2009-2010 Finish: 41-41

What went bad

The Golden State Warriors haven’t made the playoffs since 2004. Blame some of it on being GM-less, but most of the blame goes to the bad GMs who have run the team into the crowd. The NLL community had hope GM Satoman would have wiped away the stink of the GM Ran years, but when the GM quit (citing boredom), the Warriors had their best record in years, with no one running the show. Go figure.

The preseason began with promising guard Ramon Sessions leaving town for the bright lights of New York. The team retained big man Joel Anthony, brought back Ersan Ilyasova from Europe and grabbed Ryan Hollins and Stephen Graham from free agency. The personnel from the prior year remained the same and Warriors kicked off one of the best years for the team on record.

The Warriors had the fortune of grabbing waived players Willie Green and Channing Frye during the season. Rather than run out of money at the beginning of the season like all the other NLL teams, the Warriors had enough cash to grab these surprise releases. Green gave them a solid back-up shooting guard while Frye should answer the starting center problem which Warriors had hoped Hollins would have solved.


What went worse

In one of the biggest heartbreakers in team history, the Warriors missed out on the playoffs after tying for the 8th seed with the Kings. Based on league rules, the Warriors were out, the Kings were in and another dry season came to an end.

Stars

- Vince Carter, GF –

Is Vince Carter still a star circa 2010? Well, he may not be as dominant as he used to be, but Carter showed up for all 82 games this season and dropped 21.6ppg. Carter isn’t the marquee player anymore, but he’s the closest the workman Warriors have to a star. He’ll just have to do.


Goats

- Daniel Gibson, G –

What a horrible season for Daniel Gibson. He only appeared in 31 games and averaged 6.6mpg, down from 18.1mpg the season before. His scoring average dipped from 12.9ppg to a woeful 3.5ppg, with his shooting percentage down to a paltry 31%. With Luke Ridnour about to jump ship, the Warriors need Gibson to return to form.


Looking to the future

The Warriors come into the 2010-11 season with one of the best starting five in team history. Frye, Michael Beasley, Corey Brewer, Carter and Mo Williams are a capable squad. Ilysova and Green also solve the backup slots for SG and SF. With Anthony likely to return and Hollins signed, the team is okay up front, but solving another, better center could be beneficial. With Ridnour about to bounce, the team may also want to secure another backup point guard if Gibson cannot get it together.

In the draft, the Warriors grabbed Kansas guard Xavier Henry at 14. The freshman is a natural athlete that is strong and can score at will. He was a good choice as Carter is getting old and probably better suited to play small forward. However, that will have to wait until we can see if Henry (not very fast or strong) can cut it in the NLL. The team also lucked into Euro big Tibor Pleiss, who dropped into their laps at pick 43. The 7’1” German will likely remain in Europe for some time, but his rights could be a great trade asset down the line.