| Lottery Summit: Golden State Warriors Authored by Andrew Perna & The RGM Warriors Forum - May 19, 2008 - 1:23 pm
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The Golden State Warriors:
2007-08 Record: 48-34
Difference From 2006-07: 6 More Wins
Chance Of Landing #1 Pick: 0.5%
Restricted Free Agents: Kelenna Azubuike (P), Andris Biedrins, Monta Ellis, C.J. Watson
Unrestricted Free Agents: Matt Barnes, Austin Croshere, Baron Davis (ETO), Patrick O’Bryant, Mickael Pietrus
The Verdicts
1. What could the team have done different to make the playoffs?
510Reggae: No gimmick-ball.
gswhoops: Ditto, no more gimmick-ball.
St.Nick: If we stretched the bench out further so that our stars didn't collapse at the end of the season.
gking: A combination of playing Brandan Wright more and Don Nelson pulling in the reigns on Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson when they were having poor shooting nights. Landing Pau Gasol before the trade deadline would have helped too.
brownwarriors: Had we played Brandan and Marco Belinelli earlier in the season so they can have been rotational players, and allowing our bench to be more productive.
Left*My*Heart: I do think there were some missed opportunities to upgrade the bench. Mickael Pietrus and the Jason Richardson trade exception could have netted some veteran help instead of messing with Troy Hudson, Austin Croshere and Chris Webber. I also think this was one of Nellie's poorest coaching jobs.
Mylie10: We should have strengthened the bench via trade either at the deadline or during the season. Reducing minutes with a deeper bench would have given us more life towards the end of the year, we finished 8-10.
KR4: Obviously, they should have put more stock in Belinelli and Wright, but I don't know how much they could've done. It’s like an inferior race car and its tires. The car can stay in the chase because it hasn't taken a pit stop, but eventually the tires give and the car barely makes it to the finish line.
2. Where were the team’s biggest strengths?
510Reggae: Monta Ellis.
gswhoops: Monta.
St.Nick: Quickness, speed and incredible ability to put up huge bunches of points in a hurry.
gking: Forcing turnovers and fast-break points.
brownwarriors: We were the best at causing turnovers and pushing the fast-break.
Left*My*Heart: The ability to play such an up-tempo style and not turn the ball over.
Mylie10: We have arguably the best backcourt in all of basketball, and stealing the ball which led to our league-leading fast-break.
KR4: Monta, turnovers (both ways) and free throw shooting.
3. Who had a surprisingly effective season?
510Reggae: Monta.
gswhoops: Monta.
St.Nick: Monta and Baron having played all 82 games.
gking: Ellis improved the most this season.
brownwarriors: Monta’s midrange game and his ability to get to the rim.
Left*My*Heart: Monta.
Mylie10: Ellis more than picked up the slack in the loss of Richardson. Jackson played under control (for the most part), had his best year and provided much-needed toughness to the team.
KR4: No one, who didn't expect Monta to do what he did?
4. Who had a surprisingly ineffective season?
510Reggae: Baron.
gswhoops: Belinelli. I thought he was a match made in heaven for Nellie, but he hardly got any burn.
St.Nick: Matt Barnes, Belinelli, Al Harrington and Pietrus.
gking: Based on summer league play, I thought Belinelli would have been able to contribute more.
brownwarriors: The inside game of our bigs – we only had one or two plays for Andris Biedrins.
Left*My*Heart: Outside of Biedrins, Ellis, Baron and Jack, there was no consistent support. If I had to pick one player, Pietrus gets the worse grade of any player on the team. He was M.I.A. in the first half of the season and only after the trade deadline did he play well at all. Of course, you have to figure he is going to miss a bunch of games to go along with it.
Mylie10: Barnes struggled the entire year and while Pietrus had some decent games, but didn't improve as much as needed.
KR4: The Dub's Defense. The Warriors played good defense in spurts, but inevitably we couldn't keep up the intensity.
5. How confident are you in the front office heading into the offseason?
510Reggae: I shudder to think of what they will do.
gswhoops: Absolute zero, unless Nellie leaves.
St.Nick: Chris Mullin has improved the team every year, so there’s no reason to think that this trend is going to stop.
gking: I am confident Mullin will get our key free agents re-signed, but I am less confident that Nellie and Mullin will be able to acquire the right vets needed to make this team deeper.
brownwarriors: On a scale of 1-10, a seven.
Left*My*Heart: I think this offseason will be another ‘do nothing’ one for Mullin. He is already making statements how improved the team will be by just having the young guys get a year older. I do think that Wright is going to make a difference next season, but in the West you need to keep up because very few teams are going to go into next season with the same roster.
Mylie10: I'm very skeptical of the front office this offseason. They've not yet shown the willingness to absorb the luxury tax in order to make a needed difference.
KR4: Fair to middling.
6. What are the team’s biggest needs in the draft?
510Reggae: Can you draft a new coach?
gswhoops: A physical, defensive power forward/center.
St.Nick: A bruising power forward, a backup point guard and a small forward that can defend and shoot the three.
gking: The Warriors need help at lots of positions. I would focus first and foremost on a tough, athletic big to help on the glass.
brownwarriors: A big banger, Paul Millsap-type of a guy.
Left*My*Heart: You don't draft based off of need and if Mullin hasn't learned that lesson yet, then we are in trouble.
Mylie10: Rebounding and shot-blocking are the Warriors’ biggest needs this offseason. A back-up point guard is also an area where Golden State needs to get deeper.
KR4: A defensive power forward/point guard.
7. Assuming the lottery plays out true, who would you like your team to select?
510Reggae: Kevin Love.
gswhoops: Marreese Speights.
St.Nick: Since Love isn’t going to last until pick fourteen, I would be happy with Chris Douglas-Roberts or Donte Green.
gking: I would be pleased if we landed Darrell Arthur, Speights or Love.
brownwarriors: Arthur or Love.
Left*My*Heart: There are too many variables to know who would be available at fourteen, but I would look at Javale McGee, Nicolas Batum, Arthur, Love, Greene and Brandon Rush.
Mylie10: With the fourteenth pick, I'm hoping Love slips to us. If not then Arthur, Joey Dorsey or Douglas-Roberts will be fine.
KR4: Love won't drop and we don't need Douglas-Roberts, so I think a Dorsey might work or Sean Singletary.
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Andrew Perna is a Senior Writer for RealGM. If you’re a fan of one of the many teams that we have yet to feature, surf over to our forums and weigh in on what is happening within the organization. If you’d like to contact Andrew, shoot him an e-mail at Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com |
