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

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.

VIDEO: Should the Warriors Trade Monta Ellis?

 

After watching the Golden State Warriors lose to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, which happened to be their eighth loss in the past ten games, it has become clear that this team is not even a .500 team as currently constructed.  With new owners, Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, now officially on the clock and ready to make a splash what is the best way for them to go about putting together a legit contender?  The first thing that they will need to figure out is whether Monta Ellis should be part of the team going forward or should he be used along with the $17 million in expiring contracts to make some trades that will make this team better.

Fans love Monta Ellis.  He is exciting to watch as he blows by defenses with his speed and together with Stephen Curry as a backcourt they can put up some serious offensive numbers.  But if you are building a championship team that is not the kind of backcourt you want.  Two guys who barely register at six feet tall and cannot play defense is not the way you go about winning titles.  Either Ellis or Curry is going to have to be traded.

As great as Ellis is he does not make the players around him better.  Some scouts believe that he is a poor man’s Allen Iverson in the sense that he could win scoring titles and win you games but he does not make other players around him better.  Ellis seemingly always needs the ball in his hand to succeed and that doesn’t work with a protypical point guard.  The Warriors could look to move Ellis to the point, again, but he is not much of a distributor and tends to like to dribble the air out of the ball.  He would be much better on a team like the Suns or Knicks where they already have an establish point guard and a good front court and they also like to run up and down the court.

The other option is that they look to move Stephen Curry.  This is less likely to happen because point guards are as easily replaced as shooting guards and Curry has proven he can be a top guard in the NBA.  Whether he will turn out to be the “next Steve Nash” like Don Nelson thought is another story.  If the Warriors were to move Curry it would have to be for a bigger body point guard like they had in Baron Davis.  Unfortunately, those types of point guards don’t grow on trees.  Deron Williams would be a nice fit but the Utah Jazz isn’t letting him go anytime soon.

It seems that the likely option is that Ellis will be traded based on the fact that he plays a position, shooting guard, that is easily replaced and he will likely net the Warriors back the most talent.  If Ellis continues on the path he is going on right now (24.9 ppg), his value will be extremely high come the trade deadline and I would fully expect the Warriors to be looking to trade him along with their expiring contracts for a legit star to put next to Curry.

2 Warriors Listed on Sporting News' Top 50 Players

Sporting News released the results of their annual survey of the 50 top players in the NBA.  The survey is given to current and former players, coaches, general managers, and broadcasters.

Two players from the Golden State Warriors were on the list and Monta Ellis' was not one of them.  David Lee was listed at #31 and Stephen Curry #34.  This is the first time for both Curry and Lee on this list.

The most frustrating part of this is that Ellis is having an excellent season, defintely better than Curry's, and still not getting the respect.  The list is no better than the All Star voting as John Wall was listed on the rankings ahead of Ellis.  There is no way someone could feasibly rate Wall over Ellis at this point in the season or this early in Wall's career.

No Sacramento King's players were listed on the top 50 either.

Game 15 Preview: Golden State Warriors vs. Houston Rockets - Someone Rebound the Ball, PLEASE!!!

 

Records: Golden State Warriors (7-7) vs. Houston Rockets (3-10)

Time: 7:30 p.m. PST
Place: Toyota Center, Houston, TX
TV: Comcast SportsNet Bay Area
Radio: KNBR 680

Previous Meeting: Win, 132-128 on October 27, 2010

Starting Lineups:

Warriors: PG Stephen Curry, SG Monta Ellis, SF Dorell Wright, PF Andris Biedrins, C Dan Gadzuric
Rockets: PG Kyle Lowry, SG Kevin Martin, SF Shane Battier, PF Chuck Hayes, C Luis Scola

Injuries:

Warriors: F David Lee (elbow), F Louis Amundson (finger), F Ekpe Udoh (wrist), F Brandan Wright (back)
Rockets: G Aaron Brooks (ankle), C Yao Ming (ankle)

The Warriors are in Houston for the first game of their three-game roadtrip.  The Rockets have a 3-10 record but are not a 3-10 team.  They have been hit with the injury monsoon just like the 2009 Warriors.  They will be playing without their starting point guard, Aaron Brooks, and starting center, Yao Ming.  Unfortunately, that doesn't guarantee a win for the Warriors.  Rockets have these things that the Warriors and their fans have only heard about, rebounding big man, and they have a lot of them.  As the Lakers showed on Sunday the Warriors are not good against teams with big men and Houston has Luis Scola who is playing out of his mind right now.  He is leading the Rockets with 34.2 minutes/game and is averaging 22.4 points/game (#2) and 9.5 rebounds/game (#1).  Jordan Hill, another big man, is coming off a wonderful game against the Phoenix Suns where he picked up his first career double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds).  The Rockets will also throw at the Warriors the likes of Brad Miller, Chuck Hayes, and Shane Battier who are good for 5 rebounds a game. 

What does all this mean?  It means the Warriors are going have to rebound the crap out of the ball and their bigs (Biedrins & Gadzuric) are going to have to have monster games.  Without David Lee and Brandon Wright it has hurt the Warriors ability to rebound the ball and therefore even the guards have had to get involved in the rebounding. 

For the Warriors, they are going to have to play better defense than they have and get out and run.  The Rockets will have trouble stopping Curry and Ellis with their two starting guards, Kevin Martin doesn't know what defense is and there is no way that Kyle Lowry could keep up with Ellis.  Dorell Wright is also going to have to start playing like the guy we saw the first couple games as Curry and Ellis need his help.

Game 12 Preview: Golden State Warriors @ Los Angeles Lakers

Records: Golden State Warriors (7-5) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (11-2)

Time: 6:30 p.m. PST

Place: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA.

TV: Comcast SportsNet Bay Area

Previous Meeting: Loss, 83-107 on October 31, 2010

Starting Lineups:

Warriors: PG Stephen Curry, SG Monta Ellis, SF Dorell Wright, PF Vladimir Radmanovic, C Andris Biedrins

Lakers: PG Derek Fisher, SG Kobe Bryant, SF Ron Artest, PF Lamar Odom, C Pau Gasol

Injuries: 

Warriors: F David Lee (elbow), F Louis Amundson (finger), F Ekpe Udoh (wrist), F Brandan Wright (back)

Lakers: C Andrew Bynum (knee), C Theo Ratliff (knee)

The Warriors are in L.A. for their last visit of the season.  Thank God...

The last time the Warriors played the Lakers they were without Stephen Curry and the Warriors got embarrassed. It was the first game in the young season where the Warriors had been out rebounded and without Curry it was over before it began.  In that game David Lee scored 0 points and grabbed three rebounds in 18 minutes.  In that game it was apparent that David Lee had not figured out how to fit in the Warriors offense.  Since that game he has been much better at playing like the 20 and 10 player that the Warriors traded for.

Unfortunately, David Lee is still out another 2-3 weeks and without his rebounding the Warriors are unlikely to come out of Los Angeles with a win.  His replacement, Vladimir Radmanovic is not known for his rebounding presence and is considered more of a offensive player anyway.  But even his offense game is not as good as David Lee's and it will be hard for him to replace the 20 points that Lee give day in and day out.

The Warriors are coming off a disappointing loss to the New York Knicks where at one point they were down 20 and came to within 2.  In that game Reggie Williams came up big in the fourth quarter and picked up 11 points.  That was the kind of performance the Warriors will need from Williams off the bench tonight if they have any hopes to not get blown out.

For the Lakers they will need to play some great defense at the guard position to be able to shut down both Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry.  Ellis has been on fire of late and if Kobe Bryant has to chase him around the court all game that could possibly effect him on the offensive side of the ball.  Derek Fisher will likely guard (I use the term guard loosely) Stephen Curry all game which may affect him as well.  The Lakers will have a huge advantage at the power forward position with Lamar Odom taking on Vladimir Radmanovic.  In no way do I expect the Warriors to outrebound the Lakers but I do expect to see a lot of the Warriors rebounding machine in Jeff Adrien.  It should take no time at all for Keith Smart to insert Adrien in the game especially after Radmanovic gets manhandled by Odom.

Warriors Interested in Steve Kerr as New GM

According to a report on Fanhouse, the new owners of the Golden State Warriors are interested in making former Phoenix Suns GM Steve Kerr their new GM.  The rumor says that current GM Larry Riley would likely be retained but placed in a "supplementary role."

Kerr resigned from the Suns in mid-June and is back in the broadcast booth for TNT.  The interesting part of this is that Joe Lacob's son, Kirk Lacob, was set to go to work for Kerr in the front office in Phoenix until Kerr resigned.  Lucky for Kirk that his dad purchased an NBA franchise so he still managed to get a job.  Joe Lacob has hired his son as the Director of Basketball Operations.

There were many rumors as to why Kerr left the Suns.  Some believed he wanted a pay raise and Suns owner Robert Sarver wanted him to take a pay cut.  Another rumor was that he was looking to give raises to the coaching staff, video crew, and front-office assistants but Sarver wanted no part of that.

Although Kerr did make some mistakes in his tenor as GM of the Suns like the trade for Shaq or the hiring of Terry Porter but so did Chris Mullin in his first year.  Kerr learned a lot and had started to turn the team back around.  He traded Boris Diaw for Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley which has worked out great for the Suns.  He also signed Channing Frye who has been a great pickup for them.  He also drafted Robin Lopez and Goran Dragic which is important when coming to the Warriors because they have an awful record of drafting good players.

David Lee Release from Stanford Hospital; Still Out a Few Weeks

A week after knocking out a couple of Wilson Chandler's teeth, David Lee finally was released from the hospital.  On Thursday, Lee left Stanford Medical Center after having two operations.  Lee was released to go home with some IVs and antibiotics and is set to be re-examined on Tuesday of next week.

Even if everything goes okay David Lee will be out for at least 2-3 weeks as to make sure that the infection does not reappear.

Warriors Sale is Final, Joe Lacob & Peter Guber Are New Owners

It's official....the Cohan era is over.  The NBA has annouced that the sale is done.  Joe Lacob and Peter Guber are the new owners of the Golden State Warriors.

To celebrate, Joe Lacob and the rest of the owners are welcoming the team back from their road trip by giving 50% off of tickets, food, and drinks at Monday's game.

Here's the Warriors press release:

Sale of Golden State Warriors to Joe Lacob and Peter Guber Complete

Due to Serve As Lead Partners of GSW Sports LLC, New Ownership Group of Bay Area NBA Team

The sale of the Golden State Warriors to an ownership group headed by Joe Lacob and Peter Guber was formally completed today, the team announced. GSW Sports LLC, a group of six board members and multiple investors, headed by Lacob and Guber, have officially assumed full control of the NBA organization.

“This announcement has been much-anticipated,” said Lacob. “Now that the process is officially complete, I am incredibly anxious and excited to take the helm of the Golden State Warriors organization. It’s a great day for me and my family, and a great day for Warriors fans. The unmatched passion of this Bay Area fan base played a huge role in my pursuit of this dream come true, and I’m looking forward to a tremendous ride on our journey to the return to greatness. We will work extremely hard to represent you as the championship organization that you deserve, and the team that you will be proud to be a part of.”

“This is a tremendous opportunity for new ownership, the Warriors franchise and its great fans,” Guber said. “I'm convinced that we have formed a passionate and well-diversified group. With the financial and intellectual commitment of the board members and investors, and Warriors fans as the truly key partners in this endeavor, we will not fail.

"We all understand that in sports business, it’s about winning, but we will also strive to make sure that the Warriors are recognized among our industry leaders in innovation and business practices. Joe and I have assembled a group of highly successful and well-respected individuals, each of whom will provide expertise in various aspects of our business. This will be an extremely strong, productive and creative partnership."

The sale of the Warriors to GSW Sports LLC was unanimously approved by the NBA Board of Governors earlier today. Game Plan LLC, a Miami Beach-based investment banking firm, represented GSW Sports LLC on the sale, while Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP served as legal counsel for this record-breaking transaction.

Golden State Warriors 85 - Utah Jazz 78: Warriors Win With Defense???

Wait, what did I just say?  The Golden State Warriors won by playing defense? 

No mistake here, the Warriors were impressive in their defensive effort last night by beating the Utah Jazz 85-78.  The most amazing part of this win is they did it playing Utah Jazz basketball--playing defense and rebounding the ball.  Not only did they win by doing those two things really well they won by not shooting the ball very well.  In the past, that would have equalled an blowout loss by Golden State.

The Warriors out rebounded Utah 52-46 with the most impressive part being the amount of offensive rebounds (21) they were able to grab.  Keith Smart said early on in the pre-season that rebounding would be an important part of the Warriors success and so far this season that has been no lie.  In the four games they have won, the Warriors out rebounded their opponent. 

The other non-traditional Warrior aspect to the win last night was the defense.  The Warriors forced the Jazz to turn the ball over 21 times, lead by Deron Williams' 8 turnovers.  Monta Ellis lead the team by getting 7 of their total 11 steals.  Again, very impressive against a Jerry Sloan coached team.

Holding the Jazz to 78 points is quite a feat, especially when you shoot 37% from the field and 14% from the three point line.  The 85-78 win is the lowest point total for the Warriors since November 2005.

Stephen Curry Out for Sunday's Game Against Los Angeles Lakers

Warriors point guard Stephen Curry did not travel with team to Los Angeles for tomorrow's game against the Lakers.  Curry injured his ankle for the third straight game after injuring it in the third quarter of the game against the Clippers.  The injury happened when he tried to get around a screen of Blake Griffin and stepped on Griffin's foot.  Curry immediately went to the ground and began holding his ankle.

The orginal prognosis was a sprained ankle but Curry and the team has decided for him not to play against the Lakers and with the Warriors next game not until Wednesday hopefully Curry can heal by then.

Head coach, Keith Smart said that Reggie Williams will start in place of Stephen Curry.

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.

The Basketball Jones previews the Golden State Warriors

The Basketball Jones is doing NBA previews for all the 30 teams.  TBJ expects there to be improvement in the play of the Warriors but does not expect that to translate to many wins. 

Dime Magazine: Home-Court Advantage for the Warriors and Kings

Andrew Macaluso at Dime Magazine listed the five toughest arenas in the NBA to play in and both the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors made the list. Could we venture to say that Northern California has the best fans in the state of California?

I wonder why the Southern California teams didn't make the list?

Here's what Dime Mag had to say:

5. ARCO Arena (Sacramento Kings)

Despite managing to conjure up only 17 wins at home last season, the Kings still have one of the loudest, most rambunctious groups of fans in the League. ARCO is the smallest arena in the NBA, but its capacity of 17,317 sounds like twice that amount when the fans get going. The heyday was about a decade ago, when Jason Williams was dishing out elbow passes like they were candy and Chris Webber was putting up MVP-caliber numbers, around the same time the Kings placed a banner in the rafters that said “The NBA’s No. 1 Home-Court Advantage.” The Sacramento fans even set a Guinness world record for the loudest roar ever recorded. They don’t call this place “Cowbell Kingdom” for nothing. 

4. Oracle Arena (Golden State Warriors)

About 80 miles south of Sacramento, the entire city of Oakland is getting hyped up at the Oracle. If you ever watch their games on TV, everything happens so fast that you wish you could slow it down like the Matrix. Instead, you’re wildin’ out with over 19,000 fans, as if you were at a Waka Flocka concert. This was once one of the most exciting teams in NBA history to watch run up and down the hardwood, and the fans only added to the frenetic energy. A resounding home-court advantage helped the Warriors become the third No. 8 seed in history to upset a No. 1 seed when they knocked off Dallas in 2007. After notching just 18 wins at home last season, this improving group might have the crowd jumping all the way into the playoffs sooner rather than later.

It's official, Nelson out as head coach

Yesterday at the Golden State Warriors media day, the team announced that Don Nelson is out as the head coach.  Assistant coach, Keith Smart, will take over as the new head coach.

It is being reported that Smart will get a three year deal so it appears that he is the coach moving forward.

The Warriors also announced the new coaching staff, which will include former Warrior Calbert Cheaney, and former Cleveland Cavalier, Mark Price.  They have also brought back Stephen Silas and hired Jerry Sichting and Robert Werdann.

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.

Monta Ellis grows up and makes amends with Stephen Curry

As the Golden State Warriors media day slowly approaches we know one thing that has changed.  Monta Ellis now see's that he can play with Stephen Curry in the backcourt and they can win.

In an excellent sit-down interview with Sam Amick from FanHouse, Ellis admits that he was wrong when he said last year that the two guards could not play together and the Warriors be successful at winning games.

"Us together? No," Ellis said. "Can't. We just can't. ... Just can't."

Ellis also admits that his wife told him he was wrong right after he said it.

"She told me as soon as I said it that it was wrong.  I didn't let her know at the time that she was right, but she always told me, 'You and Steph can do it. Y'all can do it. Just play together and don't let the outside world destroy y'all because you can win if they put pieces around you.'"

I am sure part of Ellis' excitement is the change in ownership as well.  It's no surprise for him to admit in the story that his relationship with the ownership has been somewhat strenuous.

For the first time in a long time it appears that this training camp may not be as newsworthy as they have been in the past and if your a fan of the Warriors that is good news for you.

Unless, the the new ownership takes over and sends a certain head coach back to Maui.

Warriors sign Louis Amundson to two-year deal

According to multiple reports, the Warriors have finally come to agreement with power forward Louis Amundson. There had been much speculation that they were looking to add Amundson but finally the move has been made.

The deal is estimated to be a two-year deal worth about $5 million.

This is a good deal for the Warriors who get an energy guy to come off the bench and get rebounds which was lacking in last year’s team. Amundson can also shoot a bit and should be able to do pretty well in a Don Nelson system. Amundson will likely be the third big man off the bench behind Brandan Wright and Dan Gadzuric.

Amundson has played for Utah (1 game), Philly (26 games), and been with Phoenix for the past two seasons and played almost every game. In his career he averaged 4.0 points and 3.6 rebounds a game.

Warriors sign swingman Rodney Carney

It's been rather quiet in Warriorland which is probably a good thing, for the Warriors.  The only real news is that Stephen Curry has been playing with Team USA and appears to be doing well.

But, who knows--no one appears to be watching.

The silence has stopped.  The Warriors have announced that they have signed for 76er, Rodney Carney, to a contract.  Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

Here's the press release:

The Golden State Warriors have signed free agent guard/forward Rodney Carney to a contract, the team announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

Carney, 26, appeared in 68 games for the Philadelphia 76ers last season, averaging 4.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 12.6 minutes per contest, while shooting 40.1% (113-282 FG) from the field, 30.4% (41-135 3FG) from three-point range and 82.5% (52-63 FT) from the free throw line. He tallied a season-high 16 points in 20 minutes at Golden State on February 23.

Originally selected by the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 2006 NBA Draft (#16 overall) out of the University of Memphis, Carney was traded to Philadelphia in a draft night deal and has spent three of his four NBA campaigns with the 76ers. Overall, he owns career averages of 6.1 points and 2.0 rebounds in 272 regular-season games with Philadelphia and Minnesota.

Carney will wear uniform #25. 

The signing of Carney leaves the Warriors with about one more roster spot available and according to a source close to Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com that spot could go to center Louis Amundson.

The Warriors have also shown interest in guard Jannero Pargo for their backup PG spot and it was reported that Pargo and the Warriors agreed on a deal, but that deal never came to fruition.

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.