dareedle wrote:I wouldn't give Mullin too much credit for ridding both Dunleavy and Murphy. Murphy has been on the trading block since Nellie took over as the coach, and Dunleavy would of been gone in this upcoming off-season because of the base year contract issue. Fortunately, Jackson acted like an idiot and voila, we got more athletic and dumped our horrific front court duo of Dunleavy and Murphy. I thought the reason Mullin signed all of these hacks, was to have enough salary flexibility to land a superstar, not to get a middle of the road player like Harrington and a cancer like Jackson. Of all our big contracts, only Dunleavy was producing (inconsistently as always) and I blame most of our problems on our shoot first point guards (Ellis and BD) that don't get the rest of the team involved with horrific shot selection. Nellie is a fine coach, but I still don't like the roster. The Lakers are loaded in the front court (Odem, Kwame, Andrew, Luke, Cook, Vlade) ... the Suns have three superstars (Nash, Amare, Matrix) and we have Biedrins, Harrington, Barnes and two jump shooters for point guards. I guess I am tired of seeing the Warriors as a jump shooting /iso team when our Pacific foes have mastered the art of ball movement, pick and rolls and back door cuts.
Your analysis has some merit; however, the one thing that I will agree 100% with you on is that the West is loaded.
The Warrior roster is much better today than it was before the trade. Our "shoot first point guards" are given the green light by Nelson (think of Tim Hardaway when he was with GS; he, too, was a "shoot first" point guard. Only when he went to play in Miami for Pat Riley did Hardaway adjust his game to become more conventional) to shoot whenever they have the open look.
Harrington is a much better player than Murphy.
Jackson is a much better player than Dunleavy.
The Euro (Nelson calls him Cabbage) is a better player much better than Keith McLeod.
Josh Powell is athletic and can run the floor and will fit in with Nelson's team better than Ike.
A lineup and rotation of Baron, Jackson, Pietrus, Harrington, and Biedrens with Monta, Barnes, Cabbage, and Powell will be much more competitive than if Dunleavy and Murphy were in the mix. Monta can spell Jackson; Cabbage can spell Baron; Barnes can spell Pietrus; Harrington can slide over to center; Powell and Jackson can slide over to the small forward position.
And, yes, I agree with you about the Lakers and Suns being loaded.