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Tuesday, October 31, 2000
Warriors: Hey this team might win a few
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Team page/schedule | Stats: Preseason / 1999 | Roster
Last year: 19-63, sixth in Pacific, 13th in conference
Coach/GM: Dave Cowens/Garry St. Jean
Arena, first game: Arena in Oakland (19,596); Nov. 8, 1997
All-time franchise record/NBA titles: 1,967-2,211/3
Notable: Employed franchise-record, league-high 23 players
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THE TOP EIGHT
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Pos
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Player
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Key Stat
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Skinny
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PG
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Mookie Blaylock
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6.7 apg
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Shoots less than 40 percent every year
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SG
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Larry Hughes
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.400 FG
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In 32 GS games, averaged 22.7 ppg |
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SF
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Antawn Jamison
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19.6 ppg
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Is one ball enough for he and Hughes?
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PF
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Danny Fortson
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6.7 rpg
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With this crew, could set off. rebs record
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C
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Erick Dampier
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21 games
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No real reason he shouldn't be 12-8 guy
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6th
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V. Cummings
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9.4 ppg
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PG of future didn't pass a whole lot
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7th
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Bobby Sura
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13.8 ppg
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Nice backup guard is career .415 shooter
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8th
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Chris Mills
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6.2 rpg
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You can do worse as backup forward
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Antawn Jamison has to become a consistent scorer and perimeter threat. Danny Fortson has to become a low post scorer. But most of all, Erick Dampier has to make good on the potential that everyone sees in him. Everyone knows he has the ability to be a top 10 center in this league. With the paucity of quality centers he could be a serious force for them. But he has to get over the injury bug and play with a lot more determination and aggression. If he doesn't, there's only so much the rest of the Warriors can do without that legitimate big man in the middle. If this team ended the season at .500 it would be a huge accomplishment. 35 wins would be a step in the right direction.
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By Frank Hughes
Special to ESPN.com
The Good
First, after so much turmoil under P.J. Carlesimo and the man
who hired him, Garry St. Jean, the Warriors seem to have some stability, as
well as much-needed respect, in their coaching staff by hiring Dave Cowens.
Cowens, you'll remember, was instrumental in turning around the Charlotte
Hornets, then was yet another victim of the Hornets' refusal to pay anybody
for success. On the bench for St. Jean last season, Cowens was hired to
direct the team in the offseason, and his credibility -- he was the 1973 MVP,
grabbing 15.7 rebounds a game at 6 feet 8 -- should enable the Warriors to
start back on a road that looked so promising before Chris Webber and Don
Nelson could not get along. But Cowens is not the only addition to this team. They got Larry Hughes
for nothing at the end of last season, and he and Antawn Jamison will play
together for the first time because Jamison missed the end of last season
with an injury. They traded for Danny Fortson, once again giving up almost nothing and getting a bruising rebounder in return, something Jason Caffey was
supposed to and never turned out to be. And they got some nice veterans in
Vinny Del Negro, Bob Sura and, recently, former Warrior Chris Mullin, whose
presence should do wonders for a team that has very little experience out of
his primary players. When the Warriors gave Erick Dampier $7 million a season a few years ago,
they were hoping he would develop into a prominent post presence.
Unfortunately, Dampier apparently sprained his wrist signing that contract,
and has been hampered by injuries ever since. Now, Dampier is as healthy as
one could expect, and the Warriors once again hope he can provide something
against the other post powers in the West.
The Bad
When a team loses as often as the Warriors have in the last half
of the '90s, there is a sort of negative mindframe that sets in that is
increasingly difficult to overcome. That is Cowens' biggest obstacle. Also, Hughes and Jamison have not exactly become chummy in training camp,
which does not bode well for two guys who are going to want to a) prove
themselves in the league, and b) put their own stamp on the team. That is the
reason, after all, that Hughes asked to be traded from Philadelphia, where he
felt jailed by 40 bars. How these two manage the desire to be recognized will
have a large part in determining their success. And while they seem to have combined a nice mix of veterans and youth,
there is not a bona fide star point guard on the team. Mookie Blaylock is way,
way, way beyond his prime, and at times dropped into embarrassing decline last
season. Sura can play the point but is more of a shooting guard, and the same
can be said for Del Negro. Vonteego Cummings averaged 3.3 assists a game. This team traded a chance to draft Jason Terry for Blaylock, and it probably wishes now it could reverse that decision.
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THE BIG QUESTION |
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How will Hughes and Jamison co-exist on a team that
still is trying to find its way. Will so many new players be able to jell in
time to make a serious run at the final playoff spot? And will Dampier
finally become at least a respectable center rather than a permanent fixture
on the end of the bench, wrapped in ace bandages?
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Whose team is this?
That's one of the big questions being determined now.
Jamison was there first, and was earmarked as the next team leader. But he
has remained somewhat raw, while his North Carolina teammate, Vince Carter,
has obviously blossomed. Hughes got here last year, then did not have to
really compete with anybody on the floor because Jamison was hurt and the
Warriors were in bad shape. Perhaps the better answer is it is Cowens' team.
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| Hughes |
How they'll play
You can bet with Cowens' leadership, this team will
play hard-nosed almost every night. Hughes will be a playmaker, and the team
will try to get Jamison and Dampier into the post, although Jamison also hasn't
developed a perimeter game. With so many new players, the team still is
developing a personality, which means it may have to lose some games before
it figures it all out.
Projection
This team is much improved, but it is probably not quite a
.500 club yet. Depending on how quickly it comes together, it has an outside
shot at the eighth playoff spot, which seems to be wide open at this point.
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