Bleacher Report - Articles by Ben Breiner

Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson Signal Rough Road Ahead

Ben Breiner — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:38:23 -0400

It looked like the Dubs had a chance at something.

Despite the loss of their bearded leader, Monta Ellis emerged as a young and promising hope for the franchise—there was reason to be slightly excited for the next few years.

That hope, however, was shredded along with Ellis’ ligament as it became the usual business for the beleaguered Warriors. Everybody believed, though, that they turned a corner. There might be fewer players getting massive injuries after signing big deals and there might be fewer boneheaded choices by the premising pillars of the team’s future.

Now, with the swirling rumors and innuendo that Ellis' injury may not have come playing basketball like he originally said, another layer is put onto this. Not only is he hurt, but he may well have lied about how he got injured.

With a single point guard on the roster, the Warriors are back to where they were earlier this offseason.

The difference, however, is that with Ellis the question was, "Can he run the point?" With the newly acquired Marcus Williams it becomes: "How the hell is a no-defense, low-percentage shooting, turnover prone point guard the only option for this spot?"

With all of this, arrives Stephen Jackson asking for a contract extension, ultimately putting this team back where it was during the late '90s—slowly sinking into one of the larger messes in the NBA. (At least the New York Knicks are there to absorb the impact at the bottom.)

Jackson, Sorry, but a Contract Extension Should Not Be in the Cards

Jackson is a wonderful player. He is clutch, plays defense, and is a real leader on the team. He has some flaws, but that is not the reason why he shouldn’t get that extension.

The first factor is that there is not that much of a market for Jackson. He is thought of as a hot head and isn’t quite the game changer that would warrant big money. Still, with Corey Maggette’s contract anything is possible.

Furthermore, throw out the fact that he won’t be the second best player on a good team. The third best is possible and the fourth is more likely. Why should he get big money for being a good part of a middle of the road team?

Jackson is earning more than $7 million in each of the next two years. In his time in Oakland, he has probably outperformed the terms of his deal. This, however, is not a reason to overpay him over the next few seasons.

Chris Mullin Has Done a Good Job of Not Freaking Out

He didn’t drop a pile of money into Jackson’s hands while not throwing cash at a mediocre free agent point guard. Criticize his signings all you want, but he’s handled these last few weeks relatively well.

What's Next?

As fans, we are entering a period of uncertainty for the Dubs. With all their youth, something positive could occur down the road. This season, however, already looks tumultuous.

As of now, the mess once known as the Golden State Warriors may be making a comeback.

Team USA Batters Old Rival

Ben Breiner — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:01:45 -0400

It’s a pretty common story. Team USA meets opponent, Team USA plays opponent, Team USA wins by more than 30 and goes home.

That was essentially the script for Friday’s game between the US and old nemesis Lithuania.

The Americans jumped out to a big lead early and were only slightly threatened when Lithuania cut the deficit to single digits in the third quarter. Strong defense, however, carried the day as the US defense supplied consistent pressure throughout the game.

The Lithuanians were a thorn in the side of the US in 2004 when they beat the Americans in pool play en route to a 5-0 record in the same pool as the US. The North Americans, however, got revenge with a 104-96 win in the consolation game, denying Lithuania its fourth bronze medal in as many Olympics.

Since that tournament the Lithuanians have finished seventh in the 2006 world basketball championships but rebounded nicely, earning third place in Eurobasket2007 and securing an Olympic berth. In its pre-Olympic exhibitions, Lithuania beat highly ranked Argentina but lost to Spain.

As for Friday’s game, the Lithuanians are certainly not a bad group, but the US just about ran them out of the gym.

They have an impressive arsenal of players including two good post players, the Lavrinovic brothers, a good post defender in Robertas Javtokas, a stable of wings including Euroleague MVP Ramunas Siskauskas, and two good point guards in Rimantas Kaukėnas (scored 17 on Friday) and Šarūnas Jasikevičius, who has anchored this team for a long time.

Despite the formidable lineup, Team USA keyed on one of the major weaknesses of Lithuania: ball-handling. Jasikevičius is a good floor general but he is at his best when surrounded by other competent ball-handlers. (There were at least three others on his 2004 and 2005 Euroleague title teams.)

He was hounded into a 25 percent shooting day and gave the ball away three times.

Overall the Americans won the turnover battle 23-11 and shot 23 percent more than the Lithuanians. The only way Lithuania stayed in the game was by hitting 12 of their 22 three-point attempts.

From this game some important trends have started to develop. It became quite clear that Coach K wants to win by disrupting opposing offenses and running off turnovers.

US teams of the past tried to jump passing lanes for steals, but this squad seems to be throwing their size and strength around, knocking off opponent’s timing and cuts.

They stayed in man-to-man defense for most of the game though there was a little 2-3 zone near the end of the game.

The contrast between the teams' offenses was sharp, but not in the bad way as in the 2004 games.

The Lithuanians tended to use baseline screens to open up players on the wing, well executed screen-and-rolls, and relied on more patterned plays. The US was playing more on feel than anything else, but that can be attributed to the 2-3 zone which Lithuania employed throughout the game.

The American players did not fall into old bad habits of trying to attack the rim and posting up players. Instead they opted for a more patient flow to the game.

They probed and stretched the defense, looking for drive and kick opportunities. They also used skip passes to move the defense laterally and get open three-pointers.

The most encouraging sign US players showed was a willingness to move without the ball.

Time after time, Americans would float to open spots on the perimeter for jumpers or cut along the baseline when their teammate's drive occupied the attention of the Lithuanian centers.

The US offense overall was more reactive, patiently finding holes in the defense rather than forcing the action and playing into the hands of the zone defense.

A factor that helped the US was that they won more of the battles for loose balls with hustle and speed. Indeed the only time Lithuania threatened was when they started corralling loose balls.

Coach K has also embraced the size factors that are part of the European game. Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, and Carlos Boozer are the centers on this team and yesterday only one was on the floor at any given time.

This means that LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony are the primary power forwards, a more versatile pair and ideal for this style of play.

The centers, furthermore, are really going to hold the roles of rebounders, defenders, and finishers. Boozer and Bosh both have good jump shots but seemed more inclined to work as complements to the guards and wings.

Adding Michael Redd to the team was a stroke of genius since he has a feel for getting to the soft spots in zones. And Wade, whose drive and shoot free-throws game should struggle in international play, did a great job picking his spots and hitting open three-pointers.

The only thing the US needs to work on is to stop throwing foolish ally-oop passes. When Chris Paul and Tyson Chandler use it in New Orleans, they do it because it causes problems for the D. Team USA seems to be doing it for show, a move that could backfire against better teams.

The US should have few worries if these teams meet again. From this game it was clear that Lithuania’s stars of four years ago are growing a bit long in the tooth. The only way Lithuania topples the US is if the Americans have an excessively sloppy game and the Lithuanians execute their offense to perfection and hit most of their shots.

Up next for Team USA is a Russian team that won the Eurobasket tournament over Spain last year. The Russian squad is well coached and is one of the few teams that could give the US trouble.

Check back Sunday for a look at the Russia game and an analysis of the field facing Team USA.

Warriors-Bobcats: Golden State Wins Sloppy Summer League Game in Vegas

Ben Breiner — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:24:26 -0400

The third Warriors' summer league game against Charlotte was—well, unimpressive is the word that comes to mind.

The game went back and forth, but since it didn’t matter the whole feel of the game was thrown off. The Warriors had a big lead, then trailed before ultimately winning on their late free throws.

Marco Belinelli was once again the most productive Warrior, but didn’t really have much impact beyond scoring. He made a few nice passes, but had just one assist to four turnovers.

His value was in scoring, which he did from near and far. Unlike previous games, Belinelli played with a little more restraint, letting shots come to him. Overall he had 30 points, only missed six shots, and was perfect on nine free throw attempts.

He also stared down Bobcats forward Marcus Slaughter after Slaughter shoved him while in the air. Belinelli then shook off apparent elbow pain to nail both of his free throws. The attitude can’t hurt.

If this game is any predictor, it would point to Belinelli becoming an off-the-bench scorer, who scurries around the court like Ray Allen and Rip Hamilton, minus their ability to wear out opponents. His defense is still downright awful at times, and could hurt his chances for seeing the court_though that hasn’t stopped a number of Warriors in the past.

The biggest disappointment of the night was easily Brandan Wright, who just seemed passive the whole game. In the first two contests, Wright’s contributions were quiet but still had an effect.

Beyond a nice late-game dunk and a really smooth mid-range shot, Wright did nearly nothing. He had no blocks and only five rebounds despite playing 34 minutes. This setting does not exactly suit Wright’s skills, but it’s still worth noting that he struggled.

The man who was supposed to be feeding him the ball, C.J. Watson, spent most of the game pounding the ball into the ground on the dribble or shooting free throws after being bumped. It seemed like most contact in the lane was called and almost every hedge attempt on a screen resulted in a whistle.

All this resulted in 16 trips to the free throw line for Watson. He had seven assists, but still didn’t look like he was initiating much offense.

This might be related to the fact that the Warriors seemed to not be running much of an offense at all. There were practically no off-ball screens and very few of the on-ball ones were set with much authority.

On the injury front, Anthony Randolph did not suit up, due to the ankle injury he suffered in the last game. Richard Hendrix again failed to make it onto the court because of a quadriceps injury.

Gurad Anthony Morrow looked good, hitting all his shots and scoring 11—but doing little else. DeMarcus Nelson may have ended his shot at a training camp invite by shooting 1-for-5 from the free throw stripe. Guards under 6’3” need to hit their free throws, and Nelson just didn’t.

The biggest take-away point from this game was that not much can be taken from it. No one looked good. There were lazy passes and sloppy ball-handling all over the court.

No one could even hold on to a rebound, with the ball often tipped multiple times to no advantage. Throw in a few traveling violations and players stepping out of bounds, and the game was a complete mess.

In other news, some Warrior fans are getting far too excited about summer league. Randolph is not a sure All-Star, and Wright won’t head to the D-League. Calm down, people, and enjoy the games.

Randolph Dominates in Professional Debut

Ben Breiner — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 05:28:22 -0400

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice… well you know how it goes.

After the first summer league game, Warrior fans are buzzing about one player; first round draft choice Anthony Randolph. While his performance was impressive, the Marco Belinelli experience from last year should keep expectations tempered a bit.

Randolph was a force against the Sixers, scoring 30, with eight rebounds and two blocks. He showed that he is clearly a perimeter player, often driving, hitting pull-ups, and receiving the ball several feet outside the arc. It should also be noted that the player guarding Randolph, Jason Smith, accrued 11 fouls over the course of the game.

His turnovers (5) were not great, but that will happen when driving to the hoop at 6’10”. It also seemed like the kind of game where his jumper was falling, so we’ll need to wait and see if his jump shot is really that good, or if he was just feeling it on Friday. Several of his shots caught a lot of rim, including one that hit rim, then backboard and finally fell in.

Some fans are already getting supremely excited, saying Randolph could start next season, and making hasty comparisons to top NBA players. This probably won’t happen, but if he can have more of a role than Belinelli did in his first season, it would just fine.

Speaking of the Italian Stallion, Belinelli was back to his old summer league self, firing up crazy long range jumpers like it was nothing. He started and finished cold, but had a nice stretch in the middle where everything he flung up went down.

On one memorable play, Belinelli hustled around a screen to pop open in the low post, received a pass and dropped a beautiful turnaround jumper. He also hit several of his fastbreak threes where his feet were flailing as he went up for the shot, but for some reason they fall.

A few are calling him a bust for his lack of D and poor shot selection, but when he is running around screens a la Rip Hamilton, he appears to be a nice offensive option.

Brandan Wright had one of those games where he never looks truly dominant, but the stat sheet tells a different story. He had a nice and-one, but mostly scored on lay-ups, missing all but one of his jump shots. He also showcased defense, with several graceful blocks, tallying four on the night.

The most encouraging sign was that he got to the free throw line 10 times and made seven of them. If he can be aggressive and get to the stripe, it will make him that much more valuable in the rotation next year.

C.J.Watson struggled early (six turnovers) and definitely left some doubt as to his ability to run an NBA offense. There ware a few positives (four steals, perfect on free throws), but his upcoming play still bears watching. Louis Amundson was aggressive early, throwing his body around while sporting one of the most horrendous ponytails seen in athletic competition, and that includes women’s sports.

The bench produced only two performances of note. Tamar Slay scored 10, stole the ball four times, and was noticeable on the court (though hard to distinguish on the grainy video form the NBA’s website). Oakland-native DeMarcus Nelson did not see much court time, but still made a few NBA level buckets and assists.

It’s important to stress that one summer league game does not make Randolph a bona fide all-star. We’ll have to wait and see how the team performs, especially in their next game against Dallas Sunday.

Other Notes:

Rookie power forward Richard Hendrix was sidelined with a hip injury. The coaches are hopeful that he will play either Sunday or Tuesday,

Center Patrick O’Bryant signed a two-year deal with the Celtics, ending his disappointing tenure with the Warriors. O’Bryant at times flashed the potential to be a solid NBA player, combining a plethora of skills with a tall body and massive wingspan. He never could find his way to the floor under Don Nelson and is of to (literally) greener pastures.

The Baron's Edict: Opt Out

Ben Breiner — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:05:34 -0400

And then the unthinkable happened.

Warriors fans are now in a new and strange place. Despite repeated pledges to stay in Oakland next season, guard Baron Davis opted out of the final year of his contract, according to published reports. This means that he will forgo $17.8 million next season in hopes of securing a longer-term deal.

As fans, we’re left to wonder, "Why?" Was it the late-season benching? Was it the lack of what he considered a "respectful" contract offer? Until he speaks, we won’t know.

This puts the Dubs management in a situation that can at best be described as difficult. They can give him a pile of money and kill their cap for the next few seasons. They can look for sign-and-trades. Or they can renounce his rights, which takes his cap hold (around $24 million) off the cap, but causes them to lose the ability to make a sign-and-trade.

The market, however, further complicates this situation. Only three teams (LA Clippers, Philly and Memphis) have the cap space to make Baron as rich a man as he would like to be. Other than that, teams would have to sign him to the mid-level exception and pay more later. Furthermore, Philly and the Clippers would have to renounce key players to generate that kind of cap space.

Davis, Elton Brand, Corey Maggette and Gilbert Arenas are the top free agents out there, though Arenas reportedly has a $100 million offer on the table at the moment.

At the moment, the Warriors still hold a lot of the power. Unless the Clippers do something drastic for Davis, his avenues to a big payday still rely heavily on general manager Chris Mullin. In theory, renouncing his rights would give the Warriors an even more decidedly upper hand, since they would be one of very few teams that could give him real money (by renouncing, they should be about $19 million under the cap). This could backfire, though, if the impetus behind this move is respect more than money.

Many media members are attributing this opt-out to Baron feeling a lack of love from the team, and renouncing his rights would probably only make that worse. For the team, however, it is the smart choice.

Right now, this team is not built to contend and, unless they get Brand, likely won’t for a few seasons. By then, Davis will be older, in theory creakier, and will probably still be shooting a ton of low percentage shots.

Baron rescued this team from the doldrums of the league and gave fans much joy. Unfortunately, it was bad contracts that made the Dubs a laughingstock in the first place, and a new batch of them could likely send the team back there.

Management needs to look and see if the rift with Davis can be repaired; if not, they need to keep all options open. It pains me to say this, but, as of now, the shrewd move is to let Davis test the market and try to get him back or trade him if he can’t find greener pastures.

It’s not the popular move, but, as of now, it’s the right one.