The Chris Mullin Publicity Stunt
Back in 2004 when Warriors owner Chris Cohan and Robert Rowell promoted Gary St. Jean “protege” Chris Mullin to VP/ GM it was nothing more than a silly little publicity stunt. Over the course of his 4 years at the Warriors helm his best move was getting saved by his former mentor Don Nelson. Despite what the media would like you to believe partly because of their bizarre vendetta against Nellie, Mullin was 1) not improving as a GM and 2) is a major reason for the Warriors current disarray with his silly trades (giving the New Jersey Nets a 1st round pick for a fringe NBA player in Marcus Williams) and odd obsession with constantly getting younger and rawer with a lot of b-rate talents, but never building a team to win in the present.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s hard not to root for Mullie. He’s a nice guy and wanted to create an atmosphere that players (regardless of how overpaid or untalented) would want to be a part of. Those are both commendable qualities.
But the media at large and the average Warriors or NBA fan blew Mullie’s dismal way out of proportion. He should’ve never been hired. He deserved to be fired. The problem is that the two guys who fired him (Chris Cohan and Robert Rowell) also deserved to be fired.
This is a strange situation. We’re talking about a 19 win team here, but on paper, they look really strong. I think you’d have to characterize their biggest strengths as depth and versatility. With the addition of Telfair and Butler, both of whom were full time starters last season, and first overall pick Griffin, joining essentially five returning starters (Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Al Thornton, Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman), you’ve got a team of eight starter-quality players. (You can certainly dispute whether or not Telfair should have been a starter last season in Minnesota, but the simple fact of the matter is that he was, if only by default.) In addition to those eight, Craig Smith has looked great in pre-season, and second year center DeAndre Jordan, the 35th pick in the 2008 draft, has made a huge step forward in his development. So the roster goes ten deep in quality. Obviously that depth will be tested right away in Griffin’s absence.
In addition to being deep, it is a versatile lineup…
2. What are the team’s biggest strengths?
Offense. The running mentality has been restored. There will be consistent emphasis on continuing to be a team that wants to run and score a lot of points thereby playing to its strengths.
Motivation. Amare Stoudemire is out to show that he is healthy and worthy of a maximum extension. The team acknowledges the low expectations from fans and media alike and are looking to play with a chip on their shoulder.
The Phoenix Suns have also been through coaches after coaches, this time, Alvin Gentry remains the coach. He was the assistant coach under Mike D’Antoni, then after D’Antoni was let go, Terry Porter came in, and in kind words, messed things up. Or even better, couldn’t get things right, but he only had 50 or so games with the team. Alvin Gentry also preaches a bit of defense. He is a man who wants the best of both worlds. Alvin Gentry has only been head coach of the Suns for 31 games.
“We’re going to be a running team,” Gentry promised. “We’ve got to go back to the culture we’ve always had here since I’ve been here and that’s to be an attack team on offense, and we are going to get better defensively.”
1. What significant moves were made during the off-season? The Kings went cheap and young, building through the draft with Tyreke Evans (No. 4), Omri Casspi (No. 23) and Jon Brockman (No. 38). The Kings also added Sean May on a one-year deal, and Sergio Rodriguez (by trading down from No. 31 to No. 38). The Kings should see a big upgrade on the sidelines, having hired Paul Westphal to replace Reggy Nattheus.
Basketball Fiend…
1. What significant moves were made during the off-season?
The Kings added a tremendous talent in draft pick Tyreke Evans. Evans is like one of those soldiers you see in the movies trained for one purpose: taking lives. Think Jason Bourne. Or Kurt Russell in “Soldier.” Except Evans wasn’t trained since birth to kill, he was trained to dominate the game of basketball. And he will. Eventually. But first he’s going to go through some growing pains. Forced shots, turnovers, silly fouls, that kind of thing. It’s a learning process, so hang with him Kings fans. He’ll be worth the wait.I don’t consider Sean May and Desmond Mason key additions as much as I consider them cheap roster fillers. (Sorry, just being honest.) They’ll add something of value, I’m sure. I just haven’t figured out what it is yet.
Cowbell Kingdom…
3. What are the team’s biggest weaknesses?
Other than defense, rebounding and ball movement, I really can’t pinpoint any weaknesses with this team. They were one of the worst defensive and rebounding teams in the league last year and on top of that, they were terrible at moving the ball in the preseason. But other than that…
