Did we let the Wrong Coach get Away?

[Diesel]

http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82%257E10835%257E1109249,00.html

I wonder. Had we released Lon at the end of Last season and rewarded Emuss with control of the franchise, would we be in a better position?

[JTFan31]

I was thinking the same thing just the other night. I mean do they have a couple of more ahletes than us and more outside shooters, but he is doing a heck of a job over there in Golden State.

[Diesel]

Not really?

I think he did just what he said..

He helped the team find it's identity.

Same thing with Hubie in Memphis. Hubie knows how to coach.

Lon didn't know how to reach playes on this level.

[beav]

I was also thinking the same thing... I used to live in the bay area and the warriors have been ignored for years... muss is actually beating the teams that he is supposed to beat and shockingly they have actually been observed playing defense on a regular basis!

will wonders never cease?

I know that shareef had a lot of respect for him too... why don't we just trade shareef for jamison now? we're certainly not losing too much on defense...

[Traceman]

I remember several of us (Jaywalker, myself, you and a few others) wondering if we were messing up by letting Musselman go to GS and keeping Lon. Looks like that proved to be true.

[KB21]

You should read some Warrior's fans comments on their situation then.

They pretty much have the same gripes that some have about Stotts.

Stotts plays Wilks over Dickau and gets slammed by fans. Well, Warrior fans are questioning Mussleman for playing guys like Bob Sura and Earl Boykins over Mike Dunleavy Jr. They questioned Muss playing Boykins more minutes at PG than they play Gilbert Arenas. They questioned why Muss stuck with Jason Richardson when he wasn't playing well, and now they question Muss on why he isn't playing Richardson more than 19 mpg.

Fact is, the Warriors are in a similar boat the Hawks are in. They have a point guard that is their best player but isn't a true point guard. They have a none defense small forward who is more of a post oriented offensive player that plays no defense. They have a defensive big man that has to make up for mistakes their forwards make defensively.

They are pretty much mirror images with the exception of Jason Richardson, who is a future star IMO but just a bad fit in the same backcourt as Arenas.

Arenas and Terry are similar, almost identical players. At the start of the year, a case could have been made for DerMarr Johnson and Jason Richardson both being future very good players. SAR and Antawn Jamison are virtually the same player. They have a perimeter oriented offensive player to compliment Jamison in Troy Murphy. Atlanta has Glen Robinson to compliment SAR. Eric Dampier and Theo Ratliff is a virtual wash.

They are almost identical.

GS is 15-22. ATL is 14-23.

[Traceman]

right now and I think EVERYONE thought we would be around .500 right now. GS has some promising young talent but they don't have a single player who has been in an All Star game on the roster. We have THREE guys who have played in All Star games and the oldest one (Big Dog) just turned 30 last week. We also have a rising young talent in JT. How many teams had 4 guys on the All Star ballot before the season began?

GS started 3-9 but they are 13-13 since. They are 7-4 in their last 11. Those guys in GS didn't even compete on a lot of nights last year but even when they lose now, they play hard and they are competitive. If they played in the EC I think they would be a legitimate playoff contender. They're 8-5 against the EC so far.

Musselman is obviously doing a great job out there. If those folks out in GS don't want him, I'd LOVE to have him back.

[Diesel]

I think they sit in a better boat than us.

Here's why.

Troy Murphy. He's probably the best second year player playing. The kid is scrappy and he can rebound. He can easily be a guy you can build around. His presence allows them to play Jaimson at the SF. Really, what is needed is to move AJ altogether.. However, AJ is not that far out of position at SF.

They have shooters. They have Arenas, Welch, Murphy, even AJ (at times). They have guys who can take the ball outside. That's good.

They have bulk in the C position. Say what you want.. Damp and Fortson are 2 big guys that they can plug in. YOu say we got a shotblocker, well, they got Foyle. He's defensively equivalent to Theo (when you add in Damp's contribution). Fortson vs. Nazr = ??? I thnk Fortson might be slightly better.

But the fact that they have size with Damp is good.

But I agree... It's hard to look at Atl and GS and ask the question... Why aren't these guys winning more? Answer comes in at PG. I think Earl is the quick fix that Emuss took. Wilks is our quick fix. It will be interesting to see how we both make longterm fixes. I think GS would go after GP.

[KB21]

I disagree on Jamison, but I do like Troy Murphy.

Fortson isn't playing much for the Warriors this season. Both Jiri Welsch and Mike Dunleavy get heavy pine minutes. The Warriors rotation includes: Gilbert Arenas, Jason Richardson, Antawn Jamison, Troy Murphy, Eric Dampier, Earl Boykins, Bob Sura, Adonal Foyle, and Chris Mills though his playing time has dropped considerably lately. The team they seem to put on the floor most of the time is Boykins, Arenas, Jamison, Murphy, and Dampier/Foyle.

Their question is the same as ours though. Do they build around a combo guard in Arenas by getting him a bigger point guard/ball handling shooting guard, or do they let him go in FA this offseason and build around the more traditional Jason Richardson at shooting guard while getting someone like Chris Duhon or Luke Ridnour to run the point guard position?

IMO, I think Mussleman has a vision of Dunleavy at the 2 beside Arenas at the 1, but he isn't going to press Dunleavy into action before he is ready. I think Richardson could be traded as well as Jamison, though his contract will be very hard to move.

[Guest]

very hard to move is an understatement...

[beav]

I do speak with warriors fans... I used to live in the bay area... my two biggest hoops fan friends have seen games live for the first time in 7 years!

You can't honestly compare the records of the hawks and the warriors like that can you? The fans expectations are so low in the bay area that it is kind of silly...

what did GS have the second worst record in the league last year? all that they really added was a skinny mike dunleavy...

it took the warriors until March 8th last year to reach the same number of wins that they have already this year....

[mrhonline]

I remember when Jaywalker wrote his article before the Big Dog trade, he seemed to think the Hawks would trade for Jamison. Do you guys think we would be ANY better off if that were the case? (His contract is longer, but he's younger)...