Oakland Tribune

November 8, 2004
by Dave Del Grande

Foyle Key Defensively

Considering he's played more minutes than just five guys on the active roster, the Golden State Warriors are asking a lot of Adonal Foyle.

No surprise, he wants to do even more.

If the Warriors have done anything right in their three season-opening losses, it's been following Mike Montgomery's defensive game plans.

The top priority on them, anyway.

Tipping off with two of three against Portland and the Los Angeles Clippers, a couple of teams with whom they became quite familiar in the preseason, Montgomery quickly concluded the Warriors would have to slow down power forwards Zach Randolph and Elton Brand in order to maximize their chances of winning.

Foyle, supposedly the Warriors' starting center, played a major role in thwarting each guy, helping limit the high-scoring duo to 13 points apiece on 5-for-16 and 6-for-18 shooting, respectively.

So, as the Warriors prepare for their first road outing of the season tonight in Dallas, Foyle downplays his matchup with longtime teammate Erick Dampier.

And rightfully so. Foyle is a lot more concerned about stopping the Mavericks' high-scoring power forward, Dirk Nowitzki.

"I don't know who I'll be guarding. Probably both of them," he said with a characteristic chuckle. "Coach Montgomery will make that decision."

Even though Randolph and Brand scored the same number of points, Foyle felt a lot better about his defensive effort Saturday in the loss to the Clippers. That's because he was allowed to play through foul trouble and somehow also found time to block four shots after having none in the first two games.

"I was noticing that on the stat sheet," he said of the 0 in the blocked-shots category before the Clippers game. "I needed to do something about that."

Foyle also would like to do something about the team's offensive woes.

He believes blocking more shots will lead to the type of fastbreak hoops the Warriors haven't been getting this season.

And he also believes he can put the ball in the basket a little more frequently that most people realize.

"Give me more," he proudly boasted after getting more shots (nine) in the Clippers game than he'd had in the two previous outings combined (six). "I don't think I've shot under 50 percent yet."

Like the defensive assignment, Foyle's offensive opportunities also are Montgomery's call in many ways.

The coach had used his starter just 25 minutes in the first two games due in large part to the team's offensive problems. He benefited, however, by keeping Foyle in the Clippers game for 33 minutes, as he was one of only two Warriors to connect on more than half his shots (five of nine, 10 points).

More Foyle usually means less Troy Murphy and/or Clifford Robinson, and Montgomery is still wrestling with that trade-off.

"We're basically trying to balance this offense/defense thing," Montgomery said. "We've struggled to score the ball, no question about that. At times I've had to put an extra shooter in to try to get a little more offense out there."

He didn't have to do that Saturday as Foyle, who had a 20-point explosion late last season against Minnesota, was as productive offensively as anybody.

Will the coach stick with his big guy again tonight? Foyle awaits his instructions.

On both ends of the court.

Copyright © 2004, Oakland Tribune

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