Comments on: Game Preview & Chat: The Golden State Warriors

By: Bobby Smith

Bobby Smith — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:32:06 +0000

85. I see what you are saying about Trevor being a solid pick up for the team. I hope it turns out that way (too early to tell IMO). In fact, I hope he plays so well I never see Luke Walton again. But to suggest that now all the sudden our need for a viable #2 scoring threat and solid defense is solved is over stating it. Trevor can’t shoot and he has hardly played in the NBA. Hopefully he will contribute to the team, but I’m already reading comparisons to Scottie Pippen, which is histerical. Artest, on the other had, is one of the most versitile and consistent players in the NBA. He is a former defensive player of the year and capable of putting up 20/game on 48% shooting. We are a more athletic team with Trevor but Artest would sill do wonders for this team and I still think we need to land a tough #2 player to go with Kobe and Bynum, because Lamar is just not a warrior/champion.

By: drrayeye

drrayeye — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 20:37:21 +0000

(68) Bobby,

though your attributions toward me may be correct, I’m really voicing support for decisions by Phil and the Laker FO. They don’t see it your way.

As you may recall, the Lakers were in the running for Ron Artest last year. Ron even appeared at a Laker game. Phil seemed enthused.

The failure of the Lakers to successfully trade for Ron Artest was one of many reasons that Kobe mentioned when he asked to be traded.

Instead, the Lakers traded Cookie and Mo for Trevor. Some thought it was just a salary dump.

Wrong.

For $3.5 million, the Lakers have landed a much younger player than Artest who better meets their defensive needs, fits into their team profile perfectly, has great upside, is a local product, and carries none of the “baggage” associated with Ron Artest.

If we had traded for Artest, it would have been interesting to see how he would have interacted with his old homies, Jackson and Harrington, last night!

Trevor has only played a few games and barely knows the Laker system. The Warrior game was hardly a complete test. He’s not perfect. He did throw a cross court pass last night that resulted in a Warrior breakaway.

Still, I’m willing to go out on a limb and pronounce the trade a huge success. It certainly dooms any serious thoughts of a trade for Ron at this time.

The Lakers have made a huge investment and long term commitment to Bynum that is clearly paying off.

They also resigned Chris Mihm and committed to deploying a three headed monster at center this year.
Phil clearly has the idea of playing Andrew as part of at least a tandem of two, partly for strategic reasons and partly to protect Andrew from too much, too soon.

As Kwame a points out (77), this is part of a broader strategy to provide more team flexibility against opponents.

Let’s support the master plan of the Zenmeister!

By: Lamar Odom

Lamar Odom — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 20:04:51 +0000

My God, I love Ariza already. Did you see his opening play? He stole the ball on an inbounds pass and went for a lay up. Cook would have never even dreamed of doing that.

By: Brian P.

Brian P. — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 20:04:02 +0000

78. & 81.

I also get that “slow down…” message. I only get it about 20% of the time and each time after my first attempt to post a comment. If I refresh the page and then try posting it usually works.

By: ryan

ryan — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:41:16 +0000

78. SA will not be easy to beat on thursday, even if duncan doesn’t play. Just ask the Jazz and Mavs. Besides I believe Duncan will be back before Thursday.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:38:56 +0000

78. Hollinger’s system does not look at injuries, it is simply results based.

As for the problem with the “slow down” thing after a comment, is anyone else having that problem? I think someone mentioned it a few weeks ago. I’ll ask my tech guy what is going on, it shouldn’t do that.

By: Pedram

Pedram — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:29:29 +0000

Isn’t Walton just a poor man’s Odom at this point? I like him, but he is not contributing anything to the team that will make them contenders. Perhaps we should package him in a trade (with Critt for Artest)?

By: DMo

DMo — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:25:06 +0000

Ariza’s defense may prove indespensible as the season goes on. I don’t think this will be the last game where he steals all or most of Luke’s minutes. We haven’t seen enough of him to know anything for sure, but I think he fits in well on this team. And, his ability to play effectively with both the first and second unit is an asset that Luke doesn’t seem to have. But, perhaps most importantly, Kobe seems really comffortable with him. Did you see their two man game? It wasn’t wildly effective last night, but you can imagine how two guys that quick and explosive around the basket could cause major damage on pick and rolls.

Bynum had a huge night statistically largely due to minutes. He showed that, if he can play over 30, he’s capable of being the second scoring option… at least against a front line like the Warriors have.

By: Bobby Smith

Bobby Smith — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:19:55 +0000

Regarding the Holl power rankings, does anyone know if it takes into account injuries for the opp. (I asked before and I don’t think I got a definitive answer). For example, if we beat the Spurs on Thur sans T.D. (don’t know if he is playing or not) it seems we would get more credit on the Holl ranking than we deserve. Maybe I am wrong about that.

76. He has called me an “ostrich” on multiple occassions, which, although funny, is essentially calling me ignorant. I fail to see how my post is anymore of an attack than that. At any rate, I’ll ignore Drayeye’s ridiculous points going forward b/c they never make any sense anyway.

Also, I’m not sure if others have this problem, but everytime (I mean that literally) I post, even when it is the first post I’ve made in days, I have to deal with the “slow down” thing and then close my browser and reopen the site and then post. It always works after I reopen my browser but it is annoying to do that. Maybe it is my computer or something.

By: kwame a.

kwame a. — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:13:26 +0000

I really liked our SF rotation of Vlad/Ariza. I don’t know how Luke should get more than 15 mins a game, because Vlad helps space the floor and Ariza brings perimeter defense like nobody else on the wing. We are 3 deep at 3 positions now, with each player bringing something different.

pg: fish/farmar/critt
c: bynum/kwame/mihm
sf: vlad/ariza/luke