I haven’t posted a blog in a while and I have to make a decision on whether or not to keep my domain going for another year. It’s a $15 decision that’s been weighing on me like a few extra grams of coffee beans on my scale. But, I wanted to get this out there because I ran into a bunch of Warrior enablers; a group of people who are okay with losing and perhaps a partial reason why the Warriors are who they are.
Last night I played some hoop with some old-timers at the local gym. It was a good run, kind of like playing in slow-motion, but they played the game right and were respectful towards me, the new (“young”) guy.
My basketball shoes are a pair of Nike Hyperdunks with custom Warrior colors that I designed at NikeID (forgive all the brand and product name dropping). The guys looked at my shoes and I had to explain to them that they were Warrior colors not Laker colors. This spurred on a discussion about the Warriors amongst all the old-timers.
It started with, “they gotta get rid of Curry or Ellis,” and continued with talks about defense and size and all the typical Warrior discussions you’ll hear. Then one guy said, “but when I see Ellis play and the things he can do, I think to myself, ‘that’s one guy they need to keep.’” Another guy followed-up and said, “he’ll win you some games.” I wanted to intervene and introduce efficiency stats but before I could, one guy came out and said something I despise.
“There’s something to be said about the entertainment value of games.”
Blue was okay going out with a bang, kind of like the Warriors lose with a bang on a consistent basis
Another guy reminisced about Don Nelson and how entertainment value is more important than winning games. I kid you not. I can’t make this up. “I’d rather see the Warriors lose 115 – 120 than to see them win like Tim Duncan and the Spurs.” My jaw dropped to the floor. I wanted to tell them this is the exact type of attitude that makes it okay for the Warriors to be a losing franchise. Given that these guys were of the old school variety, I presumed they have probably spent a pretty penny or two on season tickets. They charged $3 more than the Tuesday night run at the same gym. That’s another basis for my presumption. Maybe they’re rich enough to say stupid things and not really care about it. For sure they’re not going to read this blog post, and even if they did, do you think they’d care? No, they’d rather have entertainment value.
I’m not upset because there’s some perspective to be had by listening to this group of enablers. Maybe they’re still enjoying the 1975 championship run and are satisfied with entertainment value. I know that the San Francisco Giants’ 2010 championship will keep me going for a lifetime, but I’ll do my best not to let bad decision making in the front office be good enough.
I agree, and at the same time maybe I’m one of those enablers. I actually appreciated the Spurs (as anti-Lakers) but it’s just not what you want to see night in and night out (unless of course you want to win).
Soooo, short story long, I’m with you on this – and if they give up one of Curry/Ellis I can’t make a choice right now. Anyone want Biedrins?
Trust me, winning in a boring way is a lot more fun than losing in an exciting way. There seems to be a disconnect between good, fundamental basketball and current Warrior fans. Although I get there is some real value in entertainment value, but that’s short-sighted thinking.
The choice between Curry and Ellis is easy. You keep Curry.
At best, Ellis is an average scorer (efficiency-wise) who relies mostly on his athleticism. People get too enamored with Ellis’ highlight plays that they forget he often shoots the Warriors out of the game.
I admit, I love Ellis and love what he can do, but his game is limited. He’s a volume scoring, undersized 2 guard that cannot defend. He gets a lot of steals but how many of his steal attempts fail and how many of those failed attempts lead to the other team scoring?
And thanks for commenting, Jeff!
Its Ellis vs Curry all over again, truthfully I was Pro Curry all along, but now I will take the best trade to improve the team long term.
I would trade either Ellis or Curry for Bynum or oden…I can add in Udon if U must.
At the end if we dont find a good coach and a Post player, if Ellis is traded now, we will be talking about getting rid of Curry in 3 years.
Remember Beindris 3 years ago? A lot teams wants this young Center with great hands, there is no way we would trade him unless its for a hall of famer, and now….he shouldn’t be in the NBA now. What about A. Randolph? I say…trade them all…get one superstar player and starting building with him. There are none on this team now.
Curry has the best value on the team. He’s younger, cheaper, plays a more important position, and is better than Ellis.