An Optimistic View of Next Season

by montadaboss on Aug 30, 2009 11:08 PM PDT

I know many fans of the Warriors are disheartened by Stephen Jackson's recent comments, but lets put it into perspective. Stephen Jackson is an aging, malcontent(to a degree) whose inefficient shooting and ball handling has lost us more games than his clutch shooting will ever win.

I have ragged on Monta recently, but now more than ever, we need Monta to step up and be our point guard. No Curry and Monta starting back court. Maybe 15 minutes a game but not starting together. Monta's pluses outweigh his negatives to me. His defense on point guards is average so he will not be a liability. His offensive game is devastating, and his driving ability should allow him to get alot more assists than we think. If anything, I want to see a Monta Ellis, with a huge chip on his shoulder. The same one we saw when Don Nelson announced Marco Belinelli would be the starting 2 guard. This time however, he will not be the second and third fiddle. He will be the main guy. Hopefully, Monta has worked on his defense this summer, because we will need him to step up in that category. This team is looking for a leader, and Monta obviously cannot be that off the court, but he can lead by example with his game on the court.

The trio of Morrow, Azubuike, and Maggette at the wings, should be one very difficult to guard. But who will fill the defensive void left by Jackson. He may not have been a very good defender, but Jackson could still provide valuable one-on-one defense against the top scorers in the league. I think Azubuike should be the guy we look to for defense. We know he has the strength, athleticism, and hustle to be a very good defender in this league. Will, he put in the effort and time to do this however. We will have to see.

Maggette easily will take Jackson's scoring load, and Morrow seems ready to be one of our big-clutch shooters(like Curry). I think Jackson's scoring and defense will mainly be replaced by improvements by our own players. His ball-handling will be deferred to a combination of Monta, Curry, Randolph, and i guess CJ Watson. This is where trading Belinelli, looks even more foolish to me, because he replaces alot of Jackson's defense, and ball handling that everyone seems to be worried about. But this could all be changed by whomever(if we aquire anybody) for Jackson. If it is a guy like Josh Howard, it would help tremendously. But we can probably expect a Greg Buckner type of trade.

I can go on forever about how much improved Randolph will be, but we all know that he is going to be a major contributor this season.

I hope its not just me, but I think this team can still make a playoff run with the roster we have. The improvements that will be made by our young players should be enough to negate Jackson's departure.

I don't Believe like I did before, but I still Believe in our teams young talent.

Poll

Do you think the Warriors will be alright without Jackson?

No, too much to lose.

34 votes

Its an addition like subtraction or it will be the same

46 votes

Our youngsters improvements will bridge the gap

99 votes

179 votes | Poll has closed

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!

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Comments

He's not gone yet!

What if he comes back and stays like Kobe did? And I doubt we make a buckner trade if we still have Law, Claxton, and George.

Rookie: "Why did you bench me?"
Nellie: "Your a rookie"

by dubzfan on Aug 30, 2009 11:24 PM PDT reply actions

I don't Believe like I did before, but I still Believe in our teams young talent.

I like this post, you got me thinking we might be ok if SJax does leave? Thanks

Standing on the moon
Where talk is cheap and vision true
Standing on the moon
But I would rather be with you
Somewhere in San Francisco
On a back porch in July
Just looking up to heaven
At this crescent in the sky

by Skeptic con Urquell on Aug 30, 2009 11:36 PM PDT reply actions

Houston is the only place I'm willing to deal Jack to.

"IT'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!"

by Curry on Aug 30, 2009 11:39 PM PDT reply actions

Meh. In reality, the Ws probably aren’t a playoff team even with Jack (and at best a fringe one). It’s probably better to move guys like Jack & Maggette for veterans who are supporting players (with expiring deals) and hand over the reigns to Monta & Randolph and see how well they handle initiating the offense.

If it were up to me, I’d move Jack to Dallas, Buckner’s non-guaranteed deal & Maggette to Utah, with the Ws taking on AK’s contract (2 yrs) and Kris Humphries (expiring). (Buckner & Humphries become tradeable on the 9th of September).

Dallas gets toughness, a SG and the flexibility to eventually move Josh Howard’s expiring deal for a C.

after cutting Buckner (b/c his deal in non-guaranteed), Utah saves $7-8 million this season (if you factor the luxury tax implications, that # could easily be $14-16 mill or more if they manage to move under the tax) while getting a player Sloan coveted twice in Maggette to replace AK (they signed Corey as a RFA before the Clips matched and were in the running for his services when he signed with the Warriors).

For the Ws, the main incentive is to get out from under 2 long term deals. But other potentially possible pluses are opening up minutes, adding a back up energy big (in KH) with some bulk and whatnot.

by homer simpson on Aug 31, 2009 12:51 AM PDT reply actions

An Optimistic View of Next Season

lol

On 5/7, the best part of waking is up LOLDGERS in my cup.

by GameSix on Aug 31, 2009 6:52 AM PDT reply actions

You didn’t give me the option to vote that I think Jackson will be a Warrior next season despite his comments.

by Missing Barry on Aug 31, 2009 6:55 AM PDT reply actions

he also should have had another option:

“Warriors clone S.Jax and play all 5 of him at all positions all the time.”

by farid on Aug 31, 2009 11:08 AM PDT up reply actions

And we become the first team to go an entire season without getting a rebound…

by Missing Barry on Aug 31, 2009 11:21 AM PDT up reply actions

and triple digit turnovers

by IQofaWarrior on Aug 31, 2009 10:55 PM PDT up reply actions

That's funny and not true

Marco Belinelli's Biggest Fan

by montadaboss on Sep 1, 2009 7:51 PM PDT up reply actions

I think the Warriors should move Stephen Jackson regardless of the trade demand.

I like the young core that’s been developed and don’t see Jacks or Maggette fitting into the medium to long term future of the club. I’d rather bring back expiring contracts and try to find players who are younger and more complementary to the young guys already here.

In the short term, next season I mean, the Warriors will very likely lose out from a Jackson trade. With his contract, and at his age, it’ll be very difficult to bring back a superior talent in a trade. And I think Jacks still contributes a lot to this team.