San Francisco 49ers Forever

Not much action on the old Warriors thread so here’s another one.

The Warriors, who have reached the playoffs 8 out of the last 10 seasons, reached the finals 5 of the last 8 season, and won the Finals 3 of the last 8 seasons are set to reach the Finals again.

No mean feat for a team that was dog meat for a good 14 seasons. Just glad the old owners got out.

Anyhow, I’m sure this game will be heavily tilted by the refs to go Dallas’ way as one more game = a lot more money for the NBA and the cities involved. But I don’t think even the refs can alter the situation.

Warriors sweep.

The Eastern Conference Finals on the other hand are pretty much a slug-fest between Miami and Boston. As John Madden famously said:

“I don’t know if I’m watching 2 great defenses or 2 terrible offenses.”

This certainly holds true for both teams. Boston has some nice players like Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Maxwell Smart, and they are solid defensively, but meh. Same with Miami. Butler and Herro are a pretty lethal backcourt, but the rest are role players. There are no big big men left, so this should all work out to the Warriors favor.

My thought originally was if we could get through the West, we’d be a shoe-in for the whole enchilada.

Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals is on the agenda for tonight. I was telling my son, as hot as Dallas was in game 7 vs PHX, they were equally as cold vs the Dubs. Coming off that very emotional win, Dallas came out flat as a pancake. I’m sure Dallas will put up a better fight, but I don’t see Dallas winning this series. The Warriors played a pretty sloppy game and still won handily. Klay didn’t score in the 1st half, Steph was off, but once again, Looney came out and played extremely well getting early points and a lot of offensive rebounds.

Another funny thing, and something almost ALWAYS overlooked by the pundits and talking heads, is that Steph led the game with 12 rebounds. Only guy in double figures. He routinely gets tons of boards and that and his defense goes unnoticed.

Donćič? Well, he’s only one guy. Dallas is not bigger than us, and when they go small, they still don’t try to run fast breaks. They are a plodding half-court offense. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, just that the Warriors can defend that very well. Wiggins has been a valid force in these playoffs, and this has been a revelation. He is putting in the dirty work that used to be Klay’s job, and he is banging underneath to get rebounds and defending the rim.

This frees Klay to do more moving off the ball on offense and not have to focus so hard on defense. And it is a sight for sore eyes to see Otto Porter back. His defense is a big part of the Warriors being able to pull away late in games. he has a few big shots in him, and can defend with the best of them.

Yeah, yet another rumor that the Panthers are still interested in Jimmy G. Sure, it could happen. Will it? God only knows. Still think the sage drags on till late June. Deebo will either be signed or not, but he will sign. The front offce usually takes their time on these types of deals, so I don’t see anything off-putting yet.

Other than that, we have the Warriors playing the surprising Dallas Mavericks, who ran the Suns out of their own building last night in a humiliating slaughter.

Good times. I think we can take Dallas much easier than Phoenix, so there’s that. I also think Boston takes the Heat, so Celtic/Warriors in the NBA finals.

Without further ado, the 2022 49ers schedule is out.

49ers 2022 Preseason

1 SF vs. Green Bay
2 SF @ Minnesota
3 SF @ Houston Texans: Thurs 8/25 – 5:00 pm

49ers 2022 Regular Season

All games Sunday, Pacific time unless noted

Home games in bold

1 SF @ Bears: 9/11 – 10 am
2 SF vs. Seattle: 9/18 – 1:05 pm
3 SF @ Denver: 9/25 – 5:20 pm
4 SF vs. Rams: Mon, 10/3 at 5:15 pm
5 SF @ Carol: 10/9 at 1:05 pm
6 SF @ Atlanta: 10/16 at 10:00 am
7 SF vs. Chiefs: 10/23 at 1:25 pm
8 SF  @ Rams:  10/30 at 1:25 pm
9  BYE
10 SF vs. Chargers: 11/13 at 5:20 pm
11 SF @ AZ: Mon, 11/21 at 5:15 p.m. ET (Mexico)
12 SF vs. Saints: 11/Nov. 27 at 1:25 pm
13 SF vs. Miami: 12/4 at 1:05 pm
14 SF vs. Bucs: 12/11 at 1:25 pm
15 SF @ Seattle: Thurs, 12/15 at 5:20 pm
16 SF vs. Wash: Sat, 12/24 at 1:05 pm
17 SF @ Vegas: 1/1 at 1:05 pm
18 SF vs. AZ: TBD (1/7 or 1/8)

Hey, since there’s nothing to talk about in football land, unless endless mindless speculation about the good, bad, or ugly surrounding Trey Lance and and his abject failure to be a bona fide star in the NFL while never been the starter is fodder up until the season starts and beyond. So, blah blah, woof woof in the immortal words of Jimi Hendrix.

So, sing on, brother; play on, drummer.

The Warriors? This series with the Memphis Grizzlies sure is a full load of weirdness and anger. I’m a bit surprised there hasn’t been a fight. Yet. From Draymond’s takedown of Clarke (bullshit flagrant 2), to Draymond catching an elbow to the eye that required stitches. This after Gary Payton II was beheaded by Brooks on a layup that resulted in a broken arm and Brooks’ flagrant 2 and suspension (too light) for game 3, to the Ninja Death Grip that Jordan Poole put on Ja Morant’s knee in game 3.

Pay no attention to the knee-to-knee contact by Morant on a play where he collided with Klay Thompson attempting to block Klay’s shot, and you can clearly see Morant limping after it. I mean, its a bone bruise, not a vise-grip puncture. Be that as it may, this is a tough series for the Warriors, and I think Taylor Jenkins was a fool for not going with Steven Adams to start the series. Regardless of how he may clog up the floor with Ja out there, Memphis is getting killed on the boards even with our small line iup out there, and they did damage in game 4 with Adams and JJJ out there.

Would love to see the Warriors try a new lineup and start Otto Porter. Jonathan Kuminga isn’t quite ready for prime time and the Warriors desperately need to get off to a quick start tonight. If only to make the rest of the game less frantic. I hope Iggy makes his way back to the line up soon. This team needs some defense. Especially when we get to the next round and we are playing Phoenix.

Since we are in the dark days of football, and Ninerland is consumed with all things Deebo, here’s the latest from Deebo and his brother via Twitter.

(See my first response below)

What does it mean? Little to nothing, but it’s better than him ripping the team. Something he hasn’t done even through all this. This is kinda the trajectory I thought this would follow, but the saga isn’t over yet. Nor is the Jimmy G conundrum.

So, enjoy the ride, and let’s hope the Warriors home cooking is as biased at the Grizzlies was in their house. I thought the NFL was bad where it comes to officials stepping all over a game.

Tay Martin, WR, Oklahoma State – 6’3″/186
Segun Olubi, LB, San Diego State – 6’2″/220
Jason Poe, OL, Mercer
Leon O’Neal, S, Texas A&M – 6’1″/210
Taysir Mack, WR, Pittsburgh – 6’2:/190
Dohnovan West, C, Arizona State – 6’4″/300
Kevin Atkins, DT, Fresno State
Qwuantrezz knight, CB, UCLA
Sam Schlueter, OL, Minnesota
Jeremiah Gemmel, LB, UNC
Taylor Hawkins, DB, San Diego State
Jordan Mason, RB, Georgia Tech

The steals apparently are Poe and West, the offensive linemen. No idea.

It’s hard enough to make it in the NFL as a draftee, but exponentially harder as an undrafted free agent.

Here are last year’s guys:

LB Elijah Sullivan, Kansas State
WR Austin Watkins, UAB
LB Justin Hilliard, Ohio State
TE Josh Pederson, Louisiana-Monroe

Hilliard is on the IR with the Giants I think. The rest? Crickets.

For good, ill, or otherwise, here’s our haul:

Round 2 (No. 61 overall) – Drake Jackson, LB/DE, USC:The Niners join the draft party and take the Trojans pass rusher. San Francisco values a deep group up front, but the 6-3 Jackson needs to figure out what his ideal playing weight is – 255? 275? – before he’s able to serve as a nice change of pace opposite Nick Bosa. Draft tracker

Round 3 (93) – Ty Davis-Price, RB, LSU:At 6 feet, 211 pounds with 4.48 speed, he was a 1,000-yard rusher for the Tigers in 2021 and could slot in for RB2 duties for the Niners behind Elijah Mitchell with Raheem Mostert gone. Draft tracker

Round 3 (105, special compensatory) – Danny Gray, WR, SMU:At 6 feet, 186 pounds, he’s no Deebo Samuel clone. But Gray’s 4.3 speed could obviously add a new dimension to the Niners offense. Draft tracker

Round 4 (134) – Spencer Burford, OT, Texas-San Antonio
Round 5 (172) – Samuel Womack, CB, Toledo
Round 6 (187, from Broncos) – Nick Zakelj, OT, Fordham
Round 6 (220, compensatory) – Kalia Davis, DT, UCF
Round 6 (221, compensatory) – Tariq Castro-Fields, CB, Penn State
Round 7 (262, compensatory) – Brock Purdy, QB, Iowa State

I like Jackson and Gray but not clear why RB with the 3rd round. Burford is a possible steal, and the rest? Who knows? We will see when we see.

So, now that the twitter verse is down on our draft, we are poised at the brink of where the Niners get their good players. The hidden gems, the steals of the draft. Who knows? The braintrust certainly seems to have better luck finding gold at the bottom of the barrel rather than finding the cream at the top.

Anyhow, we have picks 135, 172, 187, 220, 221, and 262.

OK with the DE pick Drake Jackson. He looks to be a find as USC fucked with his development, and we can get a lot from him when he puts some weight back on.

RB? Ty Davis-Price seems awful high for a position that Shanny can seemingly fill in with any available body. Maybe this is a message to Deebo that we are gonna decrease his run workload.

The WR pick Danny Gray looks pretty good as well. Size and speed can’t be taught and he has both. 6′ 2″ and 4.33 speed.

This draft is pretty much a bright neon signpost as to why the Niners pushed all their chip in for Trey Lance last season. There was ONE QB selected in the first 2 rounds.

Anyhow, day 3 is about to start.

Not much to say about the draft. Not with the Jimmy/Deebo saga playing out. But it appears as it is going according to the clock, not to the Twitterverse. The Panthers will make a deal in mid-June for Jimmy G. The 49ers brain (fry) trust will sign Deebo to a 3 year $75 mill ($40 mill guaranteed) deal in late June.

Day 2 of the draft see us with one 2nd round pick (61) and two 3rd round picks (93 and 105).

What do we need? A CORNERBACK!!!!!!

(stealing this from NJ [thanks, again]!!!)

Yusuf Corker S/CB 6-0 197 Kentucky
Verone McKinley FS 5-10 196 Oregon
Jalen Pitre FS 6-0 197 Baylor
Dane Belton FS 6-0.5 205 4.43 Iowa
Nick Cross FS 6-1 215 4.34 Maryland

Tariq Woolen CB 6-4 205 4.26 UTSA
Percy Butler CB 6-0 191 4.36 Louisiana
Alontae Taylor CB 6-0 193 4.36 Tennessee
Zyon McCollum CB 6-2 202 4.33 Sam Houston
Cam Taylor-Britt CB 6-0 205 4.38 Nebraska

Not listed is Andrew Booth, Clemson; 6′ 0″, 195, 4.5 40.
Mental toughness issues along with double-hernia surgery early 2022. Projected as a late 1st-early 2mr rounder, he’s still available. Could even drop to 61.

Kyler Gordon, CB, Washington: 6′ 0″, 200, 4.52 40.
Another prospected laste 1st-early 2nd rounder. No picks, but a lot of defensed passes.

Roger McCreary, CS Auburn: 5′ 11″, 189, 4.5 40
Possible nickel corner due to smaller size but great at going after the ball. 6 picks in 35 games

 Martin Emerson, CB, Mississippi State Height: 6-2. Weight: 200 Official 40 Time: 4.53.
Like the size on this guy, but only one pick in college. If coachable, he could be a steal.

The next two picks? DE and Center.

Let’s do it!