Season Preview: Golden State Warriors

Joe: I understand that there will probably be a rush to make this everybody's "second-favorite team" because of the huge upset over the Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs last year - and honestly, looking at this roster I fully understand why. This team starts with Baron Davis, one of the most talented players in the NBA who has suffered from bouts of inconsistency due to injuries and general malaise. Reports out of Golden State have Davis as fit-and-trim and looking forward to taking this team to the next level. Selfishly I preferred it when he was kind of out of shape...it made his dunks over people that much more impressive. It was kind of like he was saying "Imagine if I were to take this basketball stuff seriously." Now that he is taking it seriously, and I know his talent, It's now expected.

Some would say that the loss of Jason Richardson hurt this team, but Stephen Jackson brings so much more to the table defensively that hes probably a better fit for Don Nelson's chaotic style. Trading him for a big that could run the floor in Brandan Wright was incredibly smart considering they were overloaded at the two-guard spot with the emergence of Monta Ellis.

Although this will be one of the more enjoyable teams to watch, I'm not sold that they will experience an over-abundance of success. It would be impressive if they can keep up the tenacious defense being played during that Mavericks series through the long grind of an 82 game season. Factor in an injury to Baron Davis and this team becomes a machine without a start button as there is nobody on the roster that can adequately play the point guard position with any type of consistency, let alone play to the level of Davis.

Quang: last year, i watched the golden state-dallas series with several die hard warriors friends of mine who hadn't seen them in the playoffs since latrell sprewell was bald. so maybe some of their enthusiasm rubbed off on me, but it was as fun and exciting an nba playoff series i can remember and i'm not sure i've ever screamed as much at two teams without money being on the line. the mavericks had no answers for them as if the warriors were some really hard sudoku puzzle. most impressive to me was the fact that the warriors managed to knock out the best team in the league while three of their key players, al harrington, monta ellis, and mickael pietrus, were essentially non factors. i guess this speaks to how well baron davis and the rest of the team played. unfortnately in the next round, the jazz exposed many of warriors' weaknesses, namely their inability to play down low. utah tossed them aside after five games which gave them an early start to reload for another season of frenetic basketball.

with jason richardson gone, the team now revolves around baron davis who everyone knows when healthy is one of the top players in the league. that's why last year's playoffs were more of a coming out get together or coming out luncheon than it was a coming out party for him. behind baron, the warriors have a more mature stephen jackson ready to help lead the team. a few years ago this would have been a recipe of disaster, but this year i think it's more of a recipe for crazy halftime speeches. the other key holdovers include monta ellis, matt barnes, and andris biedrins who return hoping to build on last year's breakout seasons. and if al harrington figures out what went wrong in the playoffs last year and if pietrus plays like he remembers that this is his contract season, the warriors will be in good shape. the back end of the rotation was a question mark last year and could be especially important if injuries hit as hard as they did early last year. kelenna azubuike and patrick o'bryant are hoping to participate more this year than they did last. azubuike has been playing well in the preason but the jury is still out on patty cakes. why a player's skill level can be determined by a jury is something i'll never understand. anyways, the new faces include troy hudson, who has been living off of a few good postseason games for a couple years now, marco bellinelli, who was drafted in part to sell bellinelliball t-shirts, brandan wright, who despite being immensely talented is closer to being served in a sushi restaurant than he is to making an impact, and austin croshere, who went to the same high school as baron davis along with almost 1,000 other famous people like kate hudson and zach morris and that nerdy black kid with the raspy voice.

more specifically regarding this year, i think the warriors will fight for one of the last playoff spots all season. but ultimately, i'm not sure they have enough to make it two consecutive playoff berths. i don't think they've improved that much, if at all, and i'm not convinced their committee of shooting guards can replace jason richardson's production and leadership. they positioned them well for the future, but to me, their prospects for this season are a little murky. but if the warriors and their fans still believe and if don nelson continues playing his benny hill brand of basketball, maybe they'll prove me wrong. in which case, i'll just edit this post to reflect what actually happens.

Dhivy: I was very disappointed in the Golden State Warriors last year. When an 8-seed defeats a 1-seed in the playoffs, the player with the biggest mouth is supposed to lie down on the court, hold the ball straight up in the air, and scream at the top of his lungs. Baron Davis should be ashamed of himself.

Like the Rockies are doing now, the Warriors clicked at the right time had a great season. Unlike the Rockies, the Warriors played basketball and are really tall. As much as I loved watching this team last year, I can’t imagine them replicating the same level of success. Baron Davis showed the world the kind of player he can be when he’s healthy, but Baron Davis is never healthy. And Stephen Jackson played a huge role in their success last year. The same Stephen Jackson who ran into a crowd and started punching random people in Detroit. The same Stephen Jackson who fired a gun outside a strip club in Indiana. The same Stephen Jackson who once admitted he still wears gang colors. The fact that Don Nelson called Jackson “one of the finest human beings I’ve ever known” makes me wonder what caliber of sordid individuals Nelson is usually accompanied by.

On the bright side, the Warriors have three rookies who I expect to be solid players. Stephane Lasme averaged 5 blocks and recorded four triple-doubles in his senior season at UMass. A glaring weakness for the Hawks last year was interior toughness, and Lasme provides it in bunches. Marco Belinelli was great in “Life is Beautiful” and has a game tailor-made for the NBA. And while I’m not entirely sold on Brandan Wright, he was one of the most physically-gifted college players last year and should strive in a wide open system. If Monta Ellis can recover from his scary training camp injury and Matt Barnes can provide some of the scoring the Warriors lost in the Jason Richardson trade, it’s not a stretch to imagine another postseason featuring Jessica Alba courtside.

Achilles Heel

• Patrick O'Bryant (j)
• Troy Hudson (q)
• Stephen Jackson (d)

Unsung Hero

• Troy Hudson (j)
• Mickael Pietrus (q)
• Stephane Lasme (d)

Bold Prediction

• A calmer Stephen Jackson will run into the stands again. This time he signs a Golden State fan's 'We Believe" t-shirt before punching someone in the face. (j)
• Andris Biedrins' horrible free throw form results in other teams employing a "Hack-an-Dris" strategy. Andris is injured after the third game yet teams still foul him while he's on the bench in street clothes. He's forced to shoot free throws because the refs say "there isn't a rule against it" even though there clearly is. (q)
• Eva Longoria cheats on Tony Parker with Mikael Pietrus and they agree to a French joust, in which two people drive those funny bikes at each other while holding baguettes. (d)

Favorite Memory

• I tried but failed to find a better moment than the Baron Davis helmet on Andrei Kirilenko. (j)
• Baron von Davis' cold war ending dunk on Kirilenko that was so bad that Kirilenko was crying about it two weeks before it happened at the end of the bench during a first round game against Houston. (q)
• Baron Davis hugs a random fan after the Warriors knock of the Mavericks in Round 1 of the playoffs. (d)