A lost franchise suddenly has hope: perhaps the Warriors are … well … the Warriors. But perhaps what's going on in the Bay Area is a sign of big things to come

Sporting News, The, April 22, 2005 by Sean Deveney

Warm evenings in March are rare on the shores of the Great Lakes, and Jason Richardson, a native of Michigan, knows it. As he hunkered down on a balmy (i.e., 55-degree) night in the lobby bar of the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee the night before a game against the Bucks--sweatshirt instead of parka, Yankees hat instead of stocking cap, headphones instead of earmuffs--Richardson counted himself and his Warriors teammates lucky. "Things must be going our way," he said.

Indeed, few teams have more going their way than the Warriors, and few players have as much cause for excitement as Richardson. Golden State won't make the playoffs, but in the seven weeks since acquiring point guard Baron Davis, the team has been reborn. The Warriors are running. They are defending. They are cutting and finishing layups. They are bringing in fans--the 10th-largest crowd (20,043) in Oakland Arena history showed up last Friday to watch the Warriors beat Phoenix. After that game, they were 15-7 with Davis and had won 11 of 12 games.

What matters most is that Richardson and Davis are creating chemistry, a strange development for a pairing that figured to mix like oil and water when Davis arrived in February. Richardson needs the ball and has taken on double-teams himself all season. Davis is a ball-dominating point guard. You see the problem--two players, one ball.

"That hasn't even been an issue," Richardson says. "He is a willing passer. Before he came, I was pretty much going against double-teams and triple-teams almost every time I touched the ball. Now, I have to learn to keep cutting to the basket for easy shots. Before, we did not have guys who could get you the ball when you cut. Baron does."

Although the Warriors are brimming with young talent, it is Richardson's development and his on-floor relationship with Davis that are the keys to the team's future.

Richardson carries a slight reputation for selfishness, which he acknowledges, but that developed because the Warriors have been in constant turmoil. Richardson already has played for four coaches in four years. Last season, coach Eric Musselman was on his way out, and several players were unhappy. Richardson, who was eligible for and received a contract extension, handled the one thing he could control: himself.

"Guys knew what was happening," Richardson says. "(Musselman) knew what was happening. Everyone knew he was not coming back. In that situation, the only thing you can do is just focus on yourself. That's a sad part of it, but it is true. It becomes me first, team second."

But when rumors began surfacing that the Warriors might trade for Davis, Richardson called general manager Chris Mullin and urged him to make the deal. Richardson happily has ceded some responsibility--his scoring has dipped since Davis arrived, but Richardson is happy to have a teammate who can share the load.

"Jason is still learning about himself and his abilities," says Warriors coach Mike Montgomery. "I think Baron can help him with that. He feels a little less pressure now to have to score every time. You see him pass up a shot or not wanting the ball if he doesn't feel real comfortable. That has taken pressure off him."

The Warriors have fans excited, but there are caveats. Davis broke down physically and mentally with the Hornets, and the same could happen with the Warriors. Davis still reverts to 3-point gunning too often. The Warriors lack a low-post scorer. In general, it's foolish to give too much credit to teams that play well in meaningless games. (Remember ex-Hawks coach Lon Kruger's playoff promise?)

For now, though, Davis has seized leadership of the team, and Richardson's development has accelerated. No team is itching for the start of next season more than this one.

"It has been a frustrating few years," Richardson says. "Everyone has been focused on losing. We have been so used to losing around here, we are ready for some winning."

speed reads

The Bulls are being extremely cautious with center Eddy Curry, who was hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat and has been looked at by specialists in Minnesota and Boston. Many times, irregular heartbeats turn out to be nothing. But the worst-case scenario is what happened to former Celtic Reggie Lewis, who died on the court after having an irregular heartbeat.

The Lakers are acknowledging that Lamar Odom is not a good fit with the team because he needs the ball in his hands and Kobe Bryant did not let that happen much this season. So--again--a year after trading Shaquille O'Neal, the Lakers will look to move a talented player to satisfy Bryant's ego.

There is hope for the Hawks, simply because they're stacked with cap space. But there is so little talent on the roster that G.M. Billy Knight must be willing to build slowly and focus on depth instead of bringing in an overpriced star. The Hawks would do well to sign three or four second-tier players this summer.

INSIDE DISH

Larry Brown returned, however uncomfortably, to the Pistons on April 1. That was after a few bizarre weeks in Detroit. Brown had hip surgery in November, and a complication forced him to have a second surgery, on his bladder, in March. After his second surgery, his players didn't hear from him for two weeks, leading to speculation that Brown would not coach again this season. Speculation ended when Brown showed up for a shootaround and then coached the Pistons to a win over the Clippers two days later. No coach has a bigger impact on his team than Brown does on the Pistons. With interim coach Gar Heard in charge--and without Brown's nagging, demanding demeanor on the sideline--the Pistons didn't move the ball well and relied too much on one-on-one offense. Brown demands that his point guard advance the ball and get rid of it as quickly as possible. If he doesn't, Brown yanks him from the game. In the 10 games Brown missed, the Pistons were 6-4 and averaged 18.9 assists. In the first four games after Brown returned, the Pistons didn't lose and averaged 29.5 assists. "They're a different team with Larry;' says one Eastern Conference scout. "When he is there, everyone is on their best behavior." > Nets PG Jason Kidd upset some in New York when he was asked if he got satisfaction out of beating the Knicks, the Nets' "rivals" from across the river. "Why?" Kidd wondered. "Just another bad team. I don't get excited for bad teams" During his four years with New Jersey, Kidd is 17-3 against the Knicks. > At the end of a terrific season, the Sonics are limping into the playoffs. SF Rashard Lewis (bruised foot), PF Danny Fortson (shoulder), F Vladimir Radmanovic (fractured fibula) and G Antonio Daniels (torn meniscus in his knee) all are nursing significant injuries. Daniels' injury might cause the Sonics the most trouble. He has been playing through pain since January, but it has worsened and won't improve in the coming weeks. Daniels has the most playoff experience of any Sonic and has been an unheralded component of the team's emergence. With PG Luke Ridnour worn down--he is averaging 31.3 minutes, up from 16.1 as a rookie last season--Daniels figured to be a crucial reserve during the postseason. > Warriors SG Mickael Pietrus keeps his fingers crossed when asked about the possibility of his brother joining him in the NBA. Florent Pietrus, 24, is playing for Malaga in Spain, and though he does not have his brother's offensive upside, he is the same sort of tough, long-armed defender. Mickael Pietrus says his brother is signed for three years with Malaga but could be bought out if an NBA team shows interest. > 7-2 C Kosta Perovic, 20, has not had a great year and would need to negotiate a buyout with Partizan Belgrade to enter the draft. But he's considered one of the top international prospects, and his agent, Bill Duffy, says there's a 50 percent chance Perovic will be in the draft.