Wright makes the list - will he make the grade?
by hardcore
on Aug 30, 2008 11:11 AM PDT
GSW's very own enigmatic BWright made Mike Kahn's list of "10 Players likely to improve" this season which, we all know all to well, we need desperately. But is this really likely with the additions of Maggette, Randolph, Hendrix, and Turiaf to the roster?
First of all, with all due respect to Kahn, there’s really not much room for Brandan to anywhere but up after a rookie season in which he averaged 4ppg and played so sporadically. So this isn’t the biggest "gamble" for anyone to suggest he’d improve this season. After all, the slender PF should be a perfect fit for an up-tempo team like the Dubs, out-running his opponent down the floor for easy baskets, using his wingspan to deter passes and deflect shots. Yet he barely nicked the pt ledger last season and Mullin just loaded up on acquiring forwards this off-season
Why would adding Maggette impact Wright? Yes they play different positions and would guard different players. Yes, Maggette needs to have the ball in his hands to be effective on offense and often goes to the rim to finish or get fouled. When on the floor together, Wright may not get as many shots, nor too many Oboards, hence his opportunities to make an impact offensively may be limited to running the floor on the break if Andris or Turiaf snag a defensive rebound.
via www.basketnet.it
But Maggs will drive & dish versus help which could be a potent weapon for GS and help offset the loss of Baron’s assists. Without Ellis the first month (or - ?) Maggette figures to have an even bigger role and he could raise Wright’s contribution along with his. So, adding Maggette could help bring out the best in BWright’s game, particularly if Brandan’s been working on his midrange shots this summer.
Will #1 pass #1? As a heralded first round pick Anthony Randolph might ordinarily be expected to make a big splash, but Nelson would need to see that he’d be more productive than the alternatives for him to see much PT (see Wright ’08).
Indirectly Monta’s injury could also create a need for more ball handling and if Randolph can help significantly in that area he could edge into the available minutes at the forward positions.
On the flip side, as a second round pick Richard Hendrix would usually not be expected to make a big impact (if in fact he makes the team – remember Lasme?), but he has the physique and opportunity to exceed normal expectations. If Hendrix were to step up and fill a backup role at either 4 or 5, he could squeeze some minutes from the PF spot.
via blog.al.com
Adding Turiaf to the roster would seem to be the biggest threat to Brandan’s PT, yet conventional wisdom is that Turiaf will primarily back up Andris, allowing Harrington to remain at the PF. He could back up both positions, but it would seem unlikely that Nelson would play AB & Turiaf together for major minutes due to their limited range.
Getting back to Brandan, he really can’t backup the C position nor the SF spot – he’s got to make a strong case early in the season for earning consistent minutes at the backup PF spot and aspire to carving into Harrington’s minutes, all the while holding off Randolph. If we get that from Wright we’ll be in far better shape than last year, and feeling far better about a certain trade.
This FanPost is a submission from a member of the mighty Golden State of Mind community. While we're all here to throw up that W, these words do not necessarily reflect the views of the GSoM Crew. Still, chances are the preceding post is Unstoppable Baby!
6 recs |
63
comments
Email
PrintComments
Wow
four recs and not a comment, I had to do this.
by boomdizzleness on Aug 31, 2008 1:01 PM PDT 0 recs
I don't think Randolph is a threat
for PT. he’s a rook, doesn’t play d and turns the ball over at an alarming rate. we’re glad you were so amazing in summer league, but nellie won’t play a rookie, at least one this raw. i see nellie playing wright quite a bit, because i believe he has worked on the aspects of his game that he needed to.
"We're Menudo," -BB
by eshock on Aug 31, 2008 6:59 PM PDT 0 recs
look what happened to marco
werent we all saying the same things except anthony could be point forward.
by montadaboss on
Sep 1, 2008 3:57 PM PDT
up
0 recs
BWright will get his PT
Al should be worried about him time being cut into
by BeRight on Aug 31, 2008 7:57 PM PDT 0 recs
even if Wright averaged 10-15 min pg, we need Al now more than ever … bigger than ever at the season’s outset
by hardcore on
Aug 31, 2008 8:04 PM PDT
up
0 recs
sorry
but do some of you guys know how to put a picture at the bottom corner everytime you comment on something. I would greatly appreciate it.
And BWright will get his minutes, but that will mean Al has to have a huge season because i dont think Wright can put up 14 PPG like Al did. We need 17 PPG from AL like he had with Atlanta.
i hope we win a championship soon
by Da Jrich tribute on Sep 1, 2008 1:05 AM PDT 0 recs
If we get that from Wright we’ll be in far better shape than last year, and feeling far better about a certain trade.
Wright and Jason are two separate issues. No matter how wright does selling out Jason was a bad deal. I actually expect Wright to play pretty good this year, I like his attitude of knowing his own strengths and working to improve them. I’m glad he’s part of the team.
Till I get free
I live my life in the Walmart
Cholesterol chasin me
by Skeptic con Urquell on Sep 1, 2008 9:45 AM PDT 0 recs
LL Cool Skeptic...
If we get that from Wright we’ll be in far better shape than last year, and feeling far better about a certain trade.
I mean, how can you possibly find fault with that statement? I agree that judgment of a trade should be based on the best information the GM had at the time, not on 20:20 hindsight. But you may be the only Warrior fan on earth who won’t feel better about the JRich trade if Wright blossoms into a legit NBA 4. I generally love your posts, but at this point, every time you write the word “JRich” or “Jason,” you’re basically trolling.
Don't mess with ^^^^ !!
by Sleepy Freud on
Sep 1, 2008 10:45 AM PDT
up
0 recs
P.S.
Whatever happened to your annoying little doppelganger? Did you finally do us all a favor and put a cap in his a**?
Don't mess with ^^^^ !!
by Sleepy Freud on
Sep 1, 2008 10:48 AM PDT
up
0 recs
Whatever happened to your annoying little doppelganger?
Naw, I guess he finally caught on that being the skeptic is not as glamorous as it appears to be? The money is not for nothing and the chicks aren’t free.
Till I get free
I live my life in the Walmart
Cholesterol chasin me
by Skeptic con Urquell on
Sep 1, 2008 10:55 AM PDT
up
0 recs
Actually
I banned him and told him to get a new screenname if he wants to come back.
by Atma Brother ONE on
Sep 1, 2008 5:23 PM PDT
up
0 recs
banned him and told him to get a new screenname if he wants to come back.
Come back soon single L. Yes there’s life after banishment. Atma banned me a couple of years ago and I really enjoyed it, I had a nice vacation on an exotic foreign Dubs group and came back refreshed and ready to skepticize.
Now how are we gonna figure out which new screen name was the single L?
Till I get free
I live my life in the Walmart
Cholesterol chasin me
by Skeptic con Urquell on
Sep 1, 2008 8:36 PM PDT
up
0 recs
for him
to make the grade, he need to make the weight requirement. it doesn’t matter if he got some PT, since he is more of a midrange shooter than a force in the paints. Personality, I never like the trade, but it the past and I move on with life. He better produces now since he getting some PT, or else he be label as Billy Owen 2.0. All the old school Warrior fan remember how that wents.
by warriorfan4life on Sep 1, 2008 1:45 PM PDT 0 recs
I remember that despite Richmond being well loved, the team won 55 games the year after he was traded away.
by jae on
Sep 1, 2008 2:44 PM PDT
up
0 recs
yea
didn’t we replaced him with Spree the season after that. plus we had 2 all stars on the team already. So, it wasn’t that bad at all.
by warriorfan4life on
Sep 1, 2008 11:54 PM PDT
up
0 recs
Sarunas became the off guard. Spree wasn’t yet around.
I do not dispute that Richmond was a better individual player than Owens. He was MUCH better. But so many people talk about the Owens trade like it ruined the franchise, like they fell apart as soon as it happened. Reality was that the team won more games in the three years after the trade with Owens than in Richmond’s three years with the club.
by jae on
Sep 2, 2008 12:50 PM PDT
up
0 recs
the team won more games in the three years after the trade with Owens than in Richmond’s three years with the club.
and how many would they have been projected to win in those later three years if the trade had never happened? Was Owens the reason or was the team getting better despite him?
Till I get free
I live my life in the Walmart
Cholesterol chasin me
by Skeptic con Urquell on
Sep 2, 2008 1:55 PM PDT
up
0 recs
That’s an unknown, but given that they never exceeded 44 wins with “Run TMC”, I suspect that a 55 win season needs more than internal development of the players on the squad. Owens had issues and never panned out as good as people wanted him to be. But he hit a high percentage of his shots, especially as a rookie, and improved the single weakest aspect of the team, rebounding. Owens played major minutes as a rookie. Suggesting that a team that hovered around .500 for the previous three seasons and had no other significant additions somehow would have improved as much without Owens strikes me as a naive view that has far more to do with being disappointed that Owens never became a superstar than any reasonable objective view of what the team was when he was acquired.
by jae on
Sep 2, 2008 2:58 PM PDT
up
0 recs
Sorry
As much as I respect your posts, you can get into a habit of over analyzing. The Warriors improved after the Richmond trade because roster improved overall, not because Billy Owens was a better player than Mitch Richmond. With Mitch Richmond they would have won more than 55 games. It turned out to be a bad trade.
But I thought the intention of the trade was good. Trade a good player for a potential star who can play bigger. It’s just that Nellie over estimated how good Owens would be (he was average at best). I think it would have been a great trade, if they had drafted Mutumbo (who went after Owens) instead. But of course, Nellie never would have done that.
by San Francisco Slim on
Sep 3, 2008 3:04 PM PDT
up
0 recs
How exactly did the roster improve overall other than adding Owens? What additions are you attributing the improvement to?
Well, your assertion that they would have won more than 55 games with Richmond is entirely your assertion. Please do remember that. It’s not actually based on anything more than your assertion and it really seems to defy logic unless you are saying that the other additions were somehow responsible for an 11 game improvement. If you are, please, do tell who these guys were and how they did it!
by jae on
Sep 3, 2008 9:36 PM PDT
up
0 recs
size does matter
Even keeping in mind Wright will be going up against the second line PFs around the league, in the West that includes the likes of
Paul Millsap 6-8 /258
Channing Frye 6-11/ 245
Nick Collison 6-9 /255
Joe Smith 6-10 /225
Brian Cardinal 6-8 /245
Nene 6-11 /268
Matt Bonner 6-10 /240
Ryan Bowen 6-9 /220
Carl Landry 6-7 /245
Louis Amundson 6-9 /225
Kenny Thomas 6-7 /245
Brandon Bass 6-8 /240
Tim Thomas 31 6-10 240
Plus one of these two from LAL, whoever is not starting with Bynam & Gasol:
Lamar Odom 6-10 /230
Vladimir Radmanovic 6-10 /234
Every single one is older and outweigh him by anywhere from 20-50 pounds.
This is the time when Nelson’s system really may be the key to Wright’s success – he’s got to out-run and out-hustle bigger, stronger men to help us on a nightly basis. His height and wingspan should help most nights. But you have a point, no one in the west has a backup PF as slight as GSW.
Hendrix and Turiaf may have to play some PF for us to compete inside on the defensive end, but that limits us offensively, and again Nelson has never hesitated to “go small” .
by hardcore on
Sep 1, 2008 3:02 PM PDT
up
0 recs
him against nene
will be scary. I am even scared with him guarding carmelo in the post. but brandans strength is underrated. he also has LONG arms(like 7’7 wingspan) he can get in their faces. and hardcore i don’t see channing frye going in the post at brandan really too much or matt bonner, or tim thomas, or ryan bowen so your point is hard to digest.
by montadaboss on
Sep 1, 2008 4:02 PM PDT
up
0 recs
defending in the post is only one part of PF duty – rebounding is big part of the PF contribution and being under the boards it helps to have some weight to throw around as well as length
sorry I wasn’t clear, my point is that while Brandan doesn’t have to defend or rebound against the frontline PFs like Boozer, Gasol, etc. he’s still got to compete against men much stronger physically than he is and that he needs to use his mobility, and yes – I’d mentioned wingspan, to compensate.
in short, I was trying to support warriorfan4life’s point
… and if BW were to get stuck guarding Carmelo, I’d expect Melo to take him off the dribble from the wing rather than attack him in the post – I’ll be more concerned about who Brandan matches up with vs LAL than Denver
by hardcore on
Sep 1, 2008 4:24 PM PDT
up
0 recs
I agree and would like to add
That height is overrated. Look at any draft website and they’ll tell you that. Scouts value standing reach and wingspan. Both of which Brandan is average-above average when compared to other PF’s. Plus add in the fact that he’s quick, and can jump is just an added bonus.
Warriors, Stupidest franchise in the league.
by kenntoe on
Sep 4, 2008 5:24 PM PDT
up
0 recs
size does matter
How big was that Garnett guy on the timberwolves, he was decent for a skinny player?
Till I get free
I live my life in the Walmart
Cholesterol chasin me
by Skeptic con Urquell on Sep 1, 2008 3:07 PM PDT 0 recs
Garnett started out bigger
You mean after we took Joe Smith first, then McDyes, Stackhouse, Rasheed, and KG went in order thereafter? Ya, ouch. At least we didn’t pick "Big Country" Bryant Reeves …
To answer your question, Garnett was 220 – a good 15 lb stronger than Brandan. He was also named to the 1995-96 NBA All-Rookie Second Team after rejecting 131 shots in his rookie year and was an All Star his second year.
The fact is Wright’s situation now or when drafted really doesn’t fit KG comparisons, nor the Bosh ones, as they were bigger coming into the league, played right away, and continued getting bigger each year (look at KG’s weight now vs then). I’m not expecting an All Star year out of BWright, but it would be nice if he competed for MIP
by hardcore on
Sep 1, 2008 3:36 PM PDT
up
0 recs
Wright is more like... Derrick McKey
I got to see McKey start out in the NBA up in Seattle during the early Kemp years. He was most notably trade for Detlef Schrempf.
Position: Forward-Center
Height: 6-9 Weight: 205 lbs.
College: University of Alabama
He’s the same height and played most of his career at the same weight that B. Wright currently is.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mckeyde01.html
He entered the league at 20… a little bit older than Wright. Check out his youtube clip from TBS draft coverage in 1987. Shit… Rick Berry is doing draft coverage… of figure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X34FE88_UN8&feature=related
McKey was never great, but did play a lot of minutes for Indiana when they had to those classic battles with the Knicks. Though I remember McKey having Randolph like handles, which Wright clearly doesn’t have. That said… I think Wright is already a better rebounder than McKey ever was.
A Sonics fan without a team.. Though I'm auditioning GS Warriors this season.
by mcwalter44 on
Sep 1, 2008 10:53 PM PDT
up
0 recs
if you told me
we’d choose curtain #1 and get McKey performance out of BWright or curtain #2 which could be bust-to-all star I’d take curtain #1 without a second thought
remember, that 205 was against other players not quite as big as contemporary PFs but it’s a great comp anyway
by hardcore on
Sep 2, 2008 10:04 PM PDT
up
0 recs
Also
Skinny doesn’t equal weak, and KG started out wiry-strong.
Wright is skinny and weak though and needs to get those skinny muscles stronger AND add some heft to be able to bang with the big boys without getting knocked around so easily.
Obviously some players will never be as buff as Karl Malone, and KG is one of them. He ain’t weak though, and never was.
LaMarcus Aldridge started out too skinny and weak as well, but has added at least 20lbs of muscle the last few seasons and really got his core strong to be able to keep post position. He still has a ways to go, but even skinny dudes can build up on their skinny frame. Just takes time, and serious dedication to the weight room and a solid plan by the team’s trainers.
Guys like Durant, Wright, Randolph, LMA, they are as skinny as KG but not as ripped.
There’s a big difference.
Mortimer
by Mortimer on
Sep 3, 2008 12:33 AM PDT
up
0 recs
hahaha
B-Wright is a pip squeek, let’s not kid ourselves here.
by JakeGittes on
Sep 3, 2008 10:51 PM PDT
up
0 recs
Wright was one of the most highly regarded players coming out of HS because he was tall and fast and coordinated. His one year of college did nothing to change that opinion. He showed in limited time that he hits a high percentage of his shots and was a reasonably good rebounder. His playing time was limited, probably below what his actual production when he played justified. Some may be that he wasn’t a “good fit” with Biedrins. Some may be Nellie stubborness. In any event, he’s still a very, very good athlete with unusual speed and coordination for a guy his size and more than a reasonable prospect to be a good player in the league.
If you are looking for someone to “bang” he’s not the guy and won’t ever be the guy. He will never “bulk up” and be that player. It doesn’t happen. Not with him, not with just about anyone (notable exceptions are rare). But since he’s not being asked to defend against an interior pass rush, but is instead being asked to play basketball, this is not a fatal flaw.
by jae on Sep 4, 2008 7:49 AM PDT 0 recs
He will never "bulk up"
Barry Bonds was pretty skinny as a young player and he got bigger and stronger so there’s hope for Wright.
Till I get free
I live my life in the Walmart
Cholesterol chasin me
by Skeptic con Urquell on Sep 4, 2008 10:04 AM PDT 0 recs
"Balco"
That will be the new chant when Wright enters a game?
Till I get free
I live my life in the Walmart
Cholesterol chasin me
by Skeptic con Urquell on
Sep 10, 2008 9:39 AM PDT
up
0 recs
LOL!
LETS GO BALCO! SO WHAT I DON’T CARE! U.S.A.!!!
(why?!?)
by Tony.psd on
Sep 10, 2008 10:24 AM PDT
up
0 recs
LETS GO BALCO!
and Randolf’s will be “Make it a double shot!!”
Till I get free
I live my life in the Walmart
Cholesterol chasin me
by Skeptic con Urquell on
Sep 10, 2008 3:25 PM PDT
up
0 recs
well
both kg and chris bosh came into situations where they got immediate playing time because their respective teams sucked. wright was playing on a team trying to make the playoffs and a coach who is notoriously tough on rookies. im not saying wright is a chris bosh or a kg, im just saying he would have put up excellent numbers if he got the chance, look at what he did in the minimal time he played. i would also like to agree with height not being everything, check out the predraft measurements for the nba, they tell you the true height of the player. did you guys know that amare stoudamire is only 6 8? and dwight howard is oly 6 9? wright is right there with them in height, so his height will be a nonissue, just his tiny frame is the only thing hurting him, he needs to get wiry strong.
by Bigben777 on Sep 5, 2008 11:34 AM PDT 0 recs
eh... hem....
i would also like to agree with height not being everything, check out the predraft measurements for the nba, they tell you the true height of the player. did you guys know that amare stoudamire is only 6 8? and dwight howard is oly 6 9? wright is right there with them in height, so his height will be a nonissue, just his tiny frame is the only thing hurting him, he needs to get wiry strong.
Amare is 6-10 according to his NBA.com profile: http://www.nba.com/playerfile/amare_stoudemire/index.html?nav=page.
Howard is 6-11 according to his NBA.com profile: http://www.nba.com/playerfile/dwight_howard/index.html
Wright is 6-9 according to his NBA.com profile: http://www.nba.com/playerfile/brandan_wright/index.html
However, I’ll give you credit in that height doesn’t mean shit in the NBA. It’s all about your standing reach and wingspan.
Amare = 7 feet 1 3/4 inches
Howard = 7 feet 8 inches
Wright = 7 feet 3 3/4 inches
To be fair Amare is a inch taller in shoes than Wright, but Wright more than makes up for it with his wing span. Howard is clear out of Wright’s league… Or just about anyone’s league. The only guy close to Howard is Shaq who is 7-1 and has a wingspan of 7 feet 7 inches.
A Sonics fan without a team.. Though I'm auditioning GS Warriors this season.
by mcwalter44 on
Sep 5, 2008 3:21 PM PDT
up
0 recs
nah
the nba predraft measurements are the most authentic source for true height, as nba teams tend to exaggerate the heights of their players. these are the true heights of the players barefoot.
Wright is 6 ft 8.75 6 10 in shoes.
Amare is 6.8 and a half 6 10 in shoes
Dwight is 6 foot 9 exactly. 6 11 in shoes
http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre-draft-measurements/?page=&year=2007&sort2=DESC&draft=0&pos=0&sort=
by Bigben777 on
Sep 10, 2008 11:44 AM PDT
up
0 recs
I agree
But all three of these guys were 18 or 19 when drafted. I’m sure the other two have grown an inch or two since then. Wright may grow some more too, but he’s the one that’s still 6’9" right now. We’ll see.
I hate Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappelle, and Russel Peters because they make fun of white people like me. They also make fun of other kinds of people, which hurts me deep down because my ancestry is so mixed that I don't know what my official "race" is... so I get offended for all races!
by Dubs fan in Boston on
Sep 10, 2008 11:54 AM PDT
up
0 recs
hm
i never remember any report of any of those guys growing. they have been listed as 6 10 and 6 11 respectively since they were drafted. the fact is that some teams make their players look taller because it looks better on paper.
by Bigben777 on
Sep 10, 2008 12:03 PM PDT
up
0 recs
Ya... I saw that too, but
The fact remains that Wright doesn’t have the wing span that Howard has. So drawing a comparison between the two is laughable. However, Amare and Wright have very similar measurements on all fronts. However, Amare’s bulky build is more suited for the 5 spot than Wright. But as shot blocking PF Wright should be just fine. Again… my comparison to Derek McKey down belong I think is spot on.
A Sonics fan without a team.. Though I'm auditioning GS Warriors this season.
by mcwalter44 on
Sep 10, 2008 3:01 PM PDT
up
0 recs
lol
wright’s wingspan is one inch shorter than dwight’s. dwight’s isn’t 7 8, it’s 7 4 and a half i believe. my only point of contention was that height isn’t one of wright’s downfalls as a power forward. his problem down low isn’t that he’s too short, just that he’s not as strong. i threw out dwight and amare’s names out there because as a center and as a power forward, they are not considered too short. But of course we can all agree that wright needs to take a detour to balco.
by Bigben777 on
Sep 10, 2008 4:04 PM PDT
up
0 recs
you believe it's 7'4"
Well, I got the 7’8" from his combine scores when he entered the draft. So don’t feed me that I think it’s less BS.
A Sonics fan without a team.. Though I'm auditioning GS Warriors this season.
by mcwalter44 on
Sep 11, 2008 9:32 PM PDT
up
0 recs
lol
http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre-draft-measurements/?year=All&sort2=ASC&draft=0&sort
scroll down to the players listed at 6 9. dwight howard’s wingspan is indeed 7 4 and a half.
by Bigben777 on
Sep 12, 2008 8:21 AM PDT
up
0 recs
I’d bet that if KG or Bosh had joined the Warriors Nelson would have played them as rookies – he played CWebb right off the bat
There were plenty of opportunities for Wright to step up last season – particularly when you factor in the number of times Harrington was essentially playing C for the dubs. Wright’s gotta earn the coach’s trust in practice and the minutes he does get. We need BOTH those guys to step up now more than ever …
by hardcore on
Sep 5, 2008 3:51 PM PDT
up
0 recs
100% correct
i get sick of people saying how great wright and marco could have been last year if they had gotten some burn, it isn’t that nelson is anti-rookie, so much as he is anti-guys who will cost the team a game or two in the middle of a playoff race. wright wasn’t ready last year, he might be this year, we’ll find out.
heart of a champion, will of the warrior.
by cap'n hack on
Sep 6, 2008 9:19 AM PDT
up
0 recs
I don’t think it’s fair to speak about Belinelli and Wright as if they were in the same situation.
Wright got very limited PT, but, when he was in, did some things that were good. He hit a high percentage of his shots and he rebounded his position. His statistical performance was pretty good per minute played. Granted, he did not fit well with Biedrins and he still had quite a bit to develop, but he showed promise and he produced when played. I think it’s fair to say that he should have received more PT based on what he did when he got it.
Belinelli was a shooter who rarely shot the ball well and didn’t really do anything else either. He got more PT than his play indicated he deserved.
by jae on
Sep 10, 2008 10:26 AM PDT
up
0 recs
precisely
thankyou jae, i think people are over bellinelli more becuse he has a cool last name or something, wright earned it way better during the actual season than bellinelli did. I remember watching brandan get 12 points and 7 rebounds in the first quarter of the games he started when biedrins went down, and then never seeing him hardly play for the rest of the game. just out of curiosity though, why is wright not a good fit with biedrins? i know both of them are skinny and can be pushed around, but what about their length and quickness? beidrins has really good hands and converts close shots very well, and wright is more versatile and can shoot a lot better.
by Bigben777 on
Sep 10, 2008 12:06 PM PDT
up
0 recs
one train of thought about them not being a good duo is Nelson’s penchant for having only one limited shooter on the floor at any time if he can help it because it prevents two defenders from being inside to step in and stop dribble penetrations by the guards … should one of them (more likely Wright) make a significant upgrade in their consistency to hit mid range shots then they might be better together than many of us (myself included) think …
by hardcore on
Sep 10, 2008 10:52 PM PDT
up
0 recs
yea
fair enough point, that post made me glad that wright has been working on his outside shooting in the offseason, apparently most of the emphasis on his training has been on that.
by Bigben777 on
Sep 12, 2008 8:23 AM PDT
up
0 recs
82 games is 82 games – how many times do we have to see Nelson run the starters down to the nub before he develops some depth? For Christ’s sake he’s got to be able to see that he can’t get to the playoffs much less go far without 8 solid core rotation guys. Is that Mullin’s fault, ya. But Nelson’s also got to develop somebody out of the bench too. Don’t gotta do it down the stretch of the playoff race, can and should be during the first 2/3 season …
by playthegametherightway on
Sep 11, 2008 9:10 PM PDT
up
0 recs
games in the first 2/3 count the same as games in the stretch run. last year, the bench was junk. this year, it’s better. i expect wright to get a fair amount of pt this year, because, unlike last year, the playoffs aren’t likely. the young guys will get some burn if nelson sees something worth developing, so naturally, marco will never leave the bench. i’m not saying that i was always a fan of nelson’s rotation, there were plenty of times when i wanted to see wright get out there, but it was clear that he did not want to risk close games by letting the young guys figure it out. we’ll see how much emphasis is put on development this year.
heart of a champion, will of the warrior.
by cap'n hack on
Sep 13, 2008 2:21 PM PDT
up
0 recs
I've said it before, I'll say it again...
Al Harrington is the key to the Warriors’ success. I would take Al Harrington on a good day than B-Wright any day, we can argue about that for eternity. We need Al to have more consistent PT and a more consistent role in the offense, and to keep that 3pt % up.
by mattmonay on Sep 7, 2008 11:35 PM PDT 0 recs
Harrington’s good days can be pretty good, but after a decade in the league, we know that his good days aren’t the rule. It’s foolish to expect him to suddenly expect him to develop a consistency that hasn’t existed before. If he’s the key to our success, we’re not going to be all that good.
by jae on
Sep 8, 2008 5:36 AM PDT
up
0 recs
Well...
That’s exactly the problem. He has never been the focus of a team’s offense. In Indiana, he had Jermaine O’Neal, Reggie Miller for quite awhile and Jack. I think with a more consistent role in the offense, and with more freedom and support from coaches AND FANS, he still has room to develop. We know the dude can play defense (did you see those games against Houston?!?!?!), we just need to find out if he can be as good as his talents would lead us to believe. I think Al’s presence will need to be huge during Monta’s absence for us to stay afloat… So to rephrase my statement, Al is the key to the Warriors’ success until Monta comes back at 100%
by mattmonay on
Sep 8, 2008 10:33 AM PDT
up
0 recs
In ATL, he got a huge number of touches. The team was not any better (actually, they performed significantly worse) with him than without him. But the focus on his offense is really only a small part of the problem. Offense is conspicuous, but it’s not where he fails most readily. As a power forward, he rebounds real well for a shooting guard. He’s terrible in this regard and yes, it matters.
Yes, I saw those games against Houston. Gimmick, fluke, and/or a sign that he can’t bring it every night, but basing your assessment on what he can regularly do based on that leads to some rather serious errors. We know that he can be inconsistent. All players have some games that are better than others. This doesn’t mean we know all of them can regularly be as good as their best games. Consistency is important, and it’s not something that just happens. Expecting a 10+ year vet to all of a sudden play at the level equal to his best games on a regular basis when he’s never done this before is are really, really stupid gamble.
If he needs the support of the “FANS” and that’s what is holding him back, he’s got an ego far, far too fragile for life in the NBA.
by jae on
Sep 10, 2008 9:23 AM PDT
up
0 recs
harrington doesn’t have to the be the focus of an offense – in fact he’ll probably do better as the 2-3d option (which he will be) while the defense keys on other players and he slips through and makes hey with whatever mismatch he can … my main contention isn’t that he’ll suddenly become an All Star for a whole season, or even half of it, but that for us to have any shot of staying in playoff contention during the early phase of the season we need someone to pick up the slack scoring and rebounding, and there’s really no one better suited than he to do so on the roster. A contribution from Wright and Al stepping up gives us a chance to stay in the race.
Without those two, well …. let’s just say Jax, Corey, & AB aren’t going to be enough …
It’s not the gamble Nelson would have wanted, or Mullin orchestrated in the off season, but it’s the best shot we’ve got right now.
by hardcore on
Sep 10, 2008 10:59 PM PDT
up
0 recs
No one better suited to pick up the slack rebounding? That’s a sorry indicator of our chances as Harrington has never shown the ability to pick up the rebounding slack.
by jae on
Sep 11, 2008 9:32 AM PDT
up
0 recs
