GSW·2012-13| WEEK 6: Dec 2- 8, 2012 + Player Profiles

[Clutch]

TOugh going for the team in February but its awesome to see VC finally back in the dunk contest.

and winning it in his mid-thirties no less!

[Clutch]

Oct 28, 2012 (AJ's Journal Cont.)

And just like that, it was over.

After All-Star weekend, the team never got back on track. A "me first" attitude had grown contagious and players worried more about minutes and stats than about fulfilling their roles for the good of the team. I felt I had failed from a coaching standpoint in not finding a way to hold the team together and finish strong.

Despite our internal turmoil, we finished 42-40 and closed the season on a win but finished one game shy from contention for the 8th and final seed of the Western Conference.



It was a tough pill to swallow. But what happened to our local rivals, the Sacramento Kings, was arguably tougher. Budding star Tyreke Evans carried the Kings to finish tied with the Los Angeles Clippers; but they were eliminated due to their 0-4 record vs LAC. Who says regular season games don't matter?



One consolation was that the much-hailed Oklahoma City Thunder - featuring one of the leagues most feared tandems in All-Stars Kevin Durant and Dwyane Wade - were also kept out of the post-season. We did our part by defeating them three-out-of-four times during the season.




NBA Playoffs & Finals

The Los Angeles Lakers and defending champion Dallas Mavericks finished with the first and second best records in the league respectively. The two would eventually clash in the Western Conference Finals, where Kobe Bryant ended Dirk Nowitzki's one-year reign in a tough 7-game series to advance to the NBA Finals. Having played against MJ in his prime, I will never believe Kobe's greater, but he has proven to be closer to first than he is to third.



Out East, season MVP candidate Jermaine "the Real Deal" O'Neal (as he calls himself now) carried the Miami Heat to an impressive #1 seeding and into the NBA Finals with a ragtag starting lineup consisting of himself, Michael Beasley, Quentin Richardson, Daequan Cook and "Super" Mario Chalmers. An MVP-worthy feat in its own right by any standards.

But ultimately Kobe and the Lakers would prevail, led surprisingly not by Bryant but by Ron Artest, to capture the 2012 NBA Championship crown.




2011-12 Post-Mortem

Meeting with Riley and Cohan for a season post-mortem, it was determined that our ambiguity with Vince Carter regarding his future at the end of his contract was in many ways the root of the team's internal problems. Initially Carter's expiring contract was his biggest asset; but that began to change as the season progressed and our offense revolved around him more and more.

And while we hadn't made the playoffs in several seasons, we'd taken a considerable jump in that direction and clearly Carter was a part of that success.



And Then The Bottom Fell Out

A decision was made to re-sign Carter by any means, even if it meant trading a few lesser, more 'expendable' players. He brought experience, an identity and swagger to the team and helped lead by example; more important to Riley, Carter's popularity still brought fans and sold tickets. So the plan was to approach him after re-signing Randolph, working out trades with other teams to clear cap space if necessary, provided he agreed to return.

Our customary exit interviews held privately with each player at season's end went well, though our main concern was the rift between Noah and Biedrins, two capable, competitive centers both vying for the starting position but now on irreconcilable terms; Curry and Azubuike, while disappointed in missing the playoffs, were both content and felt progress had been made despite falling short; our reserves were satisfied with minutes for the most part, and Carter was made aware of our intent to re-sign him after an agreement with Randolph had been reached. Cordially, Carter expressed interest and that he would, "think about it" and let us know.

No one was in contact with Vince Carter for at least a month after the exit interviews in early May but we felt a good rapport had been established with him at the time.

But knowing Carter's ego, I can't say I was completely surprised on June 21st, when he went public to announce his decision to test the free agent market. No.

The big shock came when our prized power forward Anthony Randolph, technically an unrestricted free agent, followed Carter's footsteps and also declared his availability in free agency just a few days later.

[Andrew]

Ouch. Hope you can make the best of a bad situation.

[The X]

I don't come around here as much these days so only just noticed this one

Great quality. Reminds me a little of my old school Live '05 Bobcats & Live '06 Blazers Dynasties, except this one has a lot more polish

Gutted to miss the playoffs with a winning record. Ah well, better than the real life Warriors, who reeled off about 47-48 wins a few years back & still couldn't make the playoffs in the Bestern Conference.

[kibaxx7]

miss the playoffs with a winning record

That sucks, a lot... Hopefully both VC and Meal Ticket can stay.

[dare]

Your in a bad situation man, hope Randolph resign. Nice to see Lakers win though but I'm sure Kobe is not happy with Artest winning FMVP

[Axel The Great]

1 win away from the playoffs, that sucks ass. Not surprising to see VC host a "The Decision"-esque kinda thing to tell the public where he's going.

[megarover]

Damn I didn't see Randolph leaving coming.

[Lamrock]

Disappointing finish. You may be better off losing VC but the Meal Ticket? Uh-oh

[Justine.]

Randolph leaving will hurt your team a lot.

[Houndy]

Losing Randolph will make this Dynasty eternal hell for you

[Martti.]

I hope you can keep Randolph. Let VC take his talents some place else and sign someone younger, if you have the cap space.

[Clutch]

Andrew - hope so too!

X - no worries man; it's tough getting around to all the different stories so thx for chiming in every now and again as you can; btw, i do remember that RL winning season for GS where they still missed the post; they just can't seem to get a break

Thierry - it's typical Ws behavior not to keep things together and actually be consistent lol;

dare - you don't even know man! Artest as Finals MVP definitely didn't sit well with Kobe and by no means of my doing, you'll find out why shorty;

Ax - hahah yeah VC didn't quite go with an hour special, i'd say more a local media leak;

megarover, Lamrock, Justine, Houndy, Martti - thx guys but Meal Ticket's not gone just yet! with Carter's contract expiring he clears a ton of cap space so we'll see how counter-negotiations turn out; Golden State did give Randolph is first break picking him 14th in '08 so hopefully he'll consider that

[Clutch]

Pistons Pounce

While Kobe and Lakers were busy marching back to the NBA title, the 2012 NBA Draft Lottery was held on July 2nd, 2012. Detroit upset the NBA's three worst teams to grab first pick in the upcoming Draft; meanwhile no changes came to Golden State's predicted selection order of 13th overall.



Home-grown vs Imported

In a projected "Strong"-depth draft class, choice of number one overall narrowed down to two standout players: 6-foot, 171 lbs. point guard Yazid "Yaz" Porter, the 2012 SEC tournament MVP, SEC Player of the Year and consensus First Team All-American who carried Kentucky to their first Final Four appearance since 1998.

Though Porter and the Wildcats were eliminated by a deeper, more experienced Utah Utes team led by fellow draft classmate, Levar Wiles, Porter's individual dominance and outstanding tournament play kept him firmly ranked as the nation's premiere player.

Across the globe an equally anticipated arrival, Rex Sorensen, was set to enter the NBA. Nicknamed "the Montenegrin Sensation", Sorensen began his hoop dreams from humble beginnings as the son of a free-range chicken farmer in the quiet coastal town of Bar, Montenegro, a city of less than twenty-thousand.

Sorensen spent youthful days wrangling stray hens which helped hone an already uncanny sense of balance, speed and coordination and soon his skills on the farm translated to his training on the hardwood. Later he qualified for team Serbia-Montenegro where he competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China (as Yugoslavia at the time) but they were eliminated by Argentina 80-78 in the Quarter Finals.

The Montenegrin national team formed separate of Serbian national, and entered international competition in 2009 under coach Duško Vujošević. With Sorensen leading the way, Montenegro took the silver medal in Eurobasket 2009 and finished 4th in the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

Now age 20, the 6'2" 208 lbs. international star guard is set to play for Montenegro national in the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London, United Kingdom in August.

With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons sat in a win-win situation, as both Porter and Sorenson were viewed as capable franchise players with the potential to reverse any team's misfortunes.

Draft Day

July 24, 2012 - The Pistons elected to go international with Rex Sorensen as the 2012 #1 overall draft pick; the NBA's-worst-record Minnesota Timberwolves happily snatched Kentucky's Yazid Porter as the mainstay of their rebuilding franchise; while the Memphis Grizzlies selected NCAA MOP Award winner, Levar Wiles, with the 3rd-overall pick.

With the 13th overall pick, Golden State chose 7'0" 250lbs power forward, Stanley Kirk, from North Carolina State; but to understand why, one must backtrack a few weeks.



Back on July 10th, the biggest star of free agency, superstar forward Carmelo Anthony, opted to stay put in Denver, re-signing a multiyear contract with the Nuggets. Several teams who had hoped to pursue Anthony (including Golden State) were now left to execute contingency plans.

And Two Set Sail

The Warriors organization did not foresee the outcome of July 12th, when contract negotiations and counter-offers broke down and failed to secure prized free agent Anthony Randolph, who ended up accepting a multi-year contract as starting Power Forward for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Things continued to worsen days later when Vince Carter accepted a one-year deal worth just under $18M, to join forces with Chris Paul, Tayshaun Prince, David West and Emeka Okafor on the New Orleans Hornets.



Suddenly short their starting power forward and star shooting guard, owner Chris Cohan, GM Larry Riley and head coach Avery Johnson braced for some tough decisions ahead.

[Lamrock]

Uh-oh. Some gaping holes now. Makes you regret not trading Randolph for Lee, and trading Martin for Wince.

[dare]

Good update man, have you tried to offer Randolph? He got some pretty nice contract on the Bucks though. VC just want to win a title, hope you can sign some quality free agents.

[Houndy]

You lost Meal Ticket... Now this is eternal hell for you

[newc]

Maybe you should start Biedrins now?

[megarover]

Oh-Oh That isn't good

[kibaxx7]

Not good at all. Both Vince and Anthony gone. I would restart with 2k11 and another team.

[Clutch]

Hahah! Thierry, 2k11 is coming in 2011


Okay guys, well… obviously my team's in the shits.

Below I've listed possible transactions that were considered to try and recover for the coming 2012-13 season. All were very real options via player availability during free agency or matching/acceptable player value/salaries and what not.

Of the list, only THREE (3) are accurate, but again all were heavily considered.

Just for fun, can you figure out which 3 and why?

This isn't for any contest or points or anything like that; your only reward is bragging rights over your peers and knowing that you got inside my head

Gonna be busy again for a bit and likely not get to post the actual results (already done and determined; actually i'm already one week into next season since I got excited about it lol) not until sometime mid/late week-ish; anyway - enjoy!


"GSW: THE DECISION 2012-13"

Trade for Carmelo Anthony
Sign O.J. Mayo
Sign Tim Duncan
Trade for David Lee
Trade for Rodney Stuckey
Sign Allen Iverson
Sign Rudy Fernandez
Trade for J-Rich
Sign JJ Hickson
Trade for Artest
Sign Leandro Barbosa
Trade for Monta Ellis
Sign Eric Gordon
Sign Jeff Green
Trade for Paul Milsap
Sign Michael Beasley
Sign Nene
Sign Derrick Rose
Trade for Yaz Porter
Trade for Rex Sorensen

[Axel The Great]

Sign Tim Duncan- because you need some fundamentals on your team.
Sign Eric Gordon- he's a solid replacement for VC, who can dunk it too.
Sign AI- he could give a veteran presence in your backcourt.

[Bucket]

Trade for Monta Ellis - Bring Ellis back to town
Sign Tim Duncan - Give him and town a ring
Sign Jeff Green - He is a great power forward and nice shooter from distance

[kibaxx7]

Trade for Melo, sign AI and Eric Gordon

[dare]

Sign Beasley, trade for Melo