Tuyen's Blog

Posts for Tag: nba

NBA Draft Thoughts - W's History...

As I tend to do about this time of year, I get a little giddy with the upcoming NBA Draft and specifically how/what the Warriors might do. Getting the #7 pick was probably a blessing in disguise given that the W's have had much more luck with lower draft choices than #1 to #3.
 
BAD
1986 - Washburn at #3
1993 - Webber at #1 (though he turned out to be a good player, just not for the W's)
1995 - Joe Smith at #1
2002 - Dunleavy at #3
 
GOOD
1992 - Latrell Sprewell at #24 (though it ended badly)
1997 - Jamison at #4
2001 - J. Richardson at #5
2004 - Biedrins at #11
2008 - Randolph at #14 (this could turn into a SPECTACULAR)
 
SPECTACULAR
1985 - Mullin at #7
1988 - Mitch Richmond at #5
 
2ND ROUND STEALS
2001 - Gilbert Arenas at #31
2005 - Monta Ellis at #40
 
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
1983 - W's choose Russell Cross at #6 over #9 Dale Ellis and #14 Clyde Drexler
1986 - W's choose Chris Washburn at #3 over #4 Chuck Person, #25 Mark Price and #60 Drazen Petrovic (tragic)
1995 - W's choose Joe Smith at #1 over #3 Jerry Stackhouse, #4 Rasheed Wallace and #5 Kevin Garnett (WOW - bad year!)
1996 - W's choose Todd Fuller at #11 over #13 Kobe Bryant, #14 Peja Stojakovic, #15 Steve Nash, #17 Jermaine O'Neal, and #20 Zydrunas Ilgauskas (BIGGER WOW - this year hurt)
1997 - W's choose Adonal Foyle at #8 over #9 Tracy McGrady (1995-1997 were BAD draft years)
1998 - W's choose Vince Carter at #5 then trade to Toronto for #4 Jamison and miss out on #9 Dirk Nowitzki and #10 Paul Pierce (not that bad because Jamison is a good player but not as good as the other three)
2002 - W's choose Mike Dunleavy at #3 over #9 Amare Stoudemire and #10 Caron Butler plus in the 2nd Round they chose Steve Logan at #29 over #34 Carlos Boozer.
2003 - W's choose Mikael Pietrus at #11 over #18 David West and #29 Josh Howard
2005 - W's choose Ike Diogu at #9 over #17 Danny Granger (but they made up for it with Monta Ellis at #40)
2006 - W's choose Patrick O'Bryant at #9 over #21 Rajon Rondo

Some respite for poor Warrior's fans... At least we're not Clipper's fans.

To put the following quote in context, Bill Simmons of ESPN is writing about the Cavaliers-Clippers game yesterday.  This is a hillarious quote about the final shot of the game by Zach Randolph.

The fans are in disbelief. Randolph's teammates are in disbelief. Dunleavy is making a face that my friend Sal later describes as a face I have never seen a human being make before. What ensued in the next 20 seconds could best be described like this: Imagine being trapped in one of those big hospital elevators with eight other people. One of them pulls his pants down and just starts going to the bathroom -- not No. 1 but No. 2. At that specific moment, the doors open for the next floor. How fast would everyone else in the elevator flee for the door? Lightning-fast, right? Like, Usain Bolt-level fast, right? That was the entire stadium after Z-Bo's air ball. He basically took a dump on the 3-point line.
via sports.espn.go.com

The entire article is a nice microcosm of what I think is probably one of the worst run franchises in the NBA (Golden State used to hold that title).  A great read for all basketball enthusiasts.