Matt Barnes and Andris Biedrins Making BIG Strides

by Atma Brother ONE on Jan 4, 2007 8:57 AM PST in Science

ESPN.com's John Hollinger dropped his list of the The All-Improved Team (so far) for the first trimester of this NBA season. Kevin Martin, T.J. Ford, Josh Howard, Deron Williams, Luol Deng, David Lee, Luke Walton, Sean May, Hakim Warrick, and Andrew Bynum all made the list. Matt Barnes and Andris Biedrins repped the Warriors big time on the list.

Here's what Hollinger had to say about Matt Barnes:

In terms of sheer "Where the %$!* did that come from?" effect, Barnes is 2006-07's answer to Boris Diaw. Entering the season, Barnes was your typical end-of-the-roster NBA journeyman, having played for four teams in three seasons after never suiting up for Cleveland, the team that originally drafted him in 2002. He never scored more than 4.5 points per game or shot better than 25.0 percent on 3-pointers, and the Warriors signed him only as an afterthought the day before training camp started.

What Barnes has done since then has shocked everyone ... probably even himself. From nowhere, this perennially shaky shooter has turned into a 3-point ace, raining 46.1 percent from downtown and pumping in 17.2 points per 40 minutes; he'd never averaged more than 11.1 before. He has also slashed his perennially high turnover rate and is shooting a career-best 77.4 percent from the line.

His progress shows no sign of abating, either; just Tuesday night he dropped 29 points with 11 rebounds and five steals in a win over the Hornets.

After Barnes made the final training camp cuts, NO ONE expected him to produce at the level he's done so far this season. Barnes' season shows that hard work pays off. He's a great story and the story gets even better every time he terrorizes former NBA squads that didn't give him a fair chance.

At the bargain basement price of $771,331 (for the NBA at least) Barnes' has had more of positive impact on the Warriors' season thus far than these big money guys on the Dubs' 2006-2007 salary cap:

Jason Richardson: $10,000,000
Troy Murphy: $8,285,714
Adonal Foyle: $8,125,000
Mike Dunleavy: $7,438,016
Zarko Cabarkapa: $2,157,096
Ike Diogu: $2,137,200
Patrick O'Bryant: $2,061,720
Keith McLeod: $1,350,000

He's not only one of the leagues most improved players, he's one of the league's best bargains. He's been better than Best Buy!

Nellie deserves a lot of credit for Barnes' emergence as well. It's great to have a coach who doesn't care about how much money players are making, but instead about collecting W's. Aside from his dog house (hello, Ike, Troy, and Adonal!), Nellie pretty much runs a meritocracy. If you're straight ballin', you'll get your minutes out on the court. If you're clueless like Paris Hilton at the 99 cent store, then you'll be riding the pine. Barnes of course has been straight ballin' so far this season. Let's hope he keeps it up. With all these injuries, this team is going nowhere fast if Barnes has a big drop off in production.

With every big three he nails, every pocket he picks, every rebound he grabs in traffic, every basket he throws down, every sharp pass he dishes out, Barnes is increasing his paycheck for next season and beyond. It'll be interesting to see whether the capped out Warriors can even afford him beyond this season. He's been a vital cog in this edition of Nellieball.

Barnes Baby!

Here's what Hollinger had to say about Andris Biedrins:

I left Biedrins off my all-breakout team because I thought Don Nelson wouldn't play him. Silly me. Nelly may like small ball, but he's not an idiot. Once he got a good look at the Latvian lefty, the minutes soon followed.

Biedrins' specialty is high-percentage shooting -- he shot 63.8 percent last season and is at 62.7 percent this season. He ranks fifth in the NBA in TSP at 62.9.

But this season he's expanded his game by becoming more than just a dunk specialist. Now he's throwing in hook shots from the low block and short-range bankers, and he's no longer the league's worst free-throw shooter. Last season he made a ghastly 30.6 percent from the stripe, but this season he's up to a more respectable 56.0 percent. He's also improved on his already-solid rebounding mark, and at the age of just 20 it's not hard to envision an All-Star Game or two in his future.

I honestly thought Biedrins was playing himself out of the league last season. He didn't show any improvement whatsoever and suffered from the infamous one minute man syndrome. Biedrins also didn't have a good summer league outing in Vegas. He looked like he was heading nowhere... fast. But this year, Biedrins has stepped up big time. He's become a fan favorite with his rebounding, dunks, hustle, shot blocking, and of course his unforgettable, goofy interviews.

Give Nellie a lot of credit for Biedrins' big jump this season as well. He's let Biedrins play through his mistakes and put him in positions where he can succeed. When the Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy starting center/ power forward tandem experiment failed, thankfully Nellie turned to Biedrins, Barnes, and Mickael Pietrus. Nellie gave them an opportunity and those guys took care of the rest.

While others envision Biedrins as being a super star in this league someday, I see his ceiling being a very solid double-double center in the years to come a la Marcus Camby on vitamins (meaning he'll play more than 40 games a year). He's not that skilled and teams are starting to figure him out, but with more hard work he'll be a big impact player for the Warriors for the next decade plus. Let's just hope he doesn't look over his shoulder come contract extension time and look at the offers Chris Mullin and crew inked Adonal Foyle, Troy Murphy, and Mike Dunleavy to. Andris and his agent should ask for way more dough than those 3 got. It could get ugly, but regardless this kid will be walking away as an exorbitantly rich Latvian.

Like Ivan Drago from Rocky IV- he will DESTROY YOU!

Before the season started who did you think would be the most improved player on the Warriors? What kind of seasons did you expect from Matt Barnes and Andris Biedrins back in training camp this past October?

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Comments

Good post;, good points

But the one note I take away is, at $1.35MM, let's all say a nice: "Good by, McLeod!"

by johnl on Jan 4, 2007 10:11 AM PST 0 recs

nice post...

Barnes getting his propers, me like. I'm with you on Beans, i thought he took a step back last year and I was skeptical of his progress this year. But, i'm a believer in the Giant now and hope the W's can get him inked to an extension.
As for who i thought would be the most improved player on the roster...well, i would like to say Barnes, but he wasn't really on my radar at that time (although I did like the signing and thought he could fit into Nellie ball very nicely, i even pimped him for a starting gig way back in Oct.)
I would have to say i expected Monta to be MIP on the roster. His injuries have snagged that a bit, but he can still put together a good year i think.

Let's Go Oakland! Gas, Brake, Dip.

by OaktownFunk on Jan 4, 2007 11:02 AM PST 0 recs

Si's Jack McCallum named...

Mickael Pietrus to his 10 players most excedding expetations, saying:

Mickael Pietrus, Golden State Warriors. Of course, you're going to score more when Don Nelson is your coach, so Pietrus's 14.3 points per game, substantially more than the 8.1 he put up in his previous three years, is understandable. But, like his French countryman Boris Diaw of Phoenix, he has a great grasp of the game and is tough-minded.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/jack_mccallum/01/04/firsthalf.overachievers/index.html

by SkipT on Jan 4, 2007 1:30 PM PST 0 recs

Oops

Looks like mokhan beat me to the reference by a good hour or two in the diary he posted.

by SkipT on Jan 4, 2007 1:35 PM PST up 0 recs

Barnes and Biedrins

Yeah you have to give major props to Barnes and Biedrins for what they have been able to do this season. Barnes didn't even get to play one minute in Philadelphia. He was told not to shoot the basketball at all. Biedrins didn't get to play substantial minutes under Coach Montgomery whatsoever. So you have to admire their persistence and hard work to get this far, but it's also a testament to Coach Nelson and his system.

Having talent and ability is one thing, but being able to see that talent and put it into positions where it will be utilized is another. Coach Nelson has been able to do just that and he gave Barnes and Biedrins opportunities to showcase their talent. He didn't look at their salaries, but looked at what they could bring to the team in order to win.

Furthermore, these two guys are great fits in the Nellie system. Remember that in the Nellie system you're going to run and you're going to get shots. There are enough shots in the offense for Matt Barnes to keep jacking them up from 3 point land, already tying the Warriors franchise mark with 7-3 point shots made in a game on two separate occasions. Biedrins does what you want him to on the defensive side of the floor with his length and athleticism. He runs the floor well, and when playing with Baron Davis, all you have to do is keep your hands up and fill the lane.

So you have to give it up to these guys for doing what they do, but you also have to give Nelson and system a ton of credit too.

by friscoballer415 on Jan 4, 2007 2:02 PM PST 0 recs

Biedrins didn't get to play substantial minutes

"under Coach Montgomery whatsoever. So you have to admire their persistence and hard work to get this far, but it's also a testament to Coach Nelson and his system"

It's more a matter of Dris maturing and getting better. Montgomery would be playing him just as much as nellie is now. In fact I bet Ike would be doing better under Monty too. Nellie,s positives are canceled out by his negatives like no interior game or defense, we'd probably have just as good of record under monty at this point in the season?

by Skeptic con Urquell on Jan 4, 2007 3:36 PM PST up 0 recs

ooooooh, dunna think so ...

ya think Baron would be playin this well for Monty?

and, as Baron goes da dubz go ....

by hardcore on Jan 4, 2007 9:46 PM PST up 0 recs

think Baron would be playin this well for Monty?

Yep, Why not? Baron played well last year when he was healthy, this year he's playing better simply because the younger players` are maturing and are more help than they were last year. Just the increase in freethrow percentage would make a big improvement over last years results. Who knows, Monty might have come up with a better mix of big ball and small ball so we could have looked more like phoenix or the lakers instead of a low budget version of run TMC? Nellie often likes to make things more difficult than they need to be.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Jan 5, 2007 9:39 AM PST up 0 recs

uh

"we'd probably have just as good of record under monty at this point in the season?"

That's a joke, right?!

Let's Go Oakland! Gas, Brake, Dip.

by OaktownFunk on Jan 4, 2007 3:53 PM PST 0 recs

That's a joke, right?

Not really. We were about this good last year and now that Dris and monta have another year of experience I'd expect us to be better this year no matter who's coaching. Monty had his faults(mostly bad game decisions) but Nelson also has his faults
( no idea how to use the big men) so it's a wash in reality.
We lost fisher but Barnes has more than made up for that loss. I can't recall us looking as bad under Monty as we have in our worst games this year? I might be wrong but I doubt that we gave up 144 points to the worst team in the league last year?

by Skeptic con Urquell on Jan 4, 2007 4:23 PM PST up 0 recs

fair enough...

but i also doubt we would score 135 under monty's offense, agreed?

Let's Go Oakland! Gas, Brake, Dip.

by OaktownFunk on Jan 4, 2007 5:04 PM PST up 0 recs

just want to add

i hope we are not about to compare Monty to Nellie is terms of coaching talent. Because that is ridiculous. Nellie is a HOF coach...Monty needs about 1,999 more victories to be in that discussion.

Let's Go Oakland! Gas, Brake, Dip.

by OaktownFunk on Jan 4, 2007 5:06 PM PST up 0 recs

friends helping friends

if I made 16 million and my good buddy from college was on my team - i'd feed him the ball too! nothing against barnes, because he's bringing it (hardcore). But, when J-Rich comes back, it will be hard for him to shine so bright!

Lets go Warriors!!

" Sleepy Floyd is Superman!!!"

by CoachBarry on Jan 4, 2007 4:09 PM PST 0 recs

AB

Was this good last year, the refs just wouldn't let him play. I have DVR so I watched just about every game last year. The ref's would call fouls on him even if he stood his ground with arms straight up(not leaning toward the player at all). I would rewatch these fouls 9 out of 10 times it was either a no call or it was offensive. I just want to say thanks to the ref's for no longer calling the rookie fouls on him. I guess they forgot he wasn't a rookie last year(probaly because he barely played his rookie year).

by Psion on Jan 4, 2007 6:05 PM PST 0 recs

andris

i knew he was gonna be good. the refs did make some terrible calls on him last year, and continue to do so this year. but he is definitely improving and seems to be gaining a little bit more respect.

by AJC3317 on Jan 4, 2007 6:45 PM PST 0 recs

Yeah

I still don't get how people couldn't get past some of the superficial stuff that made Biedrins look poor last year. He consistently held is own both offensively and defensively as a center, in the Western Conference, as one of the 10 or so youngest players in the game at the time. Yeah, he fouled a lot. Yeah, he was atrocious at the line. But, he was also extremely young, and as could have been pontificated (I, for one, did), he had room for improvement and stopped letting the fouls and free throws hinder his game and he let his soft touch and good hands take over his solid inside game (which can get even better if he continues to perfect the short hooks and banks) and using his length to his advantage on the defensive end.

Young players, especially in the NBA, need a year or two or three to work out the flaws in their games. People often lose sight of this and focus on the negatives in certain players' games while neglecting some very important positives.

by jonathan on Jan 4, 2007 6:46 PM PST 0 recs

couldn't have said it better myself

Like I said earlier what most say was bad about his game wasn't true. It was the ref's who always call the foul on the young unknown guys. This isn't fair, but who said life was.

by Psion on Jan 4, 2007 6:56 PM PST up 0 recs