Chris Mullin big-picture Warriors Q & A: On Nelson, Baron, team needs and
keeping Ellis and Biedrins
By Tim Kawakami
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
This is about as good and big picture at Chris Mullin gets, so I'm just
dumping the whole thing in your lap.
Of particular interest:
* As pointed out earlier, Mullin said flat out that he will retain valued
restricted free agents Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins, even if it takes
matching large offer sheets.
This, of course, is a tactical statement no matter what. Just by saying
that
the Warriors are matching anything, they'll scare off 99% of teams
considering such a move-why make an offer to Ellis or Biedrins if you know
Mullin's matching, anyway?
So the Mullin statement is classic card playing but it has the added
advantage of being totally true. (As opposed to his I-won't-trade-J-Rich
statement at this point last year.)
* Interesting when he was asked if this could be Monta's team instead of
Baron's team next year, Mullin said the Warriors are better-present
tense-when they're not any singular player's team. There's meaning in
that.
OK, here it is. CHRIS MULLIN season-wrap Q & A/
-Question: What's your opinion of Baron sitting for the entire second half
in Phoenix?
-MULLIN: Baron's been a great player since the day he put on a Warriors
uniform. And Nellie's a Hall of Fame coach and has been great for us. I
put
them together to do great things and they have and I think they'll
continue
to do great things for this franchise.
That's all I really need to say.
-Q: What kind of year do you think Baron had?
-MULLIN: He's had a great year. Can it do it again? Of course he can. And
fortunately, he hasn't gotten hit with some of the nagging injuries.
-Q: Last year you made sure to keep most of the core together. Will that
also be a goal this summer?
-MULLIN: We've obviously improved, we've gotten younger, we've gotten
better. Now how we move forward. there's going to be a lot of discussions
about that.
It's not just how we continue to improve our team but how we compare to
the
other teams in this tough division. That also becomes a factor.
We're in a good position. We had a good season. We're going to finish with
48 or 49 wins. Since '67, the (franchise's) fifth-best record. So that's
something that took effort from the players and coaches, no question about
it.
Now we have to compete with these other teams. But the good thing is we've
got good players, they play well together and we've got young guys coming
up. Now how we situate the rest of the summer. that's not going to be
answered right now.
-Q: Would you say rebounding is your biggest need?
-MULLIN: I haven't heard as much about rebounding this year. I really
haven't
looked at those numbers, if they've diminished or stayed the same. Or
we've
become OK with it.
But I think we've played guys that we've used in different positions. In
one
area, that's our strength-we put the onus on the other teams. Is it going
to
cost you? Yeah. But this year when we played pretty well, we've off-set
that. you have to make the other team pay on the other end.
We're always looking for improvement. Do we have that guy in place? We
might. Brandan might be a guy that in my mind that's always given us fits,
that's long, athletic forward that doesn't necessarily have to play on the
block, but can. Can also run, is going to get rebounds with his
athleticism.
That's something that could be already in place.
-Q: But Nelson has shown that he doesn't want to play Brandan with
Biedrins.
-MULLIN: I think the one thing Brandan needs to be able to do is knock
down
his shot. Not necessarily the 3, but to be able to come away from the
basket, just for his own development. That would help in that scenario and
I
think it's going to help his game grow.
-Q: Do you need a post player since you guys shoot so many-maybe too
many-3s?
-MULLIN: You look over the course of time, teams that have a low-post
scorer
do much better than teams that just rely on outside. That's something you
either acquire or you develop it. you establish it not just necessarily
with
a big player, but that's something we're going to need, of course.
-Q: You haven't had a big man but you play a style where you guys have
said
you don't really need one.
-MULLIN: I also said you can accomplish it a different way and/or is that
person here, are we developing him?
-Q: Do you think it's likely that you'll use the $10M trade exception
before
it expires a few days after the draft?
-MULLIN: For the right player, yeah. For the right difference-maker.
-Q: Your coach is 67. You've just missed the playoffs. Does that make it a
little more urgent to use a thing like a $10M exception to improve the
team?
-MULLIN: I think it's going to be im****tant to step away and evaluate the
team logically as opposed to emotionally. Separate the disappointment not
participating in the playoffs, disappointment I have for the fans and all
those things we experienced last year.
Separate that from the decisions that have to be made and do the right
thing
for the organization, not only for next season but going forward, I think
that's really im****tant.
And that includes a host of those factors, be it the age of our coach. all
those things have to be considered, but not emotionally reacted to.
-Q: Could this team be more Monta's team than Baron's team next season?
-MULLIN: When we play together as a team, we're successful. If it's
someone's
team, not quite as successful. The development of our young guys is just
going to add to the success of our team.
It's not a team that's carried by one person.
-Q: Could you see Monta at point guard next season?
-MULLIN: I think his game has developed another year. He's improved this
year and he had a heckuva season last year. I think he's making
point-guard
type of plays.
I think he's best when he's out there playing. Not just a point guard.
Even
in the half-court when he's making the drives and drawing people and
making
controlled plays, making assists to the corner or making reads on the
baseline.
I've seen maturation and development there. But I also feel the
combination
of Baron and Monta, they help each other. It's a good combination. I think
it's going well. They've done well together.
-Q: Would you be disappointed if Baron opted out?
-MULLIN: That's something we'll have to wait and see what happens. I'm not
really anticipating one or the other. I expect him to be back but I'm not
going to anticipate what he's.
-Q: Would you talk about an extension before the opt-out date (May June
30)?
-MULLIN: Not before, no.
-Q: If he opts out, would the Warriors be a bidder for him?
-MULLIN: Yes. Anything with the ifs, though, I'm going to defer. if-if.
that's
something I'd wait on, you know?
-Q: You could easily go into the luxury tax if Baron comes back and you
give
extensions to Monta and Andris. Is going over the luxury tax workable for
next season?
-MULLIN: That's kind of a question for down the line. There are a few more
aspects than just the players and market. that's obviously something we're
going to have to.
-Q: Is that part of the process-you decide whether to keep them and how
that
works for luxury tax?
-MULLIN: We'll keep them, nd other decisions will be made.
-Q: You'll keep them no matter what?
-MULLIN: We'll keep them.
-Q: You'll match all offers for them?
-MULLIN: Yes.
-Q: Can you assess Biedrins' value-he's obviously not a high scorer.
-MULLIN: Statistics are a small. in my view. I don't base everything on
stats. Everyone has a value. Some has to do with the market. Some has to
do
with how you value him on your own team. That's something that will be
figured out.
I think Andris has had two solid seasons and I think we love the way he
plays for us. We love the way he fits in our system. With his youth, I
think
he'll continue to develop. He plays a really good role for us.
-Q: So what's his value on the market?
-MULLIN: That question hasn't been answered yet.
-Q: If he comes back next season, are you assuming that it's Nellie's
final
season?
-MULLIN: With Nellie, you know, I think he's earned the right, he's
coached
so long, coached so well, he's a Hall of Fame coach, I think he's earned
the
right to kind of have that freedom to dictate how long he wants to do it.
he's
earned that.
If he wanted to coach beyond that, he's feeling good, his energy is there.
-Q: Have you made any firm plans for a successor? Is it Keith Smart for
sure?
-MULLIN: For after next season? Not right now.
-Q: Point guard is such an im****tant position. Yet 30 years old is kind of
the dividing line, and Baron is 29. Is he someone you can afford to give
big
long-term money?
-MULLIN: It depends what you consider. He's an im****tant part. You look at
the teams that are doing well, they have lead guards, almost every team.
How
that shakes out, with his deal, with what Monta wants, and Andris. Those
are
obviously things that are going to all take place in the next few months.
-Q: Do you think the Richardson trade, just for this season, cost you
some
victories?
-MULLIN: No. If it did, I would take full responsibility for that. But
sitting at 48 and with the additions that we've made, I feel really good
about our team this year and moving forward. I couldn't think of a better
situation to be in.
If in fact someone does feel that, I would take full responsibility if
there
were a few wins that we could've got. I would gladly shoulder that burden
and take the young guys and move into the offseason.
-Q: Do you think signing Webber cost you 1 or 2 victories? (MY NOTE: Not
my
question, amazingly.)
-MULLIN: No.
-Q: Not even Chicago?
-MULLIN: No. I think we may have won the Boston game, actually. I thought
he
did a good job in that game. Thought he played well. Baron made that
incredible shot, but I thought his defense, he helped us win that.
-Q: What are your main priorities this off-season?
-MULLIN: Rebounding is always. I think it's always an item.
I would say rebounding is up there. I thought overall we played pretty
good.
Uou talk about interior defense. I thought we did OK. I thought we played
OK
this year defensively. I didn't feel like we got as exposed. Thought we
did
a good job there. Just overall improvement.
You know, when you finish with 48, 49 wins, you haven't had a horrible
season. Do you need to improve? Of course you do. But I do think it is
fair
to take a little time to evaluate that.
-Q: Don mentioned you guys could use a shot-blocker. and he said it wasn't
Andris.
-MULLIN: That's part of defense. A lot of those guys are defensive-rebound
type guys, they protect the basket, be around the basket. I'd say Andris,
he
does a pretty good job. A lot of times he doesn't get blocks. He helps a
lot
of guys out, either with showing, with his quickness.
Again, Brandan could be a guy, with his length, he has the ability to play
a
little bit bigger than his actual height. He has a pretty good feel for
when
to go after shots.
-Q: Are you satisfied with the way the bench players were developed this
season?
-MULLIN: I think our young guys, I'm really happy with the way they've
developed. I think the coaches have done a great job working with them.
And
I think in turn, I'm really encouraged by the way they've developed
despite
not getting a lot of playing time.
Not only physically, where I can see the improvement, but also the way
they've
handled the rigors of mentally adjusting to that, not getting down, not
being discouraged, not giving in.
Because let's face it, there's an op****tunity there to feel discouraged,
to
give up, and they haven't. I've seen a mindset in those guys, Brandan,
Marco, all our young guys, to maintain, to work through that.
That is im****tant in this league, your mindset. Do you have the mind to
deal
with disappointment and things not going your way? And I've seen that in
them. The guys who have that, that have the talent and they work hard and
they have that combination will lead them to success.
-Q: How long will the window of op****tunity for this core group be open to
be a champion****p team?
-MULLIN: Well, I don't see us as a champion****p team right now.
I think we have a really good core group of players. We've got young guys
coming up. But obviously we didn't make the playoffs this year.
-Q: Do you think you can build around the Baron-Monta-Jackson core, do you
just need to add-on instead of bringing in a player as good or better than
they are?
-MULLIN: Yeah, of course. That's possible. Now finding that player. If you
put the right player, an impact player around those guys.
But factually speaking, a team that's not in the playoffs, to say, oh
yeah,
we're a champion****p team, I think that would be ludicrous.
-Q: But you can build on those three guys and add underneath?
-MULLIN: Depending on who that fourth guy is. We've proven, we've played
with the best teams in the league. But unfortunately we've lost to some of
the lower teams.
But those guys, they've proven to be upper-echelon guys, have competed
with
some of the best players at their position. I think it's proven. I don't
think that's really much of a question.
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