The Warriors experienced Public Relations staff is highly
regarded throughout the NBA and in professional sports. Throughout
the season, Warriors PR will give fans a behind-the-scenes
look at the team. From practice to the locker room to cross-country
road trips, Warriors PR will provide the kind of coverage
that can't be found in other media outlets.
Andris Biedrins put up a very impressive 30 points and 22 rebounds in a EuroBasket 2009 qualifying contest against FYROM. (photo: A. Atarks/FIBA Europe)
While the beginning of Golden State's training camp is still more than three weeks away, a trio of Warriors' big men are already competing in some fierce competition.
Andris Biedrins (Latvia), Ronny Turiaf (France) and Kosta
Perovic (Serbia) are all currently competing for their native
countries in a qualifying tournament for next summer's EuroBasket 2009.
Held every two years, EuroBasket is the biggest basketball tournament for national teams in Europe. The teams (and countries) take great pride in being a part of EuroBasket. Taking place right now, the first portion of the qualifying tournament is a round-robin type format in which each country plays a home-and-home set against the three (or four) other teams in its group. There is nothing comparable to EuroBasket in American sports, but I guess you could say it is similar to the home-and-home league schedules of most college conferences (Pac-10 for example). But in EuroBasket competition, the teams have an entire country of basketball fans supporting them rather than a student body.
Lativa kicked off its schedule today, and Biedrins was
absolutely dominant. Literally playing a HOME game in his
hometown of Riga against the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia (FYROM), Andris led Latvia to an 83-82
overtime triumph by posting 30 points and 22 rebounds.
That's right, 30 and 22. In 38 minutes of action, Andris
went 12-of-18 from the field and 6-of-11 from the free-throw
line.
It must have been quite a scene in Riga and a memorable experience for Andris. Latvia hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to win the game, certainly sending the partisan crowd into a frenzy. Click here for video highlights of the game. Latvia next travels to Estonia for a road contest on Saturday.
Ronny and the French team also made their tournament debut
today, with Les Bleus posting an 82-63
victory over visiting Belgium. Turiaf played 21 minutes
and finished with 11 points and four rebounds. France travels
to take on Ukraine on Saturday.
Kosta Perovic is one of three Warriors bigs who are playing for their national team in EuroBasket 2009 qualifiers this summer.
Kosta and his Serbian teammates have been in action for a couple weeks now, having
accumulated a 3-1 record in four contests. Today, the Serbia
team posted a 74-64
home win over Bulgaria in Belgrade. Perovic has appeared
in three of the team's four games thus far, averaging 8.7
points and 4.0 rebounds in 15.7 minutes per contest. Serbia
travels to Italy this weekend for a rematch after downing
the Italians 78-64 the first time around.
It should be noted that Marco Belinelli is NOT playing for Italy in this tournament. He is currently in New York taking part in the NBA Rookie Transition Program, which he couldn't attend last year because he WAS playing for the Italian National Team at that time. He is joined there by draft picks Anthony Randolph and Richard Hendrix, as well as C.J. Watson - who wasn't on an NBA roster last year when the RTP was held.
You can keep up to date with the remainder of the EuroBasket
qualifying tournament by clicking
here.
Thursday, August 21 (4:24 p.m.)
Team USA Impressive Thus Far In Beijing
Team USA has looked very good heading into tomorrow's semi-final match-up versus Argentina.
Redeem Team… Dream Team 2…NBA All-Stars…USA Basketball….whatever you want to call them, you must admit it’s been fun to watch the USA Men’s Basketball team return to dominance at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Okay, I’ll be honest, I’m not really watching the games live. Hoops Junkie or not, the 5:00 A.M. tip-offs are a little early for us on the West Coast.
Ever since a 1989 rule change that allowed NBA players to participate in international competition, the United States dominated the world in Olympic play...up until the fateful 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. In three Olympiads prior to 2004, USA Basketball was a perfect 24-0, winning by an average of 32.4 points per game. Take a look at the supremacy:
1992 Barcelona: The United States goes 8-0. The Americans averaged an Olympic record 117.3 points and won by an AVERAGE of 43.8 points per contest. In fact, the closest any opponent came was 32 points (117-85 versus Croatia in the gold medal game). I don’t care what anyone says, that was “The Dream Team”. Warriors Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Mullin was the fourth-leading scoring on the squad, averaging 12.9 points on 61.9% shooting from the field (39-63 FG).
Chris Mullin was a key contributor on the original Dream Team in 1992.
1996 Atlanta: Another perfect 8-0 showing. This team, featuring Warriors Director of Player Personal Mitch Richmond, didn’t dominate quite like their predecessors but were still pretty impressive. In those eight victories, the Americans won by an average of 31.8 points per contest.
2000 Sydney: The Americans managed to go unbeaten, but had several close calls. In pool play, they beat the Lithuania team by just nine points (85-76) before squeaking past that same team by two points in the semifinals (85-83). Despite the close calls, the average margin of victory was still quite large at 21.6 points per contest.
Then disaster struck…
2004 Athens: It quickly went south in Game 1 of pool play and never improved. Puerto Rico dominated the US in a 92-73 victory. The Americans won their next two games, but hit another wall vs. Lithuania, falling 94-90. They finished pool play with a record of 3-2. Matched up with Spain in the quarterfinals, the US fought its way to a 102-94 victory, which set up a semifinals contest versus Manu Ginobili and Argentina. The Argentineans posted an 89-81 victory and ended any hopes of a fourth consecutive gold medal for the Americans. However, the US did claim a bronze medal by amending a prior defeat versus Lithuania (104-96).
Vowing to never let it happen again, USA Basketball braced for change. On April 27, 2005, it enlisted the help of one of the most respected minds in basketball, current Chairman of the Phoenix Suns, Jerry Colangelo. In the following months, Colangelo conducted interviews, watched tapes and sought advice in an effort to come up with his USA Basketball Team. Led my Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, the current squad has made Americans quickly forget the horrors of Athens and reminded them of the glory days when the United States dominated the world of basketball. Thus far, the gang is 6-0, winning by an average of 32.0 points per game heading into its semifinals matchup with Argentina, the team that eliminated them from gold medal competition in the 2004.
While those All-Stars are getting the job done overseas, one Warriors star is taking care of business back on the mainland. As mentioned in this blog last week, Stephen Jackson returned to his hometown of Port Arthur, Texas to launch his own charitable foundation. On Wednesday, Jackson attended a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the grand re-opening of the Stephen Jackson Academy in downtown Port Arthur. He spoke with Tim Roye shortly after the festivities and expressed his excitement for the upcoming season. Have a listen.
After hosting a group of children from Port Arthur, TX in February, Stephen Jackson will return to his hometown next week to launch his charitable foundation.
Stephen Jackson will be back home in Port Arthur, Texas, next week to launch his own charitable foundation – THE JACK 1 FOUNDATION. A series of events are scheduled, including a grand re-opening of the Stephen Jackson Academy of Arts, Science and Technology, a Jack 1 Foundation launch dinner and a basketball clinic for local youth.
The headline in the local newspaper next week will probably read something along the lines of “Local Boy Does Good.”
If the headline writer knows anything about Stephen, however, the bold type should instead read “Local Boy Does Good – AGAIN.”
The fact that Stephen Jackson is launching a charitable foundation might surprise some people around the country because the Jackson in their mind has nothing to do with community service.
It might also surprise some people in the Bay Area…but for a completely different reason. The fact that Stephen Jackson is launching a charitable foundation might surprise people in the Bay Area because they probably figured he already had one.
In the 20 months that Stephen Jackson has been a member of the Golden State Warriors, he has gone from someone who was a castoff in one town (Indianapolis) to someone who is beloved in another (Oakland and the Bay Area). Jack’s time in Golden State was summed up pretty well on Matt Steinmetz’ SF Examiner blog earlier this week.
Jackson made a great first impression on Warriors fans and has kept up the good work since day one.
It all started on January 20, 2007 at ORACLE Arena. Prior to tip-off, Jackson took the mic at center court and spoke from his heart. He thanked the fans of the Bay Area for accepting him and his new teammates, and he vowed that they were going to play hard every night. Then he promptly went out and scored 29 points against the Cavs in the first game of what turned out to be a wild and historic five-month run that took Jack and the Warriors into the second round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs.
Since that first night in town, Jackson has been a fan favorite in the Bay Area because of his ability and his passion on the court. He’s always been known as a great teammate, drawing praise from nearly everyone he’s ever played with – in fact, in an interview from the Olympics in Beijing that appeared in today’s Indianapolis Star, former Warrior Sarunas Jasikevicus went out of his way (in an article where he didn’t have many nice things to say about his time in the NBA) to say that Jackson “may have been [his] best teammate.”
Off the court, he has become an even bigger star in the community. Giving back is nothing new for Jackson and this past year he received some much-deserved recognition by winning NBA and team sponsored community service awards. It’s something he’s done his whole life and his whole career. In the press release announcing his new foundation, Jackson had this to say:
“I am extremely pleased to launch the Jack 1 Foundation, and I’m very happy that the kick-off events are happening in my beloved hometown of Port Arthur,” said Jackson. “Giving back to the community is something that I have believed in strongly throughout my entire NBA career. I feel blessed to be in a position where I can start my own charitable foundation that allows me to work more closely with deserving community groups both here in Port Arthur and my adopted home in the Bay Area.”
Well said.
The entire Warriors organization wishes Jackson the best of luck with the launch next week.
Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we’ll have a wrap-up of all the Jack 1 Foundation festivities.
To watch several video recaps of Jackson's work in the community last season, check out the videos below.
STEPHEN JACKSON DECEMBER COMMUNITY RECAP
STEPHEN JACKSON: HOMETOWN HERO
STEPHEN JACKSON BASKETBALL COURT UNVEILED
PS…So we know that since arriving in the Bay Area, Stephen’s been good on the court and he’s been just as good in the community.
Now we know that he is also a very good pitchman.
Jackson was the center of the team’s recent marketing campaign leading up to the on-sale date for 2008-09 Mini-Plans. The TV commercial featuring Jackson and his bobblehead was a big hit on local sports telecasts and the bobblehead itself drew rave reviews (see Marcus Thompson’s blog on the Contra Costa Times website).
Partly as a result of the supped-up campaign featuring Jack, Starting 5 Mini-Plans have been flying off the shelves. On Thursday, the first day the mini-plans went on-sale, the team sold nearly double the amount of packages that they had sold on any previous mini-plan on-sale day.
Re-signing Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins were two of many moves the Warriors have made during this busy off-season. (Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty)
Isn't Summer supposed to be a time for people to rest and relax? Not for many of those in the Warriors' front office, especially the decision-makers.
Looking back on the last few weeks, you could make an argument that late June and July might have been one of the busiest off-season spans in team history, notably for the Warriors top brass. The Warriors drafted Anthony Randolph and Richard Hendrix; Baron Davis opted out; Corey Maggette and Ronny Turiaf were signed; Marcus Williams was acquired in a trade; Kelenna Azubuike signed an offer sheet with the Clippers and eventually returned; Not so for Matt Barnes and Mickael Pietrus; Monta Ellis and Andris Beidrins were re-signed to long-term contracts. And, these are only the transactions that DID happen. Can you imagine the number of other conversations regarding potential moves that did not come to fruition?
Needless to say, the path between the offices of President Robert Rowell and Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations Chris Mullin's was busier than the 880 Freeway on a Tuesday afternoon during the entire month of July. And, I wouldn't be surprised if the Warriors' cell phone bill for the last six weeks was larger than most people's house payment.
From a PR standpoint, the off-season movement certainly makes our job a little more interesting. The media is all about breaking stories - more so than ever with the advent of the internet - and hoping to find out what might be the next move. However, the Warriors have been pretty good over the years of keeping the news in-house until it is official. And, Mullin prefers to keep things close-to-the-vest and that mantra has served him well during his stint in the front office.
Of course, it's not easy to fulfill media request during this busy time of the year. During the first nine (9) days of July, NBA teams are prohibited from addressing any topics about free agents, signings or virtually anything during the league's annual moratorium. Once that period expires and teams can officially begin to sign free agents and make trades, the NBA summer leagues are typically underway and GMs are scowering gyms in Orlando, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City in an effort to find the next Anthony Morrow.
Chris Mullin has not had much time to relax so far this summer. (Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty)
Now, you know why members of our executive staff have not had a chance to visit with Ralph & Tom or shoot the breeze with Murph and Mac in recent weeks. The compact and ever-changing schedule of the club's hierarchy this time of the year is enough to make one dizzy. Meetings with ownership. Meetings with the staff. Meetings with agents. Meetings with players. Meetings with coaches. A flight here. A flight there. A cancelled meeting here. A cancelled meeting there. A rewarding phone call here. A disappointing phone call there.
I get tired just thinking about it.
But, in retrospect, it turned out to be a very satisfying six week period for the Warriors. When Mullin addressed the media at the practice facility about 10 days ago, you could tell that he was confident and excited about the direction of the team. Golden State has compiled a predominantly young and talented roster that features a ton of assets. Obviously, the 22-year old Ellis and Biedrins are two of the biggest building blocks, having played substantial starting roles on a team that won 48 games last season. The fact that these two youngsters are under contract for the next six years certainly bodes well for the future. In four years, Ellis and Biedrins will just be entering the prime of their careers and a few other impressive youngsters -- including Brandan Wright and Anthony Randolph - will still be 24 or younger.
Now, that is something to call home about. Just don't use the cell phones of the Warriors top brass ---- they're about out of juice.
To stay up to date on all of the Warriors news and activity this summer - including the NBA Draft, Summer League, player signings and trades, community appearances, and much more - visit Warriors Off-Season Central.
Summer League Blog
Throughout the month of July, Warriors PR will be contributing their entries to the 2008 Summer League Blog. Click the link below for full coverage of the team's participation in this year's summer leagues in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, including game recaps, behind-the-scenes stories, interviews, and more.
Throughout the month of June, Warriors PR will be contributing their entries to the 2008 Draft Blog. For full coverage of the team's preparation for the draft, including interviews, behind-the-scenes analysis and more, click on the link below.
Next week's Draft Lottery will take place at NBAE Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty)
Well, the NBA Lottery is scheduled for next week (Tuesday) at the NBAE Studios in beautiful Secaucus, New Jersey. The best thing about Secaucus? The bus stop in front of the Embassy Suites that enables you to make the quick 15-minute trip to the Port Authority in New York City. I have been the team's representative at the Lottery on a few occasions and have always utilized the route extensively. Don't get me wrong, Secaucus is a nice place, but I'd rather spend my free time in Times Square and not the movie theater on the other side of the Lincoln Tunnel.
Mitch Richmond (Director of Player Personnel) and Pete D'Alessandro (Assistant General Manager) will represent the Warriors at this year's Lottery. Richmond will spend his time with 13 other high-profile team executives at the made-for-TV event on stage. D'Alessandro, meanwhile, will be sequestered in a back room at NBAE, where he will have no communication with the outside world for about an hour after the actual lottery takes place (around 3:30 Pacific Time). No cell phones. No blackberries. No laptops. Pete won't need any of that; he just needs four lucky ping-pong balls and the right combination.
The aforementioned back room is where the entire landscape of the NBA can change in a matter of seconds. Five years ago, I was in the room, saying a few Our Fathers and Hail Marys, hoping that the Warriors might get a little lucky and win the LeBron James Sweepstakes. Meanwhile, a representative from the Cleveland Cavaliers was sitting two tables in front of me. The Cavs, as you may recall, ended the previous season with the second-worst record in the NBA (17-65) and had the second-best chance of winning the Lottery. And, as fate would have it, the first combination of ping-pong balls dispensed from the hopper would match those assigned to the team in Ohio, LeBron's home state. The gentleman from the Cavs sitting in front of me - trying his best to remain calm and under control - gave out a little "yeah!" with a quick fist pump. He knew the fortunes of the Cleveland franchise had taken a quick turn for the better, but he wanted to remain somewhat reserved and not rub it in to his 13 peers from around the league. Could you imagine winning $20 million in Las Vegas and trying to remain subdued? If the Warriors' combination had appeared first, I probably would have jumped up, hollered "yeah!" six times, pumped both of my fists, broke through the locked door, grabbed my cell phone, my blackberry and, heck, even a bullhorn and called Warriors President Robert Rowell. And, Larry King. Other than that, I would have remained relatively calm and unemotional.
All eyes will be on the ping-pong ball hopper in the back room at the Lottery. (Ned Dishman/NBAE/Getty)
In all seriousness, the back room is filled with nervous energy as a representative from the NBA office (usually Adam Silver) instructs each team on the rules of the Lottery and how it will unfold. A representative from an accounting firm, Ernst & Young, is provided the task of actually reading the ping-pong balls when they pop to the top of the hopper. There are 1,001 potential combinations that could evolve when you pluck four (4) ping-pong balls from a hopper that has 14 ping-pong balls numbered 1-14. The first four-ball combination that is recorded will be matched with a team and that team will earn the first pick in the 2008 NBA Draft on June 26.
As this transpires, the 14 representatives write down the numbers on their NBA notepad and compare them to the 1,001 combinations that have been previously assigned to the various teams (each representative will be provided a list of all 1,001 combinations and which team owns those different combinations). As a result of our impressive regular season record, the Warriors will have only five (5) possible combinations in this year's lottery; the Miami Heat, who have the best chance to win the lottery, will have 250 possible combinations. As an example, when I last attended the Lottery in 2006, the five combinations for the 14th team in the Lottery were as follows:
Based on those numbers, the team with the smallest chance to win the lottery in 2006 would have captured the first prize if any of those exact combinations would have appeared (in that order) when the four ping-pong balls were pulled from the hopper. This scenario (four balls drawn from the hopper) is executed three times during the lottery --- the first combination will select first in the draft, the second combination will select second and the third combination will select third.
And, the myth about the Lottery being rigged is simply that - a myth. The 14 ping-pong balls are placed in a clear hopper and each ball and corresponding number is shown to the assembled team members one by one before the lottery begins. And, a few years ago, the NBA started to allow selected members of the media access to the back room where they could witness - and document - the entire event. There are no shenanigans. Impossible. It is all based on pure luck and odds.
Warriors Assistant General Manager Pete D'Alessandro will act as the Warriors representative in the back room at the Lottery. (warriors.com photo)
At the end of the lottery, the team representatives in the back room must remain there until the made-for-TV event is announced approximately one hour later. In other words, Mr. D'Alessandro will know the results of the lottery long before Mitch Richmond or any of the ESPN viewers at home.
After this year's lottery, Mitch Richmond is scheduled to do a live interview from Secaucus on KNBR at approximately 5:00 p.m. (May 20). He is also scheduled to do an interview with Dennis O'Donnell on KPIX-TV (5) during the 6:00 p.m. newscast. Of course, if we move up in the lottery, he won't need to head to the airport to catch a flight back to California; he'll simply fly home on adrenaline.
Less than a week after the Lottery, the NBA's annual pre-draft camp will be held in Orlando, Florida (May 27-30). D'Alessandro will begin our exclusive pre-draft coverage on warriors.com during his stay in Orlando, where he'll write a blog that explains what exactly transpires at the pre-draft camp and how the Warriors are preparing for individual pre-draft workouts (scheduled to being in early June). Following D'Alessandro's entry, Mark Grabow, the Warriors Strength & Conditioning Coach, will write a blog where he details the exact nature of a pre-draft workout.
For continued coverage of the Lottery, including the history of the event and the Warriors participation in it, check out Warriors Draft Lottery Central.
Print
RSS Feeds
E-News Sign Up
WARRIORS PR
