Golden State Warriors: Last year's record (26-56), Predicted record (35-47)
The one thing I can almost guarantee you, with this 2010-2011 season and I guess from the past few years is that the W's will be really fun to watch. The Warriors have made many moves this offseason and the most important move was the firing or "resignation" of Don Nelson. Although Nellie has the most wins all-time for a head coach, he had never won a championship. Nellie Ball was designed for under-sized teams and high-paced scoring, but that style of play is not the blueprint for championships. Since Baron left, Nellie had been a cancer to the team and the chase for his record last year cost us some losses and a better draft pick. Keith Smart is the new head coach and I had been waiting for the day he would take over. What Smart will bring to this team is a tougher mentality and more emphasis on defense. He won't favor players and he'll play whoever is deserving of playing time. However these changes won't come overnight. You should still expect this team to score a lot of points and give up a lot of points as well (Just not as much as last year). It'll be a gradual process to play better defense, but they will play a little more of it. With that being said, the Warriors could be a sleeper team this year and compete for that 8th seed in the West. Like I said yesterday, that 8th spot is wide open for any team. They have the offensive fire power to do it and I'm starting to like the acquisition of our new big man more and more each day. I just think we lack the experience and the chemistry of this team will take awhile to form especially with all the new guys. In the end Josh and I both agreed that this team will fall short of the playoffs most likely as the 10th or 11th seed in the West.
"Dark liquor till we busted till I got a buzz like that nigga Chris Mullin" - Wale
Breakdown of Roster
Guards:
Stephen Curry - There's a ton of hype on Steph this year. He's ranked as high as 6th on fantasy boards and that means large expectations to put up big numbers. I want everyone to be cautious of these expectations and lower them, just a little though. Steph exceeded everyone's expectations last year and if he had played the 1st half of the season the way he played the 2nd, there would have been no doubt about him being the rookie of the year. As for this year, I think the Baby-Face Assassin will still put up numbers, just not as many points because he will be the focus of most defenses. His assists will go up and hopefully his defense will get better and he got a little stronger. There were too many times where he was beat off the dribble and allowed guards like Andre Miller to kill him with their strength. Steph will have an excellent season but don't expect him to assert himself as a superstar this year or ever in his career. In my opinion he will be an all-star just not a superstar and I love this guy. Just ask Ry who was talking about a kid named Stephen Curry from Davidson when his Junior season began and no one knew about him. I'm just being honest about the type of player he is.
Monta Ellis - Words that I would use to describe Monta Ellis: "Selfish," "Lazy," "Ballhog," "Egotistic," "Can't speak English?" and so on. You get the picture. I don't really like the guy and I'm not embarrassed to say I had no problem with the team trading him just for Eddy Curry's expiring contract and nothing else. Even though I say all of this, I still think Monta is a good player just not for a young team like us. Monta can score like crazy and is a blur on the break. His mid range jumper is nice and he gets a lot of steals because he gambles on defense. He is in fact the closest thing you will get to Allen Iverson today. He'll probably average 25 or more and he'll do it shooting the ball 20+ times a night. He'll be a joy to watch, but the next step for this team is to get rid of him for cap space and build around Steph with Monta's lost contract. Just imagine in the offseason after our magical playoff run in 06-07 if we had pulled the trigger on sending him and Biedrins and a couple other scrubs to Minnesota for KG. Our lineup for the next season would've been: Baron, J-Rich, Captain Jack, Al Harrington, and KG, just imagine what could've been...
Charlie Bell - Not much to say here. 2 years left on his contract, ok player, and has "Flint" tattooed on his right arm.
Jeremy Lin - The Asians' new pride and joy in the league? In all honesty, he can play basketball well and if he doesn't make it on this team, he'll get chances somewhere else. I watched his state championship game when he was a senior in high school against powerhouse Mater Dei, his summer league games this offseason, and I watched him play live in Santa Clara, and the one thing about him is that he won't back down to anyone and he's mentally tough. He has confidence in his game. He's a very average player though in terms of NBA talent. He can do everything well, but nothing great, but if he can light up UConn for 30 and Boston College for 25+, he can play. My bold prediction for him will be a game where he puts up 20+, 5 and 5, Bob Fitzgerald and Jim Barnett will be loving it, and the fans at the Oracle will be going crazy. However this can only happen if Steph or Monta get hurt, let's knock on wood and hope that actually doesn't happen.
Dorell Wright - He will be our staring small forward and he is not too shabby of a player. He's still young since he came out of high school and he's actually grown 2 inches since coming into the league. He always has a cool hair design in NBA 2K and he's an average player. He doesn't do anything great but I have a gut feeling he will have a very good season for us.
Reggie Williams - This is a player I really like. From his first game in the league to summer league this offseason, Reggie has scored and scored. He is just an excellent scorer period. He deserves more playing time this year and hopefully he'll get it because if this man averages 24+ minutes a game he can average close to 15 a game.
Rodney Carney - He's super athletic, but that's it.
Jeff Adrien - I always thought at UConn he would've become a good post presence, but he is not, he's a benchwarmer
Louis Amundson - Sweet Baby Lou is an excellent pickup. He is exactly what the W's need, an energy guy that every team has that always kills us. We have that now in Louis. It's actually quite a shocker to me that so many teams passed up on his services and he wasn't signed till September! But yeah, Louis is nice and he rides his bike in Jordans, cool guy.
Vladimir Radmanovic - Starred in the Nutcracker when he played in Seattle.
Ekpe Udoh - Bust. A 24-year old rookie who had Hornet's coach, Monty Williams make him look like a fool in his workouts for their team (watch it on YouTube), yet we still drafted him... oh and he can't play till the 2nd half of the season, phonie.
Brandan Wright - Keith Smart rarely played him in the preseason and he is getting unhappy. It's time to give up on him and trade him. It'd be good for him and the team.
David Lee - He was our biggest acquisition in the offseason and we sure gave up a lot to get him. I really like him because this is a guy who has had to work for everything he has accomplished in the league so far. He's not that athletic, he's not that tall, and he looks like the baby of Jason Siegel and Seth Rogen if they had a baby. Yet this man is a double-double machine. He's working on his mid range jumper and he's excellent on the pick and roll. He struggles on defense however, and I still hate the fact we had to give up Anthony Randolph and his potential to get Lee. Let's just hope Randolph never reaches that potential and D. Lee gets that 20 and 10 everyone expects.
Dan Gadzuric - 1 year left on his contract, clogs the paint, and he is Josh's favorite Warrior.
Andris Biedrins - The drop off in his game last season was incredible. Sure he was hurt, but he looked like he didn't want to play even when healthy. He went from an excellent shot blocker and master of garbage buckets to a big softie, even though he already was off the court. He complained in the offseason for a trade and I really don't care if he is traded, but now that Nellie is gone and he's not complaining, he will have to be a large contributor this year. I think he can return to his old form, but I really hope that old form on his free throw doesn't return this year.
Anyways that does it for my previews of the NBA season, maybe Josh will have more but I'm unsure, enjoy the new season folks!
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