developing Warriors

To paraphrase Monta Ellis, "I'm a Warriors fan, and I'm always going to be a Warriors fan." It's just the way it is - they're my local team and I feel that they're representing me. As such, each season I find myself wide-eyed and hopeful for the future. What will make the difference that will bring the Warriors to the playoffs and even a championship? New ownership? Well, that prospect is going on right now.

On the court, however, is what's happening with the team. With all the injuries (and not the typical injuries that happen with every team every season), the Warriors have had to look elsewhere just to fill out their roster and get the minimum amount of players on the floor without having to forfeit games. And in the Warriors case, they've looked to the Developmental League. It's actually not new to them - they have players that are so firmly a part of the roster now, it's easy to forget that they too came from the Developmental League in previous seasons.

Now the talk that's going on is people, particularly Coach Don Nelson, feel that they've got a bona-fide star from the D-League on the team: Reggie Williams. How exciting is that? Without even having to go through the draft, it looks for all the world that the Warriors have a player that will help lead them into the future. The team has also been getting stellar play from Anthony Tolliver - he's been playing with the focus and smarts that they've been hoping to get from their recent top draft picks. So now I've been enjoying the prospect of seeing all five players on the floor (not starting, but at some point during a game) next season be former D-Leaguers: C.J. Watson, Kelenna Azubuike, Reggie Williams, Anthony Tolliver, and Chris Hunter.

Throw into the mix Anthony Morrow, who went undrafted too. I really like how it shows that through hard work and dedication, it's possible to attain the dream of playing in the NBA.