The bad news is that the franchise savior, Baron Davis, has not lived up to the hype he created for himself after lifting the franchise up by the collective boot straps at the end of last season. In fairness to Baron, nobody not named Michael, Larry or Magic could have lived up to those expectations either. Let’s face it, anything other than an MVP type campaign and a playoff appearance for the team would suffice. It’s a lot of pressure for one man to have eleven years of futility placed on his shoulders, but I don’t think Baron really feels all that pressure. He is confident in his ability and with a little more help along side him in the talent department he can still get his mission completed.
More bad news is, that the core of young and well paid role players that Mullin has assembled have not elevated their games to that ellusive next level.
Jason Richardson has turned into a very good NBA player and has improved his scoring average and defensive energy. He is not far from being an All-Star level performer, however he still has problems with free throw shooting and turnovers.
Troy Murphy is a pro, he is a double, double machine and stretches the defense with the range on his outside shot. He gives you consistant production from the Power Forward spot in two offensive categories. Unfortunately for Troy he is more known for what he doesn’t give you…He doesn’t give you the defensive pressence or low post scoring threat that you really need in this league from either your Power Forward or Center.
Derek Fisher has proven to be a leader, a role model, a dependable bench scorer and tough nosed defender but he continues to struggle when it comes to being a true point guard and setting up his teammates. His shot selection and ball handling have been question marks for him since joining the Warriors. Sometimes he just tries to do too much instead of taking what the defense will give him.
Adonal Foyle simply has regressed since becoming a starting player and unfortunately his best days appear to be behind him at this point. He is still a servicable defensive post player due to his effort level on defense, but he has not had many games this season where his shot blocking ability was a big enough factor to overcome his offensive shortcomings. His best efforts of the season have come from off the bench and I still believe he can be effective in that roll for this team, unfortunately we have absolutely no other option for the starting lineup at least until Taft can get healthy.
The newest member of the financially fit squad is Mike Dunleavy Jr. who despite playing better lately has been a dissapointment of collosal porportions since signing his new contract. Dunleavy is still shooting under 30% from three point range and has been extremely inconsistant as a third or even fourth scoring option on this team. Earlier in the season he was less aggressive and was just passing up shots, now he is simply missing them. He is most productive when he is aggressive in taking the ball to the basket and handling the ball in transition. He had a breif ten day stretch where he was playing very well but that ended when he made a crucial turnover at the end of the LA game that sent his confidence spiraling back to earth. He is a complex player and tends to play better in the second half of the season. Hopefully he can get his confidence level back up, and maintain a higher level of play down the stretch.
Mike Montgomery was a "heckuva" College Coach at Stanford and clearly nothing that he accomplished there is transferable to the NBA game. He is starting over at this level and having his fair share of bumps and bruises along the way. He is slow to react to matchup problems, plays the starters too many minutes and has no concept of game management. He makes adjustments, but it’s usually too late and then he will make the same head scratching mistake the very next game. It is truly mind boggling how he continues to play 6’7" Ike Diogu against 7′ Centers after he admitted it was futile. He has relied on his veterans to a fault and he simply has no controll over what the team is doing out on the court. He is at the mercy of Baron Davis and a group of guys that would rather play street ball than execute his offense or work hard on the defensive end. If he can’t find a way to get the attention and respect of his team and get them to show some discipline in the fourth quarter, than I can’t see how he is still coaching this team a year from now.
So many of these average core players are locked up long term that it is stunting the growth of some really talented young players including, Mickael Pietrus, Ike Diogu, Chris Taft, Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins. All of these players would and should be playing more minutes if they were drafted by a different franchise, but the Warriors just simply have a coach that isn’t good at exploiting matchups or utilizing a deep talented roster.
The good news is the Warriors are once again on the map in terms of National respectability since Baron has arrived, and having Chris Mullin at the helm will enable us to at least entertain trade discussions for key players. Our roster is filled with good young prospects and tradeable salary pieces, the only thing we are lacking is a large expiring contract, but we do have a fairly large trade exception that expires in a couple of weeks. I would expect to see something fairly major happen in terms of roster movement within that time frame.
Mullin has been criticised and perhaps fairly for sitting on his hands all offseason and falling short in the Ron Artest sweepstakes, but the bottom line is Mullin is waiting for the right deal to come along and isn’t going to just give up on some of these young players that he truly believes in, especially for a headcase like Ron Artest that could very well sabotage all the progress that he has made to this point in getting the franchise back to respectability.
In my estimation Mullin felt that Artest was simply too big of a risk for this fragile franchise at this time. Would he have done it for Dunleavy and Cheaney or some combination of those two players and protected picks? Yeah I think he rolls the dice, but he correctly held to his stance of not giving up Ike or a younger more sane Ron-Ron Clone, Mickael Pietrus, who the Pacers desperately wanted.
Mullin is very high on all his young players and thinks that they will be the key to the success of this franchise long term. At the same time, he is realistic about our needs for a low post pressence and more skilled basketball players. The two second rounders that Mullin selected this year could end up being two of the best players in this entire draft and Mulin knows it.
Ellis has star written all over him and he is not yet 20 years old. He is unquestionably the quickest guy on the team, and he is probably the second best individual defensive player on the roster at this point as well. He has the capability to be a dynamic scorer, like Isiah Thomas, he uses his quick first step to get anywhere he wants on the court and when he gets even a small opening he has an ability to get his shot up quickly before the defense can react. He also runs the pick and roll very well and with his flawless shooting form is capable of hitting a very high percentage of outside shots. The sky is the limit for Ellis, and we are just lucky that he had an injured ankle at the combine or he would have easily been a first round pick and a starter in the NBA Rookie Game this All-Star Weekend.
Mullin loves Chris Taft and he has shown that, when healthy, he can be a good defensive pressence and inside finisher with great NBA size. I think he also believes that Ike Diogu, although clearly not an Elton Brand type of player, (despite being undersized) can be a hard worker and a contributing big man in the league for a long time. Andris Biedrins although developing slower than the others is still extremely young and has a big upside. These three young players are a big part of the Warriors future and Mullin has confidence that they can develop over time into a servicable front line.
In summary, the Warriors, despite some dissapointing play in the month of January are still within striking distance and the future of the frachise looks as bright as it has in several hundred years. The next couple of weeks will tell the story of where this franchise is heading. Will Mullin be able to pull off another Baron type trade before the deadline and catapult us into the playoffs, or is he content to take one more crack at the lottery and do some real wheeling and dealing in the off-season? We will find out soon. In the mean time, there should be some interesting and spirited discussions cropping up around the middle of the month.