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Warriors Bringing The Thunder…Finally

"Since the 1994 season, no team has consistently played as bad as the blue and orange crew."

By Mike Oseroff

Mike Oseroff is Youth Radio’s resident sports commentator and columnist. Keep checking this space for his weekly updates! You can email him at sports@youthradio.org.

In the Bay Area pro sports world, a lot of things have changed in the past eight years. Teams have gone up and down, on roller coasters of winning and losing seasons. Teams have changed coaches, venues, logos, and players. Heroes from the past have given way to heroes of the future. And once pathetic franchises have become dynasties for years to come. But throughout it all, there was one thing you could count on: The Golden State Warriors would suck.

Since the 1994 season, no team has consistently played as bad as the blue and orange crew, and their playoff drought is currently the longest out of any team in the NBA. For the past eight seasons the Warriors have tasted nothing even remotely close to a playoff spot, and Oakland has become a career hell hole for most players.

Bay Area fans watched helplessly as countless former Warriors would leave the team, and immediately emerge as stars somewhere else. They mourned our poor draft selections, as they watched Golden State’s management pass up players like Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady, and instead fill the roster with players like Adonal Foyle and Todd “Who?” Fuller. But most painful for the Bay Area was watching a team that played half heartedly, showed no emotion, and blew countless games on simply dumb mistakes. A team that defined bad, and made the phrase, “You play like a Warrior,” into an insult.

But not anymore.

Out of nowhere, the Warriors have flipped the switch and emerged into a young, fiery, and fun club, that is finding ways to win games down the stretch, and finally making Golden State respectable again. Attendance is way up, the city is buzzing, and yes, for the first time in almost a decade, you can put the word “Warriors” and the word “playoffs” in the same sentence, without cracking up everyone in the room. You want to talk about progress? Here’s progress. Last year the Warriors won their 21st game on the last day of their season. Today, at the midpoint of their season they have already reached that win total, and have eclipsed the totals from every season in the past five years.

So what are they doing differently? Why is this team, with almost the exact same roster from last year suddenly doing so well? Here are a few reasons why.

1. Muss Has Fixed The Mess
This season the Warriors waved bye bye to their lifeless coaches of the past, and welcomed a young and energetic new coach to the mix. Eric Musselman, the ABA’s winningest coach and the youngest one in the NBA at 37, has injected new life into his team and has them practicing and playing harder than ever before. His new “open” offense has encouraged constant movement and has made the Warriors into the third highest point producing team in the league.

2. Murph Dog Muscled Up
Troy Murphy, the Warriors second pick from a year ago has gone from skinny to savage, after working out with a strength and conditioning coach all off-season and developing 15 pounds of extra muscle. Murphy is the leading candidate for most improved player, and his extra beef has made him a fierce rebounder and tough inside presence. He now ranks fifth in the league in double-doubles.

3. The Squirrel Has Landed
Earl Boykins, the second smallest player to ever play in the NBA at 5’5”, was signed as a free agent backup point guard, after the Warriors went through five other suitors to try to fill that role. Not only has Boykins become a crowd and league favorite, he has been the most clutch shooter down the stretch in close games, and has single handedly put the team on his little shoulders and carried them to victory in at least eight games this season.

4. Young Guns Locked And Loaded
Instead of filling the team with average veteran talent and praying for some chemistry, as the management did in years past, they have wised up and turned their focus towards drafting young players to help rejuvenate the franchise. Last year’s draft was probably the most successful for any team in the past decade, as it produced three starters in Murphy, PG Gilbert Arenas, and SG Jason Richardson. This year’s team has only one player over 30 (non-factor Chris Mills), and has built their team around young future stars that have grown and matured together.

5. Commitment to Change
Franchise player Antawn Jamison, the league’s seventh ranked scorer has been with the team for five years, and has mostly suffered through the bad times. While most young prospects have treated their time in Oakland as a prison sentence they must serve before moving on, Jamison signed a huge contract to stay with the team, and to help the younger players grow. While he may not be flashy, or worth giving up Vince Carter for, Jamison is a leader and he is committed to seeing this team rise from the gutter.

While they may not be playoff material quite yet, the Warriors certainly are watchable again, and their young, flashy stars are on the rise. And while it may have taken longer than expected, the Warriors are winning, finally, and for the first time in a long time the fans have something to cheer about. Basketball by the bay is back.

Check out more of Mike's columns!