. Though the Warriors just lost two games at the buzzer, they're a better, more entertaining team under Don Nelson. And that's with Richardson, who's returning slowly from off-season knee surgery, averaging just 14.3 points.

A big part of the Warriors' quick start has been the play of center Andris Biedrins and shooting guard Monta Ellis, the latter a second-rounder out of high school in 2005. A year ago under Mike Montgomery, Richardson was an untouchable big-guard scorer. But that seems no longer the case as much with a bursting Warriors' payroll and the Bulls having P.J. Brown and Michael Sweetney on ending contracts worth about $11.3 million. It wouldn't be easy to get Richardson, though you figure the Warriors might listen these days with Ellis averaging 18.3 per game and Biedrins 11.4 points and 9.9 rebounds at the Warriors' previous dead-zone position."

Monta Ellis has reportedly signed a new shoe deal with And1.

Monta Ellis receives a pie in the face. Check out the youtube here.

Lastly, Kawakimi with his November grade for the Dubs.

Second Best Center?

2006-12-02T11:58:00.000-08:00

This from Marc Stein at ESPN.com's the Daily Dime:

"Second-best center in the West?

One month into the season, it's a pretty wild conversation.

You'd have to favor Denver's Marcus Camby at this point.

You'd likewise be wise to pay attention to that Amare Stoudemire kid in Phoenix, although the league's most famous microfracture patient is starting to show signs that his recovery just might put him back in contention someday for far bigger accolades than this one. (Anyone else notice that Amare's critics have suddenly gotten awfully quiet?)

However ...

Two names that have to be included -- names that wouldn't have been nominated by their own families when the season began -- are Golden State's Andris Biedrins and Dallas' Erick Dampier.

Biedrins has hyperbolic Warriors coach Don Nelson comparing the Latvian to Dave Cowens and calling Biedrins his best center since Bob Lanier ... and Biedrins' amazing start actually justifies some of that hype. His truly horrific free-throw stroke is an affront to lefties everywhere, but everything else looks great, with the energetic 20-year-old averaging 11.1 points and 9.8 rebounds, shooting 65.2 percent from the floor and impressing countless observers with his eye for passing and ability to catch all kinds of passes.

The best part? Biedrins wouldn't even be playing if Mike Montgomery were still coaching the Warriors. Team insiders note, furthermore, that Biedrins was always restricted to low-block duty on the rare occasions Montgomery did try him. Under Nelson, not surprisingly, Biedrins has been converted to a high-post center whose quickness and agility allow him to speed past bigger defenders and get to the rim.

Dampier regressed to the point last season that coaches and teammates stopped expecting anything from him. An improving DeSagana Diop was presumed to be this season's starter. But Dampier quietly worked out in August and September as hard as any Mav -- even running sprints with little guards, on occasion -- and just completed his best month since signing his regularly slammed seven-year, $73 million deal.

Even as the league's field-goal percentage leader (.690), and with seven double-doubles already compared to just four last season, Dampier will have to do this for more than a month to hush the skeptics and win back frustrated fans. History, furthermore, says he can't (or won't) keep this up. But Dampier really hasn't gotten enough credit for the offensive rebounding and shot-blocking he's supplied Dallas during its 11-game win streak, especially since no one was really expecting dramatic improvement even after his summer of hard work."

Public Enemy # 1

2006-12-01T09:08:00.000-08:00

Stephen Jackson is a bad dude. He kills the Warriors, and its possible, that if you mess with him, he might kill you too. A year after going off on Mike Dunleavy for 27, he again dropped the dagger on the Warriors on Wednesday night with his three pointer to put the Pacers up 2 with a second remaining in the game. It was heartbreak, and I was so distrought, (and actually had to really work) that I could not post this yesterday.
I don't have much to say about this one. Dubs shot 51% from the field, Monta was money in the 4th, scoring 13 of his 27. Baron did his thing, and it almost won us the game.
But in the end, there was too much Al Harington (aka, Ocho Cinco) and too much Stephen Jackson.
The Warriors finished the month of November 9-7. Not bad really. But they are 1-3 in games decided by 3 points or fewer. They only played 4 road games in that stretch and were 1-3. In the deep Western Conference, they are sitting in 9th place. Which would, as this blog suggests, make the Warriors headed again for the NBA draft lottery. That would be a bummer, as this team is definitely better than the Mike Montgomery era.
So I guess you can say the Dubs let some opportunities slip.
Up next, Michael Redd and the Milwaukee Bucks.

Oh my....

2006-11-28T08:51:00.000-08:00

First off, big ups to my boy Chef Bagel Dogg for inviting me to the game last night. At first, I was a bit skeptical, and truthfully, I always avoid picking the Spurs game in my annual Golden State Warrior Season ticket draft because frankly, the Spurs have owned the Warriors (30-5 in the Tim Duncan Era) and I just didn't think they could win. But the other truth, is that my boy Bagel Dogg's seats are the kind where no matter who is playing, you do not turn down an opportunity to sit at half court, 8 rows from the floor, at eye level with the rim.
The first thing that was clearly obvious to me, and what was so much more evident from my new vantage point was JUST how good Andris Biedrins is. With Monta Ellis turning the ball over on 3 of the first 4 possesions, it was Biedrins who steadied the Warriors in that first quarter with an array of great catches and touch put backs. For a guy his size, his hands are amazing and he moves with the fluidity of a guard. He catches everything, and really has a soft touch around the rim.
As for the aformentioned Ellis, I love to see that Nelson had no point yanking him early in the first quarter because of his miscues. Bruce Jenkins has a good article in today's SF Chronicle about impact of Nelson. The thing I love most about what he has shown us through the first 15 games, is that:
1. No one is above the team.
If you are not producing on the court, you will sit, and he will find someone else who will produce.
2. He is not afraid to mix and match lineups in an effort to find the best possible match ups for the current game. He plays to win, and to win on that given night.
This is a huge contradiction to Mike Montgomery who ran the same tired line up out on the court for two straight years, even when the team proved that they could not play well together.

Who is this Matt Barnes?
Bucking all UCLA powder blue trends, this cat is going to be a fixture in Golden State Warrior rotations for as long as Nelson is coaching here. The dude is ballin right now, filling it up, and contributing more than just shows up in the box score. After posting back to back career highs in points against the Nuggets and Jazz, Barnes was again in the starting lineup, and again made his impact felt. Though he did not score 20+, he scored, rebounded and defended extremely well. As Tim Kawakami points out in his blog, Barnes gritty-ness has possibly inspired Mike Dunleavy to play with a little bit more passion, and edge. Dunleavy was fantastic again last night, and really sealed the win by hitting a huge 3 mid way through the 4th quarter to cap the decisive 13-0 Warriors run, that took the Dubs from down 82-81, to up 94-82. The Spurs were never able to recover, thank mostly impart to a swarming Warriors defense, and Andris Biedrins who at one point blocked 3 straight Tim Duncan shot attempts.
Last night was a great win at the "O". The Dubs inproved to 8-3 at home, and as Bobby Fitzgerald pointed out on the post game show, the Warriors are relly starting to defend the home court, and gain a home court advantage. Lord knows, that Warriors fans deserve it. But most importantly, winning at home is the number one recepie for gaining entrance into the playoffs.
Other random NBA notes:
Tony Parker is amazing. He dominated Monta Ellis early, causing the three turnovers, and then getting into the lane, and finishing with an array of layups, floaters, and assists to Duncan for easy buckets. He is one of the fastest players in the league, and really a joy to watch. He scored 28 points, and all without hitting a three point shot, which for a guard, shows real offensive effiency.

If you were ever wondering why so many NFL teams are mimiking basketball players with their end zone or sack dances, here is your answer
Lastly, if you have not already seen this, it is worth replaying over and over and over. (As I did yesterday)

Warriors host the Indianapolis Pacer tomorrow. Trying to make it three in a row.

The Gilbert Rule

2006-11-23T15:17:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Not much to report today. Tough loss last night for the Dubs. Another 3 point loss with a good look to tie it at the buzzer. Missed free throws and layups cost us the game.
In reference to yesterday topic, I came across another good piece of info regarding Monta Ellis contract situation (a second round pick) and how it could play out come next summer. Not to worry Dubs fans, David Stern and the League did the Dubs a favor and created a rule named after Arenas, so that we (the Dubs) wouldn't get screwed like we did a few years back.

Check it out.....(via Fast Break, a Warriors Fan's Blog)

Being Warriors fans, we expect the worst. We draft great players, develop them, and wish them luck as they leave upon maturation for greener pastures. We draft less-than-great players, give them years to show their “potential,” and hand them fat contracts based on a wish and a promise. This was the way things worked, until Monta.

Dollar for dollar, there’s no better deal in the NBA right now than Monta Ellis. His rookie contract tops out in 2007-08 at a whopping $770,610. Alternatively, stated in Warriors fans’ favorite unit of measurement, that’s 10.38 Montas per Foyle. Fantastic, you say, but it’ll all go wrong when he comes up for a new contract, right? He’ll be leading some other franchise deep in the playoffs in 2008-09? Not so fast. With a little luck, Monta will buck that Warrior trend as well.

Cap specialist Larry Coon broke down Monta’s contract situation earlier this month. Here’s a summary:

Monta signed a three year deal, expiring after the 2007-08 season. At the end of his deal, Monta’s Bird Rights vest, allowing the Warriors to match any deal he receives from other teams even if it puts them over the cap. So, if the Warriors are willing to pay, they can keep Monta. Bust out the turkey and stuffing, it’s time for Warriors fans to give thanks.

The catch? The Warriors are already flirting with the luxury tax without giving new deals to Monta, Andris, and Pietrus. In a perfect world, the Warriors start winning, Cohan makes more money, and the franchise bites the luxury tax bullet to keep a fantastic young core together. It’s late-November and I’m still naive enough to believe that this might happen.

The alternative? Mullin gets on the phone. While playing armchair GM is a blast, I don’t know how much it really adds to these discussions. Obviously, there are a lot of moving parts not mentioned here, like signing draft picks and filling out a 15 man roster. That said, here’s my shot at ways to clear cap space:

Let Zarko and McLeod walk.
Buy out Foyle.
Trade our picks now for picks later.
Trade our picks and a bad contract for cap space. This route isn’t pretty but may be the least painful way to erase mistakes. We essentially bribe a team under the cap or with an expiring contract player to take Dunleavy, Murphy, or Foyle by giving up a pick (or picks) as well. This logic of talent for cap space swaps landed us Baron Davis for spare parts. I see Murphy as the most likely candidate in one of these deals, given Dunleavy’s major role on our team, rumors of a Foyle buyout, and the chance that Murphy could be more productive on an eastern conference team. Murphy’s deal also rolls off the books one year before Dunleavy’s.
Trade Davis, Richardson, or Diogu for expiring contracts. The last resort in my book. The demand for these players will be high enough to get cap relief straight up in a trade. They could also be packaged with one of the three guys in the bad contract list. In theory, our roster gives us flexibility to recover from the loss of any one of the group. Still, you hate to see a rising team dump the guys who helped right the ship.
My wild guess as to what happens:

2006-07 - We buy out Foyle and let Zarko and McLeod walk to clear space for Pietrus.
2007-08 - We deal Murphy and a pick for cap space. We seriously consider moving Davis before the final year of his deal. Cohan finally takes the luxury tax plunge after (hopefully) one or two trips to the playoffs. We resign Monta and Andris. Warriors fans sleep a little easier at night.
Cap specialists out there, see any mistakes? Have any other ideas?

Let the Debate Begin

2006-11-22T11:39:00.000-08:00

Who is best player on the Warriors? BD? JRich? Monta Ellis? While I am excited at the possibility of these three players playing together while all are at full strength, I think Monta has clearly thrown himself into into the realm of this question. A lot of different people have different opinions on what it takes to win in the Association, which position is the most valuable and so on and so forth. Today in hoops blogsphere I have come across a few different locations where this very topic is being debated.

I would go first to a Golden State of Mind, and make sure to check out the comments section of rabid Dubs fans (including myself) to get a good feel for what the general fan is thinking.

Then head over to a more legitimate source of professional sports Tim Kawakami's Talking Points to get his take on who the best Warrior's player is. I think you may know where this is going. Make sure to check out the Hockey style +/- rankings he uses to demonstate the value of Ellis.

Lastly, I meant to link this yesterday, but the national media is taking notice of the Dubs play and is rewarding them accordingly.

Also, if you haven't already checked it out, make sure to read Bill Simmons lastest ESPN the Mag entry on the plight of Kevin Garnett.

Lost in all this hoopla is that the Dubs lost a tough one at home Monday night. Though many fans in Dubs nation are counting it as a moral victory without BD, The Daily Dub concludes that there are no moral victories. The Dubs were up 14 with a little less than 5 minutes to play in the 2nd quarter, and let the Suns finish up the quarter on a 9-0 run to cut it to five, which then quickly evaporated as the Suns outscored the Warriors by 10 in the third quarter. While Monta was again amazing (31), I feel that the Dubs (and I think the players would tell you this too) should have won. Best thing about the NBA though, is there is another game tonight. As of this posting, the status of BD is still a game time decision. My hunch is he will not start tonight, and probably won't play. There is no need to risk losing Baron for an extended period of time to get a win. Any playoff aspirations lie mostly with BD being healthy for a majority of the season.

The 3.5 gram update

2006-11-20T14:10:00.000-08:00

Otherwise known as an 1/8th. That is how much of the season has gone by, and after 10 games, the Dubs have cruised out to an 7-3 record. Much of the sucess this season can be attributed to the emergence of Andris Biedrins and Monta Ellis. A fitter and more svelt Baron Davis is also doing his thing. The National Media is starting to take notice. Check it out!

The AP news on Monta Ellis.

Shawn Livingston Vs. the other members of the 2004 draft class (i.e. Andris Biedrins) .

Bench Renaldo thinks BD is an All-Star.

Also, always on Dubs point is Tim Kawakami back from vacation and chimming in on the end of the Dujuan Wagner era (D.Coli, we hardly knew ya!), and possibly the end of Troy Murphy and Ike Diogu.

And in other news, the Phoenix Suns come to town tonight. The one team in the league possible of playing the Warriors version of small ball aka, Nellie Ball, will be at the O tonight.
Both teams could be without star point guards Steve Nash and Baron Davis. That will leave it up to Leandro Barbosa (A DD fav) and Monta Ellis (possible future namesake of this blog) to battle it out at the most important position in the game of small ball.

Prediction: Dubs by two as MP hits game winning 3 point goal out of left corner.

Fantasy Smackdown

2006-11-17T12:13:00.000-08:00

Baron Davis owners were most likely pleased with the personal smackdown he put on the Sacramento Kings last night. With 36/8/18 and 3 steals, Davis thoroughly dominated the game last night in a way that I have yet to see in a Warriors uniform. He dropped 11 dimes in the first quarter as the Warriors ran a lay-up line at the Kings and the national TV audience on TNT. By my rudimentary calculations, Davis accounted for more than 65% of the Warriors total offense. He routinely beat (which ever) defender off the dribble and either finished strong at the rim, drew the foul or found the open cutter or jump shooter for an easy bucket.
Mickael Pietrus was the primary beneficiary scoring on two nasty alley oops and an array of lay ups and dunks. In fact, Pietrus has done an excellent job this year of letting the game come to him. He is not "forcing" it offensively as much as he has in previous years, and seems to really be buying into whatever Don Nelson is feeding to him. (Of course, it doesn't hurt that he is in a contract year)
With the win, the Warriors improved to 4-0 on the current home stand, and 5-1 at the Arena thus far this year. I stated previously that this current stretch of games where the Dubs play 10 of 11 at home in the month of November would be critical to getting the season off to a good start. While the quality of the opponents has been a little bit on the light side, the Warriors are doing what they need to do, which is to handle their business at home.
The Warriors have been/are/and will continue to ride Davis during this stretch of the season until JRich returns to full health, and Diogu, and Murphy return from their respective injuries. Davis has been fantastic, and his dedication to fitness this off season really seem to be paying off for himself and the Dubs.
But the main difference between this year and last year, (besides coach Nelson) is the continued development of our young players, especially, Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins. Ellis started again for the third straight game and poured in an early 11 points in the first quarter before getting into foul trouble. He finished with 17, and the Warriors were at their best when he was on the floor. Biedrins has also really blossomed into a solid NBA basketball player. Last night he recorded a career high 16 rebounds, which probably was due in large part to the fact that (i'm guessing here) he played a career high 43 minutes. He was everywhere, grabbing rebounds, blocking shots and making tough catches in traffic and finishing strong at the tin. The only thing that he really lacks is a reliable free throw stroke. But we'll focus on the positives for now.
Saturday night brings the Ray Allen and the Seattle Supersonics to town. On Wednesday I predicted a sweep of the next two games, and I'm sticking with my prediction. This upcoming game is another very winnable game that the Warriors must have in the overal scheme of things. I think they ride Davis again, against former pac-ten all world point guards Luke Ridnour and Earl Watson. Neither of those guys will be able to contain Davis, and his production should equal or better that of Ray Allen. I think Seattle will keep it close for most of the first half, but the Dubs will use a decisive run between the 3rd and 4th quarters to pull away for their 5th win in a row. Check back Sunday for a recap.

Week Two in Review

2006-11-15T14:58:00.000-08:00

First off, I would like to apologize for my lack of posts this past week. I took some time off to regroup, and while I certainly had my fingers on the pulse of Dubs action, I was not able to devote myself the way I normally do.

That being said, week two of the NBA season and for the Dubs was a sucess. As predicted, the Dubs came home from their 3 game rodie and promply split the home and home series with the Hornets, by making all the crucial free throws and hitting big shots down the stretch to seperate from the NO/OKC. It was an imperative win, and also, got the franchise long home stand off to a good start. The game featured the battle of former and current star Hornet point guards Baron Davis and Chris Paul. Baron won the battle and the game, but Paul showed why he is generally regarded as the most promising point guard prospect since Jason Kidd.

Saturday saw the Dubs dismantle the once formidable Pistons with amazing ease. Perhaps benefitting from the 'Stons weary legs from their own dismantling of the Lake Show the night before at Staples. The Dubs were firing on all cylinders Saturday, and raced to an early double digit lead, which at one point reached 33 points.

I made the mistake of thinking my alma mater still had a chance in the Race to Roses and chose (wrongly) to devote myself to a game played by amatures. A mistake no doubt. At one point I asked the bartender if he could switch one of the four TV's over the the Dubs so I could at least check the score of this early season measuring stick of a game. He looked a me with a sneer, and then promptly moved on to the next customer. I was left without even a two dollar Olympia.

But as the beat writers pointed out, Coach Nellie's 6th starting line up in 6 games might have been his best. DailyDub favorite and rising super star Monta Ellis received his first start of the year, and along with Diddy, JRich, TMurph and AB, the Dubs ran a layup line not often seen in DEE-troit basketball games.

Yet the injury bug has yet to fly away from the Dubshack, as JRich, injured his ankle again in practice on Monday. He managed suit it up last night against eastern confernce perennial doormat Toronto Raptors, but Troy Murphy was then mysteriously out with a bruised heel. That meant the 7th starting line up in 7 games for coach Nelson. Last night's line up was the epitome of small ball, with Diddy, Ellis, Richardson, Pietrus (at the 4) along with our NEW STARTING CENTER Andres Biedrins.

DailyDub correspondant Big Bear had this to say about the Dubs action last night:

"Boom Dizzle had some serious sizzle. He still has a really nasty tendency to hoist up too many 3 balls and fadeaways. His shot is so much different when he has his legs under him and he is going straight up and down or towards to basket.

The crowd was super hard on Dunleavy. He sucks. But he put up good numbers last night, hit a good percentage from the field, and got booed for any mistake or missed shot he had."

Big Bear goes on to say:

" The Warriors in the first quarter and a half were up by as many as nine. Then Biedrans and Monta got into foul trouble and had to ride the pine. At one point we had BD, JR, Roberson, MP, and Dun all on the floor at once. With Dun guarding the middle, many Raptors just cruised through the paint to lay it in. They also started really cycling the ball at the same time the Dubs got lazy in their rotations, so they had a ton of open looks. What was a nine point Warriors lead with momentum and a chance to get to double digits and demoralize the visiting team by half-time turned into a six point (I believe) half time lead for the Raptors.

The other highlight of the night was the near standing ovation that our junior senator Foyle got when he entered the game. He then proceeded to bobble away the ball for most of his time, but he did get a nice little finish around the rim for a couple of points and showed some great hustle getting up and down the court."

So there you have it. The Dubs start strong on the homestand going 3-0. This is encouraging, but still, they have some more winnable game. Kawakami is predicting a split between the Sacramento and Seattle games. I will go one step further and predict that the Dubs will win them both. It will not be easy, as Ron-Ron, KMart (new and improved), and (Warrior Killer) Shareef Abdur-Rahim are playing decent ball. However, I'm feeling the Oracle crowd will be the difference, and Monta and BD will continue to play stong down the stretch. The Dubs will need it though, because it is impossible to take Ron Artest off the dribble. He is leading the league in thefts this season (wonder if he learned that in the hood?) and basically shuts down whoever he is guarding. Kevin Martin (high top fade) is a top 15 scorer, averaging 23.5 per.

Seattle has proven to be better than the national media thought they would be. They continue to employ the World's best shooter in Ray Allen, and as long as he is held in relative check, the Dubs should also be able to pull this one out.

The DailyDub will have exclusive coverage from Section 124 tomorrow night. We are looking forward to seeing Ron Ron play in person, and rumor has it, he may be performing one of his tracks from his new album at half time.

Go Dubs

Too Much Teal

2006-11-08T09:31:00.000-08:00

52-34.
That was NO/OKC's rebounding margin last night. Of which, 21 were on the offensive glass. Its pretty hard to win in any basketball setting, when three guys on the other team have double double's. To be fair, the Warriors were without two major contributors in the rebounding/defensive realms (Diogu/Pietrus=ankle sprains).
Even with the rebounding deficiency, the Dubs almost pulled it out. I think the two things that cost them were the way they finished the second and third quarters. At the end of two, the Dubs had cut the deficit down to five, only to give up two un answered buckets and go into the half down nine. At the end of the third, they battled from 15 down at one point to cut it to one, but ended that quarter down 10. Tim Roye on the radio was emphasizing the importance of finishing quarters strong. As we know, the Warriors failed again in the 4th quarter after finally taking a three point lead.
Regardless, again there were some bright spots. I highly encourage you to check out Tim Kawakami today, regarding the future relavence of Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy's playing time. Basically he says that Don Nelson has realized that these two should never play on the court together, and in fact, the Warriors are better off when neither of these two are on the court. Essentially, they cannot defend, and are two of the worst defenders in the Association.
Interesting stat line: BD and Monta are tied for the team lead in scoring at 15.8 per. More importantly though, is that Monta is getting done on 52% shooting from the floor, while BD is characteristically around 33%. Sounds like the Warriors have a new best player, and it appears to me that Monta should be taking more shots.
Roye also highlighted the fact that Monta has reached double digits in scoring the the first 5 games of this season, and dating back to last season he has no scored double digits in like 12 games in a row. (This may become the Monta Ellis blog sometime soon.....Stay tuned)
So the the Dubs just completed their little 3 game roadie at 1-2. Had a chance to win last night, so that is (at least) a step in right direction.
We (they) now reach the first pivital stretch of the season where we (they) play 11 of the next 12 games at the Arena (The Oracle) in Oakland.
As I predicted yesterday, I think the Dubs will bounce back and get the victory vs. NO/OKC tomorrow night. After that, they will need to step it up. Hopefully with more Andries Biedrins (six blocks last night....6!) and less Mike Dunleavy.

I'm Sorry......

2006-11-07T13:12:00.000-08:00

For yesterday's extreme pessimism.
However, as good as yesterday's win over the Western Conference Champion Dallas Mavericks was, I'm not about to annoint the Dubs into west's top 8. I did realize however, that this early part of the season is going to be a work in progress. The Dubs are going to win some and they are going have nights like last Wednesday and Saturday nights where they get blown out.
I read earlier this year that coach Nelson said (and I'm paraphrasing) he will know what kind of team he has after 20 games. Last night, and probably for the first time this season, Nelson saw (sort of) what he thought he was going to get from the start.
-A strong performance from BD (26,7 & 8 in 48)
-Solid contributions from his wing players (JRich 22, Monta 15 Pietrus 12, and good D)
-Steady shooting from TMurph (20 &6)

Surprising contribution came from ABiedrins who had another 3 blocks and only 2 fouls as he was inserted into the starting lineup.
Unsurprisingly, but not uncharacteristic for his career was that Mike Dunleavy did nothing, and did not even get off the bench (from what I saw) in the second half. He was again, a non-factor.

Things I like:
Nelson is unaffraid to change the lineups/match ups/playing time in search of the right combination. Last night for a majority of the 4th quarter the Dubs ran out
Monta (pg)
BD
JRich
MP
TMurph/AB

This lineup was able to run around and cause mis-matches.
They went to the zone, and ran two guys at Nowitzki every time he touched it. They forced guys like Devin Harris, and Anthony Johnson (two guys you can live with shooting long jumpers) to beat them. They rebounded fairly well We know how it turned out.

Monta Ellis is going to be a super star. The guy is poised as all heck for a 20 year old, he is fast, can finish at the tin, and can shoot. Once he learns how to distribute a little better, he is going to be a good Point/Combo guard, hopefully in the Arneas/Iverson mold.

I saw on TV that said he is 5th in scoring for second year players, and I think everyone on the list ahead of him is a starter. Impressive.

However, through four games, I think its evident the Dubs are going to have trouble with teams with big front lines. The Lakers and Jazz both have talented/tall front lines that were able to out rebound and hustle against the primarily smaller Warriors. Look for this to be an issue all year. The Warriors lack of size on the front line is going to force them to play zone a majority of the year. If shots aren't falling for the other team, and the Dubs can rebound the missed shots, this strategy has a chance to work, as it did last night and against the Blazers.

Tonight is another interesting match up. The Dubs did not fair well last year on the second night of a back to back. Against the Jazz on saturday they were listless. The Hornets spent a lot of money in the off season to bring in some quality veterans like Peja, Bobby Jackson and Tyson Chandler to surround all world and Team USA point guard Chris Paul, and surprising second year player David West outta Xavier University. Thus far this season, they are undefeated with Paul and West leading the way. The Dubs play the Hornets twice in the next three days, and it is important to get a split in this early intraconference match-up.
Prediction: A split (not sure where the win will come)

Reuniting of Reclamation Projects

2006-11-06T13:59:00.000-08:00

Dubs in Dallas tonight.
Game 2 of the 3 game roadie. Though the Dubs were the only team to beat the Mavericks twice last year at American Airlines' arena, I have a feeling the Mavericks are going to be a bit more focused since they haven't won a game since game 2 of last year's NBA finals.
The Warriors meanwhile are struggling. They have no identity except one of a team that obviously cannot shoot. Saturday night in Utah was another case of horrific free throw shooting. (54% 20-35)
Is it too much to ask for a professional team to at least shoot 75% from the line. 3 outta 4 cannot possibly be that hard can it? I am seriously bummed out that this season, and all the optimism that Nellie, and the promise of small ball had, could be lost fairly soon. I know its early, but I just haven't seen much from the Warriors to suggest that things are changing for the positive. What we know is.... the team as it is presently contructed cannot win together. No one in our (and when I say "our" I mean the Dubs) lineup is a proven winner. The only guy who has played in the playoffs is Davis, and he did so as a younger player surrounded by veterens. The rest of the group is part of the culture of losing.
What is worse is that teams such as Portland, Utah, and New Orleans/Oklahoma City seem to be turning around their franchises quicker. Utah and NO/OKC are teams that the Dubs were thought to be competing with for one of final playoff spots in the uber conpetitive western conference. What we know is Utah is a far superior team than the Dubs. NO/OKC is one of two undefeated teams left the lig, and the Warriors have to play them twice in the next 4 days.
It is conceivable that the Warriors could be 1-5 on Friday morning and quickly sliding out of contention for everything except more ping pong balls. When is enough enough?
I wish I knew.
The Mavs on the other hand (Nelson's previous reclamation project) have made all the right moves since Nelson took over as the team's head coach in the last 90's. It started with Nelson fleecing the Milwakie Bucks on Draft Day in 98 by trading Robert "Tracktor" Traylor for the rights to the unknown German big man Dirk Nowitzki. We all know how that turned out.
While the Mavs have made shrewd moves personel moves to become a perenial 50 game winner, the Warriors....well that also is well chronicled.
Is Patrick O'Bryant the next Nowitzki? Obviously not, but hopefully Nelson will be able to get something out of Diogu, Ellis, O'Bryant and Biedrins, because at this point, we have nothing left to hope for.

Please Welcome.....

2006-11-03T14:37:00.000-08:00

The Portland Trailblazers. Still high off of their comeback road victory on Wednesday night, and sitting in a tie atop the Northwestern Division standing, the Trailblazers will look to continue on the positivie progress of rebuilding.
Fresh off thier first road win in something like 18 tries, the Blazers battled back late in the 4th behind a steady diet of the rejuvinated Zach Randolph.
Tonight, I think the Blazers will initially see if they can pound it into Randolf down low and I expect the Warriors will counter with a simple 2-3 zone Defense and double team Zeebo and force him to get rid pass out of the double team. Portland showed that it might have a chance and may have made the right decision by trading away Randy Foye (A DDub favorite) for Brandon Roy. The rookie poured in 20 in his first game. A game in which he spent much of his time chasing the sonics Ray Allen around Key Arena. Roy appears to be solid, confident and polisheded for a rook, and if he can be a consistent producer night in and night out, the Blazers, (it is conceiveable) could end up higher than last in the Western Conference Standings.

For the Warriors, tonight is a big game for a team who's pysche could very well be in question. A loss tonight before a diffucult 3 game roadie to Utah, Dallas and New Orleans/OKC could have Dubs comeing back to Oakland next week, oooohhhhhhhhhhh and five.
However, I imagine it is not lost on coach Nelson Re: this doom scenario that I just referenced. And I'm positive that he will have the Warriors focused and ready to play tonight. I think (but more hope) the Warriors look to run, and spread the ball around on the perimeter (like they did in their first exibition game against the Blazers) and have everyone (including Dunleavy) try to take their man and create mismatches off the dribble.

Will the Warriors win?
I think it possible they could not. I am not sure the extent that Jason Richardson (a Trailblazer killer) is feeling as this will only be his second game of the season.
But in the end, I expect the Dubs to get the victory behind bounce back preformances of everyone on the team. They cannot afford to lose tonight, and they will not.
Warriors 114- 104

Check out what TrueHoop had to say:

Brandon Roy

Maybe I'm really the first (I doubt it, but I don't remember seeing it elsewhere) to call him Brandin R-O-Y?
6-6, with a jumper and mad penetrating abilities, he's going to be a real handful as the ball-handler on the high pick and roll. That's Portland's new go-to play.
He's still a little tentative--it cost him a traveling violation, an assist to Przybilla, and at least one makeable jumper. That'll pass.
He's a little dribbley. There are times he should shoot it or pass it faster. But this was, you know, his very first real NBA game.

Dwight Howard

If you're watching Orlando, and you're unclear which player is Dwight Howard, don't bother looking for his name or number on the uniform. HE'S THE BIG ONE.
From my notes: Spin move, dunk. Jump hook. Lob for dunk. Put back. Jump hook. Quadruple teamed, and he ends up with an and-one. Kicking out for a three-pointer.
He is still really young, and his footwork is not yet perfect, and he's already killing everybody.
He gets very deep post position, which makes him look really good--because when you get the ball all the way down there, it's not to hard to get the bucket. He only looks a little skittish when he catches the ball far from the hoop. Based on this one game against Chicago, that's a little bit of his kryptonite.

Monta Ellis

He runs really fast.
He runs really, really fast.
He rune really, really fast all the time.
He runs too fast. He'll be better, and cause many fewer turnovers, when he learns to vary his pace and his approach.

Andrew Bynum

He looks really good, especially considering his age. But I was just watching Dwight Howard. And Andrew Bynum is a really poor man's Dwight Howard.
He also gets good post position, but he blew more than his share of layups with a hand in his face. (With the same position, Howard would be dunking.) He's not as strong as Howard, which means he has to finesse things a little, which he's OK at.

Kevin Martin

He's going to score a ton of points. And here's why: he's money on the fast break, and he's money whenever he's left open. He's also pretty much money if he gets an opening to slash to the hoop. Pretty much any mistake the defense could make results in a scoring opportunity for Kevin Martin--without plays being called for him. He can clean up a whole bunch of garbage. And, increasingly, it will also make sense to call his number too.
I'd have to believe that among high-scoring perimeter players, he counts as one of the longest and one of the fastest. That's a pretty good combination.

Where Do I Begin?

2006-11-02T13:45:00.001-08:00

Lets refresh some of my keys to the season from yesterday.

1. Free throw shooting:
Yesterday I mentioned that games in the NBA are won in the last five minutes of the game, and it is imperative to make the majority of those shots when the opportunity presents itself. I guess I failed to mention that NBA games can also be lost in the first and second quarters, by failing miserably to make free throws. The Dubs shot 64% from the line last night, 27-42. Horrendous really. It was painful to watch. Everything was short. They even missed the two technical free throws that they shot. A majority of those were in the first quarter. It was pitiful.

2. The Ebs and Flows of Mike Dunleavy:
Chalk it up to opening night jitters perhaps? I don't know. Dunleavy was noticibly absent in last night's game. His line:
4pts, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 turnover in 27 minutes. (is this a joke?)
This from our starting power forward.
He also combined with Troy Murphy to play matador defense on whomever he was guarding, including combining to help Ronnie Turiaf look like an all-star (23,9 and 3 in 32 min off the bench)

The Positives: (if any....)
I guess you could say the play of Monta Ellis off the bench was the only slight positive for the Dubs. Although many of his points came in garbage time when the outcome was already decided, he did hit all but one of his free throws, and continues to remain extremely poised for a a guy only 2 years removed from high school. He will be a player in this league.

Andris Biedrins: The dude can block shots. He currently leads in the NBA in blocked shots with 3. You may want to pick him up on your fantasy squad if play in a league with head to head match-up format with blocks as a category. Biedrins will also undoubtedly shoot a high percentage from the field again this year, which helps in fantasy. He also, only committed 3 fouls in 21 minutes. This is progress.

As for the Dubs as whole, I realize that last night was only 1 of 82. However I am a bit concerned. They layed a huge egg on opening night, and I was a frankly pissed off that I skipped my rec league game to attend such a awful display of pro basketball. The Dubs better rebound quickly, forget about last night and handle the trailblazers at home on Friday or else they could come back from the little 3 game roadie at Utah, Dallas and N.O. sitting at OOOOOHHHHH and Five.
Hopefully Greg Ogden is coming out at the end of the year.

Finally....

2006-11-01T14:49:00.000-08:00

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)

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines....

2006-10-31T15:23:00.000-08:00

First let me apologize for the lack of chatter over the last few days. Here at The Daily Dub we have been in eager anticipation of tonights tip off (for real) in the Association. We have been scouring the internet over the last few days, reading various team capsules, team blogs, and of course, the expert's predictions. The general consensus is that the Dubs will once again be left out of the playoffs. However, there is a minority uprising of nationally prominent writers who have gone out on a limb to suggest that the Dubs will (somehow) make the playoffs. Though, no one has gone far enough to suggest any concrete framework for how this is going to happen, rather that it somehow (fingers crossed, in Nellie we trust) will.
For those Jones-ing for some hip write ups on the Association, I have compiled to my right, a list of sites that I think you (as the informed hoops fan/junkie that you are) should be checking out on a daily basis. The sites range from comical in nature to highly intelligent and opinionated daily dish of scoop, hype, rumor and conjecture from some of the better(than me) hoops fans around.
Of these sites it is my opinion that FreeDarko is the best of the best. Now, I am fairly new to the FreeDarko blogsphere, but I can assure you, that any site that lists the amazing Gilbert Arenas as their site's signature player, and most representative of the FreeDarko movement, that it is worth checking out on a daily basis. Make sure to click here to read what seems to me to be one of the finer essays on FreeDarko, and pay particular attention to the love heaped upon our Golden State Warriors at the bottom of the post.
Speaking of Arenas, there has been a whole lot of love and affection thrown his way recently because of his very unique personality, his truthful-ness and obviously his quirky frame of mind. Thanks goes out to Truehoop for pointing us on to this one, a must read, let me tell you.
Lastly, and to get you in the spirit of tonight double dip on TNT between the Heat and Bulls and then the Lakers/Suns I provide a link to some clips from Gilbert's early days with the Dubs. Mostly, I included this link for rare footage of the alley oop he tossed to JRich by bouncing the ball off the floor. Watch closely.

Its Almost Here

2006-10-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited. The NBA season is almost upon us. This is really my favorite time of the year. I know the L is upon us when my body starts sending my biological signals. Like last night for instance, I had my first, in what promises to be a series of NBA related dreams. (This happens to me every year)
So last night, the dream was not a good one for Bulls fans. Kirk Hienrich was seriously hurt in a motorcycle accident. In my dream, I was lamenting the plight of the Bulls organization. For the second time in 3 years, their promising young point guard was lost for the season to a motor cycle accident. I remember thinking (in my dream) what is up with all these athletes, why do they feel the need to ride motor cycles and live so dangerously when one slip up or mistake could cost them A. their lives
B. millions in future earnings

When I woke up, I realized, and was somewhat relieved for Bulls fans, and for Hienrich, that all was indeed ok.
But lets refresh the list of Millionaire athletes who have ruined, or possibly slowed the progress of once promising careers due to idiotic rides on motorcycles.
1. Jay Williams (2nd pick of 2002 NBA Draft)
Williams at the time of his drafting, was considered a can't miss point guard prospect. Though his dominance at the college level didn't immediately translate on the pro level, by the second half of his rookie season, he was starting to produce at a respectable rate and even dropped in a triple double for good measure of his future promise.
After his initial campaign, he crashed his motorcycle into a tree at over 70 miles an hour, and almost killed himself. He broke his pelvis and bunch of other bones. He has been out of basketball for over 3 years, and his comeback was cut short as he was cut by the Nets last week. The quickness that was his trademark is gone completely, and without it, he is just an ordinary guard.
2. Kellen Winslow (6th Pick 2004 NFL Draft, Tight End, Cleveland Browns)
After breaking his leg in the early part of his rookie year, Winslow completed a year of rehab, only to break a bunch of other bones in 2005 while crashing his motorcycle. The son of Hall of Fame receiver by the same name, Jr. at this point of his career is best known for his idiotic tirade after a loss in a college game at the University of Miami (the U) and his even more idiotic off season motorcycle incident. He has returned to the playing field this year however, his team has not been able to utilize his talents enough, and are not playing good football.
3. Ben Rothelsberger (11th Pick 2004 NFL Draft, Quarterback, Pittsburgh Steelers)
Taken 5 picks after Winslow, but still not much brighter, Rothelsberger led his the Steelers to a Super Bowl victory this past february. Hailed as the savior of the once proud franchise, "Big Ben" won an amazing 15 games as rookie, and then followed that season by getting the once proud franchise their elusive 5th super bowl trophy. He followed up the season my almost killing himself on the hood of Pittsburgh car by driving his motorcycle around without a helmet. Luckily for him, he managed to escape any serious brain injury, and only (somehow) broke his jaw. However, it remains to be seen if Ben will ever be the same player he was in his first two seasons. The defending Super Bowl champs are 2-4 coming off an overtime loss in Atlanta, and Ben has been less than spectacular this season.
All of these athletes seem to think they are invincible. Winslow and Rothlisberger are lucky in that they recovered and are still able to play. Williams wasn't so lucky. Riding motorcycles with or without helmets is a serious gamble with one's life.
For something a bit more humours, make sure to check Suns Gossip today for Raja Bell's newest flow.

A Wonderful Union

2006-10-25T15:49:00.000-07:00

Make sure to check out Tim Kawakami today for his great article about Baron Davis and subsequent blog entry regarding his Q & A with Baron post yesterday's 33,5 and 13 he dropped on the Portland TrailBlazers. Acoording to Kawakami, Baron couldn't talk for too long because he had post game plans with the beautiful Gabrielle Union. Regardless, it appears the Davis and Coach Nelson appear to be on the same page about what they want from each other. I'll let you click away for a much better synopsis than I could produce.

She loves me, she loves me not

2006-10-24T15:01:00.000-07:00

Well? Is he gonna play or not? The 64 thousand dollar question. Last week it was no, yesterday it was no. Today, well.... it appears that it may be yes! The SF Chronicle is reporting that Jason Richardson may indeed be ready to give it the 'ol college try in time for next Wednesday's season opener.
As was discussed earlier in this space, the presence of Richardson or the corallary, the absence of Richardson is of the foremost concern to the Dubs. I hate to reiterate the obvious, but the Dubs need to win as many games in the month of November as possible. Having Richardson in the lineup on opening night would be a huge benefit. And so would the absence of Kobe Bryant. Sports Illustrated is reporting that Kobe is not healing as quickly as he has in the past from his off season knee surgery. While, Kobe is certainly one of the top 5 draws in the Association, the Dubs would certainly catch a break if he was in street clothes at the O, on opening night.
The Warriors are at home tonight in their second to last preseason game against the Portland Trailblazers. For Blazer news, click here.

Wild Wild West

2006-10-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

In keeping with my pessimistic outlook (until proven otherwise of course) is the news from yesterday's SF chronicle that Jason Richardson may indeed miss the season opener against the Lakers. Now for more than selfish reasons (I will be there opening night) the Dubs cannot afford to be without Richardson for too long. They were 4-12 against their Pacific Division rivals last year. Which was the second worse intra-divisional record other than Houston going 1-15 against the Southwest.
I bring this up because the Warriors play the Lakers, a Pacific division rival on opening night. The Dubs play the games against the Lakers, Blazers, Jazz and Hornets (twice) within the first 9 days of the season. These are all teams that the Dubs will have to beat at home and are most likely competing against for the the 7th and 8th playoff spot. Hopefully Richardson will not be out very many games, because he will be counted on this season to bring his typical 23 and 6 a night. However, Kobe Bryant has missed the entire preseason as well, and news out of Sacrament today, indicates that Mike Bibby will miss at least the first two weeks of the regular season.
In other news, the Dubshack kept their current meaningless winning streak alive by beating the Clip Show on Friday night. However, both teams were without many regular season starters, most probably because neither coach, (Nelly and BigDun) would want to show their hand (so to speak/write) against the rival team. It should be noted that the Raiders were undefeated in preseason this year.
Next Game: Tuesday night against the Jail Blazers at.......... The Oracle in Oakland.

Murph, The Masked Man

2006-10-19T11:32:00.000-07:00

Poor Troy Murphy. If he wasn't already Oafie enough, things got progressively worse for the big fella as Zach Randolph (Zeebo) delivered an inadvertant forearm shiver to the face in Tuesday night's game. Murphy broke his nose for the third time in life, and underwent surgery yesterday to get it straighted out.
Murphy is scheduled to miss at least the next two preseason games down at Staples center in Los Angeles tonight against the New Orleans Hornets and Saturday against either the Lake show or the Clip Show.
While this doesn't bode well for the team as they try to gain an identity in their new small ball way of living, it will provide an opportunity for......among others Ike Diogu, Patrick O'Bryant and Andris Biedrins.
Perhaps yesterday's post predicting the beginning of the end of Ike was a bit premature. Hopefully he can contribute in a positive manner for the Dubs to earn more tick as the season get under way for real. The loss of Murphy however underscores how thin the Dubs are in their frontline. If he were to miss significant time during the regular season, the dubs would be foreced to rely on an extremely young and raw reserves that were mentioned above. According to the SF Chronicle today, one player who still will not be inserted into the regular rotation even with the loss of Murphy is Adonal Foyle. Coach Nelson insists that he is still two heavy, and possibly not skilled enough to contribute the way the coach would like.
On a positive note, make sure to check out Brian Meehan's take on the Warriors/Blazers game from Tuesday night. Meehan pointed out that while Blazer Coach Nate McMillan had game planned to pound the ball into the post and take advantage of Blazers strength and size down low, in reality, the mismatches caused by the Warriors small ball line up forced McMillan to abaondon his plan in order to match with the smaller line up the Dubs were running on the court.
Nelson is a master of mis-matches, and the Warriors are obviously pinning their hopes for this season that he can exploit them on a nightly basis. As Meehan pointed out, Randolph had difficulty shadowing Dunleavy on the perimeter, and while one preseason outburst by LilDun can not yet justify 5 years at 8 million per, it is an encouraging indication that the Dubs may be onto something with this Nellie Ball

Who Likes Ike?

2006-10-18T14:38:00.000-07:00

With the 9th pick in the 2005 NBA draft, the Golden State Warriors select..... DNP Coach's Decision.
OUCH!
I guess I was less surprised that Mike Dunleavy Scored 32 points in last night's preseason win against the Blazers than I was that our supposed best low post scorer did not get off the pine, in a preseason game no less. Here's the funny thing, according to NBA stats-ologist and ESPN.com columnist John Hollinger, Diogu is one of the better players on the Warriors. Here is what Hollinger had to say:

2005-06 season: "The Warriors' first-round pick certainly showed he can score. Diogu shot 52.2 percent from the floor and averaged 18.8 points per 40 minutes, finishing with the fourth-best TS% among power forwards and a PER above the league aveage. His most impressive effort came on Dec. 23 when he torched Detroit's Wallaces for 27 points on 13-of-15 shooting. Those weren't garbage baskets either -- he was going right at Ben and Rasheed Wallace one-on-one and scoring.

That effort got him a spot in the starting lineup, but he had trouble holding down the job because of his other deficiencies. Diogu couldn't play in the same frontcourt as Troy Murphy because neither has the size to be an effective center, and as well as he played he wasn't about to beat out Murphy for the power forward job. He also had a serious problem with turnovers, ranking 63rd among the league's 69 power forwards with a 15.1 Turnover Ratio.

Scouting report: Diogu is a natural post scorer who has the body to get position on the blocks and the long arms and shiftiness to get his shot off once he makes his move. His game isn't nearly as refined away from the basket, but he's a good foul shooter (81 percent) and should become more of a perimeter threat as he gains practice. His one limitation is size. At 6-8, he relies on his length to propel shots over taller players.

Diogu's height is a real problem at the defensive end, where he was abused fairly regularly. He doesn't have the athleticism to make up for the height differential, so this is likely to always be a problem area for him. One solution would be to learn to use his bulk better -- at 255 pounds, he should be throwing bodies around under the rim, but his Rebound Rate was mediocre and he didn't seem willing to bang with opponents. Otherwise, it's just a question of learning -- most rookies have no idea how to play NBA defense, especially off the ball, and Diogu was no different.

2006-07 outlook: Diogu's fate is tied to that of Troy Murphy. The Warriors seem unwilling to trade him -- they wouldn't even include him in a deal for Ron Artest last year -- but Murphy's presence blocks his path to a starting job and power forward is the only spot either of the two can play. But if the trade rumors circling Murphy come to fruition Diogu seems like he could step in and give the same production at less cost, not to mention giving the team a low-post threat that was missing a year ago."

Aside from all of this, Diogu has been unable to fully grasp new coach Don Nelson's offense nor his defense. It does not bode well that he couldn't get off the bench in a meaningless game against what will most likely be the NBA's worst team.
Ramifications for the future? If Diogu can't figure it out, and ends up in Nelson's dog house, don't be surprised if G.M. Chris Mullin tries to package Diogu before the trade deadline. There were plenty of suitors for Diogu last year, but Mullin was so high on the rook that he refused to part with him for Ron Artest. (Obviously a mistake in hindsight)

Ike however can score the basketball, and can shoot free throws so it is still too early to give up hope that he can't suceed in Golden State. But keep an eye on his playing time as the season starts and if can't crack Nelson's regular rotation, I'm thinking he could be gone by February.

Impending Doom.....

2006-10-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

I'm an "expect the worst, hope for the best" kind of guy. So today's news from Geoff Lepper was not quite the quick blow to the face that it probably should be. I actually wondered aloud to myself back in August why Richardson had waited so long to have knee surgery. Anyway, regardless of how our cute little 3 guard line up might be producing thus far in the meaningless exibition games, without JRich achoring down the two spot on opening night, the Warriors are doomed.
Don't get me wrong, I like Dujuan Wagner, and I think he'll be able to bring some instant offense. But without Richardson pouring in 23+ a night, the Warriors are no better than the worst team in the Association.
Dubs fans will remember a sequence in Montogomery's first season as coach, where Jason went down with a sprained ankle. The Dubs went on to lose ALL nine games that Richardson missed, and it wasn't until he came back on a less than fully healed ankle to drop 43 on the Nuggetts on TNT, that the they broke their losing streak.
The Warriors play 13 of their first 17 games at the Arena. It is absolutely imperative that they win a majority of those games. Without Richardson ready to go vs. the Lake Show on opening night, my feeling is that things are not looking good. We are still more than two weeks away from opening night, so there is time for JRich to recover. I guess our only consolation is that Kobe isn't playing any preseason games either.
Make sure to check out The Daily Dub's friend, Casey Holdahl for his take on tonight Dubs/Blazer's preseason tilt at the Rose Garden, in Portland.

Random Thoughts

2006-10-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

Two things today:
1. A lot of people have been asking me whether I was rooting for the A's to get to win the World Series or whatever. The answer is plain and simple. NO! I really don't give a shit about the A's. I think part of why the nation and the national media looks down on the west coast, and on the Bay Area is that people out here are soft, and too wisheeee washy.
I'm from San Francisco, so hence I root for the Giants, the 49ers the Warriors and the Sharks. If SF had a basketball and hockey team, I would root for them as well. Please do remember however, that the Dubs first played in San Francisco after their move west. But basically, I don't root for the Oakland teams, as I am not from Oakland or the East Bay. The simplest way for me to describe this, and or compare the situations is this: If you were from Queens and you were a Mets fan, would you also root for the Yankees? NO, you would not. Nor would you root for the Cubs if you were a Chicago native from the South Side. So, please don't talk to me about the A's, the Raiders or any of those East Bay teams, cause well, I just don't care.
I might add that this post would have been more relavent prior to Oakland getting swept in such embarrasing fashion.

Point 2.

I was thinking about he plight of Matt Barnes, and Anthony Roberson battling it out for the final roster spot on the Dubs. It got me thinking. With the waiver last week of Dijon Thompson (a former Bruin) I began to drum up a mental list of UCLA alums that have done anything in the recent past in the Association. In the past 10 years or so, UCLA hasn't produced much in terms of NBA talent. Of course there is our fearless leader Baron Davis, but besides him, the list of guys who are currently employed is hardly something to write home about.
Jason Kapono, Earl Watson, Dan Gadzurick (sp?).
There was Jalani (Blunt smoke) McCoy, Ed and Charles O'Bannon, Tyus Edney. Not many all- star appearence on that list.
UCLA used to be a place where the nation's top recruits went to hone their games under John Wodden before making the sucessful jump to the NBA. Now however, UCLA can still land the top recruit, but what is happening once they arrive in campus in Westwood?
I have always found UCLA football and basketball players to be soft. Afterall, these are guys who like the idea of playing games in powder blue. Mind you, not Carolina Blue which commands much greater respect. I just think that the type of player that wants to go to westwood to play basketball is more enamored with the sun, the bling and quite probably, the white girls and LA scene, than with getting better at basketball.
USC, another LA school, but in the ghetto, rather than in a plush neighborhood, does not seem to have the same type of problem with the type of player they recruit.
So if Matt Barnes ends up making that final roster spot and helping out the Dubs in some way this season...... then I'm all for it. But I don't think the recent history is on his side.

Two in a row?

2006-10-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

What can we gather from last night's 121-115 Warriors victory over the Denver Nuggetts? Probably not that much. The preseason in the NBA isn't so much about starters working on their games, but rather players like Anthony Roberson who are just trying to land somewhere.
Roberson made his case to claim the last roster spot going for 28 in the win. However, its more probable that former Bruin, 6-7 small forward Matt Barnes will gain the final spot. With a surplus of guards and a lack of true small forwards, Barnes appears to have the inside track on the final spot.
Regardless of that battle, an encouraging trend I see from the Dubs first two exibitions is the stat line for starting small forward Mickael Pietrus. In both games, he only took 3 shots and instead focused his attention to defense. For a guy who once claimed in a post game interview that he was "the future of the Warriors", Pietrus seems to have finally understood that his role in the NBA and specifically on this team is to D up his man, and hustle. Too often over the course of his career his play has been erratic and out of control. His ability to adapt, and accept the role that coach Nelson has laid out for him will be one of the keys to look for as the season gets underway.
Lastly, the game was played in Monterey, Mexico, and (former dub-shacker)Edjuardo Najaera started for the Nuggetts. Apparently, according to Jason Richardson, Najara is "like Elvis" in his native Mexico.
I like his game, but I never liked him as a Dub.
Warriors in Portland, Tuesday night.

Warriors Win!

2006-10-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

Easy there...... sorry to get everyone so excited. But its hard to believe that my beloved NBA season has officially arrived. The Dubs crushed an over matched Efes Pilsen team (the top Euro League team) from Turkey, at the Arena last night 120-66. The Dubs were led by dynamo scoring guard Dujawn Wagner who had 18 on 8-14 shooting. Monta Ellis chipped in 17 and 5 dimes and all around the Dubs delivered what coach Nellie wanted to see........ an "ass whupping."

Of (dis)heartening news for long suffering Dubs fans was the obvious indication that Adonal Foyle is not going to get much run this year. Even in the laugher, the Senator did not get off the pine as Nellie went small and smaller against their comparatively short opponents.

Make sure to check the links to the right for a more thorough recap of the game (from folks who were actually there!) @ Golden State of Mind and of course, read Tim Kawakami's blog. (a must for bay area sports fans)

The Daily Dub will constantly attempt to update and improve our basic site, but for now baby, we are going cyber! Holla

TDD

Welcome

2006-10-12T15:07:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is...... The Daily Dub. My take on how the Warriors are going to fuck up another fine NBA season at the arena and (hopefully) land the top pick in next spring's draft lottery. With our luck however, Greg Ogden will stay in school. Oh well, I hear Nellie might start a 5 guard line up this year.