WARRIORS

The Golden State Warriors have won three championships in their franchise history but many people recognize the Warriors as one of the weaker teams in the Western Conference over the last 10-15 years. The team won their last championship in 1975, their fourth year as the Golden State Warriors since changing from the San Francisco Warriors, and their last division title came the following year in 1976. Since making another playoff appearance in 1977, the team has only seen the postseason five times in nearly 20 years, the last of which came in 1994, giving them the longest run without a playoff appearance in the NBA to date. Eric Musselman coached the team last year and there were definite signs of improvement but he was eventually released and the team signed local coach Mike Montgomery to take over as leader of the Warriors. Montgomery had spent much of his coaching career at the Stanford turning their basketball program into a national title contender year in and year out. Past transitions from the college game to professional ball have not gone very well with Tim Floyd and Rick Pitino coming to mind quickly, but Montgomery is confident that he can take this team to the front of the Western Conference picture.
Last season, the Warriors were led by Jason Richardson, Mike Dunleavy, and Erick Dampier. Dunleavy was a star during his time at Duke University but experienced some tough times in his rookie season. His sophomore session was much better as he averaged 12-6-3 in limited time. Jason Richardson started off slow last year but finished with his usual numbers in the 20-7-3 range. Richardson will be in a contract year this season so he’ll likely be looking to show all that he can do in the hopes of collecting a big contract after the season. Erick Dampier was in that situation this season and had a career year by averaging 12 points and 12 rebounds a game, numbers that well exceeded his career averages. The team had two big men last year (Dampier and Adonal Foyle) and knew that they couldn’t afford to resign Dampier so they let him go and signed Foyle. They also acquired Dale Davis and Dan Dickau in a trade with the Trail Blazers and signed Derek Fisher from Los Angeles as a free agent. The Warriors also had a pretty solid draft considering the fact that they only had one pick in the draft, the 11th overall. They were looking to the future by drafting Andris Biedrins, a big man out of Latvia, who likely won’t play much this season but could be a force in the future. The Warriors were interested in drafting a power forward or center so they knew they’d be selecting an international player and although Biedrins might not be the best player at the end of his career, he’s easily the most NBA ready of the foreign big men and should help the team in many aspects.

The Warriors will likely start the season with a starting five with Speedy Claxton and Derek Fisher sharing time at the point guard while Jason Richardson plays the two spot. Mike Dunleavy will spend a lot of time at small forward while Troy Murphy and Cliff Robinson will split duties at the power forward with Adonal Foyle playing center more often than not. The Warriors will also have depth at many positions with players like Dale Davis, Dan Dickau, and Biedrins coming off the bench and giving starters the rest they need throughout the season. The Warriors will also be playing in the new Pacific division in the coming years thanks to the realignment of the NBA. They’ll have to play in the same division as the Sacramento Kings, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Phoenix Suns. The Suns improved dramatically in the off-season through free agency and the Los Angeles Clippers had a great draft and made a few moves this summer. The Kings and Lakers are two of the top teams in the West but each team will have to bounce back this year. The Kings lost Vlade Divac and issues have come up about chemistry while the Lakers kept Kobe Bryant but traded Shaquille O’Neal. Could this be the Warriors year to make a run in the West?

NBA Team Info Home