Write back at you: on Andris Biedrins' value, Kelenna Azubuike's defense and a Kramer-like banning

July 25, 9:39 PMGolden State Warriors ExaminerMatt Steinmetz

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Andris Biedrins: How valuable? 

First of all, I really appreciate the number of comments. Can’t believe it. Won’t be able to get to them all but will try to get to as many as I can.

GSW pessimist, Twinkie defense and GSWfan4ever all seemed to agree I was underestimating Andris Biedrins and that Baron Davis leaving wouldn’t necessarily hurt him. They also pointed out that Monta Ellis and Biedrins worked the pick-and-roll well at times last season.

MS: Fair enough. There’s so much to like about Biedrins. In addition to being a darn good player, he’s optimistic and positive _  just an all-around solid person any way you cut it.

That said, he definitely benefits from the Warriors’ uptempo system. It’s not that he wouldn’t be effective in the halfcourt, it’s that he’s better in the style Golden State plays.

If I were a GM there wouldn’t be many circumstances in which I wouldn’t re-sign Biedrins. One of those, unfortunately, is if he is offered $10 or $11 million per year to play overseas and he wants you to match.

Again, love him … but that’s a touch high.
 

Jackson: Mr. Risk/Reward 

Evil Monkey wrote: Like Truth commented, Stephen Jackson will probably be responsible for bringing the ball up. The only difference for Ellis is the offense will primarily be run through him in the halfcourt and therefore defenses will be geared/game-planned to stop him.

MS: I agree with you that Jackson will be responsible for bringing it up at times. But that’s not necessarily a good thing. It’s nice that Jackson CAN bring the ball up, but you don’t want to have to rely on him to do so.

Ditto with Ellis. He can bring it up, too. But both those guys are turnover-prone. Until the Warriors brought Marcus Williams into the fold, they were in a lot of trouble in terms of taking care of the ball.
 

Phil wrote:Kelenna Azubuike can be a lock-down defender. Against Kobe Bryant in both Lakers games late last year he only allowed Kobe a handful of free throws. In several key situations he stopped him cold, including one forced air-ball. He also hit a number of pressure shots through the year so I’m glad the W’s re-signed him.

MS: I had forgotten about the nice job he did on Bryant in a couple of games this season, quite frankly. So, you’re right, he is capable. It’s just that sometimes with Azubuike it takes a Kobe Bryant to get him to be a capable defender.

How about if we start assessing him anew this season, and we’ll pay particular attention to his team defense?

By the way, like Kramer at the produce market when he complained about fruit, I’m banning CarySalsberg and Shallow Hal for at least a week or so. CarySalsberg gets it for general negativity and the centimeter-deep Hal gets it for not getting my “NBA 101” sarcasm and for trying to suggest I think the people who are reading are peons.

I’m calling “skin” on you guys. You’re under mine and you’re done for a while.