FanPost

Looking Back: 2010/2011 Season Preview and an early draft look

As the Warriors enter "tank" mode, Warrior Nation and GSoM in particular are at odds on how we should think. Is it bleak or is there light? Most fans, in my opinion, have a good mix of optimism and pessimism, but at this moment, most are leaning to the latter. Member FromtheBaytoBaystate has a recommended fanpost where he asks this question:

Did anybody, within their heart of Warriors hearts, really expect us to do anything this year?

The answer is in this screenshot, taken from Atma Bro's Pre-Season Preview:

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52% of GSoM, 928 of 1780 polled, believed we were indeed making the post-season.The expectations for the players, the front office, and the team in general were pretty high before the season started and is a factor, albeit not the biggest factor, in why Warrior fans are up in arms. Here are some tidbits from the thread (These are not shots at AB1, btw):

David Lee

The Warriors had essentially no chips this summer, but they walked away with a 20-12-3.5 All-Star big man. You do the math.

Genius.

Give Larry Riley (and whoever else made it happen) props. In 1 year as the GM of the Warriors he did something his 2 predecessors couldn't do in (mostly painful) multi-year stints: add a legit power forward to this team.

Warriors fans are going to like a lot about Lee. A LOT.

Was he worth or not worth it? David Lee was dubbed as a probable hero, a key piece and catalyst to his new team. The key point, was that he was going to help us on the glass and make us more efficient, offensively. What be brought to the table in little over half the season is still up for debate, what he didn't bring us however, was defense. At this point, Udoh seems like a good compliment to Lee, offsetting Lee's defensive woes with his stalwart D:

Epke Udoh

Truth be told when the David Stern was saying "With the 6th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft the Golden State Warriors select..." I was hoping to hear "GREG MONROE FROM GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY!" That didn't happen. Hopefully I'm wrong about this one.

I think most of GSoM wanted Greg Monroe at the time. I wouldn't have minded Ed Davis either, of course though I'm a UNC homer. Udoh has brought to the table what was removed in the Lee trade, shotblockers in AR and Ronny, but with better low-post defense. He has struggled on the boards and on offense though, a reason why many think a Lee and Udoh duo would be perfect together.

As stated above, many thought the acquisition of Lee would help our rebounding significantly as stated by this AB1 prediction on our strengths:

Rebounding

Yes, you read that right. The Warriors are set to be a very nice Windex team. David Lee and Andris Biedrins are elite rebounders, Louis Amundson is solid, and Stephen Curry opened some eyes with his nice work on the boards last season. Who knows maybe even Monta can get back to his earlier rebounding rates. Even if he doesn't, the Warriors project to be at their best level in this department in years- decades perhaps.

As it stands here is how it looks:

Rebounding Differential

09-10: -9.7. Ranked 30th.

10-11: -4.2. Ranked 30th.

Offensive Rebound %

09-10: .209 (League Average .263). Ranked 30th.

10-11: .273 (League Average .263). Ranked 8th.

Defensive Rebound %

09-10: .685 (League Average .737). Ranked 30th.

10-11: .687 (League Average .737) Ranked 30th.

We had a 5.5 jump in rebounding differential. A fairly significant jump, however, we're still last in the league in differential. The 5.5 jump is due to Offensive boards, a .064 point percentage and 22 rank jump. Our defensive rebounding stayed stagnant though, not a great sign. Mr. DW is our 3rd best rebounding and he and Lee along with the rest of the team have improved our rebounding, but there is still much work to be done.

Other points were a Pick and Roll improvement, which sadly seems to have been non-existent, Defense, which seemed like many didn't see an improvement, and of course Coaching which many seemed very optimistic on Mr. Smart. This lead to the prediction of Atma, which seems like we may not even hit:

Overall record

Unless there's some major trades and talent upgrades minus Nellie we're looking at:

34-48

Meaning, no playoffs Don't get me wrong though. This will be a fun and interesting season. Isn't it always?

Him and Matt Steinmetz made similar predictions, both took some heat for it. I was in a similar boat, along with roughly 48% of GSoM.

Now onto a quick draft preview, this is for pure fun at the moment as I haven't been watching college ball much outside of the Tar Heel games.

As of today we're hanging once again in the teen area of the draft. It won't be as big as a problem as previous years since this draft is particularly weak, but if you're looking at the strategy of "Building through the draft" as the OKC Thunder have done, consistently drafting in the teens, IS NOT the way to go. The biggest player characteristic skill that we need in the upcoming draft is Defense, however, there's not much to be desired in terms of defense in the upcoming draft. Position wise we should be looking at Center and Small Forward. But BPA is still the best way to draft. Realistically, we will not win the lottery, barring a miracle (Which would suck if we won, because it is basically a 1 player draft with Duke star Irving). Here are my favorite targets (Keyword favorite) at the moment outside of Mr. Irving:

1. Harrison Barnes, 18, SF, 6-8 210

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Oh yes, a Heel, how surprising huh? Barnes came into this season as a projected superstar, however, the hype has not matched what he had to show for this season and I will be the first to say it, I was disappointed in his play...until now. The Heels at some points of the season looked as if they shouldn't have even been ranked at all, and when they were ranked, it seemed they were only ranked because of our name. Woe was us, but we finally got hot mid-season to now with the help of Barnes and fellow freshman Kendall Marshall. Barnes although raw, is very mature for his age, has shown leadership, and is a devout worker. He is apt on both sides of the ball, showing brilliance on offense occasionally, and showing above average D on the other side of the ball. A stat that many people here would like is him in the clutch, he has 5 game winning shots, with the last coming on a 3 against the FSU Seminoles.

2. Yan Vesely, 20, SF/PF, 6-11 240

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%!#@, another damned Euro? Yes, indeed. I think this International class will be one of the better ones in a while as a whole. There's several International prospects that may enter and have a chance to make the d raft somewhat interesting; Vesely, J. Valaciraptor, Kanter, Motiejunas, and Nogueira. BritWarrior and tafkasm have mentioned him before me and here's a quote from Brit's Vesely Post:

The player I am talking about is Jan Vesely of the Czech Republic and he was recently named the FIBA Europe Young Men's Player of the Year for 2010. In a very close contest he beat Ricky Rubio, gathering more votes from the expert panel and the public than the Spaniard.

Many are describing Jan in and around Europe as a player similar to Toni Kukoc but with potential to be a lot better! He decided not to enter the 2010 NBA draft to instead remain in Europe, however he is considering the 2011 NBA Draft and is predicted to be a Lottery pick if he does.

3. Bismack Biyombo, 18, C/PF, 6-9 240

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Another international prospect I'm interested in. The only African prospect in this draft, he is from Congo. If he declares he will not be drafted high, he'll likely be there in the 2nd round where we can get him. He's already considered a "Sultan of Swat" in the Spanish/Liga ACB (Highest Spanish League) and is averaging 15.7 Mins, 5.9 Points on 54% shooting, 4.7 rebounds, 2.1 blocks a game. He seems to have a good strong base and is another defensive guy. We have Udoh, but if this guy with the badass name is there in the 2nd, I wouldn't mind drafting him.

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!