A few weeks ago, I made the trip over to the Warriors practice facility in downtown Oakland to sit in on the open tryouts that the Santa Cruz Warriors were holding. The gym was packed with 40 or so hopefuls wanting to take the first step towards achieving the ultimate dream of playing in the NBA. But before playing alongside the likes of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant or Kevin Durant, they would have to do enough to impress the brass of the Warriors’ D-League affiliate. If they were one of the lucky few to make an impression, there was the possibility that they could be drafted in the D-League’s annual draft.

The draft took place last Friday and after eight rounds, many names were not called. But luckily for Filipino basketball star Japeth Aguilar, a former number one overall pick in the Philippine Basketball Association, he was selected in the seventh round by the Santa Cruz Warriors.

While this draft wasn’t quite the extravagant production that the NBA Draft is, potential draftees remain on edge just the same. “It was different from when I got drafted from the PBA. In the D-League [draft] even though I [was] just at home, even though I didn’t follow the draft, I was still nervous. I was so anxious and just waiting for the time to pass by ’cause I could not watch [the draft],” said Aguilar via phone from his home in Chicago. “When my parents told me my name got called, we just burst out in joy. I was trying to keep calm because I know the journey just started so I still have a lot of things to do.”

Aguilar, who also tried out for the Bakersfield Jam and Los Angeles D-Fenders, thinks his time playing overseas was a factor in catching the eye of the Warriors’ talent evaluators. “I gained a lot of experience when I was playing in the Philippines. Even though the Philippines kind of lacks height, they’re very high in basketball IQ. I learned from the veterans there, how to read plays and [different] situations” said the 25-year old.

The former Western Kentucky Hilltopper is actually not a stranger to American and even NBA competition. During last season’s NBA lockout, a handful of stars, including Kobe and Durant, packed their bags and toured through Asia playing basketball games with those at their designated stops. When the tour passed through the Philippines, Aguilar was one of the few selected to take on the band of superstars. In that game was a moment that he’ll never forget:

“Playing against them live was just unbelievable. It was overwhelming. It looked like I was calm, but deep inside me, I just didn’t want to show it. Especially when I got that dunk, it looks like I was just running back but, oh man, deep inside me, I was bursting [with excitement].”

He arrives in Santa Cruz on Friday to begin a two-week training camp with seemingly everything on the line. Santa Cruz is near the Bay Area which boasts a heavy Filipino population. They undoubtedly would love to see one of their fellow countrymen playing so close by but Japeth knows that that alone won’t be enough to sway general manager Kirk Lacob and coach Nate Bjorkgren to keep him on the team. “In the D-League, it really doesn’t matter if I’m the first Filipino [to be drafted], they’re still going to get the best players for their team. So I still have to fight for a spot in training camp, still have to work hard. I’m very focused to make it happen.”

For most basketball fans, the D-League seems like basketball purgatory with those playing there having little to no shot of making it to the big leagues. However, for some – like Aguilar -the D-League stands for the beginning of making a lifelong dream come true. Achieving that dream may definitely still be in its infancy but he is currently venturing into territory that no other Filipino basketball player has ever been.

Now the question remains – will he make the team? Stay tuned to find out.

Follow @cruzkontrol

On Tuesday, PistonPowered.com’s Patrick Hayes (@patrick_hayes) gave us his thoughts on Warriors rookie Draymond Green after getting to watch him during his playing days at Michigan State. While he may not be expected to perform as well as first-rounders Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli, the 21-year old from Saginaw, Michigan was the one who stood out the most to me at this past Monday’s introductory rookie press conference. Holding up his number 23 jersey that another Spartan used to wear during his time in Golden State (Jason Richardson), Draymond might be the most intriguing guy out of all three first-year players in the sense that he was arguably a first-round talent who happened to slip to the Warriors in the second round and could possibly end up being the steal of the draft.

The well-spoken Green mentioned early on in the press conference that his coach at Michigan State, Tom Izzo, told him that he had been talking to Golden State a lot and that there was a very high possibility that they would select him. For someone who averaged 16.2 points per game and 10.6 boards in his senior season, who wouldn’t be interested? Evidently, no one was interested enough to take him late in the first round where he thought he would go (he thought he would be selected in the 20-27 range). “I definitely didn’t think I would be there at 30 and for sure not at 35 but it happens every year,” Green said about his fall into the second-round. “Guys slide every year. You had Perry Jones who was a projected top-10 pick, go 28. It happens every year but I couldn’t have ended up in a better situation.”

The knock on the Michigan State product is that he doesn’t have a defined position in the NBA and is your classic “tweener.” At 6’7 he is too small to play power forward and supposedly isn’t quick enough to play small forward. However, a proven winner during his time under Izzo (who compared him to Shane Battier), he won’t let the naysayers detract him from doing all he can to contribute to this Warriors team. “It’s always been about what I can’t do. It just keeps going, keeps going and never stops. It just keeps that fire lit in me” Green said.

Green indeed may never become the great player he was in college but if he can bring the rebounding, passing and hustle he displayed during his four years in Izzo’s system, that will be the niche he’ll need to find in order to have a successful NBA career. Conventional wisdom says that rebounding is the one skill that translates when making the jump from college to the pros, which I’m sure, is what GM Bob Myers thought about with Green sitting on the board at 35.

While the transition from the college game to the pro game may take some time getting used to, Green is already getting comfortable in his new surroundings here on the West Coast. “I love it out here so far. I ran into a couple Warriors fans already and you can just tell how the fan base is. It’s similar to that at Michigan State so I’m definitely used to that part of it. Just looking forward to making even more of an adjustment as I’m out here longer and longer and getting to know the place ’cause it’s home now.” While Green admitted it would take some time to get used to life in California after spending his whole life on the East Coast, he made it known that the one thing he wouldn’t miss: snow. “I grew up in the snow so I’m used to it,” Green said. “But I’m not gonna miss it at all.”

With Green, Myers felt that the Warriors were able to walk away from the draft with essentially three first-round picks. While it may take a while to figure out if that’s true about Green, given his position on the depth chart, there is no doubt he brings the know-how to win to a team that has an ominous “losing” cloud surrounding it. “I’m definitely looking forward to bringing the winning mentality to this franchise” Green said.

Bring it on, Draymond. Bring it on.

Follow @cruzkontrol

60% chance to stay at #7 and a 12.5% chance of moving up.  If the Warriors drop down, then Utah has rights to their pick.  If the Warriors don’t move down, then Utah has the rights to their 2013 pick.

Follow @SherwoodStrauss

Filed under: I did not like this pick.

Klay Thompson has been a high riser in the draft and it’s literally not hard to see why: The kid plays a beautiful game, he moves with a loping grace that conjures Brandon Roy memories, and the shot can get wetter than dying polar bears. Klay does this while making many a notable court-intelligent decision, choices that likely, heavily influenced Jerry West’s selection.

But, at a career 42.3 % NCAA field goal percentage, this is precisely what worries me about Thompson: He perhaps overachieves on guile and his statistical production could reflect guile’s limitations. The concern is that the Warriors drafted already-realized potential, as opposed to tapping a grower like Kawhi Leonard.

Credit where it’s due, Jerry West is indeed seeing something impressive–at least at the college level. Below, is a tangible example of Klay’s vaguely explained “high basketball IQ” (Thank you to Jim Barnett for highlighting this play). Thompson runs his man into a screen on what looks like a curl. Mid-jaunt, KT cuts in the opposite direction towards an open three. The defender is stuck moving around a screen for a curl that never comes.

Swoosh. It’s this kind of action that draws praise from film-gurus like Sebastian Pruiti. I’m equally impressed by his screen-usage, but more than happy to go negative with a positive: If Thompson is this smart, then why aren’t his numbers smarter? This kid certainly knows how to expertly use picks. I’m just not sure that means Golden State is equally good at it.

P.S.

• What does this mean for Monta? It could mean nothing. Number 11 picks don’t usually become starters (Acie Law was picked at 11, for example).
• I’m less inclined to be reverent towards Jerry West than many out there. He’s had a great career, but the septuagenarian executive left Memphis in shambles. Sorry to be age-ist, but I like West better as a consultant than an ultimate decision-maker.

Follow @SherwoodStrauss on Twitter

With the NBA draft just about a month away, now is as a good a time as any to start looking at prospects. More importantly though, we want to get a feel for players that the Warriors might want to target to help the team improve next season.

In order to do so, I turned to Lucas Shapiro, a scout for Dime; who is usually my go to guy when I require information about upcoming prospects. Enjoy the Q&A.

Two years ago, we had Blake Griffin as our unanimous top choice in the draft and last season it was John Wall. Can we really say that this year we have a unanimous #1 pick?

Continue Reading…

Tough love?

Stephen Curry did not play well against the Phoenix Suns, and that’s likely why the Warriors lost. And Steph was bench-ridden for much for much of the fourth. From the post-presser:

ESS: “When you sat (Curry) in the fourth quarter, was that a teaching tool, when you were benching him? Or was that a basketball strategy?

Keith Smart: “Anything I do is a basketball decision. I just don’t pinch people for no reason at all. Everything I do is about teaching the game of basketball.”

ESS: “Why does Monta tend to get more playing time than Steph does? In this game, he played the full 48 minutes.”

Keith Smart: “The man (Curry) got hit in the eye and he wasn’t the same.”

When questioned about his fourth-quarter benching, Curry downplayed the eye and said: “I had a lapse, and I got yanked.”

The lapse was an intercepted pass, followed by a Jared Dudley layup–concurrent with Curry’s foul on the bucket. And there are two schools of thought on how to handle these botched plays:

1. Coach#1: Your young star is screwing up. Bench him till he settles, bench him till he learns.
2. RoboCoach3000: I am robot coach who believes in…regression to the mean. Curry’s poor play is…anomalous…leave him in..play will…rebound…Jeremy Lin just blocked his…own layup.

Obviously, I side with RoboCoach3000. I get why players are yanked after awful plays, but I’m not convinced by such a strategy–especially when the Warriors bench is comprised of discarded scraps from other benches. I know fans love to see a player hooked upon screwing up, but good play isn’t simply about concentration, heart and hustle. Athletes have ebbs and flows, and a flow is more likely to follow and ebb. If an above average player plays below average, a pendulum swing could be in short order.

So when I ask Keith Smart about whether the Curry hook is a teaching tool or basketball strategy, I’m probing his philosophy. Even though the bench played well in Stephen’s absence, it won’t on most nights. As in, Charlie Bell and Jeremy Lin. To bench Curry for isolated bad plays is to sacrifice points in pursuit of teaching him a larger lesson.

Do you favor this tough love approach? I don’t, but I could see why you would.

In other news, Monta Ellis unleashed holy hell from the offensive end. He was also completely over matched against Jason Richardson, which is less his fault than his height’s mistake. You know where this is headed: Monta plus Steph might not be workable long term. Pick your tribe.