The Golden State Warriors Selected Two NBA-Ready Players

Remember all those NBA Drafts where the Golden State Warriors would select absolute projects whose talent levels would not be NBA standard for the next few years?

Kiss those days goodbye thanks to two names: Jerry West and Joe Lacob.

In just a short stint with the Warriors, Lacob has already taken this team from seemingly zero draft knowledge to knowingly brilliant draft picks.

Remember projects like Patrick O'Bryant or Ike Diogu, even Andris Biedrins?

2011 NBA Draft Grades: Grading the Teams and Picks of the NBA Draft Live

The overwhelming consensus of the 2011 NBA Draft is that the talent level is shallow at best. Of course, the years to come will decide that, but with so many unknown players in this draft, it would be hard to know much about who that 18-year-old European player is.

What we do know is that Kyrie Irving will be selected No. 1 overall and Derrick Williams will be selected No. 2, barring something out of this world happening. However, it would be hard to say that both of those players will be All-Stars one day.

Though the talent level is dull, what will make this draft exciting is everything around it.

San Jose Sharks: Their 5 Biggest Needs in the 2011 NHL Draft

If you ran into an average sports fan on the street and asked them when the 2011 NHL Draft was, odds are they could not tell you. I even had to look it up just to make sure.

My sources tell me it is this Friday, June 24, and runs through the 25th. But you cannot always trust what Wikipedia puts out.

Either way, the Sharks must make major waves in this draft if they desire to stay among the upper-echelon of teams in the NHL.

They own the 28th overall pick in the draft this year.

Proof the Golden State Warriors Are Shopping Monta Ellis

Fan speculation and simulated trade rumors have been running rampid since Golden State Warriors adviser Jerry West hinted at a possible Monta Ellis trade this summer.

There have been confirmed reports that teams are interested in Ellis, but every proposed deal seen on the internet has come from pure fan speculation and not confirmed reports.

Nevertheless, fan speculation has fueled a more personal view of the Ellis trade scenarios, and on Monday the public got their first look at a "real life" proposed trade for Ellis this summer.

San Francisco 49ers: Odds For Alex Smith, Colin Kaepernick and the Rest of the QB Race

With no current NFL season and talks still underway as to if a 2011-12 season will ever happen, speculation is all we have these days.

If there was a team that has been hurt the most from the NFL Lockout, it would be the San Francisco 49ers.

The 49ers have a new coach in Jim Harbaugh that has no experience running an NFL team. He cannot organize a practice with his team, nor can he even name his own starting quarterback.

San Francisco Giants: Add Bill Hall To the List of Misfits

Bill Hall tallied his first two hits as a San Francisco Giant on Wednesday night. It was a welcomed sight for Giants fans, who have seen the likes of Pablo Sandoval, Buster Posey and now Freddy Sanchez lost to injury at one point this season.

Hall's RBI double over the head of Arizona Diamondbacks' center fielder, Chris Young, on Wednesday night seemed to make all forget about what kind of an injury-plagued season this team was having.

Hall's big night also has some thinking.

Is he this year's version of Pat Burrell?

College Basketball Recruiting 2012: Power Ranking the Top 17 Undecided Recruits

With the freshmen in college basketball performing at all-time highs, fans are eager to know the names of incoming players that could one day make a name for themselves in March Madness.

These are players have have so much hype coming out of high school that they are coveted by teams looking to recruit the next Kyrie Irving or Jared Sullinger.

How these players develop in college basketball is yet to be determined, but whether the most-hyped players turn out like a Josh Selby or a Brandon Knight, does not matter.

NHL Free Agency 2011: Top 15 Goalies and Where They Will Land

With only a handful of elite and reliable goalies in net in the NHL, now is as good a team as ever for a team to go out and acquire a fairly decent one.

In the free agency class of 2011, there are several goalies that could do wonders for teams looking for a netminder.

Already, we have seen the top goalie on the market acquired by the Philadelphia Flyers, who have wasted no time in claiming their future goaltender in Ilya Bryzgalov.

Some teams are still desperate for a goalie, though.

San Jose Sharks: Exploring Their Free Agent Shopping List For the Offseason

The San Jose Sharks will enter a pretty big offseason starting on July 1. That would be the day that the NHL free agency period begins, and it will be the first chance the Sharks have at re-signing or departing with the 23 players on their current free agent roster.

This is a free agency that could possibly define this team for the next couple of years, having to decide whether to re-sign or let go several young and promising players. There are also a few veterans in the mix that could potentially alter the chemistry of a proud and competitive franchise.

More or less, the Sharks involvement in the NHL free agency period relies solely on what San Jose decides to do with two of their key free agents.

San Francisco Giants: 5 Bold Predictions For the Rest of the Season

Another day, another man down. That seems to be the story these days for the World Series champion San Francisco Giants.

Freddy Sanchez was placed on the 15-day DL Saturday after dislocating his right shoulder diving for a ball, and continuing the voodoo-like coincidence of the best current Giants hitter going down to injury.

We witnessed this with Pablo Sandoval earlier in the season, Buster Posey a few weeks ago and now with Sanchez.

Tread lightly, Nate Schierholtz...

NBA Draft 2011: Alec Burks and 10 Prospects For the Golden State Warriors

Now that the NBA Finals are over and the Dallas Mavericks have prevailed over LeBron James and the evil empire, the NBA Draft can start to heat up. But with just over one week left until the big day, there is still no set order to the draft outside of the top four picks.

We can speculate all we want, but in this next week it will become a little clearer as to who will be picked where.

With the no. 11 pick in the NBA Draft, the Golden State Warriors may have an idea who will be available, but there are several players that have the possibility of their draft stock rising and falling within the next nine days.

Golden State Warriors: Hiring Mike Malone As Assistant Reveals More Than We Think

Joe Lacob and his Golden State Warriors hired Mark Jackson as their head coach on Monday, and with it came mixed reactions.

Jackson has zero coaching experience and quickly made the jump from game commentary to coaching. However, he brings a new, young and noticeable face to the Golden State Warriors franchise.

Fact.

There had to be some kind of gimmick, right?

Certainly the Warriors would not hire an NBA commentator, with monotone catch phrases such as "Mama, there goes that man" and "hand down, man down," without something to help ease the pain to their extremely loyal fan base.

San Jose Sharks Free Agency: 5 Players Who Should Be On Their Radar

The San Jose Sharks' inability to get passed the Western Conference Finals, yet again, has some wondering whether or not GM Doug Wilson will decide to redesign this team for the future.

The Western Conference runner-ups will have to deal with a flurry of 23 free agents on their current team this summer.

No, these free agents will not affect the core of the Sharks, but it will alter both the depth of San Jose and which direction they wish to take the defense.

NBA Mock Draft: Who Will the Golden State Warriors Take At No. 11?

Now the draft process can officially begin for the Golden State Warriors. They have named their next head coach, a solid assistant coach and hired a basketball legend as an adviser to the team.

Things are looking up in Golden State.

As for the business at the 11th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft on June 23, the available options are nothing to write home about.

The upcoming draft is already being written down as a four-man draft with a boatload of players from Europe. How those players from Europe will do in the NBA will be discovered in the next few years.

Mark Jackson Brings A New Face To the Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors named Mark Jackson their next head coach on Monday evening. After many possible candidates, it was decided that Jackson would get his first shot at coaching an NBA team in Golden State.

"After an extensive search and a great deal of consideration, we have come to the conclusion that Mark Jackson is the best coach for this team," Warriors general manager Larry Riley said. "He will bring a youthful and fresh approach to our team and the fact that he enjoyed a stellar playing career, where he served most of that time as the leader of some very successful teams, will prove invaluable in the long run."

He pretty much summed it up, I'd say.

Golden State Warriors: Mike Budenholzer and the Top 5 Coaching Candidates Remaining

It seems as though the Golden State Warriors are in no rush to hire the next head coach of their new and improved franchise. Owner Joe Lacob has come forward and said that the NBA Draft date of June 23 is not the deadline for a new coach, although that seems to be the deadline for every other team without a current leader.

The soap opera that is the Warriors' coaching job took another twist this last week when Gregg Popovich's 14-year assistant in San Antonio, Mike Budenholzer, was interviewed by Lacob for the Golden State position.

To date, only two candidates have been interviewed by Lacob, which is supposed to mean something. Those two candidates are ESPN talking head Mark Jackson and Spurs assistant coach Budenholzer, who are perceived to be the two front-runners for the job.

2011 NBA Draft: 5 Players Outside the Top 10 That Will Have an Impact

When you think about the NBA Draft, one of the first things you think about is potential. What kind of a talent will this player be in three years?

Unfortunately, this draft is not stocked with superstar-type talent. What you will find are players that specialize in a certain part of the game that will benefit a team a couple years down the road.

For this list, we are focusing on players just like that.

We are focusing on those under the radar players, outside of the top 10 picks, that will be fully contributing in one way or another in the coming years.

San Jose Sharks: Reasons To Part Ways With Todd McLellan

No, San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan will not be fired this offseason. Not after a year in which the team went from being potentially out of the playoffs to almost having the best record in the Western Conference.

McLellan dealt with the loss of key players in the offseason, as well as injuries during the season. For all the Sharks' coach had to put up with, the season seemed to be a success, for the most part.

However, McLellan is a year or two away from being thrown into the "coaches that just couldn't do enough" pile.

Golden State Warriors: Jerry West Implies Monta Ellis Trade Is Imminent

When the Golden State Warriors hired Jerry West as an adviser to the team, did they think he would be advising that their best player be traded?

West's quote in Tim Kawakami's column in the San Jose Mercury News this past Wednesday did just that.

“I’ve seen teams trade players that score tons of points and people say, ‘How in the world can you trade that player?’ ” West said last week. “Because he might score tons of points and the team doesn’t win."

“When I look at (the Warriors), obviously they need more size.”

2011 NBA Draft: Options For the Golden State Warriors At #11

With just over three weeks remaining until the 2011 NBA Draft, there have been several shifts in recent mock drafts around the country. For the first time in a long time, there is no set order in how teams will be picking come June 23.

What we do know is that this draft is one of the weakest in many years.

Many seem to agree that this draft could be all but finished after the first two picks, and some have even stretched that to four.

San Jose Sharks: 3 Ways the Culture in San Jose MUST Change

Another year, another late round exit for the San Jose Sharks. The team from the South Bay came up short in the playoffs yet again, falling to the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference Finals. This coming after a 2010 that ended in much the same way, when the Sharks were swept by the Chicago Blackhawks.

Many teams would be happy with back-to-back Conference Finals, but it is all too familiar for the people of San Jose, who continue to see their team play tremendous hockey during the regular season, only to come up short in the playoffs.

2011 San Francisco Giants: Can Team Recover From Loss of Buster Posey?

San Francisco Giants fans' worst fears came true on May 25 when catcher Buster Posey was injured in a home plate collision with Florida Marlins outfielder Scott Cousins.

Posey broke a bone in his lower left leg and is out for the season after surgery on Sunday repaired three torn ligaments in his ankle.

The Giants have said that they are optimistic for his return on Opening Day 2012.

The "Collision Heard 'Round the World" has received equal part criticism of Cousins, and equal part freak accident.

NHL Finals 2011: 5 Biggest Storylines Of the Finals

The Boston Bruins will match up with the Vancouver Canucks in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals on Wednesday.

The Canucks won the President's Trophy this season, as well as stormed through the Western Conference playoffs, showing that they were undoubtedly the best team in hockey for a reason.

The Bruins, on the other hand, shocked some by making the NHL Finals as the third seed in the Eastern Conference. They knocked off the Montreal Canadians, Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning on their way to the Finals.

NHL Free Agency 2011: Where Will the Top 12 Forwards Play Next Year?

On July 1, all hell will break loose in the hockey world. It marks the first day of open free agency in the NHL with several big names looking for new homes, and too many teams looking to sign them.

The 2011 NHL free agency is dominated by defense and goaltending this year. Names like Tomas Vokoun, Ilya Bryzgalov and Tomas Kaberle will be coveted by numerous teams, either looking to get their team over the hump or into contention.

But this year's free agency may be dominated by a payer that is not a goaltender or a defenseman.

Brad Richards will most certainly be on the move, and teams will be throwing all they have at the crown

San Jose Sharks: The Western Conference Finals Is Not Enough

It took an awkward bounce off the boards, and not a single Sharks player to know where the puck was, for the San Jose Sharks to be eliminated from the 2011 NHL Playoffs on Tuesday night.

The Vancouver Canucks were the dominant team. In fact, the Canucks are probably the best team left in these playoffs, and you may not hear an argument from anyone refuting that. They have speed, defense, goaltending and chemistry, and the Sharks were just trying to keep up.

San Jose was knocked out by the best team in hockey.