Golden State Warriors: Mid-Season Grades

By the time that I actually post this the 42^nd game of the Golden State Warriors will have already started.

 

The Warriors are at the halfway point and we really don’t know too much about them other than they are finally healthy for the first time in 2.5 years.  It seems worthless to grade them on the first half of the season when two of their three best players were injured during that time.  If I really wanted an accurate reading of the Warriors I would wait 20 games and grade the team then but I don’t want to.

So here we go.  The team as a whole has been average, which is what you expect for a team that is hanging around a .500 mark.  Through 41 games, the Warriors are 18-23, which is just 8 games short of the 26 total wins they had last year.  With the entire team healthy and an easier record for the second half one could expect to go .500 the rest of the way.  That would likely give them a record of 39-43—not .500 basketball but quite the improvement over last year’s 26-56 record.  The problem is, that under .500 teams don’t make it into the playoffs in the Western Conference.  The last time a team with a .500 record or worse made it to the playoffs was in the 98-99 season with the Minnesota Timberwolves* and that was a strike shortened season.

*Rockets made it in with a .500 record the year before (1997-98)

The Warriors need to get 48-50 wins to have a hope of getting that 8^th seed.  That means they are going to have to win about 30-32 games the rest of the way.  Not going to be easy for this team.

Now let’s get to the grades.

Monta Ellis: You have to start with the best player on the team.  If you would have asked me last year, I would have been on board with trading Monta especially after how Curry looked and it was extremely obvous that they could not play together.  Monta seemed to be the problem and Curry appeared as the solution.  Now, if I had to pick I would keep Ellis and trade Curry and in fact the Warriors might do that.  Although Ellis is not a top-10 player in the league, he is the best player on the Warriors and averaging 25.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 2.3 steals.  He has been clearly the leader and the team pretty much lives and dies with his performances but I can’t give him an A because he doesn’t appear to help them win. Grade: B+

Stephen Curry: Curry missed 8 games with an injured ankle that was a result of his time with Team USA in the off-season.  He has not been overly impressive in the first half of the season as most people expected an improvement over year 1.  So far his defense has been not impressive and has not seemed to improve.  He also has a knack for make terrible mistakes like fouling players’ inopportune times. Grade: C-

Dorell Wright: Let me first say that I am a huge fan of Wright.  I have been for a long time, even when he was with the Heat.  He is the best defender on the team; he can shoot the three, and is an average rebounder.  I’d like to see him do a better job at getting to the charity stripe as he has the best pump fake in the league.  With all that said he has been a nice pickup by GM Larry Riley.  Grade: B-

David Lee: David Lee missed 9 games with a fluke elbow injury after hitting Wilson Chandler in the mouth.  The injury may have only kept him out for 9 games but the aftereffect was much more than that.  It’s hard to grade him for the full season because of the effect of the injury but even before the injury he didn’t look like the David Lee that was playing for the New York Knicks.  I am very curious to see what he does in the second half of the season.  Grade: C

Andris Biedrins: If it wasn’t for the last three games in which he has shown much improvement then I would give Biedrins an F.  He is doing a better job at getting involved in the offense and it seems that Curry and Ellis are also trying to get him involved to build up his confidence.  Biedrins is another player that I am curious to see what he does in the second half of the season. Grade: D

Vladimir Radmanovic: Earlier this season I couldn’t wait for Radmanovic to get traded as he is one of the expiring contracts that is likely to be moved.  He couldn’t hit a shot and he tends to make the most ridiculous mistakes.  But ever since he hit the game winning shot against the Kings on December 21^st, he has been pretty impressive.  He’s a nice role player on this team. Grade: D+

Reggie Williams: Reggie has been a good sixth man for the Warriors.  He averages 10.1 points per game and is a nice player off the bench.  He’s a player who needs to do a better job on his individual defense. Grade: D

Acie Law: Acie Law came in mid-season to fill a much needed role as the backup PG.  Law’s never going to be a starter in the league but has found a nice role with the Warriors.  I’m pretty happy with what Law has been able to do and come in a shore up the bench. Grade: C

 

Ekpe Udoh: It’s hard for me to grade Udoh as he is a rookie who has only appeared in 17 games this season.  I would like to see him play more than he does now because he plays defense which tends to be lacking on this team. Grade: Incomplete

Louis Amundson: Amundson has been injured for half of the season.  There’s not much that his game offers other than rebounding and a bit of defense. Grade: D-

Charlie Bell: With how much Bell makes, one would think he would play more than he does.  Most games he doesn’t even dress since he is behind Acie Law on the depth chart. Grade: F

Dan Gadzuric: Gadzuric doesn’t get a bunch of playing time but he has been a nice player when he does play.  Overall I have been impressed with him in his limited minutes. Grade: D+

Brandan Wright: Brandan Wright has been an utter disappointment ever since Chris Mullin traded Jason Richardson for him.  The story of his career is that he’s always injured and not good enough to get any playing time.  The story is continuing on this year. Grade: F

Jeremy  Lin: Lin is another rookie that is hard to grade.  If we graded him on fan response then he would be an A because the fans absolutely love this guy and so does Joe Lacob.  He has definitely improved as the year has gone on in his limited minutes but with Law now entrenched as the backup point guard and Bell behind him there are no minutes for Lin.  He is now in Reno playing for the Big Horns in the D-League. Grade: Incomplete

Blake Griffin's Rookie Card Worth as Much as My Car

Normally, I only post things that are related to Bay Area sports teams but I found this and it was just too good to pass up.

Blake Griffin is the hottest player in the NBA right now if for no other reason than he SportsCenter highlight whore each night. Each dunk is better than the previous one and each dunk is viewed on YouTube probably a million times an hour.

The Blake Griffin memorable season keeps on moving forward. Griffin recently agreed to be in the dunk contest during All-Star Weekend which will make the dunk contest a must see event for the first time since the 2000 dunk contest.

Now NBA blog, The Rookie Wall is reporting that Blake Griffin’s National Treasure rookie card is worth more than my car. One of the versions of this card, only five were made, is reportedly worth $14,999.

Actually, that’s a better investment than my car.

Jeremy Lin lighting it up in the D-League

Golden State Warriors’ young point guard Jeremy Lin has been down in the D-League since January 11th has been putting on quite the show. In his second visit to the D-League this year, Lin was named, along with Marcus Landry, the D-League’s Co-Performers of the Week while with the Reno Bighorns.

Lin is averaging 20.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2.8 steals in his most recent stint in Reno was named to the All-NBA D-League Showcase First Team.

Barring injury Lin should spend extended time in Reno as the need for him on the Warriors’ is minimal at this point. With Acie Law looking good as the backup point guard, I would not expect to see Lin anytime soon.

Sacramento Kings to Rename Arco Arena

While the Sacramento Kings owners are still trying to get a new arena for the Kings to play in, that hasn’t stopped them from trying to make the most out of the current dump (I mean arena) that they call home.

According to the Sacramento Bee, the Kings are close to a new deal with Power Balance LLC that would give them the naming rights to Arco Arena. The deal is said to be a five-year agreement between the Kings and Power Balance to change the name of Arco Arena to Power Balance Pavilion which should be announced on Thursday.

With the new name change, comes a new logo change according to the always comical blog, The Basketball Jones.

Video: Like A Bosh

And just to round up the day of posting, there is nothing like a good comedic video.


TBJ exclusive: Like A Bosh from The Basketball Jones on Vimeo.

New Warriors Ownership To Take Over In a Week

Opening night is set to kick off on Wednesday for the Golden State Warriors and soon their new owner will be running the ship.  David Stern, the NBA commissioner, said that Joe Lacob would officially own the Warriors within the next week.

It is unsure whether they would be the new owners by opening night but either way, the Chris Cohan era is only days away from ending.

Although Joe Lacob and Peter Guber have not officially the owners yet, their stamp is currently on this team.  They were involved in the firing of Don Nelson and the additions of David Lee and Jeremy Lin among others.

Still no word who will make up the ownership group.

ESPN goes overboard with special page to follow the Miami Heat

This is not really Bay Area news but since I know most of us have a massive hatred for the east coast bias that ESPN provides I thought I would pass it along.

ESPN has announced that they will launch a new section on the NBA page of ESPN.com called “The Heat Index.” This section will be used to keep up with the Miami Heat all season long and provide daily coverage of the Heat.

They have hired four writers to contribute to The Heat Index: 

• Brian Windhorst – formerly with the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Windhorst is one of the leading authorities on LeBron James. Windhorst has written two books about James and has covered him since middle school. Windhorst has been the Cavs beat writer/blogger for seven years and has won awards from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and the Associated Press. Windhorst will be based in Miami as one of two regular beat writers assigned to the team.
• Michael Wallace – Wallace has been the Miami Herald’s Heat beat writer for the previous three seasons and is an experienced sports and news reporter. Wallace, an award-winning writer, will team with Windhorst as regular Heat beat writers covering the team daily throughout the season.
• Kevin Arnovitz – in addition to his role as managing editor and contributor to ESPN.com’s TrueHoop Network, Arnovitz will provide digital media content and edit portions of The Heat Index.
• Sebastian Martinez-Christensen – Martinez-Christensen will be a regular contributor to The Heat Index. He formerly served as a multi-lingual columnist and contributor for ESPNDeportes.com, a reporter for ESPN Deportes (radio and television) and ESPN Deportes La Revista magazine.

On top of the daily coverage they have added some absolute ridiculous features to this page. Here are some of the more obsurd ones:

• Chase for 72 – an automated, daily forecast of how many games the Heat will win including ESPN.com’s John Hollinger projecting the odds of the Heat matching the Chicago Bulls’ record of 72 wins.
• Tracking the Big 3 – an automated tracking of how James, Wade and Bosh stack up against the best trios in NBA history.
• Hollinger’s All-Time Power Rankings – a ranking pinning the Heat against the NBA’s all-time great teams.
• Triple-Double Tracker – a module tracking James’ progress towards averaging a triple-double for an entire season

Don Nelson resigns as Warriors head coach

According to ESPN's Marc Stein, the Golden State Warriors' new owners are set to let Don Nelson take the last year of his contract off.  Don Nelson, who is owed $6.2 million, will officially resign on Monday as the head coach and go back to Maui.

All reports seem to suggest that the job has been given to assistant Keith Smart who has been Nelson's head assistant in his second tenure with the Warriors.

It is interesting to note that this move is being made by the new owners, Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, who have not officially purchased the team from current owner Chris Cohan.  The belief is that the deal will be approved next month at the owner's meetings but that Lacob and Guber wanted this change to take place before training camp opened on Monday.

Although, Lacob and Guber had not officially purchased the team they have had a lot of say in the offseason moves by the Warriors.  They gave the okay on the David Lee trade and extension, and the signings of Dorell Wright, Louis Amundson, Rodney Carney, and Jeremy Lin.

Joe Lacob, the front man of the new ownership group, was not willing to discuss until Monday.

"There'll be clarity on Monday.  That's all I can say right now...."

Lacob did tell the San Jose Mercury News that Keith Smart would be receiving a multi-year contract but it was not clear if that contract would have him as a head coach for the entire duration.

David Lee gets “Cohaned”

It it wasn’t for bad luck the Warriors wouldn’t have any luck at all.

David Lee, is the latest Warrior to get Cohaned.  Even though, Cohan has sold the team his curse still lives on.  Hopefully, once he sells he can take his curse with him.

Yesterday, in a practice for Team USA, new forward David Lee dislocated his middle finger.  He immediately flew back to the Bay Area on Tuesday to have it examined by Dr. Bill Green.

It is believed to not be too serious and he should be able to rejoin the U.S. team in Las Vegas.

Warriors are sold & Cohan screws fans one final time

It’s official!!!

The Warriors were sold and not to Larry Ellison.  More on this below.

The new owners are a group that is led by Joe Lacob, a minority owner of the Celtics of which he will have to sell.  The other leader of the group will be Mandalay Entertainment CEO Peter Guber.

The price they paid was $450 million, which is a new record.  The previous highest price was $401 million which was back in 2004 when the Phoenix Suns were sold.

This is all speculation at this point but according to Larry Ellison’s statement he was the highest bidder.  Cohan was able to get one final ”f— you” to the Warrior fans even after he praised them for being the best fans in the NBA.