I'm going to definitely talk more about this later and what A-Rod's confession means about baseball and how it all comes back to how differently Bonds is being treated, but for now, I just watched the A-Rod interview and it was pretty interesting, to me at least.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Long Road Ahead
Even though I haven't written in a long time, this is something that has been on my mind for some time now so I figured I'd write about it. The topic of this entry is: the horrible state of the Golden State Warriors Franchise. I was looking at the financial situation of the Warriors in terms of player contracts and when they expired and I was blown away at how bad of a position the Warriors really are in: please take a look here.
I was already unhappy when the Warriors made their Clipper-spiting signing of Corey Maggette after they signed Baron because a) we didn't need another wing/guard that didn't play defense on our team and b) not only did the Warriors overpay him, but signing him only took money away from any chance of landing a marquee FA in the future. The Warriors also made numerous idiotic signings in which they clearly overpaid players, such as Ronny Turiaf- really? 4million a year for an energy guy? and resigning Stephen Jackson for almost 10 million a year through 2013, and then trading for Jamal Crawford who is owed about 10 million a year through 2011. Now, not only are the Warriors strapped for cash far beyond the free agent frenzy 2010 class, but they are loaded up with overpaid players who are almost all isolation players. When I look at the Warriors I am starting to see a very scary parallel between our current team and the Isaiah Thomas run New York Knicks, minus the huge payroll, but like i stated we definitely have financial handcuffs of our own
The Warriors have a lot of the same type of players as the Knicks-- isolation players like Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette, Jamal Crawford, and Monta Ellis that need the ball in their hands to be effective. You can also add Kelenna Azubuike and CJ Watson to a lesser extent on that list as well because they shoot more than they help facilitate ball movement. Point is, we have a whole bunch of guards. Sure Maggette and Jackson can play SF but that's moot point because they're also SGs. Sure Watson, Ellis, and Crawford can play PG but that's moot point as well because they're primarily SGs. Point is, a lot of them are most effective playing SG but they're converted to PGs or SFs.
To add on to having a bunch of wings and guards that play the same and handcuffing our financial flexibility for years to come, the Warriors also have very little cohesion (source about Crawford and Maggette not on the same page), similar to the Isiah Thomas ran Knicks. At one point, during the 'We Believe' era, team chemistry was one of the Warriors' strong points, but this is now a very different team. There have been reports of internal bickering, such as ther report that Stephen Jackson wants out of the Warriors (source 1 and source 2), Corey Maggette wants out (source), and most importantly Don Nelson is not even allowing the young players on the team to grow despite how bad the Warriors are, by not giving them playing time.
It scares me to even compare the Warriors to the Isaiah Knicks and they do have their differences, but the number of similarities is scary to fathom. Because the Knicks are a major market team, they had the attention of the media and Isaiah was being scrutinized. The Warriors on the other hadn get almost no media attention and are just quietly rotting away, which scares me even more- no change will come if there is not criticizm. I look at the Warriors, sitting at 17-35 in the division, with little to look forward to beyond contracts finally expiring. I see Don Nelson refusing to do things any other way but his own and team management that will neither step in and stop him nor stop making horrible decisions. Most importantly, I see a franchise that has become content collecting dividends from the Cinderella 'We Believe' playoff run and doesn't seem to care about their fan base. The Warriors have possibly one of the bleakest futures of all NBA teams outside of maybe the Bobcats, Clippers, and maybe the Wizards. When I look at the Warriors, I see a frustrating combination of overpaid mediocre players and underutilized young players who will never have a chance to help us compete because of the financial situation preventing the team from bringing in more complimentary players.
There is little hope for Warriors fans- the smallest glimmer of financial freedom won't even appear until 2013 with the current players on roster. For many of us real Warriors fans who were with the team before the 2007 playoff Cinderella story and are still sticking with them, it is getting much, much harder for all of us to 'Believe' given the future we see ahead of the Warriors franchise. The Warriors franchise needs to remember that when it is all said and done, it is their loyal fans who shell out money to see the 17-35 team that is put on the floor. But beware: do not test your fan base by pushing too far, you just may start to lose them if you continue to treat them like an after thought.
I was already unhappy when the Warriors made their Clipper-spiting signing of Corey Maggette after they signed Baron because a) we didn't need another wing/guard that didn't play defense on our team and b) not only did the Warriors overpay him, but signing him only took money away from any chance of landing a marquee FA in the future. The Warriors also made numerous idiotic signings in which they clearly overpaid players, such as Ronny Turiaf- really? 4million a year for an energy guy? and resigning Stephen Jackson for almost 10 million a year through 2013, and then trading for Jamal Crawford who is owed about 10 million a year through 2011. Now, not only are the Warriors strapped for cash far beyond the free agent frenzy 2010 class, but they are loaded up with overpaid players who are almost all isolation players. When I look at the Warriors I am starting to see a very scary parallel between our current team and the Isaiah Thomas run New York Knicks, minus the huge payroll, but like i stated we definitely have financial handcuffs of our own
The Warriors have a lot of the same type of players as the Knicks-- isolation players like Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette, Jamal Crawford, and Monta Ellis that need the ball in their hands to be effective. You can also add Kelenna Azubuike and CJ Watson to a lesser extent on that list as well because they shoot more than they help facilitate ball movement. Point is, we have a whole bunch of guards. Sure Maggette and Jackson can play SF but that's moot point because they're also SGs. Sure Watson, Ellis, and Crawford can play PG but that's moot point as well because they're primarily SGs. Point is, a lot of them are most effective playing SG but they're converted to PGs or SFs.
To add on to having a bunch of wings and guards that play the same and handcuffing our financial flexibility for years to come, the Warriors also have very little cohesion (source about Crawford and Maggette not on the same page), similar to the Isiah Thomas ran Knicks. At one point, during the 'We Believe' era, team chemistry was one of the Warriors' strong points, but this is now a very different team. There have been reports of internal bickering, such as ther report that Stephen Jackson wants out of the Warriors (source 1 and source 2), Corey Maggette wants out (source), and most importantly Don Nelson is not even allowing the young players on the team to grow despite how bad the Warriors are, by not giving them playing time.
It scares me to even compare the Warriors to the Isaiah Knicks and they do have their differences, but the number of similarities is scary to fathom. Because the Knicks are a major market team, they had the attention of the media and Isaiah was being scrutinized. The Warriors on the other hadn get almost no media attention and are just quietly rotting away, which scares me even more- no change will come if there is not criticizm. I look at the Warriors, sitting at 17-35 in the division, with little to look forward to beyond contracts finally expiring. I see Don Nelson refusing to do things any other way but his own and team management that will neither step in and stop him nor stop making horrible decisions. Most importantly, I see a franchise that has become content collecting dividends from the Cinderella 'We Believe' playoff run and doesn't seem to care about their fan base. The Warriors have possibly one of the bleakest futures of all NBA teams outside of maybe the Bobcats, Clippers, and maybe the Wizards. When I look at the Warriors, I see a frustrating combination of overpaid mediocre players and underutilized young players who will never have a chance to help us compete because of the financial situation preventing the team from bringing in more complimentary players.
There is little hope for Warriors fans- the smallest glimmer of financial freedom won't even appear until 2013 with the current players on roster. For many of us real Warriors fans who were with the team before the 2007 playoff Cinderella story and are still sticking with them, it is getting much, much harder for all of us to 'Believe' given the future we see ahead of the Warriors franchise. The Warriors franchise needs to remember that when it is all said and done, it is their loyal fans who shell out money to see the 17-35 team that is put on the floor. But beware: do not test your fan base by pushing too far, you just may start to lose them if you continue to treat them like an after thought.
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