I can't imagine wishing any of the former Ws ill. But I don't much think about Barnes anymore and feel somewhat about him the way I do about Durant -- grateful for his time with Golden State but not in the same category as the core guys (Curry, Thompson, Green, Iguodala, Livingston). Any time a guy leaves of his own volition and rejects an offer from the Warriors, I feel a little different about them. Barnes could have been a part of this team if he wanted to be. Instead, he took buckets of cash from Cuban. Can't say I blame him for that -- good on him for making that money -- but I do end up feeling differently about him than someone like Bogut or Iguodala. Those guys also left the team, but they had no say in that, so in my imagination, they really could have been Ws for life if the team would have cooperated. Not so with Barnes or Durant, for whom the team did their best, only to be rejected.
HB is the one Warrior jersey I have and still my favorite player on the Warriors. I think people forget that HB is nearly 2 years younger than any of the other core Warriors (24 years old in the 2016 playoffs).
Did he have crappy games at the wrong time, absolutely. But, his strength and defense on bigger players was possibly the second most significant contribution to the small-ball defensive lineup. I remember him going up against guys where he was giving up 30-40 lbs, and they couldn't move him an inch.
He wasn't the greatest player, but I think most of the 'hate' is just that Draymond came in with much lower expectations and demolished them, and his successor was Kevin f'ing Durant. Not everybody is Draymond or Durant.
Off the court, the guy was more mature at 23! than I was at 53. I respect both how he has conducted himself, and his career (which has been pretty decent).
This isn’t meant as a knock on you at all, but I’m honestly surprised to see anyone here say HB is their all-time favorite Warrior. I don’t disagree with anything you said about him, and I certainly liked him, but I never realized “The Senator” could capture anyone’s fandom like that.
Well, I also like Looney the best among the current warriors. I have a soft spot for those with less-than-stellar talent, but who work hard to maximize it (and also behave like decent people, which Draymond fails to do on a regular basis).
The comparison with Looney is also interesting. Looney seems to be pretty popular among the fan base. I think most are rooting (if doubtful) he'll make it past his injury issues. But, really, which was the better player? They had similar impact on the defensive end, but HB was and is miles better on the offensive end. Even if you account for the age difference, I think it is very hard to project Looney becoming as big a contributor to any team as HB was to us.
The only 'popularity' difference is that HB missed some key shots in a key game, and Looney hasn't.
Part of the issue with HB is that he has god-given talent in the areas that people don’t see the development time and hard work. So people feel like he got given big hops, strength, height, speed in a package and he isn’t maximizing that with better decisiveness, vision and creativity.
Steph doesn't have his size and strength, but has positively supernatural vision and eye to hand coordination. That's his athletic gift. HB just doesn't have that, but he has other strengths.
Everything I've read is that HB works very hard. The two anecdotes I can recall are: 1. At the end of the NBA season, the Warriors coaches had to basically kick him out of the gym. HB just wanted to start training for next year a day or two after the season ended. 2. Dirk was very complimentary of his work habits while with the Mavericks (the gist of it was contrasting him with people who call themselves gym rats but don't put in the time).
So, I don't really buy that his flaws are due to lack of effort.
I can't imagine wishing any of the former Ws ill. But I don't much think about Barnes anymore and feel somewhat about him the way I do about Durant -- grateful for his time with Golden State but not in the same category as the core guys (Curry, Thompson, Green, Iguodala, Livingston). Any time a guy leaves of his own volition and rejects an offer from the Warriors, I feel a little different about them. Barnes could have been a part of this team if he wanted to be. Instead, he took buckets of cash from Cuban. Can't say I blame him for that -- good on him for making that money -- but I do end up feeling differently about him than someone like Bogut or Iguodala. Those guys also left the team, but they had no say in that, so in my imagination, they really could have been Ws for life if the team would have cooperated. Not so with Barnes or Durant, for whom the team did their best, only to be rejected.
HB is the one Warrior jersey I have and still my favorite player on the Warriors. I think people forget that HB is nearly 2 years younger than any of the other core Warriors (24 years old in the 2016 playoffs).
Did he have crappy games at the wrong time, absolutely. But, his strength and defense on bigger players was possibly the second most significant contribution to the small-ball defensive lineup. I remember him going up against guys where he was giving up 30-40 lbs, and they couldn't move him an inch.
He wasn't the greatest player, but I think most of the 'hate' is just that Draymond came in with much lower expectations and demolished them, and his successor was Kevin f'ing Durant. Not everybody is Draymond or Durant.
Off the court, the guy was more mature at 23! than I was at 53. I respect both how he has conducted himself, and his career (which has been pretty decent).
This isn’t meant as a knock on you at all, but I’m honestly surprised to see anyone here say HB is their all-time favorite Warrior. I don’t disagree with anything you said about him, and I certainly liked him, but I never realized “The Senator” could capture anyone’s fandom like that.
Well, I also like Looney the best among the current warriors. I have a soft spot for those with less-than-stellar talent, but who work hard to maximize it (and also behave like decent people, which Draymond fails to do on a regular basis).
The comparison with Looney is also interesting. Looney seems to be pretty popular among the fan base. I think most are rooting (if doubtful) he'll make it past his injury issues. But, really, which was the better player? They had similar impact on the defensive end, but HB was and is miles better on the offensive end. Even if you account for the age difference, I think it is very hard to project Looney becoming as big a contributor to any team as HB was to us.
The only 'popularity' difference is that HB missed some key shots in a key game, and Looney hasn't.
Part of the issue with HB is that he has god-given talent in the areas that people don’t see the development time and hard work. So people feel like he got given big hops, strength, height, speed in a package and he isn’t maximizing that with better decisiveness, vision and creativity.
Maybe, but is that really fair?
Steph doesn't have his size and strength, but has positively supernatural vision and eye to hand coordination. That's his athletic gift. HB just doesn't have that, but he has other strengths.
Everything I've read is that HB works very hard. The two anecdotes I can recall are: 1. At the end of the NBA season, the Warriors coaches had to basically kick him out of the gym. HB just wanted to start training for next year a day or two after the season ended. 2. Dirk was very complimentary of his work habits while with the Mavericks (the gist of it was contrasting him with people who call themselves gym rats but don't put in the time).
So, I don't really buy that his flaws are due to lack of effort.
Fair enough. I think his stock nosedived when he couldn't hit a 3 at the critical time.
But as you say, a great guy off the court and a key component of the 2014-16 squad.