Stephen BrotherstonStephen Brotherston Email Print 0

Bucks rookie John Henson was a long, lanky shot blocker during his three college seasons at North Carolina and showed the potential that NBA teams like to draft. Other than the apparent excess of big men in Milwaukee already, it wasn’t really a surprise when Henson was taken at the back end of the lottery by the Bucks in June.

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Eric PincusEric Pincus Email Print 0

The Golden State Warriors are, on paper, a playoff team. The difficulty for the franchise in recent years has been staying healthy.

Stephen Curry recently had what is hoped to be a minor setback with yet another ankle sprain. Warriors head coach Mark Jackson downplayed the injury, saying Curry would be available to play today if the Warriors were in the playoffs.

Additionally, the team has taken a very cautious approach to Andrew Bogut’s return from a broken ankle suffered back in January. There’s no explicit timeline set, but the team assures that Bogut has not had any setbacks.

At full strength, the Warriors are a load offensively. Defense hasn’t been Golden State’s calling card in recent years, but Jackson has made it his mantra. With Bogut in the middle, the Warriors may be able to get the necessary stops to win close games.

Of course that presumes Curry and Bogut can get, and stay, healthy.

Jackson is confident in his team, despite a poor showing Monday night in Los Angeles against the Clippers.

“We’ve got better players,”Jackson told HOOPSWORLD. ”My ownership and my management – led by Joe Lacob, Peter Guber and Bob Myers – did an outstanding job of getting depth at every position. When you talk about getting a Carl Landry or when you talk about getting a Jarrett Jack – in case anything happens to Steph Curry or even if he’s healthy having a legitimate guy backing him up – we brought toughness in. We had three steals in the draft that are as high-character guys as you can find in this draft or any draft. We’ve got guys who are all about winning and that’s how we got better.”

The Warriors added Harrison Barnes (7th), Festus Ezeli (30th) and Draymond Green (35th) to the active roster this season. Barnes has started five of seven exhibition games, averaging 9.6 points on 47.3 percent shooting from the field and 42.9 percent from three-point range.

Ezeli has thoroughly impressed Jackson, even as a rookie.

“The backup center job was wide open; he won it, deserves it,” Jackson said.

If Bogut is not ready for opening night, Jackson is confident, “

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Yannis KoutroupisYannis Koutroupis Email Print 0

The Los Angeles Clippers can no longer be taken lightly. They’ve officially arrived as contenders, being acknowledged by the top teams in the league as such. The key to their rise to prominence has been some major roster changes, including the drafting of All-Star power forward Blake Griffin and the trade for Chris Paul, arguably the best point guards in the league. As we’ve come to learn, though, depth is just as important as star power and Clippers’ management added several proven role players this offseason, including Matt Barnes, who originally got his career started with the team back in 2003-04 when they finished 28-54.

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