Posted on Thu, Oct. 12, 2006

Ax beginning to fall on players straddling fence
Thompson is cut and more are to follow soon, according to Mullin


Warriors notebook

OAKLAND -- After Monday's public scrimmage, Warriors captain Baron Davis
had a little fun at the expense of two of Golden State's younger
players. Rookie Patrick O'Bryant and training camp invitee Anthony
Roberson were called out to the Arena's center court, where they engaged
in a rousing game of Duck Duck Goose with several young children.

For O'Bryant, a first-round draft pick who signed a deal this summer
that guarantees him more than $4 million, it was a moment of levity in
his first NBA training camp.

For Roberson, who went undrafted after leaving Florida last summer and
does have a contract in place for this season, it might have felt like a
metaphor for the roster roulette he's playing.

Warriors executive vice president Chris Mullin said Wednesday that his
club would start whittling down its 18-man roster sooner rather than
later, and he wasn't kidding. Just a few hours later, the team announced
that Dijon Thompson, another invitee, had been cut, leaving Roberson and
Matt Barnes as the only players in camp without a guaranteed contract.

"My back is against the wall, but that's a part of this league," Barnes
said. "You've just got to go out there and try to perform."

Both players have done their best to make an impression on coach Don
Nelson in the short amount of time available. Roberson, playing for the
White squad against the starting five on Monday, scored 16 points on
7-of-11 shooting. Barnes, meanwhile, has been informed by Nelson that
his hustle and energy are what the coach is looking for in a final
roster spot.

"That's what he's been telling me, so I'm going to keep going out there
every day and try to do the little things, the intangibles, the diving
on the floor, hustling, and stuff that it seems like they can use,"
Barnes said.

The Warriors have 15 players with guaranteed deals and can carry no more
than that after Oct. 30. But Andre Owens, one of three players who came
from Utah in the Derek Fisher deal, and Chris Taft, a second-year big
man, both make less than $700,000. If the Warriors choose to write off
one of those salaries as a loss, they'd have just enough room to squeeze
in Barnes or Roberson without running afoul of the NBA's dreaded luxury tax.

"Anywhere you go, you're always fighting for a job," Owens said. "You
don't think about things like that. You've just got to play your best."

Official warning

The Warriors had their annual meeting with some of the league's referees
and heard what's on tap for greater enforcement this season.

One big change, from the Warriors' perspective: The "Euro Shuffle," the
jump-but-not-quite-stop preferred by Golden State forward Zarko
Cabarkapa, among others, is supposed to be called a travel this season.

When that news came out, joked Troy Murphy, "Zarko started cursing in
his native tongue."

Another topic of discussion was the NBA's new system of fines meant to
keep players and coaches from protesting calls in such over-the-top fashion.

"To me, that's tough. It's a natural instinct for a lot of people," said
Mike Dunleavy, who had some especially animated discussions with
officials last season and did so again during Monday's scrimmage. "If
you're accused of doing something wrong and you didn't do it, it's kind
of hard to hold it back. If you strip a guy and it's all ball, your
natural reaction is to do something."

Off the glass

On the heels of an exhausting practice Tuesday -- capped by dozens of
extra sprints due to poor free-throw shooting -- Nelson took it easy on
his players Wednesday, rotating them through a series of shooting
stations instead of engaging in a full-blown practice. ... Backup point
guard Keith McLeod, who twisted an ankle in Tuesday's workouts, did not
participate Wednesday and was still listed as day-to-day. ... Guard
Devin Brown, released on the eve of training camp, is back home in San
Antonio and looking for a new NBA destination. He told the San Antonio
News-Express that he understands the nature of the Warriors' decision,
which saved them $2.1 million, but still wishes it had worked out
differently. "I put in the work this summer that I hadn't in the past
because I know how Don Nelson wanted to play," Brown said. "To not get a
chance to show any of that is the hardest thing to deal with right now."

-- Geoff Lepper