OAKLAND, Calif. -- Things are so bad for Tom Gugliotta that an 11-point game, such as the one he had Monday in Phoenix, qualifies as a big night, an encouraging sign, a reason to think he might turn himself around.
This is a guy who once scored 39 points in a game, a guy who could be counted on for 20 points and 10 rebounds nightly, a guy who had 38 double-doubles last season for the Washington Bullets and has but three since joining Golden State.
This is the guy the Warriors got for Chris Webber -- which might be the problem.
Not so, Gugliotta swears. Whatever trouble he's having, it has nothing to do with trying to replace Webber, because he's not trying to do that. Nor does it have anything to do with the emotional fallout of being traded for the first time, the way that can shake a player's confidence, make him question his worth.
No, no, no. Gugliotta seems quite certain of this. And yet, 20 minutes later, his soft voice rising to a season high, maybe a career high, the quiet man says, "I'm getting tired of this stuff. I've been here a month, and all you guys are still talking about the same thing."
Small wonder.
The Warriors, 7-1 at one point, have a 2-11 record since Gugliotta started wearing their uniform. It isn't all his fault, obviously, but it's more his than he'd like to believe.
Gugliotta has been a colossal disappointment, even to those who weren't expecting him to replace Webber. In 13 games, Gugliotta is averaging 8.1 points and 6.8 rebounds. He has come to personify this sorry team; once shooting for the moon, it would settle now for the smallest of triumphs.
"I'm obviously responsible for what's happened," Gugliotta said, "because I'm part of this team. But I don't think it's in direct correlation to the trade. Webber wasn't here when they were winning either."
That's true, and Gugliotta didn't need to be Webber for the Warriors to be a 50-win team. He just needed to be himself, a good scorer and a strong rebounder. He has been neither. He's playing like a guy who doesn't belong.
Which figures.
For Gugliotta, home is a hotel room these days. He's alone; his wife, Nikki, is back East, working. His friends, when you ask him with whom he's bonded, are Dwayne Morton, David Wood and Keith Jennings. He doesn't know where he's going, on the floor or off. He doesn't know the offense. He doesn't even know his position anymore. A power forward in Washington, Coach Don Nelson recently moved Gugliotta to small forward.
"I don't know what my role is," Gugliotta said, "what I need to do to contribute to the team. I don't know what I'm supposed to do as a small forward. . . . It's frustrating. I feel like a rookie out there."
Warriors fans will recognize the irony of Gugliotta expressing this dissatisfaction. Playing out of position, and speaking publicly about it, started the trouble between Nelson and Webber, and between Nelson and Billy Owens for that matter.
Pretty soon, Chris Mullin will return to claim his small forward position. Then what? Will Gugliotta go back to power forward, or to the bench? Right now, it looks as if the guy the Warriors got for Webber is a second-stringer.