Team Overview
The Warriors finished a miserable 17-65 last year, and then lost the lottery going from 2nd to 5th. In this lottery that may not be the end of the world, with so many inexperienced kids in the draft the odds of nailing the right pick are no better than they were the year the Warriors took Joe Smith ahead of Kevin Garnett. The Warriors were praying for Jason Williams, with him NOT in the draft, not getting the first pick may be a blessing.
The past season was again filled with injuries and disappointments, we again led the NBA in missed games due to injury,
Larry Hughes and Danny Fortson being key losses.
Erick Dampier was hurt much of the year. Player disappointments ran the gamut, Hughes came off a promising year with an injury plagued year shooting just .383 from the field and .187 from 3 point range, the thumb was clearly a problem, but so was shot selection. A lot of talent but Hughes' name actually came up in trade talks so he MUST be healthy and improved this year. Fortson was off to a great start, 16.7 PPG, 16.5 RPG, in 6 games, when he again got hurt. Dampier never really got going with injury.
Blaylock continued to slide, and Vonteego Cummings had a horrible year 34% from the floor.
Marc Jackson was a major surprise,
oldest rookie in the NBA, nearly won the ROY if not for his own injury. Outstanding faceup shooter, tough, but undersized C.
Paul McPherson played in 55 games and was a pleasant surprise, over 48 minutes he put up 21 PPG and shot very well, everyone knew he could jump but I think his overall game was a bit surprising. Still can he do it again?
Another major key to the future of this team is
Antawn Jamison, huge numbers but major holes in his game, 44% from the floor, terrible defense, not a good or willing passer. And he showed some head issues too, sulking, complaining about the losing as if he wasn't part of the problem, he's not a guy to make his teammates better. But, he can score, he's a great rebounder, he generally plays VERY hard, and he and Hughes figure to be the 2 leading scorers this year.
The players who made up last years roster were :
- Antawn Jamison
- Danny Fortson
- Larry Hughes
- Marc Jackson
- Chris Mills
- Bob Sura
- Mookie Blaylock
- Chris Porter
- Erick Dampier
- Vonteego Cummings
- Adonal Foyle
- Chris Mullin
- Paul McPherson
- Corie Blount
- Adam Keefe
- Chris Garner
Obviously not the most talented team in the league, this team must get help in this draft and offload some vets to free up cap space. The ultimate goal is have a chance at Jason Williams in next years draft. Maybe Yao Ming or DaJuan Wagner, but Williams is the kid this team would truly love to get. He's not in this years draft so the Warriors will pick....
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My selection
Ricard
Jefferson SF Arizona
With Randolph on board the Warriors probably
should draft a bigman, and
in the real draft I bet they will, but in this
draft most of the top
ones are gone. Bradley is a good college C but I
don't see him being a
true C or PF in the NBA. Woods has already had
back surgery and has a
major lack of self confidence, he could be a
terrific shotblocker but he
will simply give up on himself too easily.
Jefferson on the other hand
made himself a top pick with his play in the
NCAA tourney, great
defender, great athlete, developing
offensive game. he can play SF or
SG, the Warriors have Jamison and Hughes, their
best players, at those
spots, so why pick him? Best player on the
board, protection against a
trade of Hughes or loss of Jamison to FA in the
future.
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Others considered
Tony Parker PG France
This will get me killed by Warrior fans but I
think Tony
Parker is actually the best PG in the draft and
if I knew for sure he'd
stay in the draft, I'd pick him here.
Alexander Radmanovic F Yugoslavia
Late first early 2nd rounder until the day Jason
Collins and Gerald
Wallace did their individual workouts, and
Radmanovic was invited along.
He stunned scouts, 6'9", shooter, handles
the ball, poor man's Dirk
Nowitzki is the comment. Fear is he's pulling
out of the draft but I
suspect all this attention will now keep him in
the draft. Parker will
probably pull out because Cook and some of the
other PG's are rising
enough that Parker might not be a first rounder.
Radmanovic will be if
he stays in. Jamison is the Warriors best player
but he has already
stated he might not be here for long if the team
keeps losing so a big
scoring SF would be a nice luxury to have just
in case.
Also, Michael Bradley although I think he's
a tweener, Loren
Woods,
too soft, had back surgery, doesn't believe in
himself enough. Omar
Cook, great NBA body for a young PG but he can't
shoot. Tinsley is very
overrated IMHO, shot under 40% in college 2
years running, kid can't
shoot a lick.
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