HoopsHype.com Columns

New coach, same old Warriors
by AJ Hayes / September 18, 2002

Well, for once it was smooth sailing on the good ship Golden State. Too bad the cruise only lasted about three days.

The Warriors (21-61 last season) have a fresh young coach, Eric Musselman, and an exciting new rookie, Mike Dunleavy, but the same old problem has popped up again: namely player grousing. This time the disgruntled party is rugged power forward Danny Fortson who last week took the term “Voluntary Mini-camp” a little too literally for the Warriors tastes.

Angry about the way he believes the team is phasing him out of their scheme in favor of Antawn Jamison (19.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg), Fortson -- who averaged an NBA fourth best 11.7 rebounds per game last season -- is just the latest in a long line of Warriors (hello, Chris Webber, Latrell Sprewell, Marc Jackson) to publicly state his displeasure in the way the Warriors go about their business. And while such behavior is not unique to the Warriors, it happens way too often in Oakland.

This time Fortson has given the old “play me or trade me” rap a new twist. He’s called out not only the Warriors brass, but also a fellow teammate – Jamison. That’s something you rarely see in pro sports. But Jamison, perceived to be a prima-donna amongst some Warriors, has had this coming.

"I have a problem with just because he's Antawn Jamison, I should give up my spot because he wants it," Fortson was quoted as saying.

Ever since the Warriors traded the rights to Vince Carter for Jamison on draft day in 1998, they’ve struggled to find the perfect position for him. He’s tried shooting guard and last season worked out of the 3 position. But Jamison who starred at the power forward slot at North Carolina has long campaigned for the Warriors 4 spot. Now with bulls-eye shooting Dunleavy on board, the team has been seriously discussing granting Jamison his wish.

While Fortson is not doing himself or team morale any good by staging a protest, it is understandable that Fortson would be peeved. A very physical player who takes his share of bumps and bruises home at night, Fortson was one of the few Warriors who gave his all game after game when the Warriors season was going down the pipes like drain-o last season.

Look for Fortson to be moved.

Team outlook

With Fortson’s status still undetermined, if the Warriors were to tip off their season today they would most likely go with a starting five of point guard Gilbert Arenas (10.9 ppg, 3.5 apg), shooting guard Jason Richardson (14.4 ppg), small forward Mike Dunleavy, Jamison at the four and either so-so centers Erick Dampier (7.6 ppg., 5.3 rpg) or Adonal Foyle (4.8. 4.9) at center. One through four, the Warriors are young and exciting, but unproven as a team. Dunleavy should certainly help improve the Warriors 42.9 field goal percentage and take some of the pressure off of Jamison who too often rushed his shots last season. High flying slam-dunk champion, Richardson, the first Warrior to be featured in a national ad campaign since the days of Rick Barry, will be counted on to grow into the team’s offensive focal point. After languishing on the bench for the first half of last season, Arenas finally got a chance to show his stuff in the second half of the season and opened eyes with his court smarts and ice-water-in-the-veins clutch shooting touch.

The Golden State bench however is no Fort Knox. After Chris Mills, Troy Murphy and Bob Sura, the W’s might as well fill out their roster with question marks.

Barry's back

After Warriors management showed former Warriors super star Rick Barry an utter lack of respect by steadfastly refusing to interview the Hall of Famer for their coaching vacancy this summer, new coach Musselman attempted to smooth hard feelings over by inviting Barry to the mini-camp to be a guest instructor.

Barry, who had been openly campaigning for the job on his San Francisco radio sports talk show, showed a lot of class by accepting the offer and he went right to work tutoring draft pick guard Jiri Welsch and forward Antawn Jamison to loosen up on the offensive end by staying clear of the janitorial closet.

Barry told reporters: "If players learn how to play the game bent over, they are in such a stronger position to react and go to the basket, and the shot becomes simpler. Most players play like they have a broomstick up their butt. You can't play the game that way.”

Musselman catches homer

After spending six straight weeks holed up in the Warriors bunker watching tape and planning for his first NBA head coaching job. The enthusiastic Musselman, who at 37 is the youngest coach in the league, has been working non-stop since taking the Warriors job in July. But even gym rats like Musselman have to take their mind off of hoops occasionally. So Musselman leaped into his new luxury car, courtesy of a team sponsor and sped across the Bay Bridge to see the Giants play at Pac Bell Park. Musselman, who walked unnoticed amongst the baseball crowd - was in the house when Barry Bonds smashed his 600th career home run. “This is the first time I’ve been out of the office in several weeks,” Musselman told HoopsHype.com. “And I couldn’t think of a better place to be.”

AJ Hayes is a San Francisco-based sports writer and a regular contributor to HoopsHype.com

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