# Warriors Draft Picks!



## halfbreed

*9th overall: Ike Diogu*



















*40th overall: Monta Ellis*












> Ellis averaged 38.4 points in leading Lanier High School to the Class 4A championship as a senior. The creative guard also posted averages of 7.9 assists, 6.9 rebounds and 4.5 steals to earn Mr. Basketball honors in the state of Mississippi. Ellis scored a career-high 72 points against Greenwood and also had big games against some of his toughest opponents. He tallied 42 points against South Gwinnett and fellow draft prospect Louis Williams, and he matched that total against Oak Hill Academy, annually one of the top programs in the nation.



*42th overall: Chris Taft*


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## Drk Element

wow, congrats, you guys had a really good draft.:clap:


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## AussieWarriorFan!

Taft at 42! :banana: 

Should i be happy or sad we got Monta?


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## Dissonance

I love the Ike Diogu pick. He will do alot for this teams front line. Then adding Taft? If he can get it together. Damn.


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## Kekai

Nice draft. I might start liking the Warriors


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## AussieWarriorFan!

As of this second Biedrins is officially a centre!


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## halfbreed

Anyone think Diogu can even come close to Brand? He's a shot blocker which I like. Opposite of Troy. 

Monta Ellis is going to NBDL. 

Taft has potential. An absolute steal at 42.


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## Dissonance

halfbreed said:


> Anyone think Diogu can even come close to Brand? He's a shot blocker which I like. Opposite of Troy.


I think so. He's in that mold. Prolly doesnt have the moves Brand does down low. He's got better range than Brand from what I've seen being able to hit a longer mid range and also a 3 pt shot. He's got those long arms like Brand. Prolly even longer. A 7'4 wing span. But I knew this would be your pick because of your need to bulk up the front line.


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## bruindre

What I find amazing is that nobody really had Ike going this high. I won't lie--when the Knicks took Frye with the pick ahead of us, I sighed a breath of relief, sure that we'd get Granger (if not Warrick).

Ike's not only a solid player, but a great character in the clubhouse (seems to be a Mullin prerequisite).

I don't mind Monta Ellis as a gamble from the 2nd round. May as well take a shot w/ a HS kid, since we won't be able to next year.

As much as Ike is a great clubhouse influence, I worry that Taft will be the anthesis of Ike. Having fallen to the second round, I predict that he'll either totally give up OR decide to wake the f*** up and work his tail off. 

That being said, I'm satisfied with the Warriors' 2005 draft.


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## FanOfAll8472

bruindre said:


> What I find amazing is that nobody really had Ike going this high. I won't lie--when the Knicks took Frye with the pick ahead of us, I sighed a breath of relief, sure that we'd get Granger (if not Warrick).
> 
> Ike's not only a solid player, but a great character in the clubhouse (seems to be a Mullin prerequisite).
> 
> I don't mind Monta Ellis as a gamble from the 2nd round. May as well take a shot w/ a HS kid, since we won't be able to next year.
> 
> As much as Ike is a great clubhouse influence, I worry that Taft will be the anthesis of Ike. Having fallen to the second round, I predict that he'll either totally give up OR decide to wake the f*** up and work his tail off.
> 
> That being said, I'm satisfied with the Warriors' 2005 draft.


I pretty much had the same thoughts you had. I'm glad we took Diogu and now that I think about it even more, he's a better pick than Warrick or Villaneuva. For some reason, I glossed over him. He's got one of the best post games in this entire draft, which should pair him nicely with Murphy.


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## Starbury03

Ike is gonna be a great player in this league great pick and great draft wiht getting some guys with potential in the second round. I like what the warriors are doing to bad my Clippers totally messed up.


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## Carbo04

Awesome picks.


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## B Dizzle

I thought Taft was higher than 42!


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## B Dizzle

Here are player profiles from nbadraft.net 

Chris Taft 

Monta Ellis 

Ike Diogu


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## AussieWarriorFan!

draftexpress.com's profiles and best case/worst case scenario's!

Diogu - http://www.draftexpress.com/viewprofile.php?p=81

Ellis - http://www.draftexpress.com/viewprofile.php?p=289

Taft - http://www.draftexpress.com/viewprofile.php?p=162

*Diogu:*
Best Case Scenario:
Zach Randolph With Heart

Worst Case Scenario:
Rich Man's Udonis Haslem / Malik Rose


*Ellis:*
Best Case Scenario:
Steve Francis

Worst Case Scenario:
Dajuan Wagner


*Taft:*
Best Case Scenario:
Antonio Mcdyess

Worst Case Scenario:
Chris Wilcox (so Far)


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## AussieWarriorFan!

Someone want to post a possible Warriors rotation for next season?


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## FanOfAll8472

AussieWarriorFan! said:


> *Diogu:*
> Best Case Scenario:
> Zach Randolph With Heart
> 
> Worst Case Scenario:
> Rich Man's Udonis Haslem / Malik Rose
> 
> 
> *Ellis:*
> Best Case Scenario:
> Steve Francis
> 
> Worst Case Scenario:
> Dajuan Wagner
> 
> 
> *Taft:*
> Best Case Scenario:
> Antonio Mcdyess
> 
> Worst Case Scenario:
> Chris Wilcox (so Far)


I think Diogu's best case scenario is Brand. ZBo is a poor defender and Diogu is pretty much the opposite. Diogu also has the shotblocking ZBo will never have. I don't know about Ellis, but the Dice comparison for Taft is pretty good (old Dice that is). Taft has a nice post game and touch around the basket that really impressed me.



> Someone want to post a possible Warriors rotation for next season?


IMO, Murphy will play a bit at center, moving Zarko to the 3 on occasion. That moves Fisher mostly to the 1.
Davis/Fisher
JRich/Pietrus
MDJ/Zarko/Pietrus
Murphy/Diogu/Zarko
Foyle/Biedrins/Murphy

I still believe the Warriors start Foyle because of experience, energy, and shotblocking.


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## halfbreed

Here's my attempt at a rotation. 

C: Foyle (18 mins), Biedrins (18 mins), Murphy (12 mins)
PF: Murphy (20 mins), Diogu (20 mins) , Zarko (8 mins)
SF: Dunleavy (30 mins), Pietrus (12 mins), Zarko (6 mins)
SG: Richardson (36 mins), Pietrus (12 mins)
PG: Davis (36 mins), Fisher (12 mins)

Water Boy: Cheaney
Towel Boy/NBDL: Taft
NBDL: Monta Ellis


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## dk1115

C Andris Biedrins/ Ike Diogu/ Adonal Foyle
PF Troy Murphy/ Ike Diogu/ Zarko Caparkapa/ Chris Taft
SF Mike Dunleavy/ Zarko Caparkapa/ Calbert Cheaney
SG Jason Richardson/ Michael Pietrus/ Monta Ellis
PG Baron Davis/ Derek Fisher

I predict that some of the front line is going to have to go, or Calbert Cheaney will be on the injured list. When you look at it first, Monta Ellis may seem like the easiest pick to go down to the NBDL, but I don't think that putting Monta Ellis in the NBDL is such a good idea. Gee, Chris Taft isn't a good idea either. Ok, I don't know. 

I hope Golden State makes a deal to make it more clear.


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## AussieWarriorFan!

So currently we have a 15 man roster.

My rotation:
C: Foyle/Biedrins/Murphy
PF: Murphy/Diogu/Caparkapa
SF: Dunleavy/Caparkapa/Pietrus
SG: Richardson/Pietrus/Fisher
PG: Davis/Fisher

NBDL: Ellis, Taft?

Players left: Taft?, Skita, White, Cheaney

What i notice here we have a lot of versatile players that can play more then 1 position.

Shall be interesting what moves we make this off-season.


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## ssmokinjoe

Has anyone seen Ike play? I'm looking for some first hand opinions on his game, etc.


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## Starbury03

I have seen Ike play on TV about 20 times in his career. He is easily the most skilled big man in the draft besides Bogut. He is a best down low and lives at the free-throw line where he shoots a great percentage. He had dramatically improved his shooting from Freshman year to Junior. He also improved his athleticism for last year. he can be a good weak side shot blocker. On offense he can use his jumper and his decent ball handling to get by people. Down low he has great footwork which he makes the game look easy. Plus I think he will be a good offesnsive rebounder.


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## ssmokinjoe

Starbury03 said:


> I have seen Ike play on TV about 20 times in his career. He is easily the most skilled big man in the draft besides Bogut. He is a best down low and lives at the free-throw line where he shoots a great percentage. He had dramatically improved his shooting from Freshman year to Junior. He also improved his athleticism for last year. he can be a good weak side shot blocker. On offense he can use his jumper and his decent ball handling to get by people. Down low he has great footwork which he makes the game look easy. Plus I think he will be a good offesnsive rebounder.


Thanks Starbury03. Sounds like he could be a sleeper. A lot of teams probably passed on him because of his height, but i noticed that he does have some long arms. He could probably tie his shoes without bending over  But one thing is certain, and that's that his game is defintely the type that no other Warrior on the current roster has... a low post game. Murphy will be challenged i think.


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## Starbury03

If Diogu went to the east I think he could have become a all-star in a couple years. He he was an inch higher and played on a better college team he would have gone higher.


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## ssmokinjoe

Any chances of a growth spurt? :laugh: 

But seriously, he does have a big muscular body and long arms. Those are a couple of things that can help immensely when you dont have height. Barkley lacked height but made up for it with his overinflated bu-dunk-a-dunk. :biggrin:


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## Starbury03

I dont think his height will matter but people seem to be really anal about that.


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## Chalie Boy

I'll tell you what guys you have yourself a player in Ike Diogu. I'm from garland(I went to Rowlett) and graduated in 2003 (Ike 2002) so I saw alot of his games and he KILLED us every time. We actually had a guy who did a better job on him than anyone else in district, but he was too short (6'5 but strong) to stop him. He is not some big slow ox either he can move well, and could have been an NFL calibur tight end if he did not stop playing football. Garland is known for producing D1 football players(look it up if you must). But, clearly he choose the right sport, and even the people around here didn't know he would dominate the college game they way he did. He works hard and will be a good NBA player I expect about 18/9/1.5 in his prime.


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## FanOfAll8472

ssmokinjoe said:


> Has anyone seen Ike play? I'm looking for some first hand opinions on his game, etc.


I've seen Ike play quite a few times, all on TV. He reminds you a lot of Elton Brand. 1) He is short but has the same long arms Brand has (7'4" wingspan). 2) He is a terrific post player, great moves down there. 3) With those long arms and good timing, he's a good rebounder and shot blocker. He always gets to the line and his jumper was okay when I saw him, but apparently he improved it and impressed teams during workouts. Height doesn't matter so much with his long arms. If he had T-Rex arms, that would be another case.


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## ssmokinjoe

FanOfAll8472 said:


> If he had T-Rex arms, that would be another case.


Anyone remember Kevin Duckworth? 7' center who played for Portland a few years back. He probably had to bend over just to put his hands in his pockets :laugh:


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## MightyReds2020

halfbreed said:


> Here's my attempt at a rotation.
> 
> C: Foyle (18 mins), Biedrins (18 mins), Murphy (12 mins)
> PF: Murphy (20 mins), Diogu (20 mins) , Zarko (8 mins)
> SF: Dunleavy (30 mins), Pietrus (12 mins), Zarko (6 mins)
> SG: Richardson (36 mins), Pietrus (12 mins)
> PG: Davis (36 mins), Fisher (12 mins)
> 
> Water Boy: Cheaney
> Towel Boy/NBDL: Taft
> NBDL: Monta Ellis


The problem with this is both Foyle and Fisher will not be happy about it (playing less than 20 MPG). It is also not a good way to showcase their skills for trade purposes. With that being said, it's also hard to take minutes away from all other young kids, so what does it mean? There WILL be a trade, probably before the season starts, which the Warriors will do a 2-for-1 or even 3-for-1.


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## ssmokinjoe

MightyReds2020 said:


> The problem with this is both Foyle and Fisher will not be happy about it (playing less than 20 MPG). It is also not a good way to showcase their skills for trade purposes. With that being said, it's also hard to take minutes away from all other young kids, so what does it mean? There WILL be a trade, probably before the season starts, which the Warriors will do a 2-for-1 or even 3-for-1.


Gonna have to disagree. Fisher knows that he cant demand more minutes playing behind Davis and JRich, and Foyle will do whatever the team asks of him. And the fact that Mullin drafted a player that is not expected to replace any of the starters means that he's prepared to go into the season as is.


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## AussieWarriorFan!

Foyle won't care about less minutes!

As for Fisher, who knows!


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## _Chip_5

I am satisfied with the draft. I like Diogu. I believe he could be very good coming in off the bench and dominating, especially against the opposing team's bench players, and starters as well.

I think the second round was pretty good. But this is where I come short of being fully content with the draft. I believe the Warriors should have taken Ukic and Mickael Gelabale. 

Ukic is a PG who is 6-5 with good skills on offense and even defense. He doesn't have the best floor general skills, but he could have easily learned from Baron Davis and Derek Fisher. From what I have heard, he has most of the other skills to be a very good PG though. So I was hoping for him in the second round when he was available. 

I was also interested in Gelabale because he is supposed to be a very athletic wing player(I guess like Pietrus?) who can really defend and knock down mid-range jumpers. With that, since I believe another strong perimeter defender could really help this team, I would like to have seen the Warriors choose him as well. 

I am not against Ellis or Taft. I think both players could become good players. My thing, is that Taft, especially after the Diogu selection, will not have anyplace to fit on the roster. The Warriors have 5 post players, 6 when you include Taft. And also considering there is a lot of stock in Diogu and Biedrins, as first round picks and in Foyle and Murphy in contracts(in years and money), and a very pleasant and productive player in Zarko; I just see this all add up and wonder where Taft will really fit in.

As for Ellis, I guess he can be good. But I believe Ukic is probably a little more mature and has a more proven and probably a better game overall with a lot more/better experience against better competition. 

I think a second team of Ukic, Gelabale, Pietrus, Diogu, and Biedrins would had been a lot of fun to watch.

But like I said I am satisfied with the draft we pulled off. And now it's the great "wait and see" period as us Warriors fans have been used to quite a bit.


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## MightyReds2020

ssmokinjoe said:


> Gonna have to disagree. Fisher knows that he cant demand more minutes playing behind Davis and JRich, and Foyle will do whatever the team asks of him. And the fact that Mullin drafted a player that is not expected to replace any of the starters means that he's prepared to go into the season as is.


Fisher does know that Davis and JRich will play a lot of minutes but from the reports I've read, he wasn't too thrill about that idea (less minutes) but nonetheless recognized Davis and JRich are ahead of him. However, when Pietrus starts to come around and knocking off Fisher's minutes, I am not sure Fisher will be happy about it in this case.

With that said, I have a feeling that Mullins still see Fisher as an important piece to this team and he will play quite a lot (definitely more than 20 MPG). Pietrus will thus spend a large portion of his minutes at the 3 spot. That only means that Zarko's minutes will be cut short, way short, consider the 'log-jam' at 4 and 5 with Foyle, Murphy, Biedrins, and Diogu. Zarko will be the odd-man out in this case and I am not quite willing to see that.


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## ssmokinjoe

MightyReds2020 said:


> Fisher does know that Davis and JRich will play a lot of minutes but from the reports I've read, he wasn't too thrill about that idea (less minutes) but nonetheless recognized Davis and JRich are ahead of him. However, when Pietrus starts to come around and knocking off Fisher's minutes, I am not sure Fisher will be happy about it in this case.
> 
> With that said, I have a feeling that Mullins still see Fisher as an important piece to this team and he will play quite a lot (definitely more than 20 MPG). Pietrus will thus spend a large portion of his minutes at the 3 spot. That only means that Zarko's minutes will be cut short, way short, consider the 'log-jam' at 4 and 5 with Foyle, Murphy, Biedrins, and Diogu. Zarko will be the odd-man out in this case and I am not quite willing to see that.


Competition for minutes brings out the best in players, especially young players out to prove themselves. And it's good to have players on the bench waiting to get their chance to shine because you never know when an unforeseen injury can hit a key player. It's actually refreshing to me as a long time Warriors fan to see that a major concern for the team is where to distribute the minutes. One nice thing to realize in all this is that the Warriors have a lot of players who are versitile enough to play more than one position so that makes shuffling the roster around and playing with different combos a bit of fun to watch from a fan's perspective.


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## Mr. Hobbes

Awesome draft by the Warriors, arguably the best of all teams.
Ellis and Taft have the potential to be great players..
Could be one of the best draft of all time (its a longshot, but it might)


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## ssmokinjoe

WTChan said:


> Could be one of the best draft of all time (its a longshot, but it might)


That's a stretch, but i'm glad to see you approve.


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## Mr. Hobbes

Right, lemme expand on what I said..
When I meant best draft, I didn't necesarrily mean the best PLAYERS,
but the quality of the players DRAFTED AT THAT POSTITON.
I mean, let's face it.. Taft is a steal.. he can't be a bust cuz he's picked in the 2nd round. Same goes for Ellis.

BTW I got a lot of faith in Ellis (and Louis Williams too, in case you was wonderin)


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## Starbury03

No the Warriors already had the best draft ever with Jason Richardson,Troy Murphy and Gilbret Arenas. You cat say this was the best draft ever until a couple years from now.


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## ssmokinjoe

Starbury03 said:


> No the Warriors already had the best draft ever with Jason Richardson,Troy Murphy and Gilbret Arenas. You cat say this was the best draft ever until a couple years from now.


Yeah, that trio immediately came to my mind.


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