Can The Warriors Come Out And Play?

by Lang Whitaker

It was only 2 years ago that the Golden State Warriors threw caution to the wind and decided to play as faced-paced as possible. They beat Dallas in the first round of the Playoffs, ruined a SLAM cover, and nearly beat the Utah Jazz in the second round of the Playoffs. Since then, pretty much nothing has worked out. Baron Davis? Gone. Chris Mullin? Gone. Building around Monta Ellis? Nope, not after his moped (seriously) injury.

Yesterday was media day in The Bay, and while most media days bring a sense of rebirth and hope, according to Marcus Thompson in the Oakland Tribune, the Warriors yesterday did whatever they could to quickly quash any opening day excitement. Not only did Stephen Jackson reiterate that he’d like to be traded, but, as Thompson reported, Monta Ellis said there’s no way he and Stephen Curry can play together in the backcourt:


“(Management) says we can, but we can’t,” Ellis said. “I just want to win. We’re not going to win that way. … It’s different when you’re trying to compare me and Stephen (Curry), when you’re trying to go back to when me and BD (Baron Davis) were playing, it’s a different situation. You’ve got a veteran who’s been in the game, who understands the game, knows how to play the game, and he’s a big body.

“You can’t put two small guys out there and try to play (point guard) and (shooting guard) when you’ve got big (shooting) guards in the league. You just can’t do it. OK, yes, we’re going to move up and down fast, but eventually the game is going to slow down. You can’t do it.”

Wonder if David Kahn read that?

Either way, what was so recently a fun, happy-go-lucky team has quickly become one of the more depressing places in the NBA. It wasn’t only Monta on that moped, it was the entire Warriors organization.

But hey, all is not lost.

Wait, forget that, maybe all is lost, after all.