It's been said before, but let's face it again: Bay Area pro-sports have been in a slump for a while now. When are we ever going to be able to gloat again over our local heroes to the rest of the country... the rest of the world?
The 49ers have been mired in or below mediocrity for a decade, the Raiders fell apart after one Super Bowl attempt and have years of insanity outside of that, the Giants went from World Series contenders to bottom-ranked bummers, scandals attached.
It is and has been officially dark times for Bay Area professional sports.
The East Bay still has some hope with the A's and the Warriors though. The A's have been decent this season so far, and the Warriors, despite falling out of the playoff picture this year, actually had a better regular season record than the previous year.
If only they both didn't seem like farm teams for the rest of their respective league, we could probably rest easy.
But, being at my heart a basketball fan above other sports, I lend my focus to the Golden State Warriors. They've been at the center of Bay Area sports excitement in recent times, and I hope it will continue (despite the usual, expected chagrin of ticket price hikes).
But to be truthful, one has to be blunt: the team, though fun and exciting, will never win a championship and is not built to be a contender.
Let's start with the good.
Baron and Stephen had strong years, stronger than ever.
We have young talent. Ellis is amazing when driving, and has a sweet jumper. Biedrins can move and does have good hands for a big man, blocking shots, catching passes on the cut, and dunking.
No telling what Brandan Wright and Marco Belinelli might be able to do in the future. And Harrington, for all it's worth, has some versatility. Barnes and Pietrus have also had their moments.
That being said...
Our mix of talent is impressive, but truly combustible. Don't tell me for a second you can't see Baron or Jack taking a turn for the worse (injury? fight suspension? shooting slump?) at any point in any season.
And by the way, Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson, if you forget how to shoot on a given night, please go to the rim or distribute the ball.
- B/R Ticket Guide
Please. Please.
Mickael Pietrus: When you realized you were "stuck" with us, you turned on the goods—what you should've been doing for years—and then shut it down for the season.
Perfect. We know you're walking this summer, and shopping yourself around. Congratulations. What we will remember most is the millionth time you stepped out of bounds with the ball when trying to cut to the basket along the baseline.
C'est magnifique. All kidding aside, you had some impressive plays—good luck to you elsewhere.
Harrington: I agree with Nellie. There were moments of brilliance. And then there was the other 75 percent of the time where you seemed to kill our momentum.
Nellie: No doubt, an awesome Hall-of-Fame coach. But the strange benching call for Baron, the lack of play time for our rookie crew, and zero emphasis on defense?
Having vented a little now, I'll make a few points of emphasis for things that really matter, if we want to turn the corner:
1) Care about defense.
I'm not saying give up that neck-breaking, fast-pace offense. But for crying out loud, if you score a basket, and they immediately score back on you in transition, what good is that?
The Help D is not there, the defensive rebounding is not there, and the "get back, they're on a fast-break" mentality is most certainly not there. Yes, we get our hand on the loose balls or passes many times, but no, it wasn't enough to stop our opponent.
2) Our offense isn't as good as we think.
Yes, we've poured in points in certain quarters, certain halves. But we've also had quarters where we scored 10-12 points.
Television analyst Jim Barnett and others always say, the offensive player has the advantage. Then, we see one of you walk up to the line, jack up a long-distance shot, clang it off the rim, and lose the possession.
That's not offense. It's offensive, but it's not an offense.
Elementary kids do that on the playground. I'm not saying we shouldn't mix it up to give an element of surprise. But if you're in a bind, run the set play with Biedrins on that pick-and-roll.
Or that dime to the streaking Ellis, who apparently can worm through multiple defenders at will.
3) Where is the balance?
One of our new nemeses, Baron's ol' Hornets, have balance with a post-up player who can also pick-and-pop (West), a point guard who dishes first but can still score (Paul), a shooter (Stojakovic), and a rebounder/shot-blocker (Chandler).
Plus, though their bench isn't deep, they have a scoring option off the bench with playoff experience (Wells).
We have Davis (scorer), Ellis (scorer), Jackson (scorer), Harrington (scorer), Biedrins (rebounder/shot-blocker).
We have Belinelli (scorer), Brandan Wright (still a question mark) and Perovic (rebounder/shot-blocker). The rest of our team probably walks (Barnes, Pietrus, Azubuike, O'Bryant).
Granted, Davis and Jackson can make a lot of sweet dishes, and Jackson can be a lock-down defender at times. But this doesn't appear to be very balanced.
Score more, stop others from scoring, balance things out.. to win?
That's obvious. Most definitely.
All I want is to demonstrate that the team has flaws, ones that will prevent us from getting over the hump and being something really special. Only the Bay Area could immortalize Run-TMC, which didn't last all that long.
Let's not return to that and say "good enough."
With all of that said, I love the Warriors. I think highly of all our current team.
But it's time to lay all the cards out on the table.
I want nothing more than for them to get better. To be better. To be all they can be. Maybe in a future article I'll throw out some new ideas to what can help resolve some of the above.
But for now, recognize: it's great to look pretty—but who wants to be the Anna Kournikova of basketball?
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6 months ago
Great article. I totally agree. I'd just like to add a few things. SJax has lost a step this last season and is no longer the slasher he has been in the past. Although he's lethal in the fourth quarter from behind the arc, he is streaky otherwise. Rest him at least one full quarter a game because his shot is off for at least one full quarter a game.
Nelson needs to also concentrate less on taking advantage of matchups and learn how to rest his players. That should result in less turnovers and mental errors made by Davis not to mention cultivating their bench and young talent.
Hopefully with Nelson considering retiring after this next season, they go for broke with one last championship push.
My first instinct would be to get an impact player in the low post like a David West or a Boozer but would Nellie really be able to utilize a bigger team like that? I've often wondered why I never saw him play Wright and Biedrins at the same time. That would be a formidable front court even at their young age.
A defensive specialist ala Bruce Bowen or someone like Ron Artest would be key (but no Artest please!)
More movement from players without the ball! Too much isolation being played by a team who only has BD and Ellis who can penetrate.
Our top 8 was full of talent last year but our top 3 does not compare favorably to the stronger teams in the west. Our players from 4-8 are athletic and have moments of greatness, but are mostly swingmen (Nellie ball again) who perform inconsistently. It would be nice to have some solid role players.
Man I'm starting to sound like I'm about to preach a half-court style game :)
As a Spurs/Warriors fan I hate to say it, but we should be modeling ourselves after New Orleans.
How about Avery Johnson coming on to transition into taking over for Nellie like he did in Dallas? Sounds almost like a Obama/Clinton ticket ;)
from 6 months ago
A lot of what you said makes sense. Our "Big 3" can handle themselves decently, but you can't really compare them to Kobe-Pau-Odom, Duncan-Ginobili-Parker, Shaq-Amare-Nash (even with Shaq getting old). New Orleans has more of a big two with West and Paul (plus solid role-players like Chandler and Stojakovic). Same with Utah (Boozer/Williams, plus Kirilenko, Okur, etc.). As has probably been said before by others, the difference is they all have big men that they can utilize in the post and provide overall presence.
For Jackson, we gotta love that general fire and audacity he brings. But with the turf toe this season, he looked really awkward driving and often turned the ball over. Also, there were a few times with loose balls that I didn't see the same hustle; maybe after he was exhausted from all of the "bad calls" (from his perspective) from the ref on fouls-- giving him the benefit of the doubt. So in that respect, I agree-- overall more usage of bench and more rest for the weary would go a long, long way.
The W's looked exceptional when the ball was flipping back and forth, inside and out, and around the arc. It was when they stopped and went one on one that things tended to get sloppy.
I think Nellie will be Nellie next year, and we'll take the good with the bad. Certainly, have to credit him with bringing life back to the organization. I think Avery might clash too much with Davis though, given that he was very controlling over Devin Harris and supposedly calling all the plays initially (though what is really true isn't certain). Maybe the W's just need their own version of a Tom Thibodeau as a "defensive specialist" to re-invigorate that side of the fence for us, under Nellie. Hopefully, Mullin is drawing up a list for the future coaching candidates, since Nellie will definitely retire soon though.
Thanks for the comments!
6 months ago
You're right about Jackson and Nellie, even though they aren't perfect they really were able to hold my interest all year long...even though by the end of the year their flaws became more and more apparent.
Jackson is one of the only players on the team that actually plays defense so you gotta give that to him. I'd love to see him develop a mid-game though. I guess that goes for the Warriors as a whole. Ellis is the only one that ever takes short jumpers.
I'd like to see Baron become more of a pass first player as well. But I suppose that's a difficult thing to do when your team is as streaky as the Warriors. I suppose that would develop if we had a scoring threat in the post. What's up with Shawn Marion? Is he locked in with the Heat?
As for Nellie/Avery ticket, well, I can't see a former coach of the year (even though it was pretty much handed to him by Nellie) taking an assistant position. But as a Spurs fan too, I'd love to see Avery close to home.
Can't wait to see the Warriors compete at a high level next year without the handicapped start!
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