Warriors announce Harrison Barnes to start opening night, Bogut and Curry participate in full practice

There hasn't been a ton of news on our Dubs the last few days, but most of us have probably been distracted enough by the World Series and Monday Night Football not to care all that much. Monday did bring a couple nice tidbits for us news hungry Warriors fans though. As Matt Steinmetz reported this afternoon Coach Mark Jackson finally announced that Harrison Barnes would be starting at small forward come Wednesday night. This puts to rest any controversy about who will be manning the three spot when they toss up the ball for the opening tip, but Jackson made it clear that this was no knock on Rush.

"Harrison Barnes will be my starting small forward," Jackson said after Monday’s practice. "It’s well-deserved. I could have gone either way. Brandon Rush had a very good preseason. I just think it’s a better role for Rush coming off the bench – either coming in for (shooting guard) Klay (Thompson) or Harrison.

"And I think Harrison earned it. He played very well, and I thought his last game was his best performance. With that group, we’ll be able to utilize some of his strengths – athletic ability, slashing ability. He’s a guy that has shown I can trust him defensively. He competes. It’s a great accomplishment for him, but we’re not done individually or collectively."

(from Matt's article here)

The other encouraging news from the Warriors toady was this tweet:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Post practice update: For first time since start of camp, entire roster went through full practice.</p>&mdash; Golden St. Warriors (@warriors) <a href="https://twitter.com/warriors/status/263005462826450946" data-datetime="2012-10-29T19:52:43+00:00">October 29, 2012</a></blockquote>

This means both Andrew Bogut and Stephen Curry are feeling well enough to participate fully at this point. We'll have to see how the big Aussie's ankle reacts to the increase in action, but as a Warriors fan it has to feel good to know that he's out there getting regular practice run with the rest of the team. It's just one step closer to FINALLY seeing this roster fully healthy and watching our "on paper" starting five become our on-court starting five. If you aren't drooling yet, I'll leave you with one more quote from Steinmetz:

"He went contact, he went through all the drills," Jackson said of Bogut. "Live offensively and defensively. He showed what type of a weapon he’s going to be for us."

If Bogut isn’t ready to start by Wednesday, Ezeli will get the start. Andris Biedrins, who missed a good chunk of the preseason with a groin injury, participated in all of practice on Monday.

I knew that news of Andris' groin would get you drooling... and that part about Bogut showing what kind of weapon he'll be was okay too.