Golden State Of Mind

7. Golden State — John Henson, PF North Carolina The most Golden State Warriors pick ever, right?...

2012-05-16T18:00:38Z

7. Golden State — John Henson, PF North Carolina

The most Golden State Warriors pick ever, right? Think Ekpe Udoh, Brandan Wright (via draft-day trade), Anthony Randolph and others. David Lee is solid, but I think they could give in to Henson's monster range and massive potential.

Tom Martin over at The Dream Shake has a mock draft up. Look who he has at #7...

Klay Thompson named 6th best rookie.

2012-05-15T18:17:11Z

Klay Thompson named 6th best rookie.

Klay Thompson 6th in R.O.Y. voting.

Kyrie Irving wins ROY. Klay gets 5 2nd place votes and 15 3rd place votes among the 120 writers and broadcasters.

State of the Warriors Part I: Seriously Advanced Offensive Player Summaries for 2012

2012-05-13T15:18:05Z

The crickets are getting restless. The draft lottery is still a few weeks away, and while many Warriors fans have probably taken the summer off already, hardcore GSoMers like you are in need of some nourishment to keep you going. I'm here to satisfy a little bit of that hunger with some advanced stats, and not your run-of-the-mill TS% or USG%. I trust that if you're reading this now, you're smart and resourceful enough to look up those stats on your own. Heck, I'm sure you already have. No, even so-called "advanced stats" are not good enough for GSoM. In this post, I'm going to give a rundown of Synergy and my own metric Adjusted Four Factor +/- (A4PM), which breaks down RAPM into a player's effects on team shooting efficiency, turnover rates, rebounding, and free throw attempts.

Synergy

Recall that the video service Synergy breaks down plays into these categories (my abbreviations in parentheses):

Isolation (ISO)
Post-up (POST)
Pick and roll - ball handler shoots (BALL)
Pick and roll - rolling man shoots (MAN)
Spot-up jump shot (SPOT)
Coming off screen (SCREEN)
Hand off to shooter (HAND)
Cutting to basket (CUT)
Following offensive rebound (OREB)
Shot coming in transition (TRANS)
Other not categorized (OTHER)

Note that in these tables I only show players that qualified with enough plays to have a Synergy ranking. That's why, for example, you won't find Andris Biedrins anywhere.

ISO

Overall, the Warriors ran ISO 12.8% of the time with a 0.76 PPP (ranked #19 in the league).

NAME	PLAY	%TIME	NUM	PPP	RANK
Brandon Rush	ISO	10.60%	60	0.87	42
David Lee	ISO	11.80%	139	0.86	46
Nate Robinson	ISO	18.00%	108	0.84	60
Klay Thompson	ISO	10.30%	88	0.77	104
Stephen Curry	ISO	15.10%	56	0.75	123
Monta Ellis	ISO	22.60%	201	0.73	142
Charles Jenkins	ISO	14.00%	50	0.72	148
Richard Jefferson	ISO	13.40%	27	0.67	177
Dorell Wright	ISO	7.60%	47	0.60	201
Dominic McGuire	ISO	15.50%	46	0.57	208

Isolation is a play that teams should generally try to avoid because is is not that efficient, although ironically, many of the league's star players are recognized for their ability in isolation (Melo, Kobe, etc.). Without having Monta Ellis around as an "iso crutch", the Warriors will most likely run this play less often - but that could be a blessing in disguise. And when MJ does feel the need to call ISO, the Warriors actually appear to have several decent options. It's nice to see Brandon Rush at the top of this list. He's known mostly for his spot-up shooting, but apparently, when he puts the ball on the floor, he is able to create his own shot and score efficiently. It's a relatively small sample size, though, and the previous season his efficiency on ISO was only 0.70. David Lee, on the other hand, was even more efficient in isolation last season (0.90 PPP), so that number looks believable. Stephen Curry was actually much better in ISO last season (0.93 PPP on 197 plays). He only ran 56 ISO plays this season, which is a relatively small sample, but my guess is that his ankle problems had something to do with his poorer performance this season.

SPOT

The Warriors ran SPOT 19.1% of the time for a 1.09 PPP which ranked #1 in the league. This is clearly our wheelhouse.

NAME	PLAY	%TIME	NUM	PPP	RANK
Stephen Curry	SPOT	21.40%	79	1.38	3
Richard Jefferson	SPOT	37.80%	76	1.37	5
Monta Ellis	SPOT	9.80%	87	1.29	9
Brandon Rush	SPOT	34.90%	198	1.22	17
Klay Thompson	SPOT	19.70%	168	1.13	35
Nate Robinson	SPOT	18.10%	109	1.11	41
Dorell Wright	SPOT	40.70%	251	1.07	62
Charles Jenkins	SPOT	22.10%	79	0.95	155
David Lee	SPOT	12.10%	143	0.93	171
Dominic McGuire	SPOT	11.50%	34	0.56	331

I know what you're thinking...Monta shot that efficiently? The year before his PPP on SPOT plays was only 1.01. In his short time with the Bucks, he shot 1.0 PPP in 50 attempts. This just shows you (like Brandon Rush's ISO efficiency above) to be careful when looking at these Synergy numbers. These numbers bounce around, sometimes quite a lot. It's pretty clear, though, that the Warriors have assembled a team with a bunch of good spot-up shooters. The addition of Bogut could even help space the floor more and make our perimeter shooting even better. That's the hope, anyway. Before moving on, I just have to point out one thing. Dominic McGuire. Dude really can't shoot. He may be the only player in the NBA who shot better in isolation than as a spot-up shooter, which is hilarious considering how bad his ISO efficiency was (0.57 PPP). Just saying. Dude who can't shoot.

POST

The Warriors ran this play 9.4% of the time for 0.84 PPP which ranked #15 in the league.

NAME	PLAY	%TIME	NUM	PPP	RANK
Monta Ellis	POST	7.70%	69	1.07	6
Ekpe Udoh	POST	37.50%	93	0.84	68
David Lee	POST	23.70%	280	0.83	73
Jeremy Tyler	POST	30.40%	80	0.83	73
Klay Thompson	POST	3.10%	26	0.77	105

How funny is it that the Warriors, generally known as a team with a woeful post offense, lose their two best post players, one of who is a small combo guard and the other has been referred to as a "No-Stats All-Star"? Yup, that's our Warriors. The hope is Andrew Bogut helps us here, but it should be noted that his POST efficiency this season was only 0.71 PPP. In 2010-11, his efficiency was somewhat better at 0.78 PPP. And going back to 2009-10, his efficiency was 0.80 PPP. Bogut certainly demands attention in the post, but he's not what you would call a high efficiency option down low. In Milwaukee he was asked to generate a lot of offense, and one would think that with the shooters we have, Bogut won't be counted on to generate nearly as much offense. But I think it's fair to say he doesn't solve all our problems down low. If you're expecting Dwight Howard type post offense (0.88 PPP on 57.4% of his plays), you may be sorely disappointed.

BALL

The Warriors ran this play 13.1% of the time for 0.79 PPP which ranked #17.

NAME	PLAY	%TIME	NUM	PPP	RANK
Brandon Rush	BALL	5.60%	32	0.97	14
Stephen Curry	BALL	25.70%	95	0.97	14
Charles Jenkins	BALL	35.30%	126	0.93	25
Nate Robinson	BALL	35.90%	216	0.82	58
Monta Ellis	BALL	28.30%	252	0.73	103
Dorell Wright	BALL	4.90%	30	0.70	112
Klay Thompson	BALL	9.80%	83	0.52	177

Last season Curry shot 0.89 PPP on the pick and roll play, and 0.81 PPP his rookie season. It appears he has steadily improved here, which is a great sign. The fact that Jenkins is already at 0.93 PPP (on 35%) is also very encouraging. If he can just add a 3-pt shot to his arsenal, he would be a much more efficient scorer, overall. In fact, CJ was quite a bit more efficient in the pick and roll than Kyrie Irving (0.82 PPP). It should be noted that the best PNR players run this play a lot more. 61% of Nash's shots came on this play (0.93 PPP). Chris Paul ran this play 41% of the time (0.94 PPP). As Curry and/or Jenkins run this play more, they will (deservedly) receive more defensive attention, so their efficiencies may decrease somewhat.

MAN

The Warriors ran this play 5.6% of the time for a 1.04 PPP which ranked #5.

NAME	PLAY	%TIME	NUM	PPP	RANK
Ekpe Udoh	MAN	10.50%	26	1.23	10
David Lee	MAN	19.30%	228	1.03	48
Jeremy Tyler	MAN	10.30%	27	0.74	125

This is where David Lee really helps. Pick your poison on the pick and roll, either Curry (Jenkins) or Lee. When the Warriors traded for Lee, one of the thoughts was that the PNR would become a bread-and-butter play for us. Now that Curry will be running the show in the backcourt, the odds of that happening are much higher. Regarding Udoh's apparently high efficiency, the sample size should be taken into account. In his short time with the Bucks, he shot 0.92 PPP on 37 pick and roll plays. That's not bad, though. Finally, it should be obvious that Tyler needs to improve in this area.

SCREEN

The Warriors ran this play 7.2% of the time at 0.92 PPP which ranked #10.

NAME	PLAY	%TIME	NUM	PPP	RANK
Stephen Curry	SCREEN	10.00%	37	1.05	14
Klay Thompson	SCREEN	28.10%	239	1.03	16
Monta Ellis	SCREEN	6.60%	59	0.83	75
Brandon Rush	SCREEN	8.80%	50	0.80	83
Dorell Wright	SCREEN	8.30%	51	0.59	119

It's pretty easy to predict the Warriors offensive scheme next season. Pick and roll with Curry and Lee. Klay Thompson coming off screens set by Lee or Bogut. Brandon Rush parking somewhere on the 3-pt line and keeping defenses honest. And on occasion, running a post play for Bogut.

TRANSITION

The Warriors ran this play 13.2% of the time at 1.15 PPP which ranked #9.

NAME	PLAY	%TIME	NUM	PPP	RANK
Dorell Wright	TRANS	20.90%	129	1.26	77
Brandon Rush	TRANS	21.00%	119	1.26	77
Nate Robinson	TRANS	15.10%	91	1.25	84
David Lee	TRANS	6.30%	75	1.24	89
Monta Ellis	TRANS	11.90%	106	1.22	103
Klay Thompson	TRANS	15.30%	130	1.12	165
Stephen Curry	TRANS	17.00%	63	1.05	206
Dominic McGuire	TRANS	16.60%	49	1.00	226
Charles Jenkins	TRANS	13.70%	49	0.73	284

Yay, Dorell wins a category! Ok, the only thing to note here is that Curry, Klay, and especially Jenkins need to pass more on transition plays, amirite?

CUT

The Warriors ran this play 7.2% of the time at 1.21 PPP which ranked #12.

NAME	PLAY	%TIME	NUM	PPP	RANK
Brandon Rush	CUT	4.90%	28	1.46	12
David Lee	CUT	11.30%	133	1.38	21
Monta Ellis	CUT	4.80%	43	1.30	46
Dorell Wright	CUT	5.70%	35	1.20	95
Dominic McGuire	CUT	19.30%	57	1.11	140
Ekpe Udoh	CUT	13.30%	33	0.97	186
Jeremy Tyler	CUT	16.00%	42	0.79	207

The Warriors have several guys who can finish around the basket. Right now, Jeremy Tyler doesn't appear to be one of those guys.

OREB

5.1% of the Warriors' plays came off of offensive rebounds at a 1.01 PPP which ranked #23.

NAME	PLAY	%TIME	NUM	PPP	RANK
Dorell Wright	OREB	5.20%	32	1.34	3
David Lee	OREB	8.60%	102	1.13	55
Jeremy Tyler	OREB	15.60%	41	0.95	123
Ekpe Udoh	OREB	10.90%	27	0.89	140
Dominic McGuire	OREB	12.20%	36	0.47	158

This is another area where Bogut should help, and yet another area where Tyler could use some improvement. And seriously, Dominic McGuire. #smh

HAND

This is a rarely used play (i.e. usually as the shot clock winds down). The Warriors ran this 1.7% of the time at 0.85 PPP which ranked #12.

NAME	PLAY	%TIME	NUM	PPP	RANK
Klay Thompson	HAND	3.80%	32	0.81	35

A4PM

For a complete description of A4PM see here and here. Briefly, the main idea is that I calculate adjusted versions of the four factors (eFG%, TOR, ORB%, FTA/FGA) on offense and defense, and then add up all those individual components to create a composite version of RAPM. One advantage of this technique is that, as opposed to RAPM, it is not as much of a "black box", since you can see the player's effect on the four factors. A second advantage is that it appears to be more stable year-to-year (as shown here), which suggests it's predictive capability may be better than RAPM (although I haven't proven that yet).

Here, I'll look at the 4 offensive components and the total offensive rating (O4PM).

O4PM

NAME	POSS	O4PM
Nate Robinson	2212	1.66
Stephen Curry	1417	1.23
Klay Thompson	2822	0.75
Brandon Rush	3149	0.37
David Lee	3915	0.26
Dorell Wright	3047	-0.03
Richard Jefferson	3072	-0.21
Dominic McGuire	1976	-0.48
Jeremy Tyler	878	-0.57
Andris Biedrins	1345	-0.66
Charles Jenkins	1487	-1.79

For the curious, Monta's O4PM was 0.22 this season, and Udoh's was 0.51.

eFG%

The OEFG column lists the adjusted eFG% value (in %-points) and RATING represents the contribution of that value to O4PM (in this case 1.77*eFG%).

NAME	POSS	RATING	OEFG
Stephen Curry	1417	1.45	0.82
Nate Robinson	2212	1.08	0.61
Dominic McGuire	1976	0.95	0.53
Brandon Rush	3149	0.87	0.49
Klay Thompson	2822	0.68	0.38
David Lee	3915	0.32	0.18
Andris Biedrins	1345	0.26	0.15
Dorell Wright	3047	0.13	0.07
Richard Jefferson	3072	-0.24	-0.14
Jeremy Tyler	878	-0.31	-0.18
Charles Jenkins	1487	-1.33	-0.75

OTOR

This is the adjusted turnover rate per 100 possessions (negative values are better, meaning fewer turnovers). The contribution to O4PM is -1.37*OTOR.

NAME	POSS	RATING	OTOR
Nate Robinson	2212	0.79	-0.58
Richard Jefferson	3072	0.69	-0.50
Klay Thompson	2822	0.65	-0.48
David Lee	3915	0.31	-0.22
Stephen Curry	1417	0.27	-0.20
Dorell Wright	3047	0.11	-0.08
Brandon Rush	3149	0.10	-0.07
Andris Biedrins	1345	0.06	-0.05
Charles Jenkins	1487	-0.09	0.07
Jeremy Tyler	878	-0.28	0.21
Dominic McGuire	1976	-0.78	0.57

ORR

The value given for ORR is the adjusted %-change in offensive rebounding rate. The contribution to O4PM is 0.31*ORR. No surprise here, we are not a good rebounding team.

NAME	POSS	RATING	ORR
Jeremy Tyler	878	0.11	0.35
David Lee	3915	-0.15	-0.49
Stephen Curry	1417	-0.17	-0.55
Dorell Wright	3047	-0.20	-0.65
Charles Jenkins	1487	-0.22	-0.71
Nate Robinson	2212	-0.31	-1.01
Klay Thompson	2822	-0.36	-1.17
Brandon Rush	3149	-0.42	-1.34
Dominic McGuire	1976	-0.51	-1.64
Richard Jefferson	3072	-0.55	-1.79
Andris Biedrins	1345	-0.58	-1.87

FTA/FGA

The value of OFTR is in terms of FTA per 100 FGA. The contribution to O4PM is 0.14*OFTR.

NAME	POSS	RATING	OFTR
Nate Robinson	2212	0.10	0.74
Dorell Wright	3047	-0.08	-0.54
Jeremy Tyler	878	-0.08	-0.61
Richard Jefferson	3072	-0.10	-0.73
Dominic McGuire	1976	-0.14	-0.97
Charles Jenkins	1487	-0.15	-1.08
Brandon Rush	3149	-0.19	-1.35
David Lee	3915	-0.21	-1.49
Klay Thompson	2822	-0.22	-1.57
Stephen Curry	1417	-0.31	-2.24
Andris Biedrins	1345	-0.41	-2.90

I'll be happy to answer any questions you have in the comments section. In Part 2, I'll go over the defense.

NBA franchises spend anywhere from 50 million to 100 million on yearly salaries, plus another few...

2012-05-08T23:37:49Z

NBA franchises spend anywhere from 50 million to 100 million on yearly salaries, plus another few million per year evaluating and developing players. For a scout or general manager (I've only been the latter), seeing a prospect for one measly four-month season of college ball increases the risk of being wrong about his potential. Remember, talent evaluation is a business in which, in the words of Jerry West, the greatest GM of all time, "Being right 51 percent of the time means you're doing well." Having an extra season to assess the potential of college players would cut down on the personnel mistakes that teams inevitably make in the draft, something that could potentially save the league tens of millions of dollars every year.

The Case for the 20-Year-Old Age Limit in the NBA

Not really to the point of his article, but you got to like that we have West on our side, eh?

2011-2012 Golden State Warriors Report Card - Some bright spots, and the same unerasable dark spot

2012-05-08T00:45:56Z

Do you get this wide-eyed when you look at your report card?

via static3.echalk.net

As usual for Warriors fans, the end of the season means looking forward to the ping pong balls, enviously watching teams that are in the playoffs, and a report card!

Stephen Curry: C+

Including preseason, Curry's season was disrupted by four ankle sprains and one tendon strain. We're at the point now where every time Curry makes an aggressive move, we cringe at the possibility that he'll hurt himself again. I know when training camp starts next season, I'll be watching his moves, speed, and mobility. And I'll have my fingers crossed that he doesn't suffer ankle sprain #9.

It's hard to grade someone who had to deal with 5 injures in one season, but here goes: Looking beyond the injuries, I saw the same sloppy things out of Curry that I saw last season that had Keith Smart benching him: one handed telegraphed passes, lazy entry passes, and unfocused plays during crunch time. Curry may be a great shooter and a skilled passer, but if he doesn't mentally clamp down and sharpen up these little elements of his game, he'll end up being nothing more than a rotation player that can shoot, instead of a go-to player that can take charge and lead us to wins.

Dorell Wright: D+

Last season, DWright made a living off of catch-and-shoot 3s and his pump fake. This season, nobody bought the pump fake, and he wasn't hitting his 3s. I suspect Mark Jackson wanted him to expand his game, and that threw DWright out of game rhythm. We saw how bad DWright was at finishing around the rim. I predict he'll be a bench player next season if he isn't traded.

David Lee: A

Once Monta was traded, and with Stephen Curry injured, somebody had to put up the numbers. And David Lee put up some pretty good numbers in the tanking stretch of the season. But to Lee's credit, he wasn't playing just to put up numbers. He played to win and to set an example for others that you always play to win, even in a losing season. For that, I had to bump up Lee's grade from what would have been a B to an A.

Andris Biedrins: -F----+

He started out well in Game 1: 10pts, 8 reb. We thought the old Biedrins was back. Alas, that would be his highest scoring game of the season. As with his last couple of seasons, Biedrins hid himself on offense, avoid demanding or even looking for the ball, and didn't fight for offensive rebounding position. When Mark Jackson talked about some players "going through the motions", I had no doubt he was referring to Biedrins.

He was so bad, so unhelpful, so invisible, that an "F" simply wasn't enough. Neither was an "F minus". I had to give him a "negative F minus minus minus minus plus".

So why the plus? Because despite his lack of contribution, he did ONE thing useful this season: Mar 17, Warriors @ Jazz, Jazz down 3, 0:30 left in the game. Jazz run a pick and roll with Devin Harris and Derrick Favors. You don't want to give up a 3 to tie the game. So what does Biedrins do when Favors rolls in for the dunk? He fouls him for a 3pt play! Jazz tie the game and beat the Warriors in OT, which inspired this pic:

That's right! I gave Biedrins a "plus" because he inspired the Tank Commander poll, which was one of the few sources of laughs and entertainment left for us late in the tanking season. Way to go, Biedrins! ... sigh. He has two seasons left on his contract (one guaranteed + one player option). If he had any decency, he'd opt out of his last year and get out of the NBA forever.

Klay Thompson: A

I think Klay was the player who improved the most since the beginning of the season. He went from clanking shots to finding his shot, to curling around screens, to driving to the hoop. He was a nightly threat of destroying the tank. I wonder what he'll learn next.

Nate Robinson: B

Feast or famine. Hot or cold. Love him or hate him. And a ball of energy. That's what we saw out of Nate. When he was on a hot streak, he helped turned some games around. When he's on a cold streak, you wonder why he's in the game. I credit him for for being a microwave off the bench, but I can see why some teams got tired of his antics, particularly those that are focused and trying to win. We probably won't re-sign him unless there are no other alternatives.

Brandon Rush: A

Rush was the brightest spot off the bench this season. He was on fire from outside. He's learned to put the ball on the floor and drive. He's big and athletic enough to defend players and block a few shots. And he kept threatening to destroy the tank. We definitely need to keep him.

Dominic McGuire: C+

Nice defensive specialist who guarded a variety of positions when nobody else could. Any shot that he made was considered a bonus. So was stepping into emergency ball handling duties.

Richard Jefferson: F

Maybe Jefferson was shocked at being traded from the playoff Spurs to the go-nowhere Warriors. Maybe he's not used to coming off the bench. Maybe he just sucks. Whatever the reason, we got very little out of Jefferson, which is great for tanking but not helpful if you want to win. I think he's going to be the starting SF next season, so maybe he'll play better then. If not, trade him.

Charles Jenkins: A

Affectionately known around here as "Jenksanity", he was our version of Linsanity: A unknown bench guard who blew out everyone's expectations. Jenkins took advantaged of his minutes from Curry's absence and Monta's trade. He ran the point guard position, hit the long 2s, made some nifty drives, and always threatened to destroy the tank. Definitely worth putting in the rotation to see how far he can develop.

Jeremy Tyler: C

Still very raw, but hey, he's 20 years old. Late in the season, he showed some improvements with some patient moves and even a couple of skilled athletic moves.

Chris Wright: D-

We didn't see much of Chris Wright because Mark Jackson didn't play him much and because he played in the D League for a couple of stints. From what little we saw, Chris Wright is very athletic and has some crowd-pleasing dunks. But the game isn't just about dunks. I suspect CWright's understanding of the structure of the game is very raw and needs a lot of development, which would explain the D League stints and the lack of playing time. Until then, he's not a useful NBA player, and I would have given him an F had it not been for his eye popping dunks.

Mickell Gladness: C-

We signed this undrafted rookie in mid-March to evaluate him and to fill in the front line once we traded Ekpe Udoh. The main highlights from Gladness was shot blocking, which was reminiscent of Ekpe Udoh's shot blocking. Beyond that, he didn't contribute much else. We could keep him around as a shot blocking specialist off the bench and try to develop the rest of his game.

Mikki Moore: A+ :P

OK, that's obviously a joke grade. Moore was signed on to fill in as a big body late in the season when the injuries started piling up. Didn't expect much out of him. Didn't get much out of him. Probably won't see him again unless we're hit with another injury curse. I don't really have a grade for Moore because it won't matter.

Andrew Bogut: A for attitude

We're gambling that Bogut will recover from his injury and become this really good center I keep hearing about next season. But for this season, all we got out of him was some interviews and some nice shots of him wearing a suit...

... and some really attitude-filled sarcastic insulting tweets at those who criticized him for needing to go through another surgery. Those tweets have since been deleted, and I think Bogut was venting because he was upset at missing out on playing in the Olympics. But that's the kind of toughness and attitude we'll need on the floor next season.

Mark Jackson: C

I really had to think hard about this one.

On the one hand, this was Mark Jackson's first season as a head coach, not to mention his first season of any coaching experience. It was the first season this coaching staff had worked together. It was a shortened lockout season with a shortened training camp and little practice time in between each game. To MJ's credit, during the 1st half of the season when we were trying to make the playoffs, we didn't have many bad, blowout, disaster of a game. When we did, the players bounced right back the next game and put in a much better effort.

But on the other hand, whenever the camera shows a play being drawn up, it's always Mike Malone that's drawing up the plays, not Mark Jackson. It makes you wonder how much play design skills MJ really has. To MJ's credit, he's not afraid to step aside and let Malone draw up plays if Malone is the best play designer on the staff. But the problem is that if Malone finds a head coaching job this summer, what will happen to our offense and our plays? In other words, MJ has not yet given me any confidence that he can design an offense with the players that he has.

Furthermore, towards the end of the season, I started tuning out Mark Jackson's practice/postgame/radio interviews, because MJ basically says the same thing with the same catch phrases in each interview: "We're a no excuse basketball team." "We battled, we competed, we showed energy..." And he always talks like a preacher (which he was), or a salesman - always trying to convince and sell you some positive angle: "Here's a guy who and now he's ."

For comparison, listen to MJ's second-to-last game interview and compare it against Keith Smart's second-to-last game interview, and then think about whom you'd stay tuned in to and whom you'd tune out.

Mark Jackson second-to-last game interview.

Keith Smart second-to-last game interview.

Now, maybe those are just the style and habits from being a preacher or from being a broadcaster where he's used to speaking in sound bites. It could also be that he wanted to avoid generating any drama and media conflict on his first season as a head coach, so he sticks to giving safe, vague, dumbed down answers for the media and the public. But what concerns me is that if MJ uses the same style and approach with the players, players might start to tune him out too, especially if we're losing and missing the playoffs again next season.

So the grade that I settled on for MJ for this season was a C. Not bad for a rookie coach in a shortened season, but has areas that need to be improved.

GSoM commenters: A+++

No matter how many losing seasons Warriors fans endure, GSoM commenters can always be counted on to bring the attitude, cleverness, and wit to each game thread. On nights when the Warriors were lifeless, dreary, uninspiring, and unentertaining, that wit was all we had to pull us through to the next game and so on until the season finally ended. I know I've had to steal - er, take - er, copy - er, use some of those lines for titles and poll choices. Keep that wit coming.

Summary

The biggest news of this season: The Warriors finally got a real center. The problem is that Andrew Bogut can't play until next season. I think the plan is that with shooters Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Ed Undecided at small forward, and with David Lee stretching the power forward away from the paint, Andrew Bogut will have plenty of space to work with and options to pass to. Put in some defensive players off the bench to cover for the lack of physical defense by Curry and Lee, and we got a pretty decent team.

Next season better be worth the wait, because we had to endure a lot of ugliness this season.

Charlotte Bobcats To Interview Golden State Warriors Assistant Mike Malone

2012-05-07T19:00:58Z

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that Golden State Warriors assistant Mike Malone is set to interview for the vacant Charlotte Bobcats head coaching position.

Golden State Warriors assistant Mike Malone is scheduled to interview for the Charlotte Bobcats head-coaching vacancy on Tuesday, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Malone will meet with Bobcats president of basketball operations Rod Higgins and general manager Rich Cho.

It was probably inevitable that Malone would be moving on sooner rather than later for anyone that's been paying attention.

As Woj alludes to in the article quoted above, Malone was considered a strong head coaching candidate even when the Warriors signed him as Mark Jackson's assistant last year and, honestly, hiring Malone made me feel a lot more comfortable about hiring the inexperienced Jackson.

It will be hard to replace an assistant coach of Malone's caliber, but it looks like the Warriors might have to start considering options at some point this off-season.

Are The Warriors Right? They Believe Their GM Is Smarter Than Yours

2012-05-07T16:30:29Z

Are The Warriors Right? They Believe Their GM Is Smarter Than Yours

The following is a comment I posted on this Wages of Wins post today, which I can almost guarantee will not get published there, so I'm posting it here instead.

I remember when Jeremy said the Warriors would win 50 games a couple seasons ago, because of David Lee.

http://wagesofwins.com/2010/07/14/warriors-stumble-on-50-wins/

But then some stuff happened, David Lee got hurt, so that probably was the reason they didn’t make it.

http://wagesofwins.com/2011/02/08/how-the-warriors-stumbled-instead/

So, then he said when David Lee got healthy, they’d probably win 40 or 50.

Alas, that didn’t quite work out the way Jeremy had predicted.

I think for now I’ll trust Myers who did what many of us had wanted for a long time. He shipped off Monta Ellis and he brought in a legitimate big man in Bogut. Injuries are risks that every team faces. But without taking these risks, the Warriors had very little chance of improving.

And for all the anti-tanking logic around here and elsewhere, the Warriors now have a much better chance of keeping their lottery pick than they did halfway through the season. A season that was going nowhere fast, anyway.

Click here for full size version. Statistical similarities. These are organized like the...

2012-05-01T23:17:44Z

Click here for full size version.

Statistical similarities. These are organized like the phylogenetic trees you probably remember from high school biology. I used some basic stats to compare players in this year's draft class with the final year for players in the last 6 draft classes (since 2006). Have fun searching for your favorite current or future Warrior!