| Warriors Showing Signs After Three Games Authored by Payam Jahromi - November 7, 2005 - 6:55 pm
The Warriors are 2-0 with Baron Davis and 0-1 without him.
Everybody knows that the key to this team’s success falls on the health of Davis, and after three games we have proof.
Let’s hope Baron’s hamstring and the rest of his body can hold up. After a big 83-81 win over the Knicks, the road trip concludes with back-to-back games against the Bucks and Bulls.
They’ll be lucky to split those games.
Here are some thoughts so far:
Richardson continues to make the leap: I will say it right now. I think J-Rich will be an All-Star this year.
He worked extensively on his jumper and it’s showing early on. He also made a concerted effort to get to the line more, attempting over six free-throws per game after three games. Unfortunately, he and the rest of the team can’t make the open 15-footer (more on this later).
Richardson’s defense and leadership have also stuck out for me. After Davis left the Atlanta game, Richardson took over as the leader and made big shots in that third quarter.
Defensively, he’s gotten a little better each season, and so far he’s really been impressive on that end of the court. His help defense has been great, blocking five shots so far.
Make a free-throw: The good news is that the Warriors are getting to the line – they are averaging 38 free-throw attempts a game. The bad news is that they’re making only 22 of those, an abysmal 57 percent.
That is atrocious. No other way to put it.
What worries me is that even though it’s only three games, trends like this tend to stick. The NBA is weird that way. A team can play a certain way early on and adopt an identity that they can’t shake. Let’s just hope the Warriors snap out of this slump fast before it becomes a season-long issue.
Wake up Mike: Newly-signed Mike Dunleavy has been in a funk to put it nicely. He has always been a slow starter so he should bounce back.
But let’s not make excuses for him. He was very bad in that first half of the Atlanta game and hasn’t done much since.
After a five-year, $45 million extension, perhaps Dunleavy is trying to do too much and justify his contract. But it’s clearly a confidence issue. He’s missing wide open 3-pointers, the same 3’s he couldn’t miss at the end of last season.
Dunleavy can do a lot of things on the court, but when he’s on, his two biggest assets are outside shooting and rebounding. When he’s doing those, he and the Warriors play well. When his confidence isn’t there, neither are his 3’s and rebounds.
Maybe he needs to get kicked out of a game and rip off his jersey again.
The biggest surprise: That would be Chris Taft. Now I know why this guy was projected as a lottery pick just months before the draft.
Taft has done an excellent job defensively as Foyle’s backup. He has an NBA body and his athleticism and aggressiveness has been a welcome site.
I still feel the Warriors could sorely use Diogu’s low-post game on offense, but Taft has clearly strengthened the interior defense, which has come out of nowhere.
Of the three rookies, Taft was the least likely to make an immediate impact. This could potentially be the best Warriors draft since they took Gilbert Arenas, Richardson and Troy Murphy.
A lot of Chicago, Milwaukee and New York: The Warriors will play both their games against the Bulls and Bucks in the next week. They also play the Knicks again on Friday. It’s very odd, but that’s seven of eight games against the same three teams.
If you have any questions or comments, email me at pjahromi@sbcglobal.net |
