| Let’s Get It Started Authored by Payam Jahromi - October 31, 2005 - 11:12 am
| Current Featured Columns | | Merry Christmas, Raptors Fans The Raptors might not be playing good basketball right now, but there are plenty of things for Toronto fans to be thankful for this holiday season.
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Here are a few things that stuck out for me during the preseason:
1. The Warriors need Foyle – That just looks weird in writing, but it’s true. Despite all the criticism Adonal Foyle gets for his contract and lack of offense, his shot-blocking and rebounding were missed during the preseason.
Lost in the shadow of Baron Davis’ play after last year’s trade is how well everybody – including Foyle – played during that stretch. Simply put, the Warriors don’t finish the season as strong as they do without Foyle’s shot-blocking and rebounding. Say what you want about him, but he can change the game with his energy.
Sure it would be nice to have a center that had an offensive game. Or even a guy who just caught the ball. But given the alternative (Andris Biedrins can’t stay on the court for more than 20 minutes a game and he’s still only 19), the Warriors are a much better team with an in-shape Foyle than without him.
There were only two televised preseason games – the first game vs. the Lakers and the last game vs. the Suns – and Foyle’s presence in the first game and lack of in the second game were very apparent.
Against LA, Foyle was blocking everything in the first half. A couple of his blocks led to fast break buckets during their 19-4 start.
In the Phoenix game, the Warriors were outrebounded 55-38 and Foyle would have impacted that statistic. Last year Foyle averaged 5.5 rebounds in 22 minutes a game. But at the end of the season, he averaged more boards as his minutes went up.
Foyle missed the last four preseason games with a sore knee. Let’s hope it’s just a precautionary thing because the Warriors need him.
2. Pietrus and Dunleavy are still inconsistent – Nothing new here, and that’s the bad news. Both players can really impact the game when they’re on, and both seem to play better during the second half of the season.
But Dunleavy is playing for a contract and Pietrus is finally healthy. You would think that one of them is due for a breakout season. We can only hope.
3. The Warriors Need Ike Back – I never thought first-round pick Ike Diogu would be this important so soon, but the Warriors need his low-post presence in a bad way. In the preseason, their lack of post presence was once again on display as they struggled to score points when the 3-pointer wasn’t falling. With Ike, they have a guy they can throw the ball to down low and expect good things to happen. I don’t think most power forwards will be able to guard Diogu one-on-one.
But he’s out for a couple more weeks and it should take him even longer to get into the flow of the offense. Once that happens, I expect Ike to be a crowd favorite.
4. Don’t sleep on J-Rich – Baron got all the attention last year, but don’t forget how good Jason Richardson was before the trade. He was the only bright spot to an otherwise dismal season before the trade – not to mention an All-Star snub.
Add the fact that Richardson has improved every year he’s been in the league. If that trend continues, he could be an All-Star this year.
If J-Rich keeps improving, and if Davis stays healthy, the Warriors will have the best backcourt in the league in 2005-06.
5. Sweet November –The Warriors have an easy November schedule that they must take advantage of because December will be brutal.
Of their 17 games in the first month, the Warriors must win at least 10-11 games. That’s because of their 14 December games, they’ll be lucky to win six.
See you at the Arena on Wednesday. Speaking of opening night, the Warriors are playing the Hawks at home. If opening night was ever a “must win,” this is it.
If you have any questions or comments, you can email me at pjahromi@sbcglobal.net. |
