The Contra Costa Times is reporting that the feud between the Golden State Warriors and center/power forward Marc Jackson is still on the boil.  Although the Warriors brass have so far been silent on the impasse which has Jackson signing an offer sheet with the Houston Rockets, Jackson says past comments are still bothering him.  He feels the club did not value his contribution by letting him "marinate" and bringing in rookie Troy Murphy at his position.  Rockets fans may be happy to think that Jackson is finished with Golden State but the Times is reporting that a deal may be in the works to trade Walt (Wizard) Williams for Bobby (Bad Back) Sura to compensate the Warriors for not matching Houston's offer.  Aside from Sura's injury history, the length of his contract to 2004 versus Williams one year remaining makes the Jackson signing much less attractive.

OAKLAND -- This year, there will be no vote on team captain. Warriors coach Dave Cowens took that decision out of his players' hands.
Cowens told forwards Antawn Jamison and Chris Mills on Saturday they will serve as the Warriors' co-captains for the upcoming season. Last year, Warriors players voted for captain, with point guard Mookie Blaylock and Mills initially getting the same number of votes.

Blaylock wound up getting the role, but he had his captaincy stripped on Feb. 5, after he missed a practice to play golf in San Antonio. At that point, Cowens named Jamison captain for the remainder of the year.

The Warriors open training camp today, and everyone who was part of their injury conga line a year ago has resurfaced in Oakland healthy, in shape,

and feeling good. This fact might not give Golden State a five-game jump over the Lakers at the start of the season, but there could be benefits down the line for arguably the most hurting team in pro sports the past two years.

The Houston Rockets and Warriors restricted free agent Marc Jackson have reached an agreement on a contract, Jackson's agent confirmed Friday.

The Rockets received a medical exception from the NBA on Friday worth $3.25 million and parlayed it into a six-year offer worth $24.375 million, Joel Bell, the agent for Jackson, said.

According to Raymond Ridder, the Warriors public relations director, the team had yet to receive the official offer sheet from the Rockets. Ridder said Warriors general manager Garry St. Jean would not comment until the offer sheet is received.

Johnathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports: Seeking a frontcourt force to fill the voids left by the injury to Maurice Taylor and defection of Hakeem Olajuwon, the Rockets might have landed both Friday, reaching an agreement with free-agent center Marc Jackson.

The Rockets received salary-cap relief in the form of a disabled-player exception worth $3.25 million next season and quickly used it to come to terms with Jackson on a six-year, $24.37 million contract.

The Warriors have 15 days from the time the deal is completed to match the Rockets' offer, but the Rockets had begun talks on a deal with Golden State in which the Warriors, deep in high-priced frontcourt players, would agree not to match the offer to retain Jackson.

"I hope they'll leave me alone," Jackson said. "This is for me. Houston is for me. I just hope the Warriors leave it alone ... just let me go.

 Dawson also met with free-agent guard Moochie Norris' agent, Dan Fegan, on Friday, although there were no indications of progress in the negotiations.

Fegan offered a sign-and-trade deal in which Norris could make more than the four-year, $12 million offer the Rockets have had on the table, but the Rockets did not accept the trade proposed.

It's Sept. 28, and the Warriors are healthy.

Knock on wood. Cross your fingers. Light a candle.

With training camp set to begin Saturday, any Warriors fan will tell you good health can change at a moment's notice. But what better time to be optimistic than now, before any games have been played or practices have taken place?

Fifteen players -- did we say healthy players? -- will take the court this weekend under second-year coach Dave Cowens, who must begin to answer the vital questions surrounding this year's team.

The San Jose Mercury News' Mark Emmons has a nice article about the Golden State Warriors crop of rookies.  Troy Murphy, Gilbert Arenas and Jason Richardson have a lot of attitude but it seems to be the right kind -- work hard and compete hard.  Dave Cowens really like what he sees in all three players. ``They don't feel like anything has been given to them,'' Cowens explains. ``It's very unusual that you find that kind of attitude in pro athletes, and somehow we got three players who act this way.''

Assistant coach Phil Hubbard says, "I looked out on the court and I saw something completely different from the previous summer," he says. "I saw real players. All three of those guys were fantastic."

Now that the Knicks are armed with a Disabled Player Exception worth about $2.8 million, the Knicks are reaching out to Warriors free agent Marc Jackson according to the Bergen County Record. The shot clock is running out for the Knicks, however. They have until 12:00PM on Monday to use the exception or lose it.

League sources confirmed Thursday that the Knicks contacted Jackson and would be willing to use the disabled player exception to sign the burly forward/center to a multiyear deal. One source said he wouldn't be surprised if Jackson became a Knick. But a few things stand in New York's way of getting something done.

ESPN.com reports: The New York Knicks have until Monday to spend a special $2.875 million injury exception, and they might offer the money to free agent center Marc Jackson.

If, however, the Houston Rockets receive an injury exception worth $3.25 million from the league office before Monday, Jackson could end up manning Hakeem Olajuwon's old spot.

The Knicks were granted the disabled player exception because of a career-ending injury to Luc Longley. The Rockets, meanwhile, are awaiting word from the NBA on whether they will receive a medical exception for the season-ending injury to Maurice Taylor.

Golden State has the right to match any offer Jackson receives. But with Adonal Foyle, Danny Fortson and Erick Dampier ahead of Jackson on the depth chart, it's questionable whether the Warriors would be willing to match a large offer.