GSOM welcomes ANTHONY RANDOLPH to the Golden State Warriors!

Randolph has a penchant for teabaggin' big men who think they can stop him! The Warriors loaded up with an extremely offensively skilled big man who many sports writers thought was going to be a mid-lottery pick.  I, dj fuzzylogic, am 'ok' with this pick and think they got the best player available -- skill-wise.  Though the Warriors need much help on the boards and on defense, I'm pleased that they picked up a guy that can at least create his own shot and has the level of ball handling skills and mid range game for a guy his size.  He also looks like he might be able to create some mismatches at the wing spots.  More thoughts to come...

[Note by dj fuzzylogic, 06/26/08 10:12 PM EDT ] To get up close and personnel with Anthony Randolph, check out his site HERE.

We're hours away from the real draft and outside of the top two picks, anything seems to be happening in everyone's mock drafts.  Brook Lopez dropping to 10 or as high as 3?  Russel Westbrook going as low as 12 but as high as 3?  DJ Augustin available at 13 but also going at number 6 to the Knicks?  Donte Green falling all the way to 23? Oddly, the amount of shuffling at the 14th spot isn't nearly as exciting as 3-13, but us here at GSOM provide you with our own ideas of what to expect (or not expect)!  Click on for more mocks but not of the turtleneck variety.

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We're a day away from the most exciting day of the summer.  The NBA DRAFT!  The MLB all-star game, bbqs in the park, summer flings and 4th of July got nothing on this! 

To talk about this exceptional day and its impact on our Golden State Warriors this year, we asked Tim Kawakami, one of the contemporary pillars of bay area sports reporting, for his insights on what might be brewing for our Warriors. For those unfamiliar with Tim Kawakami's archive, he currently writes for the San Jose Mercury and provides further sports commentary on his blog, Talking Points: Tim Kawakami on Bay Area Sports.

Hear more what Kawakami has to say at jump.

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With all the referee scandals going on and the alleged fixed games from the 2002 and 2005 playoffs, it makes you wonder even more how 'home court advantage' plays into this whole thing and the corporate NBA in shaping the outcomes of games and series.  38-10 free throw advantage for Boston in game 2?  Lakers win in game 3 despite getting poor production from Gasol and Odom in games 2 and 3?  More annoying Lakers flags hanging from cars when weeks ago didn't even exist?

All these conspiracy theories aside, the Lakers don't look as dominate as I once thought they were before the playoffs even started.  Odom and Gasol look clutch-challenged as they've been accused of in the past.  But it didn't matter because Kobe put all 20,000 + fans and Odom and Gasol on his back -- thanks to some love from those referees -- fading, shaking, and shimmying away from defenders like an older, wiser 3, 4, 5 rings deep Jordan.  He needs more help against the Boston 3 party; Vujacic and Walton need to turn into Michael Cooper and Byron Scott or at least Brian Shaw and Rick Fox.

Predictions:

* Kobe goes Jordan and gets 47 points

* 3 highlight worthy moves from Kobe that we'll be seeing years and years and years from now on ESPN 2 and ESPN classic.

* KG matches Gasol's clutchness.

Boston has reclaimed it's home court advantage.  Finally winning on the road, perhaps the Celtics of 2008 will replicate some the complete and balanced teams of the 80s.  I won't count the Pistons out though.  They've been able to match up well, physically, with  their opponents.  i expect this series to go to 7 games.

Tonight's game of the Lakers at the Spurs may have more hype than usual.  Why is that?  Because Charles Barkley mentioned on the TNT broadcast that Kobe with Gasol and Odom is a better team than the Shaq and Kobe era.  His colleagues on camera along with some critics on the web scoffed at this statement given that the Shaq and Kobe era produced three championships to the current triad's zero.  I will say watching Gasol received passes from Odom and Kobe for easy flushes down the middle in a half court set is a beautiful thing to see; creating beauty in a space of chaos. 

Continue reading for tonight's predictions!

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The Lakers need to win. 

At home, the referees seemed to believe this, too.

Up by 4 with about 1.20 left, Tim Duncan grabbed a rebound which Lamar Odom, from behind, hacked Duncan rather hard across his shoulder swooping all the way down to his elbow.  As a result, the ball bounced off Duncan's hand and the referee's called it as a clean play thus allowing the Lakers to retain possession.

Clearly a foul, home court advantage works in mysterious ways.  We can almost guarantee that it will happen again today.  Or will it? 

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You can find Golden State Warriors everywhere. 

Reason being is that they’re usually traded before their rookie contract expires, forcibly ejected or fully knowing that they wouldn’t re-up with a franchise that embodies the chaos exemplified in film Titanic (watch the scene where the ship splits in half then goes down with people plunging to their death or others ‘jumping ship’.)

I made a random trip to University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill -- or rather Tar Hell country (and country it was) -- to see my sister get another degree and it ended up being more than just vinegar-based BBQ.  Knowing my life-long love for basketball, my sister took me to their newey constructed "Carolina Basketball Museum."  No there weren’t no wax statues of Michael Jordan (or Jeff McInnis).  But after going inside, you could probably call it the ‘Hall of the Warriors Past and Present’

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Today's game featured two teams assembled so differently yet quite similarly at the same time.

The Boston "Three-Party" succeeded in beating the reigning Eastern Conference champion, King James and his minions.  For you Celtics fans, "Today was a good day."

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20-1 is the current record of teams playing at home during these playoffs.

With that said, can we expect the Hornets to finish off the Spurs in game 7? 

If that's so, should we just call a Vegas casino and bet the house that the Lakers and the Celtics will lose tonight but take it in game 7?

Read more for my betting insights...!

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