| | By Eric Karabell
ESPN.com
It was supposed to be an exciting season for the Golden State Warriors. Antawn Jamison was going to emerge and make people feel a little better about him being traded for Vince Carter. Center Erick Dampier and Donyell Marshall were going to help Jamison form a solid frontcourt, Mookie Blaylock was expected to bring the team veteran leadership and tutor Vonteego Cummings and Jason Caffey planned on being on the verge of stardom. Plus, the city of Oakland was hosting All-Star weekend.
|  | | Larry Hughes came over in a trade and was a big scorer right away. |
Talk about a disastrous season. This was worse than one of those Brady Bunch reunion specials. While some of the above happened, like Jamison emerging and the All-Stars (no Warriors) still showing up in Oakland, it wasn't a good year for the franchise.
The projected starting lineup never actually started together in any games, injuries ravaged the team and no player suited up in all 82 contests. Six key players including Jamison missed the final weeks of the season as the Warriors closed by losing 23 of 26, and the result was a franchise-tying low of 19 wins. The coach lost his job and, to be honest, all current Warriors except for Jamison and Larry Hughes can probably be had by other teams.
With that, here is our ninth offseason team spotlight, the Golden State Warriors. As always, we have our opinions, which are below, but we also appreciate yours. Click on the file to the right and see what Warriors fans were thinking.
Why the Warriors were 19-63: It's actually hard to believe the Warriors weren't worse than this. With 32 different starting lineups, more injuries than can be imagined, a coaching change from P.J. Carlesimo to Garry St. Jean (who realized quickly it was more a punishment than an honor to coach) and a ton of bad shots and turnovers, the Warriors deserved to set a franchise record for futility, not just tie it. However, two bright spots did emerge from the carnage.
First, Jamison more than doubled his scoring average from his rookie season, turning into a 20-point, 10-rebound guy, though he still has holes in his game that must be dealt with (free throw shooting, passing). Jamison made this impression in only 43 games, since a knee injury truncated his season in February. He's a keeper. Not Vince, but a keeper nonetheless.
Then before the trade deadline, a three-way deal with the Sixers and Bulls went down, with the Warriors ending up with exciting, young shooting guard Hughes. He wasn't used the right way in Philadelphia, since Allen Iverson takes all the shots. Hughes apparently watched Iverson closely, because he tends to shoot a lot as well. But you can't argue his raw talent. Hughes was given more than 40 minutes a night and just as significant -- the ball -- and he ended up averaging 23 points in Oakland, including two games with more than 40 points. That said, Hughes and Jamison never did play together, so whether the tandem will work if both can stay healthy this season is still in question.
The Warriors do have other parts they like, but they didn't play particularly often, or well when they did. Now it's Dave Cowens' problem, however, to make something out of a 19-63 team.
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Current projected top 6
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PG
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Mookie Blaylock
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SG
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Larry Hughes
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SF
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Donyell Marshall
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PF
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Antawn Jamison
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C
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Erick Dampier
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6th
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Chris Mills
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Team MVP: Jamison, though one might ask how your MVP can be a guy who played in only half the games. You have any other choices? Team LVP: We'll choose Dampier, who suited up only 21 times and was bad in those games, shooting .405 from the floor. Dampier seemed day-to-day for months after two knee operations and wrist surgery. Adonal Foyle ended up starting 59 times at center. That can't be good. Surprise! Everyone knew Jamison was better than the 9.6 points and 6.4 rebounds he provided as a rookie. But he really blossomed. Up and comer: Both Hughes (21) and Jamison (24) are still young enough to improve, and both probably will. Also, Vonteego Cummings should be the team's point guard once the team realizes that Mookie's only blocking the way now. The Warriors got virtually no help from the draft, though Auburn's Chris Porter might make the team. Heck, you could make this team.
What they need: With Hughes and Jamison all set at shooting guard and power forward, they just need to build around that. Of course, it would help if the players they build around with never wanted to shoot the ball. Center of the future (for years now) Dampier is still around, and the team believes he has 15 and 10 ability. Blaylock remains a defensive stalwart and all-around decent point guard, though he's not a guy you rebuild with.
Marshall was once the fourth pick in the entire draft, and he produced some of the best numbers of his disappointing career last year, getting 14 points and 10 rebounds, though the .394 field goal percentage is still horrific. Marshall, if he could improve his shooting, could be more than an enigma at small forward. A relentless rebounder, he grabbed more than 20 three times in one four-game stretch.
So in a perfect world, which Golden State isn't, the Warriors would have their starting lineup set and a good point guard off the bench. However, you need depth for those times when someone is hurt, and someone is always hurt. Chris Mills is a nice player to have off the bench at small forward. Bob Sura, acquired from Cleveland in a three-way deal along with Vinny Del Negro (from Milwaukee), are veterans who give the team excellent backcourt depth.
Foyle is an improving big man who blocks shots. And Terry Cummings is old, but wise enough to know how to get a big bucket or rebound without needing the same skills he had 15 years ago. The rest of the bench are all free agents -- Bill Curley, Mark Davis, Tony Farmer, Sam Jacobson and Tim Young -- and they played more last year than they should have. A few of these guys will be in the CBA.
What the plan is: Find some new vitamins to keep everyone healthy. That wouldn't hurt. Past that, just let the boys play. We're not saying the Warriors are a playoff team, but with a pair of 20-point scorers, decent rebounders in Marshall and Dampier and a nice situation at the point, this should be a competitive team.
What the franchise wants the most is to see the two, raw youngsters develop into superstars. The Warriors have had superstars in the past (who could forget the Run TMC days) and Jamison and Hughes are capable of big things. These guys could produce 42-45 points a night if the people around them stay healthy. That would be a nice start.
Direction heading: Definitely up, but how far up is the question. Would a 32-50 record, a 13-game upswing from this past year, be a huge improvement? Probably not enough. If we had to guess, a healthy bunch of Warriors would probably come close to doubling the win total.
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