Harrison Barnes arrives with Dunk of the Year candidate on Nikola Pekovic (VIDEO) (Ball Don’t Lie)

 Golden State  No Responses »
Nov 262012
 

If you’re anything like me, you’re having a little bit of trouble shaking loose the cobwebs following a four-day holiday weekend full of eating, driving back and forth between family members’ couches, sleeping on foldout couches (complete with metal bars jutting up into your lower back) or lumpy hotel beds, and generally not treating your body very well. It’s hard to get yourself to wake up and snap back to reality; this is normal.
Luckily, we’ve got the antidote. On Saturday night, while the eyes of most of the sports-watching world were trained on Notre Dame-USC , Golden State Warriors rookie Harrison Barnes was busy brewing up the double-shot of espresso that he knew our morning coffee would need. Step right up, Nikola Pekovic:

Well, then. Good morning.
After you’ve wiped the coffee off your monitor, feel free to run this one back and watch it again, because — with apologies to Kevin Durant-on-Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Jones-on-Jodie Meeks — I feel pretty comfortable saying this is the best dunk we’ve seen in the young 2012-13 NBA season thus far. (If you think another stands out, though, we’d of course love to hear your take in the comments.)
NOTE: My apologies to Jeff Green for forgetting about his big-time bang on Al Jefferson two weeks ago. A strong argument, for sure, can be made for that.

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Warriors Continue Preseason Road Trip Without Stephen Curry: Fan’s Preview (Yahoo! Contributor Network)

 Sacramento  No Responses »
Oct 222012
 

The Golden State Warriors have had success this offseason. With a 5-1 exhibition record and wins over the Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers, the Warriors have seen nice progression from their young players. Harrison Barnes, who is still competing with Brandon Rush for the starting small forward spot, Festus Ezeli, who has been starting in place of the rehabbing Andrew Bogut, and Klay Thompson have all shown positive growth.

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Harrison Barnes was The Cat in the Hat for small Iowan children (Ball Don’t Lie)

 Golden State  No Responses »
Aug 302012
 

If you’re anything like me, you were just minding your own business on Tuesday morning, reading the “Friends and Neighbors” column of the Aug. 28, 2012, edition of the Ames, Iowa, Tribune — y’know, as you do — when you caught the following germane-to-your-interest notice:
Harrison Barnes, an Ames High graduate who is now a professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors, will present storytimes at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 30, in the auditorium at Ames Public Library, 515 Douglas Ave. Join us for Dr. Seuss’ “Cat in the Hat” with this local legend.
… and you thought, “Oh, neat. It’s cool that before he enters his first NBA season, Barnes is going to do a little hometown visit and give some young Ames-ers … Ame-ians … kids a little thrill. That is very nice!”
And then Thursday rolled around, and Barnes informed his Twitter followers that he “had to get in character for this reading,” and welp:

Well, that’s certainly something.
Many players would’ve just showed up and read the book. Some would’ve decided to don the hat, in a respectful nod to the practice of peacocking made famous by terrifying “pickup artist” Mystery . But to actually go full facepaint? Clearly, like Trick Daddy, Harrison Barnes loves the kids. (Of Ames, Iowa.)
Hit the jump for a full-length shot of Barnes’ getup, which wouldn’t seem at all out of place in the midst of rookie hazing during a midseason Warriors road trip.

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Dion Waiters Admits He was Out of Shape for Cavaliers’ Summer League: A Fan’s Reaction (Yahoo! Contributor Network)

 LA Lakers  No Responses »
Aug 292012
 

When the Cleveland Cavaliers announced they had taken SG Dion Waiters with the No. 4 pick in the 2012 draft there was some vocal disappointment at the draft party in Quicken Loans Arena. This was compounded by the fact both widely popular Bradley Beal and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist were off the board by the time the Cavaliers were up. Still, the likes of Thomas Robinson and Harrison Barnes were available. Cleveland opted for Waiters, who after Beal, was the next best SG available.

Warriors’ Michael Malone Out of Trail Blazers Head Coach Search, Will Likely Stay with Golden State: Fan’s Take (Yahoo! Contributor Network)

 Golden State  No Responses »
Jul 252012
 

While the big news for the Golden State Warriors this offseason has centered around the drafting of Harrison Barnes, the acquisition of Jarrett Jack, and the likely re-signing of Brandon Rush, one of the team’s biggest questions regards head coach Mark Jackson and his coaching staff. More specifically, there has been plenty of speculation this offseason regarding top assistant Michael Malone and whether he would return to coach the Warriors for a second season. …

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Golden State Warriors: Successfully Rebuilding the Brand

 Rumors  No Responses »
Jul 172012
 

The Golden State Warriors’ brand has taken a lot of hits in the past 30 years.  One playoff appearance since 1994, horrible ownership and not one All-Star since the infamous Latrell Sprewell left the brand on life support.

Bill Simmons’ Grantland.com article “How to Annoy a Fan Base in 60 Easy Steps” is a great read that sums up the fans’ frustration since the last Warriors’ championship. Oh yes, the Golden State Warriors have won an NBA championship, but that was back when Rick Barry was on the court (1974-75).

To summarize the article, terrible ownership, bad decisions—decisions made just to show the fan base that an action was taken—and apathetic leadership led the Warriors’ brand from the top floor of the NBA to a place where the Clippers once lived. 

Joe Lacob and Peter Guber fully understand the bigger picture.  Lacob was a partial owner of the Boston Celtics, who have championships as their middle name.  Guber’s successful career in the entertainment industry is hyping up projects and delivering a strong, finished product that drives consumers back.

Lacob and Guber have been out in front of it with big moves: trading fan favorite Monta Ellis for legitimate center Andrew Bogut, hiring a GM with agent experience and jumping at the chance to provide a waterfront arena by 2017.

Besides the awkward moments and the chorus of boos at Chris Mullin’s jersey retirement, Lacob has a better understanding of how things work in the NBA.  He has built a team able to match up with any other NBA powerhouse.  The talent isn’t there yet, but the foundation is in place.

The team will dramatically improve on the “lose now to have a chance to keep the draft pick” strike-shortened season of last year.  Those losses were successful in being able to draft Harrison Barnes, who is lighting up the NBA Summer League in his first two appearances.

The team won’t resort to having to play “Nellie ball” as each position has a starter and a very good backup.  GM Bob Myers did his due diligence and is very comfortable with each player drafted. 

Myers also showed his promise by getting the backup guard the team needed in Jarrett Jack, while dumping Dorell Wright and his salary in the process. Jack is a great insurance policy and could easily run the point in case anything happens to Curry.

The biggest decision now is who the Warriors will sign with the remaining cap room and how the roster will shake out.

All of the recent happenings show the Warriors trending upward, but the bottom line in rebuilding the Warriors’ brand is the win-loss record.  Mark Jackson will be heading into his second year and will try to instill his defensive focus on the team.

Lacob and company promised the Dubs would not only make the playoffs, but have an All-Star on the team during last season.  Both of those scenarios didn’t happen and as a result, the season ticket prices did not rise.

Dubs management should make the same promise this year and remain confident that it will happen.  The huge and extremely loyal fanbase will appreciate the end result with the Warriors eventually challenging for an NBA title.

Follow me @ScottInTheBay

Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com

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