The reason I wanted to keep them around is selfishly I kind of like the Warriors. Even if you haven't ever played NBA 2k10 you can probably imagine what it's like to play with Steph Curry in a video game.
Also, Monta Ellis is a big time player for my fantasy team. Say what you will about Monta playing basketball (and I will say some things later on...) but fantasy wise his 25.8 ppg, 5.5 assists and 2 steals translate very well. It doesn't much mater to me if he's shooting 30% from 3, I want him to keep shooting and he does.
Lastly, I have some great memories of the 2007 Warriors and their run in the playoffs. Those Warriors were must see TV and even though the players who dominated that series in Captain Jack, Al Harrington, Matt Barnes, Mickael Pietrus (back when his name was pronounced Mic-KAY-ul), and of course Baron Davis have moved on I still have a soft spot for that team.
(Because I have to, a quick side note on that Baron Davis dunk I just linked... That is an unbelievably underrated moment in sports. It's a fantastic dunk but the reaction to it is just as fantastic. The roof almost comes off at Oracle Arena which you rarely see in the NBA, Adonal Foyle's face is priceless at the end, Captain Jack's natural reaction is to start brushing the dirt of Baron's shoulders and then there's Baron's reaction to it.
For some unknown reason Baron's first reaction was to untuck his shirt in celebration. It's a rarely seen reaction and it's just pure excitement from Baron at what he had just done. The only other time we see the shirt untuck move is in baseball after a walk-off home run. Just a great celebration in my book.)
Now, onto the reasons I will not be rooting for the Warriors at any point in the future.
Currently, my other professional sports teams are the Royals and Chiefs. These are two teams that have coaches who can be described as shaky at best. However, there can't be a coach in professional sports who is worse right now than Don Nelson of the Warriors.
Nelly has always had an odd coaching style. Sure, he has won in a few places but he basically did it by throwing a bunch of talented guys out on the floor and just letting chaos reign supreme. That 2007 Warriors team was a lot of things, but well-coached was not one of them.
Nowadays, it's a wonder if the most talented players even make it out on the floor for the Warriors. Captain Jack demanded out. Anthony Randolph may have more potential than anyone in the NBA, but Nelly has almost brought the kid to tears a couple of times. Then, when I watched a good portion of the Warriors vs. Thunder game on Sunday night I noticed just how absurd the Warriors rotations are this season. I wasn't the only one who noticed either, you have to watch this rant about the Warriors from NBA.com (Thanks to John Krenger for the assist on this one.)
I won't rehash everything in that rant but basically the Warriors have a guy in Andres Biedrins who once looked like an all-star and is now sharing time with former D-league players and the disgrace that is Ronny Turiaf.
While watching the Warriors vs. Thunder I actually witnessed on multiple occasions where Ronny Turiaf would hand the ball of to Monta Ellis and then just stand still with his hands on his hips. No attempt at a rebound, no picks or movement for him. Just hands on his hips watching Monta work. Turiaf isn't completely to blame for this. Monta had no intention of giving up the ball to anyone else so it really may have been a waste of Turiaf's time to continue working.
That's the biggest problem with the Warriors, they represent everything stereotypical of the NBA. The league really isn't all about selfish players who don't play D. There are several teams who thrive on great ball movement and defense, but you would never know it if you only watched the Warriors. He's some recent performances they had:
1/31 @ Thunder - Monta Ellis 9/24 for 24 pts, 2 asts, 5 TOs.
1/26 @ Kings - Corey Maggette 3/22, 13/16 fts for 19 pts, 4 TOs.
1/24 vs. Suns - Maggette and Ellis combined 20/48 for 52 pts.
1/20 vs. Nuggets - Ellis and Steph Curry combined 18/45 for 54 pts.
There's no arguing that those are a lot of points but it's really not that effective when you take so many shots. Also, that last game I listed against the Nuggets is the most worrisome of them all. I fear that Steph Curry could be catching on to how Monta plays ball. Curry could be a fantastic player some day but he has a high potential to be poisoned by Monta before that happens.
Monta is obviously playing for himself. Nelly has either lost his mind or this team is trying to tank and get John Wall. One can only imagine what Monta Ellis would do if he had to play with John Wall next season. I suggested on twitter that he may try to steal the ball from him on offense, but fighting him isn't out of the question either.
The Warriors are just a disfunctional team on too many levels. There's no reason to keep them around in my quest any longer.
Yes, that is a set of praying hands holding a gun on Jack's chest.
He's just one of the many big guns that voted himself off the Warriors.
No comments:
Post a Comment