That was fun. Although getting a lot more crowded than the last two years.

AR is really fun to watch. He does not duplicate Wright in any way at all. My favorite thing about him is his vision. He sees the floor very well and uses that skill not only to make good passes but to put himself in good position to rebound, block shots and take advantage of mismatches. It is very exciting when he takes a rebound or steal and immediately goes into attack mode. I could feel the tension in the crowd as we all waited to see what he would do. Some comments I heard. "I can't believe he is 6'9". " He looks like Chris Bosh".

A couple "non stat" things. In the 1st quarter he was leading the break and threw a no look bounce pass that slid by one of the "bench scrubs" who was not ready for it. (if he had caught it it was a sure dunk) It was not a perfect pass but a better player would have caught it. He was pissed. He slapped his hands, looked over at Smart as if to say "get this guy out of here", then took a somewhat nasty look at the player. He immediately checked that attitude and went back on defense. He also seems to like contact. He actually goes and looks for it and sometimes seems to try to use his elbows to get under the other guys skin. Got into a "wrestle for the ball" moment with Speights and actually yanked the ball from him as he fell to the floor. His "thin-ness" is not an issue at all. The coaches used him well. He brought the ball up when the mismatch called for it. Drove around bigger guys with no problem and pulled up over shorter guys who could stay with him. (Thaddeus Young guarded him most of the time.) I am not going to comment on his shooting yet. Two more games (for me)to go. He shot pretty well today. Relaxed and confident. His range is about 18 feet and in. (he missed one three pointer by about a yard and a half) I really like his little pull up jumper at about 12 feet. When he gets his defender backpedaling there is no way they can get a hand near him.
He is quite out of shape and seemed to tire fairly quickly. I don't think that will be a problem as he is quite "cut" and obviously takes care of his body. He is definately a 3. He needs space to operate in. Teams will try to crowd him. He reminds me in a wierd way of Montay. Fearless and skilled. Sometimes questionable in their decisions, but always aggressive.
Wright is a skinny 4. Very active and has a great feel for being around the ball near the basket. Got his hands on everything. His problem will be that bigger 4's will be able to knock him off his jump. Hopefully his long arms and quick first and second jump will make up for that. (he has an awesome 2nd jump.) He can't really play facing the basket. I think he will be an incredible garbage guy. He certainly has the physical tools and smarts to develop a "go to" move. I guess we are all hoping for the swing to the middle baby hook. It would be unstoppable.
Hendrix did not play. Hurt??
CJ was steady. Not quite quick enough to play allot of minutes but a very good player. A tough kid and a good defender. When he was in the game the score went in our favor. When he sat it went the other way.
Marco was OK. He played point for about two minutes and I thought he did OK. Good to know the coaches are thinking of that as a match up advantage. He seemed to play harder on defense this summer. Last summer he seemed to think the rep that the Warriors don't play any defense was actually true. Same ole same ole. Forced a few shots but you always think he is going to make them. Beautiful stroke.
Admunson is pretty good. Very active. He duplicates Hendrix and I think Hendrix is bigger and stronger. Who knows.
Speights is going to be good. Unlike Wright, when he goes up he does not get bumped off his jump. Explosive leaper. Lacking in offensive skills but should be a good player with his physical make-up.
Thaddeus Young was very fun as well. Very athletic and plays with a cool swagger.
No one else on the Warriors roster is worth writing about. Probably the worst group of non draftees I have seen in my 15 years of going to these games.

Warriorsworld.net hooked up with Dennis O’Donnell, CBS 5 Sports Director for a Q&A about the Warriors and Bay Area Sports.

Do you feel the Warriors as an organization have a commitment to winning? Is Winning their first priority?

Absolutely. But for the life of me I can't understand why the big man has always eluded Don Nelson. Even during the era of Mullin-Richmond-Hardaway they needed the banger. The big softie just didn't do it for me. I love his brand of basketball, don't get me wrong. But it's frustrating to see them overmatched by Boozer and the Jazz. And I don't think that need was addressed this off-season either.

Yes. Cubs fans. It's been 100 years of pain for the masochistic Cubs fans who lay blame on Steve Bartman for all failures of the past 50 years. But what about the 50 years prior? At least the Warriors were treated to an NBA championship in the modern era!

Mullin brought cred back to the Warriors and corrected the Montgomery experiment with Nelson. Hey, it's not championship basketball, but the front office deserves the credit for restoring life to Oracle. I think the media recognizes that. I know the fans do.

Without question. Remember they're very young players who have matured very quickly. Biedrins isn't the banger you want but his footwork, touch, and overall basketball skills will be a key ingredient to the long term success of the team. So goes for Monta. I'm curious to see how he fares at the point. If you can prove the naysayers wrong he'll make everyone forget who Baron Davis was. If not..well..CJ Watson anyone?

The championship season, without question. I loved the tandem of George Johnson and Clifford Ray. They were hard-hat type of players who played outside the spotlight of the others including Rick Barry. Attles was a manic on the bench. Bill King was a pain in the rear end for officials every time they ran past him on the scorers table. It wasn't just that they won the championship. I loved their chemistry. They were underdogs and ended up sweeping the series.

Barry Bonds hitting the home run. Despite all the controversy surrounding the player, the moment will be unforgettable in the minds of everyone who saw it.

I suppose it depends on your priorities and expectations.The business is changing but the passion is not. The world needs good journalists and good writers. People who can tell stories in compelling ways. I would suggest aspiring broadcasters and journalists to follow their hearts and make their career choices based on happiness over financial gain. Let me say this about the business: Our jobs are predicated on what happens in the sporting world. We find ourselves in the midst of a major trade, a pennant race, a record home run or simply watching a great tennis match. It's a great gig.

Special Thanks to Akilah Monifa and Dennis O'donnell

How will you remember Baron Davis’ tenure as a Golden State Warrior?

Let’s take a look at what the Warriorsworld community had to say:

Four Touchdowns in a Single Game

All else aside, he was a top level player. It had been so long since we had one of those, I think a lot of us forgot what it was like. Maybe that's what made his tenure here so great in my mind.

I'll always remember his first game against the pistons in 2005. Although he was clearly rusty and still recovering, you could just see how great of a player he was and how much more talented he was then his teammates. It was incredible to watch, even though we lost iirc. We finally had a great player of our own, a face of the franchise who could back it up on the court, and it felt great.....

....others have mentioned barons swagger, and I'll second that. I'll always remember that short video clip of him jabbing dirk nowitzki in the ribs and then grinning as soft ass dirk was clearly bothered.

And, of course, there was the 2006/2007 nba playoffs. Baron will always have a special place with me because of that year. Not just leading us to the playoffs, but absolutely carrying the entire team for long stretches (re-watch game one of the 1st round) and making it an absolute blast at the same time.

Max Power

When I first heard of the trade to get him from New Orleans, my first thought was, "No way. A genuine All-Star coming to GS?" Ever since the Sprewell era, the W's have never had a universally recognized star player. We had pretty good players (Jamison, Richardson), raw diamonds in the rough that would eventually become stars (Arenas), but mostly mediocre crap like, well, the rest of our roster in the late '90s-early '00s.

Baron changed that. We now had a player who was cool enough to play soccer with Steve Nash and attend Tony Parker's wedding. You think Adonal Foyle gets invited to those events? Not to mention all of Baron's high-powered Hollywood friends making the Oracle as star-studded as Staples Center.

Obviously, his contribution on the court was great. He and Nellie took us to the playoffs. At times, he could be extraordinarily selfish and lazy, like most of the second half of the 2007-2008 season. But I will always remember the dunk over Kirilenko and the last second shot to beat the Lakers. He made Warriors basketball exciting.

I also liked that he was a bit of an intellectual, counteracting the stereotype of the dumb black jock. He read books by Malcolm Gladwell and organized a Warriors book club. He made movies for Sundance. Unfortunately, his outside interests eventually interfered with his basketball performance.

I think we made the right decision to not give him a fat 5 year extension, as he is not a player that will improve with age. And truthfully, we probably wouldn't get over the hump with him being the main cog. I'm a little bitter that he didn't love us THAT much in the end, but I understand his decision.

Fadedash

It was a rollercoaster, which I think is best summed up with, "NO NO NO NO NO NO.....YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!" anytime Baron took a fade away 3 with 20 seconds left on the shot clock.

He was a star and the best player we've had in at least 20 years, but he always left a lot to be desired of. He'll be at home in Hollywood

Jason Bourne

As a warriors fan, i was sky high when the warriors got baron davis for speedy claxton and dale davis. The hornets did it for cap space and warriors gm chris mullin did it because he wanted to pull off a coup. The hornets agreed to the trade because baron, even though their best point guard, had problems with their coaching staff and had a history of nagging injuries.

Baron continued to have the nagging injuries, but he rose to become a star on the warriors even though he didn't make it to the nba all-star level. He became the best warriors player and their leader. He eventually led the warriors to a playoff berth with a magical and incredible 2007 season capped off with an unbelieveable 16-5 finish to just squeak into the playoffs and edge the los angeles lakers. It culminated a 42-40 win season and ended twelve long years of warriors futility by making the playoffs. the motto became, "we believe," during the exciting finish to the season and it carried on through the playoffs. The warriors surprised, no shocked everybody, by defeating the dallas mavericks 4-2 in the first round, led by their star player baron davis. the excitement continued to the second round and the utah jazz where davis led the team to a valiant battle against the jazz. even though the jazz won and knocked the warriors off, fans will remember davis' monster dunk on a tough andrei kirilenko during that series.

The following 2007-2008 season was even better for baron davis. He led the warriors to a 48-34 finish, but the warriors just missed making the playoffs. Davis had his best season as a warrior and his career. He deserved to be an all-star, but he just missed because of being in the western conference and it having tougher competition. While it was disappointing to miss the playoffs, warrior fans still remained positive because the warriors had turned the corner and were a good team and future playoff contender with baron davis leading the team. They had promising young players on the team and had drafted well in 2008.

Baron davis was set to come back and lead the team for the 2008-2009 season except he shocked the organization by deciding to opt out of his contract on the last day. The warriors fans and the team was not expecting this because davis had said that he would return, but in the end he made a business decision in order to benefit himself. one could not blame him for that and now the warriors were forced to make a business decision for themselves, too. They decided not to give baron a multi-year contract that he wanted because even though baron davis was their best player and star who they counted on to lead them to future glory, he still could not shake his reputation for not getting along with the coaching staff and the belief that he will have nagging injuries again as he did in the past. Davis could not shake his past.

while shocked and saddened that baron davis is not going to come back, i cannot disagree with the golden state warriors' decision. It is difficult to commit so much money to an aging baron davis when he hasn't demonstrated completely that he has matured and gotten rid of his past issues with the coaching staff. He may not be able to prevent getting injured, but the doubts about him staying in shape hurt his cause, too. In the end, warrior fans will look back fondly at baron davis and when discussing him will consider him one of the great warriors of all time

Taco Bell

Despite the rollercoaster ride, Baron took us to the playoffs in 2007 and helped us reach 48 wins in 2008. He provided leadership, spunk, swagger, energy, and poise to our team. He took us to places where we haven't been to in 13 years. He will be missed.

As for signing with the Clippers, while it certainly was a surprise, I have no hard feelings for him. I expected him to leave next year, with an LA team being his most likely destination. He did what he had to do: his heart has always been in LA, and he wanted a longer contract coming off a solid, injury-free season.

Baron has his flaws as a basketball player, especially if you look at him on a game-by-game basis. But at the end of it all, I will remember him as the player who brought this team its deserving respect

Earl j. Slick

I was jazzed when the Warriors got him, especially with the run at the end of his first season. But from then on it was like watching two guys: Bad Baron would show up and chuck threes early in the clock, pound the ball without moving it, and clog the offense. Good Baron was one of the most dominant point guards around. The highlight was clearly the Dallas playoff season, where he was at his best, but in the end I was more frustrated with the guy than happy with him. He could have done more by doing less, if you know what I mean.

I don't begrudge his move, and I'm not too sorry he's gone. I just hope the team can create an opportunity from his departure rather than making it another in a long line of personnel disasters.

Flashfire

He helped bring respect back to the team, especially during the playoff run with some amazing shots and plays against Dallas. There, we saw Baron Davis at his absolute best: a clutch performer and leader.

Unfortunately, some of the baggage he comes with showed up last year. Yes, he played the entire season, but by the end of the year it was obvious that it sapped too much of his energy compared to past years where he had 20 games off or so, which probably kept him fresher.

He often played selfishly instead of working to move the ball around more, he took ill-advised shots and when your team leader is doing that it's hard to expect other players not to follow that example, and he had little left by the time the Warriors were eliminated.

There were times where it looked like other things were more important to him than basketball and it showed (a home loss to Minnesota coming after he was at a film festival being one major example). The frustrating thing is if he played more in control of himself and actually tried to be a Steve Nash type - which he said he wanted to be on Media Day before the season - he probably could have led this team to bigger and better things. Instead, I don't think he was committed to putting the same amount of hard work and effort into it every game. You could tell pretty easily when you'd get "Super Leader Baron" and "I Don't Give A Crap Baron."

In the end, the thrills he brought to the team should stick the most in people's memories, but at the same time I've got a sour taste in my mouth that leaves me wondering how much better it could have been. If he worked harder to fix some of his problems and play more consistently, he probably would have got the extension he says he wanted from the Warriors.

One Flap Down

he was a dynamic presence and a leader who brought this team together and (finally) made us once again relevant. He was the closest thing to a superstar that we've had on this team in a long time.

He wasn't perfect... he jacked up too many 3's and still got hurt too often, but he was the team leader, and for the most part helped us as a team get the most out of our talent.

I wouldn't blame him for leaving for more dough, except for the fact that he really went back on his word when he did. Unfortunately, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, and somewhat soils the great memories of his time here.

Kevdawg

It was fun while it lasted, I'll remember the time he spent here fondly. He was a great showman and basketball here was more exciting than I can ever remember.

Barnes' tattoo

Talent, Heart and Swagger

No fear to take the last shot or drive into the lane with KG/BOSH/Amare waiting for him because he knew they had no idea what kind of shot he was going to put up or how he was going to dish or kick out at the last second. oh...and that sweet neoprene girtle.

Believe

A Warrior

For better or for worse the Warriors have whittled away their free cap space on second and third tier players.  In the brutal Western Conference where 48 wins won't even get you into the playoffs, and every playoff team has 1-2 star players, the Warriors have 0 star players.  The 08-09 Warriors resemble the Warriors of the late 90's and early 2000 where every year brought new hope based on potential talent.   Breaking down the team in a realistic manner we have.

"We hope they will become stars!"

 Biedrins	8
 Wright	2.5
 Marco	1.5
 Monta	10
 Randolph	 1.3
 Total For Stars (?)	 23.3

 

"We know they aren't stars!"

The Warriors are spending the bulk of their salary on players that are the 3rd, 4th, 5th option or bench players on good teams.  The Warriors have no legitimate 1st or second option players.  Other than in the movie Hoosiers when has a team of mediocre players ever won anything in the current NBA.  To top it all off the end result of the JRich trade is an expired exemption and Wright who didn't play much at all last year.  The outcome of the aquisition of Baron Davis is nothing in return for his departure.

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