Hopefully the Warriors will terminate this douches 5 year extension and bring in a team of Greg Papa and Tom Tolbert, professionals that just calls it as they see it as opposed to shilling for a poorly run franchise. Also if they can, keep Jim Barnett around to do Warriors Roundtable or something. Barnett is good peoples, they can have him do some of the halftime/end of game talk with Roye or Steinmetz too, because that ’stache needs to be on tv.

THE NAPOLEON COMPLEX – Basketball is a vertically played game. The ball has to travel upwards and down through the hoop in the most simplest terms. This game is generally considered a big man’s game, but among the skyscrapers and tall trees exists a breed of basketball player that dares to play along. These men do not have the long, lanky limbs that reach towards the heavens, but they have the passion, the skill, and most importantly . . . the heart. This is a tribute to those players that gave the vertically challenged the hope and the dream to someday rise up and throw down on the Shawn Bradley’s and the Mark Eaton’s of our lives. I still can’t dunk. I gave that dream up a long time ago because I still believe that 10 feet is not geometrically correct (8.5 should be the official height of every hoop in the world), but I will still use this as a metaphor to overcome any adversities in my life. Here’s to the little dudes with the balls to prove people wrong. Here’s to the Napoleon Complex in all of us.

Example:  Dude, that is a totally awesome Napoleon Complex. Where did you get it, Target?

Here’s  a clip I found paying homage to the little dudes in the past of the NBA. Appearances include Kevin Johnson, Robert Pack, Isaiah Thomas, Spud Webb, Stevie Francis, Baron Davis, AI, and a few others. These guys were almost as amazing as my pair of LA Gear catapults that didn’t do jack crap for my game. Damn you Karl Malone. You and your stupid hand behind the head dunk – which we will break down in another edition of the dunktionary. Anyway, enjoy the clip.

Here’s ex-Warrior Will Bynum turning Tyson Chandler into Tyson’s Chicken. As in Tyson’s Chicken TV dinners that you buy at the grocery stores. Hehe. Get it? Get it???

Uh-em. Anyway, rolling right along, here’s Derek Rose turning Greg Oden into Greg Owned-Him. Hehe. Like he dunked on him and so he like owned him. Hehe.

Finally, we all remember this one. No explanation needed. Plus, I couldn’t think of anything clever with Kirilenko.

- Getting rid of Anthony Randolph will haunt us in the same way the Mitch Richmond and CWebb trades have haunted us. People don’t think that AR and Stat will mix well in NYC, but Stat played center for the Suns the majority of his career, so I think he’ll be just fine playing center in the Eastern Conference against much lighter/shorter centers opening the door for AR to play the PF position. The Knicks also have the ability to surround him with better players until he matures because people actually want to sign with them. But, the biggest difference is that AR will finally have a coach in D’Antoni that will know how to coach/use him and not try to fake out the team with crazy mismatches or yanking him after his first mistake.

- For a team to succeed you either have to be good in the draft, savvy in free agency or be a destination where players want to go. The Warriors strike out on all counts and the addition of Lee kills two of the three. David Lee makes the Warriors good enough to not make the playoffs. You know what that gets you? Years after year of getting the 10-14 pick in the draft. This was the Warriors system in the 90’s, they always played well enough to not make the playoffs and you know who they ended up with? Juggernauts like Todd Fuller, Clifford Rozier, Adonyl Foyle, Jeff Foster. They also just nuked whatever cap room they were going to have for the next few years with the addition of Lee’s bloated contract to the already albatross contracts of Monta Ellis ans Andris Biedrins. So the only thing the Warriors can fall back on is being an awesome destination city. Too bad the front office ruined that.

- David Lee doesn’t play defense very well. He may be good pick and roll partner with Steph, but it doesn’t matter, the amount of times he’s gonna get burned on the other side of the court, his output will be a wash. Randolph would have also been a good pick and roll partner with Curry once he was coached right, but he would have also been a difference maker on the other end. You have to allow young players to grow together and to build that chemistry.

- You throw around 6 yr./$80 million contracts when you are close to a title or when you can bring on a player that will make a difference. The Warriors are no where near a title and Lee is not a difference maker. The Warriors are in a rebuilding mode and if you don’t think they are, you are delusional.

- There was a rumored trade of Kevin Love and the #4 pick for Randolph and the #6 pick. If the Warriors front office turned down that trade, they should all be thrown into prison. I was happy at the time the Warriors didn’t give up AR, but if I knew this would have been the outcome, I would have pulled the trigger on that trade in a heart beat. Would I rather have David Lee and Ekpe Udoh or Kevin Love and DeMarcus Cousins for Anthony Randolph? That’s such a tough decision. Oh wait, no it’s not. You go with the younger tandem with the bigger upside. Except for when the team’s being run by a bunch of morons.

- The Warriors could have tried to pick up Josh McRoberts or B.J. Mullens or drafted Greg Monroe. All of them are similar players to Lee and wouldn’t have cost the Warriors at least $10 million more a year for the next 6 years and a potential cornerstone player. But that’s the Warriors M.O.; always go with the worst scenario.

- Lee is 28 years old. Randolph is turning 21 soon. That’s a 7 year difference. AR has 7 years to become a 20/10 guy and at a fraction of the price that they just signed Lee for.

- Larry Riley wanted to show people he was a good GM and that he can improve this team in the short run. He knows he’s not going to be the GM once this team is sold, so his only bet was to dupe any future employers into believing that he made moves to improve the team because now they’re winning a few more games than last year. He wasn’t going to dupe teams by having a rebuilding team, so why not trick them by getting a few more wins from more NBA ready players like Udoh and Lee and killing any long term potential this team had. “See my moves won the Warriors a few more games because they already have 2 more wins than this time last year.” And you know what, there are enough stupid teams in the league that will actually believe his b.s. and will give him a job. That’s what irks me more than anything, dumbasses like Riley will continue to work in the NBA, while you could probably pull a kid off the street and they’d be able to do a better job than him.

When you have one of the most loyal fanbases in all of sports, you reward them for their patience by letting them watch players grow into the player they all envision him to be. You allow the fans to grow with the team, I truly feel I was robbed of that. I wanted to look back and remember that the team sucked for 20 years, but I stuck with them and I watched Curry and Randolph become the players they are now. I would have been happy to go through that, because you’d have a connection with the team. That’s why the Oakland A’s don’t have many fans, once you become invested in a player the team ships him out, that’s not how you make a connection with your fanbase. Thanks for taking that away from my Golden State. I’m pissed right now, but once this team is sold, I’ll be right back rooting for them and I’ll just remember this time as another way of the Warriors front office screwing over the fans. But, everytime I see AR making an All Star team or every highlight they show on ESPN, I’ll become bitter again about what could have been. I guess it’s the badge of a Warriors fan…

Welcome to the Warriors David Lee, now you can bitch about Steph blocking you in practice instead of on live tv.

Am I going overboard for renouncing my allegiance to a team who trades a multitalented PF with enormous upside that hasnt reached his ceiling yet because of a coach that never coached him right for an all star power forward? No, I don’t think I am. Anthony Randolph is 20 years old, super athletic, plays defense, has crazy upside (that he may or may not reach) and is well thought of enough that he was invited to train with the Olympic tryout team at the age of 19. David Lee is 28 years old, made 1 all-star team while playing on a team that stripped the team bare to get into the Lebron race, is athletic, can score and rebound, and plays horrendous defense. What else am I missing here? Oh yeah, the Warriors will kill their cap situation that they’ve used the past year trying to get under. What was the point in giving away Jamal Crawford, Stephen Jackson and Corey Maggette if you’re just going to turn around and throw it away on another non-difference maker in David Lee? Why not try to save that money and go after Yao Ming next year? Even if he’s injured the whole time, at least you’ll give yourselves a presence in the most populated country in the world.

If this trade even comes close to happening, I hope David Stern steps in and saves the Warriors from themselves and puts a moratorium on all moves the Warriors make until the sale of the team because anytime you get shafted by the Knicks in a trade you’ve just shown you’re not capable of walking across the street by yourself, much less running a professional sports team. It’s the only way that anyone can stop the “Idiot Quartet” from destroying this team any further. I also hope for David Lee’s sake that he doesn’t agree to the sign and trade with the Warriors, he just needs to talk to Mike Dunleavy about how Warriors faithfuls treat Warrior management mistakes.

Finally, if this trade goes down it will be Chris Webber for Tom Gugliotta and a sack of nickels (getting 3 1st round draft picks, to make up for the 3 1st round draft picks the Warriors gave up to get CWebb and which were never better than the ones the Warriors gave away because the team sucked) all over again. As a Warriors fan, I don’t think I can go through that again…

Tim Kawakami’s take.

Memphis Grizzlies gave 0-time All Star Rudy Gay a 5 yr./ $80 million contract
- Memphis receives – Monta Ellis – They’ve shown interest in Ellis for the last 3+ years and probably still want to add him to their ball hog/no defense team. Memphis’ potential starting 5 – Ellis/OJ Mayo/Gay/Z-Bo Randolph/Gasol(I feel sorry for the other Gasol)
- Warriors receive – Xavier Henry/Mike Conley/Darrell Arthur – Warriors get a SG to pair with Curry, a flyer on a decent back-up PG who’s worn out his stay in Memphis and cap filler that can get 6 fouls on the other teams big.

Atlanta Hawks gave playoff choker Joe Johnson a 6 yr./$119 million contract
- Atlanta receives – Vladimir Radmanovic – After giving Joe Johnson that crazy deal, they’ll need to save some money so they can max out Al Horford soon.  Radman comes off the books in 2011.
- Warriors receive – Marvin Williams – Not an ideal pick up, but he’s paid a reasonable salary 6.5 mil., plays his SF role well and fills a huge need at the SF position.

Charlotte Bobcats – Sadly, no crazy contracts yet, but I have a feeling the Tyrus Thomas 5 year/$70 million extension is coming real soon.
- Charlotte receives – Andris Biedrins and Charlie Bell – After all of these horrible contracts have been thrown around(Amir Johnson 5 yr./$34 million), Beans contract looks like a bargain. They’ll be interested in this trade because Beans is still young, plays good defense, will be one of the better centers in the Eastern Conference and has a contract that’s better than anyone they’ll overpay next year. Charlie Bell is a cap filler that they can buy out.
- Warriors receive – Tyson Chandler – Decent pick up for the Warriors. Like Beans, he’s injury-prone, skinny and a horrible free throw shooter, but he’s a better defender and has a little more size on him to handle the center position for the Dubs. The hope is that Chandler can revive his Camby 2.0 game, but even if he doesn’t he’s only on the hook for one more year.

The ideal situation for any team as young as the Warriors is to pick up players that can grow together and would enjoy playing together, similar to the OKC Thunder model. These trades bring on board players that aren’t selfish, gets rid of a potential locker room cancer in Monta Ellis (who was mentored by Captain Jack) and gives the Warriors one of the best young teams in the league.  They’ll also have the room to maneuver with short/expiring contracts and good young pieces to play around with in trades.

Warriors 2010/11 roster
PG – Stephen Curry/Mike Conley
SG – Xavier Henry/Anthony Morrow
SF – Marvin Williams/Kelena Azubuike/Reggie Williams
PF – Anthony Randolph/Brandon Wright/Darrell Arthur
C – Tyson Chandler/Ronny Turiaf/Ekpe Udoh/Dan Gadzuric

Next up in our “Ideal Situations” columns, we’ll look at the potential head coaches.

THE ALLEY-OOP – a basketball play that essentially transcended the outer reaches of the fine line of what is deemed impossible, the alley-oop defies the laws of reality and forever revolutionized the game of basketball. Since it’s inception, the alley-oop has managed to capture the minds of the world and at times has instilled a sense of unity in times of war and despair. The alley-oop requires the work of two teammates and consists of one teammate lofting the basketball near the vicinity of the basketball rim (the “alley”) while a second teammate elevates to catch the basketball in midair and slam dunks the ball (the “oop”).

Example:  The patient is going into cardiac arrest! Give me an alley-oop stat!!!!!

Throughout basketball’s great history, it is a rarity to capture many of the earlier feats that have helped paint the landscape of basketball as we know it today. Luckily for us, the birth of the alley-oop has been captured and has been stored away only to have been authorized by the ABA to be shown right here on thewarriorsblog.com as an exclusive!!! Behold. The majesty that is known as the alley-oop.

As much as it still stings, I can’t deny that this was one of the best alley-oops in NBA history.

The W’s can do some damage in the playoffs themselves. Boom to JRich from long distance.

One of the many plays that made Zeke one of my all time favorite baskeball players to watch growing up. This is vintage Isaiah showing that it isn’t all about the dunker. The passer can add some flash to the mix too.

Sometimes though, it can be both parties involved. Pre-NRA Gil (plus fro) and JRich taking a page out of Zeke’s cookbook and adding some extra seasoning.

Chris Cohan – He is the bane of the Warriors existence from the day he purchased the team, but I can’t say he’s fully to blame for this draft debacle. Everything else, sure, but not for this draft. It was his fault that the Warriors were playing so many D-Leaguers that wanted to prove themselves to Don Nelson, thus winning those needless games though. 8% of blame.

Don Nelson – This egotistical jerk should be higher up on the list, but there are bigger idiots to blame for this draft ahead of him, so he belongs here. Nelly had to get the coaching wins record last season, he knew the team was going to be up for sale and he knew that once it was sold, he and his lackeys were gone. So he milked the D-Leaguers for everything he could to make sure he’d get that coaching mark before the end of the season. Then once he got it he wanted to make it harder for the next out of touch coach to beat his record by winning 2 more games and knocking the Warriors out of the 3rd lottery slot. Who was in the third slot, the Kings. So now, instead of the Warriors being the best team in Northern California for the next decade with a nucleus of Curry, Randolph and Cousins, the Kings will take that distinction. Thanks a lot Nelly! 25% of blame.

Robert Rowell – He drove off the last thing that made the Warriors a legit franchise: Chris Mullin. What Mullin brought to the table was having good relationships with people in the NBA, since you know he was one of the 100 best players to play the game and hands down one of the top 5 players in Warriors history. But who cares about that when you can have an egomaniac that rubs people the wrong way handling all of your personal affairs. Since Mullins departure, no one wants to be a part of the Warriors or even associated with them in any way. Reports came out that even if Cousins had dropped to #6, he would have pulled a Steve Francis and demanded a trade. If that report is even remotely true the blame is 100% on Rowell for making the Warriors a joke of a team. Another thing you can blame Rowell on is giving Riley enough power to draft Udoh outright. If he was really a smart businessman like he says, there’s no way you would allow your team to draft the 15th best player in a draft with the 6th pick. You would not allow your GM to pick a guy with no fan buzz when you’re trying to sell a new team brand (It’s guaranteed you would have sold millions of more Cousins jerseys than Udoh jerseys. Guaranteed.) You would not allow your GM to not figure out a way to move up at least one pick, when you’re sitting on the 6th pick of a 5 player draft. You know what Rowell, you allowed all of that to happen. I hope you never find another job after the new owner(s) kick your butt to the curb. 30% of blame.

Larry Riley – This guy makes Garry St. Jean and Dave Twardzik look like geniuses. I was going to let up on him a little since he got rid of Corey Maggette’s albatross of a contract. I also figured that hey after the top 5 are gone, you’re left with a few guys in the next tier that aren’t as good but at least you could live with them in Greg Monroe, Al-Farouq Aminu or Xavier Henry. Heck, I started liking Aminu more after he came to the draft wearing those glasses. But they came away with Ekpe Udoh; a 23 year old, who duplicates what they already have 2 of at power forward, has limited potential and was, at best, the 10th best player in the draft. Even his answers to reporters were a bunch of B.S. Why didn’t you take Greg Monroe? Because he wasn’t strong enough? He’s 20, he’ll get stronger and he’s been touted as being one of the best big man passers to come out of college in a while. Why didn’t you try to trade up? No teams would trade with you? You know what helps? Offering a lottery protected 1st round draft pick that becomes unprotected the following year along with the #6, to move up 1 or 2 spots. Are you trying to make us believe that Minnesota or Sac would not have agreed to that? Minnesota could have still had a 50% chance at taking Wes Johnson or could have taken a player with more upside in Xavier Henry and had the option of picking up at worst an unprotected 1st round draft pick in 2012. Who cares who’s coming out in 2012, you’re not going to be working for the team anyways, plus the Warriors wouldn’t have that high of a draft pick to make a difference if you played you cards right. Or maybe you knew and just wanted to screw over the Warriors along with any chances of you getting another front office job ever again. Hahaha, you got us good Larry! 35% of blame.

Now that I have that out of my system, let’s move on to next year’s draft. I’m starting the Harrison Barnes campaign right now. The kid will be good and fits a big need for the Warriors; a swingman that plays all over the court. Hopefully, Stern will have an under the table agreement with the new owner for a top 2 pick, so they can land him. *fingers crossed*

Let’s take a look at what a few writers have to say about, quite possibly, the best Warriors draft pick ever.

Tim Kawakami – “But the W’s are not going to take the leap by taking safe, limited-ceiling guys who have already turned into the player that they will always be.

Especially if that limited-ceiling guy plays the SAME POSITION as two other guys, who have higher ceilings, and are YOUNGER than the guy you just took.”

Marcus Thompson – “My opinion is once DeMarcus Cousins went No. 5, this draft was over. It didn’t really matter, because the Warriors needs are greater than what this draft could provide. It was either a trade, or just grab whoever and move on. That’s what the Warriors did, though many don’t believe they grab the best.”

Chad Ford – “I like Ekpe Udoh and so do a lot of NBA scouts and general managers. But taking him at No. 6 seems like a major reach, especially when you consider the Warriors’ current roster.”

Bill Simmons – “Golden State grabs Baylor shot-blocker Ekpe Udoh. It’s going to be fun when Don Nelson plays him for three weeks, Udoh puts up huge rebounding/blocks stats, there’s a fantasy hoops stampede for him and then Nellie inexplicably benches him for the next three months.”

Chris Mannix – “Ekpe Udoh is a 6-foot-10, 240-pound pseudo-center who isn’t especially tough and isn’t especially strong. The Warriors have plenty of those with Anthony Randolph, Brandan Wright and Andris Biedrins on the roster.”

Adi Joseph (NBADraft.net) – “The draft’s biggest riser, Udoh simply is not good enough to be drafted No. 6 overall. He’s awkward and not particularly skilled.”

Tom Ziller (fanhouse.com) – “The Warriors took Ekpe Udoh with the No. 6 pick, which isn’t terribly great value; he could have slipped beyond the No. 12 pick had the Warriors not taken him.”

And for good measure, here’s the analysis of the Warriors draft from 2 years ago, which kind of fits for Udoh pick.
Sam Smith (The Sporting News) – “They went and selected another skinny, talented, project forward whom coach Don Nelson will not play. Anthony Randolph is this year’s Brandan Wright. Throw in Patrick O’Bryant and Golden State likely has the league’s tallest, non-playing bench ever. It paves the way for an Al Harrington deal sooner than later.”

Note to new owner, please give Kevin Pritchard whatever he wants. Warrior fans are sick of these pinhead GMs. Thanks!

Now, back to the draft. I don’t like most mock drafts, because most of the time draft people don’t really know a team well enough to choose a player that would fit each team. It’s tough enough trying to figure out who would fit on your favorite team that you follow throughout the year. But what the mock drafts do well is inform you who should be considered in the top 5 picks. Which works out well for the Warriors, since they have the #6 pick. It’s a given that John Wall, Evan Turner and Derrick Favors will be gone before the Warriors pick. It’s also strongly suggested that Wes Johnson will also be taken before their pick. So that leaves DeMarcus Cousins, Greg Monroe, Al-Farouq Aminu and Ekpe Udoh as the most likely players to be drafted by the Warriors. And just for fun, I looked at a few “mock drafts” and a few of them also think Cole Aldrich, Patrick Patterson and Xavier Henry were on the Warriors short list.

Let’s take a look at these potential draftees. I’m stealing this gimmick from one of my favorite writer’s by throwing these guys into categories.

The Todd Fuller Category
Cole Aldrich – No, just no. If Aldrich was 7′3″, 270 lb., then maybe, but the guy was measured at 6′8, 236 lb. at the combine. He has a low post game and is a good defender around the basket, but you can find one of those guys in the D-league, which is what the Warriors did last year and look how good the team was. The Warriors would be better off signing Omar Sanham, if he’s not drafted.

The Troy Murphy Category
Patrick Patterson – I believe Patterson will have a good career as a journeyman big man who will be a good role player, but that’s not what you expect from the #6 pick in the NBA draft.

The Ike Diogu Category
Ekpe Udoh – Their names were similar. That’s enough for me to throw him into this category. Oh yeah, I also don’t believe he will ever amount to much in the NBA similar to Ike Diogu.

The Antawn Jamison Category
Al-Farouq Aminu – Aminu is a tweener. He’s a power forward in the body of a small forward. If the Warriors drafted him, they would play him at small forward and that would be wrong. He can’t really shoot or pass that well, which are two things you would like to have in a small forward. The bonus for him is he is a decent defender and is very athletic. If he reaches his projection of becoming the next Josh Smith, that’d be awesome, but Smith was a freakish athlete when he came out of high school, you can’t really say the same about Aminu. The Warriors already have 2 young athletic power forwards that still haven’t reached their potential. Would adding a third one really make any sense when they have so many other holes to fill?

The J-Rich Category
Xavier Henry – It’s a given that Henry and J-Rich don’t have similar playing styles. J-Rich was an extremely athletic high flying 2 guard that dunked anything he could. While Henry is a shooter that scores all over the court. What is similar about the 2 is that they both are questionable defenders, have good work ethics and I believe if the Warriors drafted him, Henry would become a fan favorite for his scoring and his willingness to improve his game. Will he be an all-star? Highly unlikely, but he has the ability to put up at least 15 a night and has the size and potential to defend shooting guards in the NBA.

The Joe Smith Category
Greg Monroe – We don’t know what style of play the Warriors will play under when Don Nelson leaves, so it’s hard to pull the trigger on drafting Monroe. He seems like the ideal candidate for a Nelson run system, big man who can pass, run in an uptempo system and hit a mid range jumper. So if the Warriors give Keith Smart the job, this wouldn’t be a bad pick. But if they go to a more traditional lineup, how well will Monroe hold up banging down low against real centers on a nightly basis? If that’s the case, I’m worried that the Warriors will push him down to a PF, which is the position we’d like Anthony Randolph to man for the next 10+ years. My hope is that the Kings draft the next Vlade Divac, so the Warriors can draft this next big man…

The CWebb/Joe Barry Carroll Category (He gets two because he’s an enigma)
DeMarcus Cousins – He would be the ideal pick for the Warriors if he’s available. Imagine Cousins, Curry and Randolph running up and down the court in a Warriors uniform for the next decade. Awesome right? Similar to Curry last year, the Warriors will need some teams ahead of them to make questionable picks for them to land him. But if he does somehow drop to the #6 pick, he’d be the best big man/post player the Warriors have had on their team since… (correct me if I’m wrong) they moved to Oakland. There are a bunch of red flags that come up when discussing Cousins; the Zach Randolph comparisons, he’s a diva, having two young whiners on the team (Anthony Randolph), he’s crazy, throwing him into a dysfunctional team is guaranteeing him to fail, etc. You know what, I don’t care, I’d still take him if he’s there at number 6. The Warriors have missed on so many draft picks that it wouldn’t phase me, they’ll just get another high draft pick next year. But if they hit on Cousins and he turns into an all star center the Warriors would finally be a legit team again. I’d take that gamble any day of the week.

An added bonus, the Warriors found a way to become players in the 2011 free agency. Along with Gadzuric’s expiring contract, the Warriors have expiring contracts for Radmanovic and Azubuike, giving the team about $18 million coming off the books. Look for the team to buy out Charlie Bell to get even more under the cap.

Let’s just hope the Warriors will be sold by then, so good players may actually want to sign with the team.