From poster Top Dog in the forum, discussion here

1) It would further clog our already crowded front court, which would…

2) Limit the development of our young 4s and 5s. Whatever you think of AR, BW, or EU, the only way we’ll find out what we really have with any of them is via playing time, which will already be at a premium because of Beans and Ronny.

3) Lee is many things, but a true center ain’t one of ‘em. The Knicks got away with playing Lee at the 5 because the East is still pretty weak overall. The West has teams with legitimately huge power forwards and centers: Bynum/Gasol, Cousins, Yao, TD, Nene, Kaman–I’ll even include Sideshow Bob Lopez in Phoenix because he really showed me something last year, and he’s definitely enormous. The point is, David Lee is barely a 5 in the East, and wouldn’t be able to hang physically in the West. As a result, his rebounding numbers would go down and our already porous frontcourt D would erode even further.

4) If you’re comparing Monta and Lee, you can’t just put their numbers up side by side even though Monta comes out looking pretty good in that analysis. Basketball is such a team sport that you have consider the context. And the Knicks provided Lee with an incredible environment for putting up gaudy numbers last year.

-D’Antoni’s system inflates offensive numbers by running constantly and requiring the players to play absolutely no D, which leaves them with more energy on the other end

-Shitty team = lots of touches
-Plenty of blowouts = opponents’ putting their scrubs in early on
-Weak competition at his position on the team = ample minutes

Now before you say that Monta enjoyed the same advantages (which he did, with the possible exception of the touches), you have to consider whether those advantages would be there for Lee in the case of a trade. And they wouldn’t. Lee wouldn’t get as many minutes or touches because our front court is too crowded. The W’s will not be great, but they’ll be more competitive than the Knicks were last season, which means there will be fewer blowouts. The competition in the West will mean Lee has to work a hell of a lot harder to get his.

Don’t get me wrong: I like David Lee as a player. If we didn’t have so many similar players already, I’d be more interested. But other than a dominant low post force–which, to quote Rick Pitino, ain’t walkin’ through that door–this team needs a legit 2 or 3 more than anything.

So the W’s should try to trade Monta for Granger or Iguodala or just wait. Monta will put up impressive numbers again, and eventually the offers for him will improve. He’s a special, if frustrating, offensive player, and we can’t afford to further f#$% up our team just get him off of it.

One perk of having such a large Warriors community is that there is someone at every event. John C in the OC doesn’t disappoint this season with his impressions to date of the Warriors summer league team.

In the 4th quarter against Detroit Curry pulled up for a 3 pointer about ten feet beyond the 3 point line. The shot was a little long and there was a foul on the rebound. During the stoppage things got very quiet and a guy yelled out “Don’t worry Steph, you’re in Golden State now”. Keith Smart turned to the crowd and loudly replyed “Not This Year”. HMMM!

Don Nelson is getting quite overweight. I am not trying to be funny. At his age I would be quite concerned, especially with what seems to be a very stressful job.

To the players. I know you are all excited about AR’s 42 points (he would have had more except for that idiot Law) but there is a good reason he was getting those looks. Nash to Stoudamire. Stockton to Malone. Curry is going to be an awesome point guard. Bobby Knight was right. The kid is a great passer. Over and over I would marvel at his ability to see things that most players could never see. Even under great pressure he calmy reacts to the big picture developing on the floor. One play in particular stood out for me. He was deep on the left wing being tightly guarded. He always keeps his dribble alive and he was holding off a bigger defender with his off arm. Three Warriors were on his side of the floor and AR had posted a smaller player on the opposite block. Most guys would not even see the mismatch and if they did would need to make station to station passes to get the ball to the far side. The defense would adjust by then. Off of one dribble he shot a perfect lob pass across the defense to AR’s outstrecthed hand, just out of reach of the defender. No time for the defense to react, and AR was fouled on his move to the basket. I could not believe he could see the mismatch, let alone make the pass. He is great on the pick and roll and handles the attacking big men calmly and patiently. His size could be a problem against 1′s who are big enough to post him up (ala Baron) but he does have one great attribute that will help him. He never gets flustered. EVER! Early in the Chicago game they tried to post up Nelson on him. Curry picked his pocket on both plays. They never tried it again. He has an uncanny ability to get his hands cleanly on balls for steals or tie ups.

If I had to pick one player he reminds me of it is Steve Nash. We all marvel at how such a small player as Nash can see so much, remain so calm amongst the giants, and always know where the ball needs to be. Even when Nash throws a bad pass nobody thinks “what an idiot”. We all can see what he was trying to do. Curry’s mistakes are the same. It is not AR dribbling too much or Jackson taking a stupid three at the wrong time in the game. I can’t think of one dumb play he made in the games I watched. Just good ideas that did not work out quite as planned.

Finally, what a shooter. I really believe he no longer shoots in warm ups just to make a shot. He is trying to make each one while moving the net as little as possible. Unbelievable.

To AR. Not much to say. I am so encouraged to see the obvious results of how hard he has been working. He is stronger , quicker, and is learning how and where on the court he can be successful. He is still thin on the bottom half and gets pushed around pretty easily under the basket, but he is doing better. Last summer he would drive to the basket and try to use his athleticism to avoid defenders to get to the basket. Just like Monta has learned he now seeks out the defender and gets fouled. His added strength is allowing him to still get a shot off once he is hit as well. Did you all see “the dunk”? I am guessing you did. I have never seen Nelson smile at a basketball play in all the years I have been going to these things. He was actually on his feet grinning from ear to ear after that play. (Maybe a Chris Gatling dunk made him smile as well)

Morrow was OK. I actually think he was trying a little too hard. He is the opposite of Curry. When he gets doubled he gets very flustered and loses track of “the big picture”.. His hands are bad to OK and we all know his dribbling needs quite a bit of improvement. Get his feet set though and its money. I have to give him credit for working hard on D. That really seemed to be his focus this summer.

Two scrubs I loved. First Cartier Martin. Hard worker and strong. The guy has the biggest butt I’ve seen since Barkley and knows how to use it. Can use both hands and is a pretty good passer. He moves really well with out the ball and uses his large behind to finish around the basket. Works real hard on defense. As someone mentioned before he sort of duplicates Buke so I don’t know how he would fit in but I think he will end up in the league someday.

2nd scrub. Joe Ingles. Wow! The tough guy you would want with you in a bar fight. Junk yard dog sort of player. Active hands on defense and plays with a cool reckless abandon. He actually has a very good feel for the game. Might be a little slow for the NBA but at his size and his handles there might be a spot for him.

Patrick O’Bryant played for the Raptors. I think I finally figured out why he sucks. He does not like to play basketball.

C.J. was there watching. What is up with him? Is he still a Warrior?

I want to say one more thing about Curry. I cannot find the right word to describe how “in the moment” he is able to stay during the game. The whole Chicago team was pounding on him yet he never lost focus. 6 foot 9 guys drive hard to the basket and suddenly the ball is gone because Steph was there seeing the play and anticipating the moment when the ball would be available to him. Focus, composure, relaxed intensity, basketball IQ. I don’t know. It is something special though!

Wright, a 6’7 swingman out of Texas A&M playing in his first NBA game showed a few flashes of brilliance, but looked frustrated and confused for most of the afternoon and could do little to stop his team from getting blown off the court by the far superior Mavericks team. Wright, who finished with 14 points, was a volume shooter against the Mavs. He managed to get up 21 shots in 35 minutes of action, but converted only 5 of those attempts including an 0-5 output from beyond the arc.

Outside of one nice end to end sequence in the third quarter when he blocked a shot on one end and converted a layup on the other end, He appeared to be forcing the action and was perhaps a bit overwhelmed by the situation.

His shot selection was no where near where it needs to be for him to be effective at the NBA level. I will reserve judgement on Wright as he may have just had an off day, but he did not make a strong first impression.

The Mavs squad coached by Avery Johnson appeared to be focused on defensive intensity and played a much more disciplined basketball game. Devin Harris didn’t have a particularly good game with 7 points 3 assists and 2 steals in 23 minutes of action. Daniels was solid and played like you would expect a third year guy to play. His game was effortless and polished.

Other notable performances in this game were from Mavericks Big Man DJ MBenga a 7’0 245lb Center from the Congo. MBenga is a specimin with an unbeleivable NBA body similar to Amare Stoudamire in his build. He was an absolute beast down low posting 5 blocks and going 8-9 from the floor in 29 minutes. MBenga is a freakish athlete who runs the floor and has a feathery touch on his turnaround jumper. He is raw and appears to not fully grasp all the rules of the game, but if he can stay out of foul trouble, watch out!

Former U.S.C. Trojan Power Forward Sam Clancy was a standout for the Nets Squad postiing 17 points and 6 boards in 22 minutes of action. Clancy is an undersized power forward who stands only 6’7 but has a 7’3 wing span and specializes in posting up larger players and can shoot it out to 18 feet(Sound Familliar?).

Misc: Pavel Podkolzine is still in street clothes, but this guy is the largest man I have ever seen in my entire life.

Warriors Connection:
Former Warrior draft pick Derrick Zimmerman played 19 minutes at PG for the Nets and was solid on defense and showed some promising offensive moves. He does not, however run the offense very well or create easy shots for his teammates (0 Assists with 3 Turnovers in 19 Minutes) which is the primary role of a PG.

The second contest featured the Portland Trailblazers and the New York Knicks and a plethora of exciting draft picks.

The key matchup in this game was the battle of two of the fastest PG’s in the NBA, New Yorks Nate Robinson and Portlands Sebastian Tellfair.

First of all Nate Robinson is a player. I mean we all knew that to begin with, but you can’t really realize to the extent that he is a player until you see him live. Imagine Muggsy Bogues in his prime with a perfect jump shot and spud webb hops. He simply is unstoppable on the offensive end. He is small, but extremely quick and litterally jumps out of the gym. His first layup in warmups was an alleyoop to himself off the backboard for a reverse slam. I have no doubt that if this guy entered the dunk contest he would win easily. I am scared to think about teams trying to guard the knicks backcourt with Nate and Marbury on the floor together.

I had never seen Tellfair play live before and his skills are simply jaw dropping. He has a lightning quick crossover and can finish with either hand in traffic or stop on a dime and set up a teammate for an easy dunk. As fast as Nate Robinson is, Tellfair routinely got past him with his superior first step. His court vision and ability to find cutting players with pinpoint passes makes me think this guy will be an elite player in this league within two years.

Backcourt of the Future:
Portlands number 6 pick in this years draft is supposedly a high school player named Martell Webster but the guy wearing his jersey was a six year veteran with a polished floor game and the sweetest stroke of anybody in the gym. There is no way the guy I saw is right out of H.S. Webster has an NBA body and more importantly has the basketball intellect of a veteran NBA player. He plays under controll, can handle the ball, lets the game come to him and simply strokes the rock from any spot on the floor with pin point accuracy. His long arms and low center of gravity make him a strong candidate to be able to play both ends of the floor. Simply put, the trailblazers backcourt is very young and extremely talented.

Did you want Frye’s with that?
Former Arizona Wildcat Center Channing Frye looked confident and mature patrolling the paint for the Knicks. He has excellent footwork and a suprisingly polished low post game. He is skinny and will be pushed around by many NBA PF’s and C’s but he is quicker than most of them and can get himself to the free throw line with his array of drop steps and spin moves. The one thing he will need to learn is to dunk the ball when he gets to the rim. At times he tried to lay the ball up or release it quickly instead of taking it up with authority. Once he has five or six shots thrown into the fifth row he will learn to be more aggressive. His outside shot is smooth and should be good out to 15 feet. Defensively he was better than I thought, an aggressive shot blocker who tries to block everything and provides good weak side help. He got credit for one block but probably altered at least three or four shots in his 29 minuts of action.

Other Notables:
David Lee put up a solid performance on both ends and was a monster on the offensive and defensive boards. He is an excellent leaper and is probably quick enough to guard two positions in the NBA. His offensive production will come mostly from garbage points and putbacks but he looks like he will be a double digit rebound guy right away.

Trevor Ariza has an excellent floor game and is an explosive slasher/scorer. He needs to work on his outside shot as it is a bit erratic but he is allready a better player than Tim Thomas.

Ha Sung Gin or whatever he calls himself is a 300lb Korean guy that stands 7’3 and can actualy play a little bit. He is pretty agile for a man that size and seems to be responding well to the coaches instructions.

Travis Outlaw is an unbelievable leaper and easily dominated the competition for 32 points on 12-17 shooting (mostly dunks). If Portland can keep these young players together for three or four years while they mature, they have a chance to be a very good team down the road.

I wasn’t able to stay for the Suns, Kings game or the Wizards, Bulls game. But will be scouting those teams later in the schedule.

Who was in the crowd? Not many celebs in the crowd today but a couple of notables Isiah Thomas, George Karl, Don Nelson, Jerry Tarkanian.

Preview:
Tomorrow we get our first look at Chris Paul, Gerald Green and others. Warriors don’t play until Friday.