Hater Tuesday: Warriors media day special edition.
Welcome back to our collective delusion. For more than a month, we have been dormant, hoping for the hope to return. Instead, we have a dejected Stephen Jackson as the Grinch who stole media day. As well documented as media day was, I’ll keep this brief only slightly longer than necessary. But today does beg at least one question.
What the hell kind of team can’t even get media day right? Show up, look happy to be a well-compensated professional, say some nice things to move some tickets, and go home. But no. Not our Dubs. They’ve got to make this into a public spectacle of dysfunction. And at the center of the storm? The team’s two best players. First, you’ve got Captain Grinch telling us that, yes, he still wants out. Then you’ve got Monta telling us that, no, he doesn’t think Nellie’s backcourt plan will work. Great. Where do I sign up to give Chris Cohan that disproportionate share of my disposable income for my delusional “great time out?”
But delusion is nothing new in these parts. Which will be this week’s theme. The Bay Area sports scene is defined by moments of success that feed decades of delusion. In just the last, depressing five days or so, we’ve seen the delusion come crashing down for the San Francisco Giants, the Cal Bears football team, the Oakland Raiders, and (to a lesser extent) the San Francisco 49′ers. The A’s are so deep in their delusion of Moneyball, that they barely merit mention. They were gone before the fog of summer rolled in in earnest.
My bitterness is one thing, but in all seriousness I’ve got a little council for Mssrs. Jack and Monta. Forget for a moment that the team that currently employs you did, in fact, regenerate or foster your current relevance. Loyalty? Fine. Throw it out. But riddle me this Grinch. What NBA franchise is going to look at today’s press conference and say, “Yep. That’s the piece of the puzzle we’re looking for. A disgruntled Santa Claus who delivers ill-advised threes by the sleighload and rebels after playing one season of his most recently negotiated deal? Let’s do this!” C’mon Jack. There must be a circuit missing. Brain and mouth faster than the internal editor? Even if you want out, this makes zero sense. Monta? At least get through a backcourt fail or two before blasting the thinking.
Moreover, given that he’s the captain of the team, exactly what manner of message is Jack sending to his seconds and thirds. Well, Monta seems to be saying something similar in as many words. And given the history of the team with this sort of thing, I can’t wait to see Anthony Randolph, et al., suiting up for an All-Star Game as members of other teams. It’s the Warrior way. Even D.J. Mbenga has a championship ring.
So yes. Once again, we’ve leveraged our entire franchise on the collective delusion of three or four men. Cohan, Rowell, Nelson, and (maybe) Riley have now officially sailed the ship into the Sea of Sprewell. Again. Adrift and rudderless. And this year we couldn’t even smile our way through media day, breathing in the sweet salt air of the Nellieball delusion and hoping for an eight spot in the playoffs.
Nope, sorry. Ladies and gentlemen, meet your 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors. Enjoy what you can, before at least a couple of these cats are on the first Gulfstream smokin’ out of the OAK. And then we’ll turn our lonely eyes to those big free-agent pickups Devean George and Mikki Moore, cry a little into our beer and wait for someone to shoot a t-shirt at us. Oh wait. That would be if we’re still buying tickets.
Turman
PS. In an unprecedented step, two of us have already fully bearded up for the storm. Playoffs? We’re bearding up for the preseason.
Extremely well said DT. Kierkegaard would be proud of the fact that you’ve bearded up for what will no doubt be an abysmal season. What could be a better symbol of the great existential angst of a Bay Area sports fan?
Comment by matthewmeschery | 09.29.2009 | 6:50 am
Sounds like you might be ready to talk Raiders! But seriously, the saddest part was the look on Curry’s face. That’s what had me shaking my head the most. New, promising talent and he’s already looking around the room like, “Uh, yeah. It’s, uh, great to be…a Warrior?”
Comment by admin | 09.29.2009 | 7:18 am
Man, it’s been so long that I almost forgot my login.
First, let me say thank you DT. Coming into work on an overcast Tuesday morning, curling up at my desk with hot cereal and a good Hater Tuesday post. You can’t get much better than that.
For me the Dub delusion is over. I gave up on these clowns as so as I realized Cohan valued men that play games over the men that play THE game. Now, like you I given up on simple fandom –– turning my attention to sport and the gifted athletes who play it (and act) professionally.
Comment by Gd. | 09.29.2009 | 9:17 am
Monta - Seriously? You’re unhappy? Remember the time when you crashed on a scooter, lied about it, and then missed the first season of the massive contract that you just signed, thus destroying any chance of success for your team last year? Because I do, and I still think that you are a choad who needs to prove that you can be as explosive as you were before you shredded your ankle….on a scooter….you choad.
Jack - Hey Buddy! Glad we could put maximum trust in you by making you a captain and helping to erase your toxic reputation as a thuggish-ruggish-dumbass, and then unnecessarily signing you to a max extension that no one else would have given you, all before your contract was even up! But hey, maybe you SHOULD go to the Knicks! They already have $40 mil on the books for TMNT, Eddy Curry, Larry Hughes, and Darko. Add your $8 mil and that is a stellar $50 million starting line-up! Eastern Conference Finals, here we come!
Seriously, we should dump both of these fools. I’ve already spent a good portion of my morning on the trade machine.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine
What about Boozer? He wants out BAD.
Comment by beardedbarman | 09.29.2009 | 11:09 am
“…the Sea of Sprewell. Again. Adrift and rudderless.”
I’m waiting for the Dubs to lure Rony Seikaly out of retirement just to make it all definitive and official.
On one hand, I find it hard to not agree with the substance of what Jackson and Ellis have been griping about. On the other, I feel they both need to STFU.
Either way, I find it hard to care. I have, since the front office “brain trust” saw fit to push Chris Mullin out — the guy who embodies the last time Warriors fans really felt good about what was going on in the front office and on the court.
The one consolation is that Nellie is now owning up to the idea that his “contributions” aren’t worth a paycheck.
Oh well. At least Cohan never hired Isaiah Thomas.
Comment by Chester | 09.29.2009 | 2:05 pm
and it don’t stop….
“Monta Ellis may ask out of the Warriors too soon, via someone in his camp. Still bitterness on both sides from the mo-ped fiasco.
Jonathan Abrams
- NY Times Sports Reporter
Comment by matthewmeschery | 09.29.2009 | 2:21 pm
I saw that, via Marcus Thompson’s Twitter feed. That’s where I saw this too. Young Curry as the voice of reason.
gswscribe Curry: (Monta’s) been here. He has experience. … If that’s what he sees, then there’s gotta be some validity to it.”
Comment by admin | 09.29.2009 | 3:25 pm
Thanks to Al Davis & the Raiders, the Warriors don’t have to worry about being the most dysfunctional franchise in the bay. So you got that going for you. Seriously, I think you have to look at the Maggette deal as the biggest on-court issue. He’s a legendary locker room complainer whose influence you see in the actions of Jack & Monta. Winning teams in the NBA have character not characters. At this point it makes more sense to root for the IRS in their investigation of Cohan than to root for the team. I admit to being a lifelong Nugget fan who appreciates good ball. The Warriors used to and may remain an interesting team to watch, but major changes are obviously needed before they can be taken seriously again.
Glad to have you guys back! FTB remains to be the most unique & interesting basketball blog on the net.
Comment by alanwilliams | 09.29.2009 | 10:49 pm
If Monta’s critique has validity because he has some experience, then what does that say about Nellie and his experience?
It’s a pity there are no 7-footer Sudanese to pick up so we can have one lope the court and bomb threes while four point guards scurry about his ankles.
Comment by Chester | 09.30.2009 | 12:16 am