After three close Warriors games (one OT loss and two last-minute wins), this one was a bit of a whuppin'. The W's lack of ball movement on offense and inability to contain opposing PGs persisted, and their previous ability to force turnovers with defensive pressure vanished. For most of the games I've watched, I've sat in a section with tables mostly used by various scouts & other personnel types. (The benefit, aside from sitting next to people like the Lakers' Mitch Kupchak and the T-Wolves' Rob Babcock, is free stat sheets hand-delivered after each half.) To look even more like I belong, I've whipped out the laptop during the last couple of games, and for this game I actually managed to type up a real-time play-by-play. Comparing this with the box score, all I can say is that the Warriors' assist numbers look very generous, which was my impression in the previous game as well. I didn't always type in credit for assists, but the only way I get to the official numbers is to assume a lot of baskets I saw as being individual efforts resulted from passes instead. Lamar Odom and Keyon Dooling started for the Clippers, and the combined ballhandling/penetration ability had the Warriors on their heels defensively all game long. Dooling didn't do a great job of setting up players, but he pushed the tempo well, and he was able to get good looks pulling up over Dean Oliver any time he wanted. It was very interesting seeing Odom play on the same day as Magic Johnson. Odom has the physical tools to be Magic, but I saw a night-and-day difference in their mental discipline and intensity. If Odom ever develops that same killer instinct (and he shows flashes of it sometimes on D), look out. As has been the pattern all week, the Warriors went as far offensively as Jason Richardson and Troy Murphy could carry them. Both had their usual solid efforts, but the burden of having to create something from scratch on nearly every play was too much. The main problem with the Warriors' summer squad is that they don't have especially good ballhandling or passing at any position. Some players are OK at creating an opening for themselves, but none are consistently able to create enough of an advantage to collapse the defense & thereby set up teammates for easy shots. (Yeah, I know the boxscore gives Murphy and JR a combined 10 assists, the same total as the Clips' 3 main ballhandlers. And I'm Angelina Jolie.) Gilbert Arenas' offensive game must have missed the flight from Oakland; over four summer-league games, he's shooting below 30% from the field. He continues to get opportunities at PG, where does advance the ball quickly on the break -- but is almost entirely a nonfactor in the halfcourt set. Vonteego Cummings was much more effective in the summer league last year, with less surrounding talent. Speaking of dropoffs from last year, Chris Porter basically killed the W's offensively. Everything he did was way out of control. He still appears to be playing catch-up after missing the pre-league minicamp & watching the first two games from the bench -- after playing within the flow of the previous game, he was much more of a go-to option in this one, and the rust was obvious. At least I hope that's all it was. The fourth quarter of this game was the Tyson Wheeler show. (Some may remember Wheeler as the PG who was Cuttino Mobley's backcourt mate at Rhode Island.) A tiny speedburner, Wheeler torched the Warriors' efforts at a full-court press as the Clips blew the game open. On one play, Wheeler dribbled his way through & around what seemed like the entire W's team -- making them look like the orange flags on a skiing run ---- before dishing off at the rim for a layup. It got so bad that Wheeler & then Odom were showboating on the final plays, with Wheeler posterizing Arenas on a crossover dribble, then attempting a JWill-like jump-while-dribbling move a couple of possessions later. (P.S. I blew off today's games, including the Lakers-Rockets, so you won't see any reports on those. I wish they'd move these games closer to L.A. next year. ) ------------------ [This message has been edited by Swopa (edited July 15, 2001).]
Swopa, How is the situation/rotation amongst Porter, Richardson and Hughes supposed to shake out? If they split time at the 2 and some minutes at the 3, then does AJ pull more minutes at the 4? Who is supposed to be the defensive stopper in the quartet named above? Mango ------------------ Get it right or just don't do it! Resistance is futile....you will be assimilated. Start more Webber threads!
Mango, I don't know if you saw it on draft night, but they interviewed Cowens after the pick of Richardson and he spoke about envisioning Hughes as the future point guard alongside Richardson. I can't see that working at all, but that would free up more time for Jamison and Porter at the 3. Fortson would be an excellent 4 for the Warriors if he could ever stay healthy for more than 10 games of a season... ------------------ Draftsource.net-- the premier source for draft info. Profiles, rankings, mock drafts, and more! The Mo Taylor Fan Site
This is one of those cases where coaches envision that everyone cares about team goals as much as they do. Larry Hughes could be a really tough point guard if he would be willing to sacrifice for the team. Unfortunately, Hughes isn't Cowens and when they can't sell Larry on pass first, they're going to be stuck with a roster full of SG. Same thing goes for Gilbert Areneas. ------------------
Didn't Larry Brown want Hughes to do some PG time? Cowens might have more patience on the Hughes as PG experiment, but Dave can't touch Brown as a fundamentals coach. So Cowens will have success with a more mature Hughes? Wouldn't bet much money on that proposition. Mango ------------------ Get it right or just don't do it! Resistance is futile....you will be assimilated. Start more Webber threads!
In December of last year, an article in the <a href="http://search.newschoice.com/Display.asp?story=d:\index\newsarchives\angtr\spt\20001227\598948_jt1ws27.txt&searchtext=Hughes+point&puid=557&deal=no">Oakland Tribune</a> quoted Hughes as hoping he would eventually be the Warriors' PG, a position he said he wasn't ready to play in Philly. I don't think Hughes will be a full-time PG at the start of the year, but the long-term plan is probably Hughes at PG, Richardson at SG, and Porter backing up at SF/SG. ------------------ [This message has been edited by Swopa (edited July 16, 2001).]
Swopa, Can Hughes handle Richardson getting more press than him? Mango ------------------ Get it right or just don't do it! Resistance is futile....you will be assimilated. Start more Webber threads!
I've never seen any indication that Hughes cares how much press he gets. He certainly never showed any resentment of Jamison getting all the attention last year. The image of Larry Hughes as a selfish ballhog was largely invented by uninformed media & fans in other cities, IMO. I began following the Warriors when Latrell Sprewell was here & at his worst (for example, screaming obscenities at Mark Price on the floor for not passing to him enough). I know a selfish player when I see one, and Hughes isn't one. ------------------
