Month: October 2013

Do the Golden State Warriors Have the Deepest Roster in the NBA?

Mar 02, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes (40) celebrates with guard Stephen Curry (30) during the first quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

This article was originally published on Golden Gate Sports.

The Golden State Warriors have made several upgrades to their roster this offseason. On paper, this roster is better than last year’s. Although it was rough to lose Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry, the Warriors made some significant additions to the roster that more than made up for the loss of those two players. They upgraded not only their bench, but their starting lineup too.

Mark Jackson has said that he technically has six starters on his team, which isn’t a bad problem to have. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes, David Lee, and Andrew Bogut are all more than capable of starting, so Jackson will have to decide which player would be the best sixth man.

It makes the most sense for the Warriors to start Thompson over Barnes. Barnes will excel in the role of sixth man, because he will be able to go up against weaker lineups, which will allow him to dominate his opposing small forward. Barnes would be the primary scorer off the bench, so, if anything, he will get even more chances to show off his game.

This is one of the reasons why Iguodala’s presence will help not only Barnes’ development, but also will help the whole team’s identity. On the court, Iguodala likes slashing to the basket, which will complement Curry and Thompson’s shooting very well. Iguodala is also athletic, versatile, and hard-working. His veteran presence will only help this team grow the team chemistry that they had last season.

July 11, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Andre Iguodala (left) poses for a photo with Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers (right) in a press conference after a sign-and-trade deal for Iguodala to become a Golden State Warriors player at the Warriors Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

On the bench, the Warriors have so many players that can contribute, besides Barnes. In the offseason, the Warriors acquired Toney Douglas, to fill Jack’s role of backup point guard, and Marreese Speights, to fill Landry’s role of backup power forward. They also acquired Jermaine O’Neal to fill the backup center role that Festus Ezeli and Andris Biedrins had last season. Biedrins was part of the trade to acquire Iguodala, and Festus Ezeli is currently out with a knee injury.

Douglas is an excellent defender. He gets steals, he gets deflections, and he’s quick and agile. He also can shoot the three pretty well, and he’s got a high basketball IQ. Just in training camp alone, he’s already made an impact. He’s helped Curry, Thompson, and others improve, because his defense is making them work harder and perform better.

Speights isn’t quite the scorer that Landry was, but he can shoot the mid-range shot. Defensively, he’s a better rebounder and shot blocker than Landry was though. Speights is also 6’10” and 245 pounds, so he can play both power forward and center. He’s 25, so he’s still developing his game and maturing. He will only continue to grow, so he’s a great addition to this Warriors team.

O’Neal is a 17-year NBA veteran and a six-time All-Star. His veteran leadership and size will help the Warriors. He’s played in 90 postseason games, so he can bring his experience to this young Warriors team. He’s 6’11” and 255 pounds, so he’s quite the inside presence. He blocks shots and rebounds, so he will help the Warriors’ defense.

In addition to those acquisitions, the Warriors also drafted Nemanja Nedovic with the 30th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. It’s not clear how many minutes Nedovic will play this season, but he is certainly an intriguing prospect. He’s extremely athletic, he’s great in the open court, he attacks the rim, and he’s fearless. He could work on his passing and ball distrbution skills. If given a chance, he could certainly upgrade the Warriors in the areas of athleticism, fearlessness, and ability to attack the basket.

During the summer, Kent Bazemore and Draymond Green participated in the Las Vegas Summer League. These two players led the Warriors’ Summer League team to winning the inaugural Las Vegas Summer League Championship. Both of them improved greatly because of this experience.

Bazemore is an excellent defender, and, according to many of the Warriors players and coaches, he has shown much improvement in many other areas too. He has improved his ball distribution skills, and he’s become a better shooter, even from three-point range. Douglas, Nedovic, and Bazemore can all play backup point guard, so it will be interesting to see how minutes will be distributed. Regardless, Bazemore will get more minutes this season, whether it be at backup point guard or shooting guard, because he’s worked hard and improved in the offseason.

Feb 9, 2013; Dallas, TX, USA; Golden State Warriors shooting guard Kent Bazemore (20) drives to the basket past Dallas Mavericks point guard Darren Collison (4) during the game at the American Airlines Center. The Mavericks defeated the Warriors 116-91. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Green has lost 15-20 pounds this offseason, which has improved his agility and fitness level. Losing this weight has also helped Green take some pressure off his knees. Green will be a great energy guy off the bench, and he does everything pretty well. Especially now that Green has a full season and playoff experience under his belt, his versatility and passion will be an even greater asset off the bench for the Warriors.

Even though he’ll be out the first few months of the season, Ezeli will be another quality weapon off the Warriors bench. He was thrown into a starting role last season when Bogut was injured, and he gained some valuable experience from that. It’ll be interesting to see how he’s improved once he returns from injury.

To add more depth at the center position, the Warriors have also signed their second round pick from last season, Ognjen Kuzmic. He is a 7’1″ center and is very athletic and mobile, given his size. He can rebound, block shots, and he can play defense. He needs to bulk up a little more, work on his post game, and work on a perimeter jumper though.

As if the Warriors weren’t already deep, they also have four quality prospects fighting for the final roster spot. Dewayne Dedmon is another 7-footer who can rebound and block shots. Joe Alexander is a forward who already has some NBA experience. Cameron Jones, a shooting guard, played for the Santa Cruz Warriors last season, and he’s a good defender and shooter. He also was a significant contributor to the Las Vegas Summer League championship team.

Lastly, Seth Curry, the younger brother of Stephen Curry, is a combo guard out of Duke who, like his brother, is a fantastic shooter and has some experience handling the ball. It’s unclear which player will get that final spot, but it would be great for the fans to see Curry get it.

Arguably, the biggest strength for the Warriors this season is their depth. The Warriors have the deepest roster in the NBA, and this is one of the reasons why they will be legitimate contenders in the Western Conference this year.

Let’s Go Warriors: Stephen Curry and the Most Popular Players in Golden State Warriors History

The Golden State Warriors have been the home to several of the game’s greats. There are some players though who might not necessarily be the best on the court, but they have been fan favorites.

Read the rest of the article on Let’s Go Warriors.

Golden Gate Sports: San Francisco 49ers Roundtable

Golden Gate Sports held a San Francisco 49ers Roundtable before the season started and after the first four games of the season. The six writers for the 49ers on Golden Gate Sports answered five burning questions, similar to ESPN’s 5-on-5 format. I participated in both of them, and I’d love if you’d check them out:

San Francisco 49ers Roundtable: 5 Questions On The Upcoming Season

San Francisco 49ers Roundtable: 5 Burning Questions After The First Four Games

San Francisco Giants: 2013 Season in Review

Sep 29, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey (28) thanks the fans after the final game of the season at AT

This article was originally published on Golden Gate Sports.

The San Francisco Giants had a rough season. Even though they brought back a very similar roster to the one that won the World Series last year, they failed to replicate another winning, successful season.

There are several reasons why the Giants had such a poor season. First of all, they were inconsistent. The starting pitching started off horribly, so the offense had to carry the team. Then, Angel Pagan went down with his hamstring injury, so the offense started struggling. By the time the team started playing good, all-around baseball again, it was too late. The Dodgers were winning so many games that they were almost unstoppable, and the Giants had dug themselves into too large of a hole in the standings.

Another reason why the Giants failed to make the playoffs was injuries. As mentioned before, Pagan’s injury significantly affected the Giants’ chances. Although Gregor Blanco had a couple solid months earlier in the season, he wasn’t able to make the impact the Giants needed at the leadoff spot. Neither did Andres Torres. Neither of these players were expected to either, given the fact that they came into the season forming a left-field platoon.

Ryan Vogelsong was also out for a significant amount of time with a broken hand. Vogelsong struggled to start out the season. He was starting to re-gain his form in a start against the Nationals on May 20th, and then he dislocated a joint in his pinky on his pitching hand when he was hit by a pitch.

Marco Scutaro has also dealt with a couple injuries throughout the season. He sustained tendon damage to his left pinkie finger on June 11th, and he has also dealt with a sore back and hip all season. Brandon Crawford, Buster Posey, and Pablo Sandoval have dealt with injuries too.

After making deep postseason runs in two of the past three seasons, it make sense why the Giants had so many injuries. Overly fatigued bodies are more susceptible to injury, so this must have been the reason why this Giants team had unfortunate luck in terms of injuries. In fact, Bruce Bochy pointed out that almost all of the Giants players who participated in the World Baseball Classic were injured at some point this season.

Injuries weren’t the only reason why the Giants struggled this season though. They lacked clutch hitting at times, they struggled on defense, and they had very little production from the leadoff spot. However, many of these things come back to the Giants’ team chemistry.

Jun 8, 2013; Phoenix AZ, USA; The San Francisco Giants base runner Hunter Pence (8) and team celebrate after Pence scored in the fourth inning against The Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Hilderbrand-USA TODAY Sports Images

They have some of the best team chemistry in all of MLB. This was evident when they won the World Series last season. When one person is doing well, many other players do well too. They feed off of each other’s energy, and they truly play for each other.

Unfortunately, the opposite is true too. When one player is slumping, whether it be on offense or on defense, other players end up struggling too. When the whole team is slumping, they start pressing. Each player wants to become the player who will break the team out of their slump. Then they put too much pressure on themselves, and their game starts to suffer even more. It becomes a vicious cycle, and it happened this season for the Giants. Their clutch hitting, defense, and consistency suffered because of this.

The San Francisco Giants finished the 2013 season with a record of 76-86. They tied for third place in the NL West, and they failed to make the playoffs after winning two World Series titles in the past three seasons.

Although this sounds like a disappointing season, the Giants actually finished off the season on a great note. The Giants won 10 of their last 15 games, and since August 24th, they went 20-14 to end the season.

The Giants had essentially been out of the playoff hunt since July or August, so this run doesn’t technically mean anything in terms of standings. However, this run is definitely significant.

The Giants will now have a longer offseason than they’re used to, which will give the whole team some much needed rest going into next season. Even though they’re facing a longer offseason, they will be able to carry some of the momentum they had during that run into next season. This is significant, because the Giants can go into the 2014 season with some confidence, instead of going into next season disappointed with the results of the 2013 season.

“This game was a great way to go into the offseason,” Hunter Pence said after he led the Giants to a walkoff win in the last game of the season. “One of the goals during the rough times was to dig a little deeper and find a way to get momentum again. I think we did that.”

After witnessing the Giants impressive run the end the season, it’s hard not to think about what could have been. How much did the Giants really miss Pagan? How much did Pagan’s absence really affect the Giants?

Apr 27, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants center fielder Angel Pagan (16) reacts after scoring during the third inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

“He changes our club, no question about it,” Bochy said. “I think we’d be in a better situation than where we are.”

On the field, Pagan provides speed on the basepaths, he’s an effective leadoff hitter, he finds ways to get on base, he has some power, he’s an excellent hitter at AT&T Park, and he’s pretty good defensively. The Giants lacked some depth in the outfield this season, and they clearly missed his presence at the leadoff spot.

Off the field, Pagan is not just their leadoff hitter, but he is their sparkplug. He is the energy and the passion of this team. He could’ve potentially re-fueled the Giants on and off the field when they were collectively slumping.

Pagan injured himself after his inside-the-park home run on May 25th. The Giants truly started struggling in June and July, and they couldn’t recover from that. The Giants couldn’t have stopped the Dodgers’ incredible run, but it would’ve been interesting to see what the Giants could’ve accomplished if Pagan hadn’t gotten injured.

“We can all see right now that we’re a good team, a championship team,” Pagan said. “This year happened to be a tough one but that happens to every team. I think the most important thing is to reflect on the year and use it as motivation and look at what is happening now.”

There’s always next year for the Giants. In fact, they like winning championships in even-numbered years. Maybe 2014 is their year to get back to their winning ways.

Let’s Go Warriors: Jarrett Jack and the Other Great Sixth Men in Golden Warriors History

The sixth man on an NBA team has a crucial role. They come in off the bench and provide some energy, usually in the form of scoring, and they hopefully provide a smooth transition between the starters and the reserves.

In Golden State Warriors history, there haven’t been many pure sixth men. Some players have started off as key bench players and then later become starters. There are also some players who aren’t necessarily the first person off the bench to go into the game, but they were typically the most important player off the bench.