Category Archives: Player Analysis

2010-11 Golden State Warriors Final Grades

Posted on April 14, 2011 by feltbot| 25 Comments

Monta Ellis: A+

A great scorer, yes, but this year he became so much more.  A great distributor, a great clutch closer, a great teammate. A team leader.  A superstar in the making.

A couple of years ago, I wrote that I believed that Monta had the makings of a supreme point guard, because his passes had laser-like accuracy: they always seemed to hit his man in the hands.  This opinion was scoffed at.  Well, in last night’s broadcast, we learned that Monta leads the entire NBA in shooting % by recipients of his passes.  Hmmm.         Continue reading →

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Posted in Golden State Warriors, Joe Lacob, Keith Smart, Larry Riley, Player Analysis

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Notes on Al Thornton

Posted on March 9, 2011 by feltbot| 4 Comments

That lineup at the end of the second quarter — Lee 5, Vlad 4, Thornton 3, Ellis and Curry — was +4 in 4 minutes, and will be very special going forward, I can see that.  Very glad that Vlad was used exclusively at 4 (+14 in 16 minutes). The Warriors were rewarded with some great Vladdy defense headlined by a couple of blocks.                                          Continue reading →

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Posted in Golden State Warriors, Player Analysis

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Don’t Trade Stephen Curry!

Posted on January 22, 2011 by feltbot| 67 Comments

I know there’s a Warriors-Clippers game to recap tonight, but I feel my attentions are urgently needed in another cause.

Joe Lacob has just done another round of media interviews, which is our clue that some nasty business is at hand.  His first round of interviews prepared us nicely for the firing of Don Nelson, the retention of Robert Rowell, and the glorious signings of Keith Smart, Lou Amundson and Jeremy Lin.  What was the intention of this latest round of interviews?                                Continue reading →

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Posted in Golden State Warriors, Joe Lacob, Player Analysis

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Welcome to my Nightmare

Posted on December 9, 2010 by feltbot| 23 Comments

“Welcome to my nightmare/I think you’re gonna like it.” – Alice Cooper

My twitter feed is aflame with the news that Ekpe Friday “The Nightmare” Udoh will take the court tomorrow against the Miami Heat.  Udoh practiced with the team and looked ready to multiple observers.  Marcus Thompson tweets: “Ekpe looks ready. He’s blocking shots, dunking, even making midrange jumpers.” Matt Steinmetz tweets: “Asked Reggie Williams to tell me something about Udoh. He said: ‘He’s long, and he blocks everything.’”

I haven’t been this interested and excited in a Warriors rookie debut since…, well since last year’s clear-cut — but defrauded by media ignorance — Rookie of the Year, Stephen Curry. But before that, you’d have to go back to Chris Webber.                                                    Continue reading →

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Posted in Don Nelson, Golden State Warriors, Player Analysis

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B Wright Stuffed: Warriors 90 Bulls 120

Posted on November 11, 2010 by feltbot| 22 Comments

No sense in recapping this game, so I’m just going to use this space to exorcise a couple pet peeves.  Beginning with the biggest pet among my peeves, who goes by the name of Brandan Wright.

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Posted in Golden State Warriors, Player Analysis, Recaps

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First Look: LA Lakers 105 Golden State Warriors 102

Posted on October 23, 2010 by feltbot| 33 Comments

“You are doing the defense a favor when you post up Lee or Biedrins.” —  Mark Jackson

I couldn’t agree with Mark Jackson more.  We were told by the commentators to last night’s game that Keith Smart and his staff were raving about David Lee’s “surprising” abilities in the low post. (Surprising to whom?  Matt Steinmetz et al? They weren’t surprising to feltbot.)  Jackson went on to explain that despite Lee’s talent in the post, he is one of the greatest pick and roll players in the league, and that is how the Warriors should deploy him. I couldn’t agree more, as readers of this blog know.

And yet last night we were treated by Keith Smart to four quarters of watching the Warriors trying to post up Lee and Biedrins in the heart of the Lakers defense.  Why?  For well over three quarters, Smart ran literally no pick and rolls with Lee that were designed to get him a shot.  Instead Andris Biedrins was used almost exclusively to set the high picks, with Lee standing uselessly on the wings waiting for the ball that never came. Why?

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Posted in Golden State Warriors, Keith Smart, Player Analysis, Predictions, Recaps, Wagers

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Sleep Well, My Friends: More Fantasy Basketball Sleepers

Posted on October 18, 2010 by feltbot| 32 Comments

Winning in fantasy basketball is not just a matter of lucking into one of the top two picks in the draft, although that certainly helps.  And its not just a matter of sticking to the discipline of the published draft rankings, rather than drafting your favorite players, although that certainly helps too.  A large part of winning fantasy leagues involves doing your own scouting and independent thinking to find value where no one else — not even the fantasy experts — expect to find it. In other words, it involves finding and scooping up “sleepers” — players that for different reasons are greatly undervalued heading into the season.

As I prepared for my second and final expert league fantasy basketball draft to be held later today, I realized that I had in mind a whole list of sleeper candidates that fantasy basketball enthusiasts might be interested in reading about.  So, at the risk of boring the pants off my regular readership, here it is:

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Posted in Fantasy Basketball, Player Analysis

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Fantasy Friday

Posted on October 8, 2010 by feltbot| 35 Comments

For any fantasy freaks out there who might be interested: I drafted my first fantasy basketball team of the year earlier tonight.  It’s a CBS Sports Platinum league that costs $100 bucks to enter, and pays $600 for first. So I guess this is my first NBA bet of the year.  There will be more.

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Posted in Fantasy Basketball, Golden State Warriors, Player Analysis

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Golden State Warriors Snag Lou Amundson: First Take

Posted on September 13, 2010 by feltbot| 41 Comments

In the surest sign to date that Don Nelson does not intend to play small this season, the Warriors just signed the 6-9″ 240 lb. Lou Amundson to a 2-year $5 million deal. There will be no more reliance on 20-year-old matchstick men to hold off the behemoths in the paint.  There will be no more courting of injury disasters such as befell the Warriors front-line last year, when both Brandon Wright and Anthony Randolph disappeared for the season.  There will be no more Corey Maggette at power forward. The Warriors are going to play big this season, even when they go to the bench.

And they are going to play with veterans. High basketball IQ veterans.

Amen.

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Posted in Don Nelson, Golden State Warriors, Player Analysis

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Rodney Carney

Posted on September 8, 2010 by feltbot| 23 Comments

The Warriors signed Rodney Carney today, a 26-year-old 6-7″ swingman who played for the Sixers last year.  Not exactly “The Next Big Move” I had been anticipating, but an interesting move nonetheless, and at the position I expected. Carney is that quintessential Nellie chess piece, the long, athletic defensive wing, that I have written about recently. Think Matt Barnes, Adrian Griffin, Raja Bell, Josh Howard, Latrell Sprewell, Mario Elie.  (Carney is far less talented offensively than Howard or Sprewell to be sure, but the offensive capabilities both of those players showed in the pros came as something of a surprise: they were drafted by Nellie for their special talents on defense.)

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Posted in Don Nelson, Golden State Warriors, Player Analysis

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