13 Responses to “Sidney Moncrief flies to Beijing . . . but don’t expect the Warriors’ FT percentage to fly south”

1. 

   Jon January 9th, 2009 at 12:03 am

   Geoff,

   What is your opinion of Keith Smart’s coaching ability? If Don Nelson hasn’t already slipped into full lame-duck status already, he’s certainly going to get there soon enough, which means Smart will inevitably become the de facto “head coach”.

   I am not very impressed with our defense (way too lackidaisical and soft), but our piss-poor rebounding makes our defense look even worse, and the lack of rebounding comes from the roster makeup and lineup usage.

   Would Smart, if given the HC duties, retain the Euro-motion offense, lots of high pick and rolls and high weaves? Revert to the “clear out a side and isolate Mags and Jack to build brick piles”?

2. 

   Geoff Lepper January 9th, 2009 at 12:15 am

   I think Smart would be willing to do away with the small ball concept, which to me is a big, big plus, although I’m not sure it would solve the rebounding problems. Brandan isn’t a great rebounder, Turiaf the same. Randolph is the guy who would probably fix the situation, but he obviously has other, well-discussed problems.

   As for the offense, I don’t know what he’d want to run, honestly.

3. 

   Jon January 9th, 2009 at 12:39 am

   Yeah, the rebounding issue is a mostly a roster problem exacerbated by crunch time small ball.

   Yet another reason why I wasn’t super happy with the Wright pick (but happy with the J-Rich trade).

   Unfortunately I don’t see a real great way to fix it with our existing players unless you go with Maggette and Azubuike at the 2/3 for major minutes (they are above average swing positions, but then you give up a ton of perimeter defense. . .

   . . . Randolph is still too foul and turnover prone to be a reliable option.

   Really, it’s baffling we traded Harrington for a guard with a longer contract and the exact same weaknesses as the rest of our roster. We couldn’t have gotten Malik Rose’s corpse?

   Now we have to make a circular trade of Maggette, Crawford, or Jack for a PF/C type.

4. 

   Gaucho January 9th, 2009 at 4:31 am

   Jon,

   I have s exactly the same opinion as yours - to “circular” trade 2 those 3 for a PF/C like Boozer, Gooden + someone (what about Crawford + Maggette/Jackson for Heirinch + Gooden?? Sounds sooooo good for me

5. 

   potrero joe January 9th, 2009 at 10:42 am

   Gaucho,
   Crawford has a trade exception — he can be traded straight up at any time, but you can’t package him in a trade with another GS player until he’s been with GS for 60 days (I think that’s about 1/18/09)

   So…for now, which PF/C could you possibly trade Crawford for, straight up?

   1) Boris Diaw — no way Charlotte would do that.
   2) Drew Gooden — not gonna happen. Who replaces him at PF/C for the Bulls? The coaches can’t stand Noah.
   3) Nene — hahahah. Yeah…right.
   4) Nesterovic. — Ugh.
   5) Mark Blount — Double Ugh.
   6) Darko — You saw it coming: Triple Ugh
   7) Kenny Thomas — yes, he’s still in the league.
   8 ) Okur — not gonna happen.
   9) Antwawn Jamison — interesting. With Washington doing so badly, would they be willing to do this to save some $$$$? (Jamison has one more year on his contract than Crawford) But, if they wanted to trade him, I’m sure they could do better than Crawford.

6. 

   JoeSez January 9th, 2009 at 12:02 pm

   “what about Crawford + Maggette/Jackson for Heirinch + Gooden?? ”

   GSW and Bulls need to deal but both teams have the SAME problems — too many Guards and SFs. They’ll need to work with a team with too many bigs to help balance their respective rosters.

   Hinrich for Crawford: Chicago would trade a better PG/SG for a poorer PG/SG. Also you propose to swap a PF/C for a SF/G.

   Finally, Chicago let Crawford walk when he was a R-FA because NY Knicks overpaid for him. Why would Paxson accept that bad contract now if he wasn’t willing to match back then?.

   Gooden: His contract expires this year - Maggette’s is just beginning. Bulls need post defensive help and rebounding, just like GSW.

   I would offer Da Bulls Randolph and a 2010-11 (non top-10) 1st round pick for underachieving Tyrus Thomas (athletic PF). Tyrus needs a new start. While Randolph is young and shows promise. Bulls would get younger equivalent type of player to develop and a protected 1st round pic. They and offer GSW a relatively mature player Nellie could use at PF/C to get his NBA record wins. Chicago would try to resign Gooden at PF and develop Randolph alongside PG Rose SG Thabo and SF Deng.

   Randolph’s agent is BJ who was a teammate with Paxson whoch could give Paxson comfort level about Randolph’s commitment to improving.

7. 

   commish January 9th, 2009 at 1:43 pm

   We are just so screwed, especially without a GM in place. Rowell just totally undermined two years of exciting basketball and growth as a franchise. So, are we surprised when Moncrief takes a fast plane to China and says adios to this sinking ship.

8. 

   Jon January 9th, 2009 at 1:43 pm

   There’s no match between the Bulls and Warriors. Both teams need the same things: less long-term commitments and frontcourt depth.

   Unless you want to swap purportedly disgruntled and disfavored tweener forwards (Thomas and Randolph), but I don’t see where that gets us, since Thomas is slightly more expensive.

   No one cares if you’d do the deal - consider if the other team would, if the money works, AND THEN if “you” would do it.

9. 

   Anonymous January 9th, 2009 at 4:24 pm

   Jon;

   Not likely GSW/Bulls will trade without some 3rd party **but** my point is a change of scenery could help Tyrus and Randolph and both teams. It makes sense for both - IMHO.

   Chicago’s hard on guys. Tyson Chandler wilted under the pressure but thrived when moved to NO and Ben Wallace is doing better in Cleveland with all the media pressure off him and focused on King James. I think Tyrus has to omuch baggage there and would do better when moved.

   Tyrus plays undersized PF and is more expensive (2nd vs 14th pick) but he’s a 3rd year player who I think would do better under Nellie’s system and help Nellie win now so he could get that record. He’d start and help with rebounding and post play along side Andris and is a very athletic.

   Salary would require some other guys thrown in to make it work. The differences in rookie contracts are not huge.

   Randolph would be a step back for Da Bulls in maturity but they could re-sign the decent PF Gooden, keep SF/PF Nocioni and bring young Randolph along. GSW might add a protected 2010 pick or add a player of better value.

   Randolph would do well in Chicago’s open offense and benefit from their deep asst coaching experience - he mature along with Thabo, Rose and Noah.

   Not likely too happen but I think both teams would get what they need and more out of the players with a swap.

10. 

    JoeSez January 9th, 2009 at 4:25 pm

    Jon;

    Not likely GSW/Bulls will trade without some 3rd party **but** my point is a change of scenery could help Tyrus and Randolph. It makes sense for both teams - IMHO.

    Chicago’s hard on guys. Tyson Chandler wilted under the pressure but thrived when moved to NO and Ben Wallace is doing better in Cleveland with all the media pressure off him and focused on King James. I think Tyrus has to omuch baggage there and would do better when moved.

    Tyrus plays undersized PF and is more expensive (2nd vs 14th pick) but he’s a 3rd year player who I think would do better under Nellie’s system and help Nellie win now so he could get that record. He’d start and help with rebounding and post play along side Andris and is a very athletic.

    Salary would require some other guys thrown in to make it work. The differences in rookie contracts are not huge.

    Randolph would be a step back for Da Bulls in maturity but they could re-sign the decent PF Gooden, keep SF/PF Nocioni and bring young Randolph along. GSW might add a protected 2010 pick or add a player of better value.

    Randolph would do well in Chicago’s open offense and benefit from their deep asst coaching experience - he mature along with Thabo, Rose and Noah.

    Not likely too happen but I think both teams would get what they need and more out of the players with a swap.

11. 

    M.Squared January 9th, 2009 at 5:06 pm

    The Bulls can keep Thomas. He hasnt lived up and his basketball IQ doesnt even measure on the charts. Randolph appears to have a lot more upside even at a limited view of him.
    Jamison is who we should have targeted when we had Harrington for trade had we not been able to land a true PG or had we known that Nellie wasn’t going to use Al’s minutes for Wright and Randolph. Antwan is a double double guy and would have been “go to” on this team, making them fun to watch and competative with Ellis back. Bad Contract ? Sure, but it would have made no difference with Maggette and Jack’s deals already on the books. He would be a leader and already knows how to deal with Nellie’s crap. Move Maggette and Williams for Antwan right now… Washington has to do a 2 for 1 deal with him or Butler in order to make any movement in the East. One of those guys is getting moved before next season.

12. 

    M.Squared January 9th, 2009 at 5:10 pm

    Geoff-
    I have heard a bunch of rumors about the Wright pick being made in a state of confusion when Charlotte was really supposed to take Al Thorton or anyother player for GS, but the warriors didn’t call in time etc…..
    At the time, it was thought that the Warriors were drafting a player to package with cap room and Biedrens for Garnett and that the Wolves gave GS a player or two that they would like to see in the deal from that draft spot.
    Any validity to the Wolves piece or the part about Wright being taken in error?

13. 

    JoeSez January 9th, 2009 at 5:43 pm

    “Move Maggette and Williams for Antwan right now… ”

    Jamison’s sure is better than Thomas. Sadly, I doubt DC would swap a double double PF for a fat PG and SF/SG.

    Joe Sez Nellie wants to win now so he can get the NBA record, He’ll swap Randolph for someone playable today. Tyrus Thomas isn’t living up to 2nd pick status but I haven’t read any knocks in the papers on his BB IQ. He’s got a chip on his shoulder … like Randolph.