Posted on Fri, Oct. 06, 2006

New offense fits Dunleavy's style
Nelson will use him as a power forward and exploit his point guard
skills, something Montgomery and Musselman avoided

By Geoff Lepper
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

OAKLAND - In November of 1991, Don Nelson acquired from the Sacramento
Kings what many people thought would be the prototypical power forward
for his up-tempo scheme. Billy Owens was a 6-foot-8, 220-pounder who was
supposed to be able to handle like a point guard but rebound and defend
with the best of the NBA's big men.

Longtime Warriors fans know how that worked out: Owens spent three
seasons in a Golden State uniform, earning his keep but never quite
living up to the advance billing and, most damningly, failing to lift
the club out of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

Meanwhile, Mitch Richmond -- the player who was shipped out in exchange
for Owens -- collected six All-Star berths as a King, prompting Nelson
to dub the trade "the dumbest move I ever made."

Fifteen years later, Nelson may have finally found the player he had
hoped Owens would be. And that couldn't have happened a moment too soon
for Mike Dunleavy.

Last October, Dunleavy began his fourth NBA season on the high of
signing a five-year, $45 million contract extension and ended it on the
low of being booed by Arena fans for his inability to be the
single-minded shooter Mike Montgomery wanted.

Having grown up as a point guard -- until his height dictated a move to
the frontcourt -- Dunleavy has always felt he could run an offense. And
at Monday's media day, he didn't exactly spare the feelings of either
Montgomery or Eric Musselman, saying of his two previous pro coaches
that, "I never really felt like I was being used the right way, plain
and simple."

Nelson, on the other hand, "sees the type of player I am and the way I
play, the way I think."

Dunleavy spent much of last season trolling along the perimeter and
waiting to take a jumper off a kick-out pass from a teammate. The only
problem: Dunleavy converted only 28.5 percent of his attempts from
behind the 3-point line, the worst figure of his four-year NBA career.

"The only thing I've been disappointed in is that I haven't been making
as many open shots as I'd like to, because that's where they were
putting me, in a position to spread the floor and shoot 3-pointers,"
Dunleavy said. "But I need to do other things, because when those shots
aren't falling, it's just one-dimensional. To be able to handle the ball
a little bit more and be more involved would be good."

Dunleavy should have no qualms about his level of involvement with the
Warriors offense this year. With Troy Murphy moving to center, the
Warriors' other options at power forward -- Zarko Cabarkapa and Ike
Diogu -- don't offer nearly the kind of versatility that Nelson and
executive vice president Chris Mullin envision getting from Dunleavy,
who will initiate the offense on at least a part-time basis.

"I think Dunleavy's going to do really well in our system," Nelson said.
"I'll be surprised if he doesn't. ... That's a unique ability, to play a
point guard at a power forward position. I don't know who's ever done
that. I've never had a guy who can do that."

Said point guard Baron Davis: "Mike Dunleavy, I believe in him, and I
think that Coach Nelson is the guy that's going to push him over the top."

Nelson gave Dunleavy a nudge in that direction by naming him as one of
the Warriors' three captains this season.

"He's somebody who has a great basketball IQ, and he's going to know
where everybody is on the floor and where they're supposed to be,"
Murphy said. "If I'm confused on something like that, I'm going to ask
him. He's always got the answers."

So far in training camp, Dunleavy hasn't cracked the list of players who
have stood out, in Nelson's mind.

"It's not necessarily a comfortable thing, something new for him,"
Nelson said. "I think he'll stand out when he gets more comfortable
doing what I need him to do. ...

"He'll have a lot of opportunities to do well here. Let's hope that he
does."

Notes: Former UCLA and Georgia coach Jim Harrick, who is now running the
show for the Bakersfield Jam -- Golden State's new affiliate in the NBA
D-League -- was in attendance, checking out potential players. The
Warriors did not utilize the NBADL option last season, something Harrick
would be happy to see change. "I don't think the NBA has ever got into
the mind-set of sending guys down," Harrick said. "And this is the thing
we want to impress upon them -- we want to help them, help the guys who
aren't getting any minutes on their team." ... Cabarkapa sat out
Thursday's sessions after spraining his right ankle during Wednesday
night's practice and is considered day to day.

> So far in training camp, Dunleavy hasn't cracked the list of players

Uh oh. Who's he gonna blame it on if this doesn't work out?

--

Pat

email: remove UN

Robin Miller wrote:


I hope this article is not correct. With Murphy moving to center? I
guess having zero low post offense from the front court and no interior
defense is the plan now? Not that there was any last year. I suppose
at least Murph can catch and dunk off Baron's passes, something Adonal
never learned how to do. But who is going to score in the post?
JRICH?

Rizzo

Frank Rizzo wrote:

Frank,

I read it somewhere (can't remember where since I read so many things
lately) but it probably will either be Mitch or Timmy (I mean JRich or
Baron....

Seriously, this is so Nellie. Having your PG/SG posting up instead of
your traditional 4/5 guy doing it. I'm curious how Ike fits into all
of this. I have a feeling that Wagner and Ike will be the first ones
off the bench for the W's. Wagner is a gunner and Ike can backup
Murphy at the center position. I think Ike will get his share of
minutes because he can shot from outside too (maybe not 3 point range)
and has some post up game.

The 8 man rotation would appear to me be:

Baron, JRich, Monta, Dun, Murphy, Ike, Wagner, Pietrus

THe other 4 players will play spot minutes but I think generally it
will be: Zarko (for his offensive skills), Andres/Adonal (backup
centers) and one guard to backup Baron.

Don

" I hope this article is not correct. With Murphy moving to center? I
guess having zero low post offense from the front court and no interior
defense is the plan now? Not that there was any last year. I suppose
at least Murph can catch and dunk off Baron's passes, something Adonal
never learned how to do. But who is going to score in the post?
JRICH?"

I don't think Nellie wants any low post offense. I think he want's to
exploit big players lack of speed. Dunleavy should be able to take most
PF's off the dribble. Hopefully. The only reason for having Murphy at
center would be to draw the center out of the key so our gaurds and SF
can slash to the rim. Should be interesting to see. Anyone know when
the first preseason game will be televised?

Baker wrote:

Remember that Larry Smith was a PF until Nellie came along, and then he
played center frequently. And of course, Mullin was a guard until
Nellie moved him to SF.

In the first go-around of Nellie-ball, it wasn't uncommon to see him
playing what was essentially 4 guards (counting Mullin as a guard) and a
center (either Larry Smith or Manute Bol). Neither Smith nor Bol were
exactly low-post centers.

Remember with Nellie, he's always looking for mismatches to exploit.

The games I'm interested in seeing are going to be the ones with Phoenix.

As for Dunleavy, maybe Nellie's system is exactly what he needs, where
Nellie can build around his specific strengths (even if they're not
typical -- e.g., a "point power forward"). By the same token, perhaps
this was part of Monty's failings, in trying to force players into
predefined roles, even if they weren't really suited for it.

I'm cautiously optimistic that this might be the time we finally get the
breakout year from Dunleavy, with him playing in a system that
emphasizes his specific strengths.

Smith

NFN Smith <worldoff9908@sacbeemail.com> wrote:


Regardless of whether this is the team Nellie really wants, we can only
hope that he brings out the best in these guys so that some of them are
at least valuable in a trade. One of the worst things about the
Montgomery regime was the way that formerly valuable assets (notably
Pietrus and Dunleavy) became worth less (or worthless, depending on your
point of view). Maybe if those guys can show something, Mullin can move
some of them for the pieces he's missing.

On Fri, 06 Oct 2006 07:25:52 -0500, Robin Miller <Not_My@Real_Address.com>
wrote:


Talk about hyperbole. Owens is one of the few people that Dunleavy can
shoot better than, but Owens' floor game was far superior to Dunleavy's.
At least as a Warrior.


Depends on which offense he's running. If all he has to do is pass it low
to Ike Diogu, he can do that. Can he drive and dish like Baron?
Absolutely not.


Nothing like letting a high school point guard run your NBA team. The
whole problem with his career is that he's never let go of the notion that
he's a point guard.


Yeah, it would really suck to have a better shooter and a guy who can
score low like Ike when we can have a soft player who bricks open shots
and can't finish in a crowd around the rim.

I guarantee you this. The point power forward experiment will be over
before the end of 2006 and Ike will be in the starting lineup.


Ah, aren't puff pieces lovely?


And he won't ever, aside from the odd good game here and there.
--
Greg Lentz

On 6 Oct 2006 09:27:25 -0700, "Frank Rizzo" <champ91917@yahoo.com> wrote:


Actually, it's been well publicized long before this article that Murphy
will play center with Dunleavy at PF.


Yep. He and Baron are going to be on the baseline. They're going to
invert their offense in the halfcourt and run up-tempo as much as
possible.
--
Greg Lentz

On 6 Oct 2006 09:45:23 -0700, "Baker" <bribaker22@yahoo.com> wrote:


According to the website, there are no televised preseason games, although
usually there's at least one on NBA TV.

http://www.nba.com/warriors/schedule/index.html
--
Greg Lentz