Warriors Draft Ekpe Udoh, Yet Another Undersized Big Man

The Warriors Smell Funny

Larry Riley and the Golden State Warriors are like the guy who cant pick up chicks but refuses to admit its because of terrible B.O.

The Warriors continue to stockpile talent while digging through the same toolbox, yet each year ends with the same tired excuses for the teams failure.

Year after year the team refuses to admit that rebounding, post defense and interior size are valuable NBA commodities.

In this most recent finals, all of the final four contenders featured front lines that protected the rim, rebounded and played above average interior defense. Lakers; Gasol and Bynum. Celticsl; Perkins, Garnett,big baby. Suns; Stoudamire, Frye, Abmudson. Magic; Howard, Gortat.

The warriors however, continue to pretend they can win with an assortment of undersized POWER forwards.

Remember folks, biderins is NOT a true center, Turiaf is not a TRUE center, Randolph is definetly NOT a ture center and the warriors most recent draft pick Ekpe Udoh, weighing in at a svelt 230 pounds, will never become a TRUE NBA center

The Warriors have created a logjam of undersized athletic forwards who cant rebound, cant guard their position and are ill equipped to handle any big man with a drop step or a jump hook.

And so, as the warriors roster stands today, the stench the team ended this previous season with, lingers into training camp of 2010.

Instead of using the draft to rid his roster of some of the stink, Mr. Riley has compounded the warriors problem with his most recent draft pick.

Mr. Riley, please tell me how the 09-10 team, one that faeatured four undersized power forwards masquearading as centers, is improved by adding a fifth undersized forward to join the sharade.

So what if he Udoh can run up and down the floor, so what if he can block some shots. The warriors already have guys that can do that. The warriors need guys who can do the dirty work, who can defend the post, intimidate on defense and most importantly rebound with effective outlets to start fastbreaks.

So why draft Ekpe Udoh Mr. Riley? He is redundant. He already exists. We already have a team full of Udoh's. Why not draft somebody with some muscle? Why not a blue collar guy he can take care of the dirty work in the post? A guy like Cole Alrdich, like Pat Patterson or even Greg Monroe. Why not draft someone who can bring skills to the table that the warriors dont already possess?

Championship teams feature diverse attacks, players with complimentary skills and the ability to adapt to different styles of plays and tempo.

The Warriors are overly commited to an inifective, fan friendly style of play.

Of the 12 players under contract going into next season, 6 of them (curry,ellis,buike,morrow,williams,watson) are

defensively liable, undersized two guards with, aside from curry, limited handles.

And of the other six, (randolph, wright, biedrens, turiaf, udoh and tolliver) none are over 250 pounds or over 7 feet. None have a traditional post game. None can defend the post and none can conistently control the defensive boards.

So in summary, while the warriors could not answer all of their needs with one pick in this most recent draft,a start in the right direction would have at least to draft someone who does not already exist on the roster. The warriors must now commit over 3 million dollars to a player with skills the team already possesses.

Until the team decides to diversify their roster, 20 win seasons will continue to be the norm by the bay.

As always, the answer is simple. New owner, new team... and in curry we trust.