Hudson our new backup Point Guard?

by dj fuzzylogic on Sep 22, 2007 1:05 PM PDT in Rumors Comment 24 comments

Troy Hudson is (un)officially the back-up point guard for the Golden State Warriors.

Can rapper T-Hud also resurrect his basketball career?

Tim Kawakami reports on his fantastic blog (by way of Geoff Lepper’s article "Guard Hudson agrees to contract with Warriors") that two people involved in the negotiations have noted that the Warriors have agreed "in principle" with former Minnesota Timberwolves guard Troy Hudson to a one year guaranteed contract worth $1.22 million.

Interestingly, Kawakami considers and compares Hudson to the potential availability of Andrei Kirilenko and which one is a better fit.

However much Kirilenko could fit in Nelson’s system–and yes, oh yes he could–and however well Kirilenko could defend most power forwards… $63M is just too much, given the Warriors’ situation, for a guy who can’t shoot a jump shot.

Hudson definitely fills a need and is, in my opinion, a great pick-up for the Warriors at that price. Although Hudson isn’t a classic pass-first point guard, he seems like he will be a huge upgrade in the ballhandling and dribble penetration department especially for a team that has been particularly fundamentally inept where guards can’t dribble and the big men can’t shoot nor catch passes (was anyone particularly frustrated by the fact that Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson dribbled better than Jason Richardson and Monta Ellis?). Further, it will be a pretty decent insurance policy, too, given how we have come to expect Davis to miss a dozen plus games per season…though Hudson is no stranger to injury, having been slowed the last few seasons with a variety of ankle injuries.

But seriously, if this signing does go through, I definitely welcome the possibility of not having to watch Ellis, heralded as the heir to Davis’ point guard thrown, take over the ballhandling duties when Davis is out of the game. I absolutely could not stand seeing him either get picked or throw lazy one-handed passes either out of bounds or to someone on the opposing team. I’m not saying that Monta will never be a point guard or will never develop into one, but, I guess like some young players, he has seemed resistant to developing his game beyond his comfort zone of being a scorer. Having another point guard might allow Monta to play his more "natural" position of shooting guard, where he seemed to thrive the most last season. But who knows, maybe Hudson will just end up taking over Jassy's role of team cheerleader!

Anyway, what do folks think of this un-official signing? Can Hudson be the answer to our ballhanding woes? And how comfortable would you feel with Hudson as potentially (high potential at that) your starting point guard mid-season?

ALSO: See TheCity415's diary, REPORT: Guard Hudson Agrees to Contract for more discussion!

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Nice

Signing!

by ballin on Sep 22, 2007 1:11 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

ughhhhh

Horrible signing. Injury prone jackass who thinks he's hot stuff.

Wow.

http://westcoastbiased.blogspot.com

by coma on Sep 22, 2007 1:30 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Wow

Sounds like you, coma (jk)!

Golden State of Mind- We iBelieve

by goGSW24 on Sep 22, 2007 5:37 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hey now

Coma is not injury prone.

;-D

by Sleepy Freud on Sep 22, 2007 7:49 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

That was a cheap shot. I don't remember him having an injury.

Golden State of Mind- We iBelieve

by goGSW24 on Sep 22, 2007 8:39 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nellie's probably already

planning the dates when he'll publicly call Hudson out. You have to give Thud a little leeway: he's been stuck in Minnesota for all these years with a joke of a front office running the team. I'm waiting to make any judgements until Nellie's had a chance to convince him to be a roll player on this team.

Haven't seen him play much, and his size and preference to shoot rather than pass aren't ideal but at least we have another PG on the roster with some NBA experience.

by BingBluNT on Sep 22, 2007 2:17 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

This was clearly a move to soley compliment

Azebuike's fat beats.

by bloodsweatndonuts on Sep 22, 2007 2:40 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

well put

what a one-two punch...

by sadleavy on Sep 22, 2007 2:43 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

what happened

to the Glove rumors? or did i just make those up in my head...anyway, this is a 'meh' move as far as i'm concerned. reminds me of something the giants might do.

by GameSix on Sep 22, 2007 3:39 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

WHAT WHO THE HELL IS THIS GUY

last time i saw this guy he got beat by the lakers in the playoffs like 5 years ago, i woulda kept sarunas even tho he was gettin 4 mill for sittin on the bench cuz he proved he can play in Lithuania and he is a true point guard

by gswLLBatman on Sep 22, 2007 3:54 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Just as long as we don't have to hear him rap

I liked Troy Hudson a lot back before he got hurt and the TWolves fell into the well. We'll see if he has anything left in the tank--hell, Nellieball might drain it dry in the first two months.

I'm not saying that Monta will never be a point guard or will never develop into one, but, I guess like some young players, he has seemed resistant to developing his game beyond his comfort zone of being a scorer.

In Monta's defense, I don't think that's necessarily true. He clearly tried to become a better distributor last season, and he did improve: from 1.6 to 4.1 apg. Sure, his minutes went way up, but his per 40 minute numbers increased. Of course, so did his turnover rate. But I'm not sure if he's been at all "resistant" to becoming a true PG--I think it'll just take awhile longer.

I suspect we'll find out for good next summer. The W's can't resign him and Baron if they're both playing PG, so if they do keep Monta for a decent sum of money, it'll probably be so that he can start at SG. We'll see.

by ffgolden on Sep 22, 2007 5:13 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

maybe t-hud

or "thud" as someone above called him, can work that hyphy sound into his music. either that or come up with a t-hud dance! any hit song has gotta have a hit dance!

by dj fuzzylogic on Sep 22, 2007 8:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Against Monta...

He looked like crap at the PG spot. Whenever he had to completely fill in the sole ball handling/distributer role, he stunk it up. One game that stuck out in my mind was when they played the nuggest and Iverson was making him look silly on both ends of the court. Granted Iverson is a great player, the steals he was getting off Ellis were just ridiculous.

I don't think its Ellis lack of skill, but more of his lack of motivation or work ethic to improve his passing/ball handling ability. He's more than capable, but as a lot of young talents are prone to, get stuck on trying to be the offensive machine and depend on their athletic ability alone to get them by. It might take an injury to slow him down and make him realize that he needs to develop his pg fundamentals.

by david240z on Sep 22, 2007 10:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

agreed!

i gotta admit that i make a lot of roundabout ways of critiquing Monta...this time using THUD as a point of departure. but I def. agree with ya. its not that he can't do it, but rather when if at all is going to show that he wants to do it. he has certain physical talents and obvious skill as a scorer, but the frustration is whether he is willing to work on other parts of his game??? lets hope so...

by dj fuzzylogic on Sep 22, 2007 11:09 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

i don't think

they want him to play pg to replace baron, i just think that nellie wants monta to develop the skills to play the point because it will help him as a player in the long run because as a shooting gaurd he is very undersized.

by Proof on Sep 23, 2007 5:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Might be good...

They are signing T.Hud to be a role player who can take care of the team for 8-15 minutes a game, that will be fine because he should fit in the system if he can still run. Also he's going to help Ellis make the transition from SG to Combo Guard. Anything more than that will be a bonus to me.

All that for the Veterans minimum! I approve.

by q00pster on Sep 22, 2007 5:50 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

T-Hud

If he ends up being even 25% as good as the "T-Hud" who used to pitch for the A's across the parking lot, the Ws will have done pretty well for themselves.

Would it be blasphemy to call him "Huddy"?

by Sleepy Freud on Sep 22, 2007 8:26 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

yes

blasphemy doesn't even begin to describe how wrong that would be.

by BingBluNT on Sep 22, 2007 8:32 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

'meh'

you can say anything you want about the a's, as far as i'm concerned. call them the fremont a's of the eastbay, as far as i care. i'm over them.

by OaktownWarrior on Sep 24, 2007 8:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

this guy

is basically gonna play kieth mclouds role. he's a solid ball handler, im pretty sure he can shoot pretty well. i still think monta is gonna see a lot of time at the point. this guy will never start for us. its a pretty good signing in my opinion. if nellie okayed it and mullie wanted him then it should be pretty good. the only recent aquisition that mullie made and nellie okayed that im questioning is croshere.

by Proof on Sep 23, 2007 5:17 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I am cautiously optimistic...

He can put in some minutes and contribute. However, is he a good fit for team chemistry? With J-Rich gone, we need some level heads out there. I just hope he isn't a knucklehead.

by belli nellie on Sep 24, 2007 9:17 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Cheap Pickup

That's the bottom line. If he works out, great, what a find. If not, it was basically throwaway money.

He did play in the Western Finals 3-4 years ago so he knows how to play high caliber ball.

Monta needs to take care of the ball; value the possession. I don't think he did that last year. He's got plenty of potential but one of the rumours was concern about his dedication. I hope we see the new and improved Monta on 10/30!!!

Nothing better than "The City".

by philsmith75 on Sep 24, 2007 4:42 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Troy Hudson

Regarding what kind of influence Troy will be in the locker room, I would guess it will be a quiet, affable one. I have known Troy since he was 5 years old; he grew up with my older son and they were good friends throughout their grade school, jr. high, and high school years. He spent a lot of time at our house throughout those years.

Troy is a real nice kid, quiet, keeps to himself; he has always liked to write, so the rap music is not a big departure from what he has done since he was in jr. high. My son and his friends would set up sound equip. at our house and all try to outdo one another rapping; Troy was able to usually best most of the group.

As a kid growing up in Carbondale, the home of Southern Illinois University (SIU, where he played college ball), one could see Troy any time dribbling a ball on his way to or from a ball court; he regularly snuck into SIU's recreation center to play on the courts with college players; he was well-known as a high school player who could hold his own with the older guys. He was instrumental in leading C'dale high school to the state tournament in 1994...lost by a heartbeat to perennial state powerhouse, Peoria Manual. He was known as a hard worker; I hope he still is that way; I think the Minn. situation soured as time went on as a result of both parties.

Good luck this year, one of my friends has season tickets for the Warriors and so I wish all of you the best and hope Troy works out for you.

by dianng on Sep 29, 2007 8:01 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for the comment

Always great to hear stuff like this. I thought Hudson was unnecessarily getting a bad rap. I think people forget that the media can put out a picture of you that really isn't you.