So the Warriors barely came through last night against Miami. I saw this type of game throughout the Gary St. Jean and Mike Montgomery eras, only in opposite land. The Warriors would be in ahead throughout the game against a better opponent, only to blow the game in the fourth quarter with turnovers, bad free-throw shooting, and poor shooting. This Miami game was the reverse of this trend.
The new Warriors were able to keep the game within 10 points throughout the game, and eventually were able to get hot at the last moments in the game. Stephen Jackson and Andris Biendris were the only guys doing anything in the first half, and kept them from being down 20 or more at the half. Biendris was especially impressive. He managed a double-double while playing only 23 minutes. He more then held his own versus Shaq, which is both a reflection on how much he's grown, and how far Shaq has fallen.
At the end, as usual, "The Boss" took over, hitting two huge threes. Baron is one of the few players in the league who can elevate his game right when his team needs him. He can launch ill-advised threes the entire game and not make any, but when the game hits the fourth quarter, those same shots suddenly hit the bottom of the net.
This win was important, as they travel to LA on Sunday to play the Lakers. Both teams will be 11-8, and this is the biggest test for the Warriors during this young season. The key will be not necessarily containing Kobe, but limiting the Lakers bench play. If they can keep Jordan Farmer and the rest quiet, it will go a long way to winning the game.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
So close
So the magic/warrior game was a demonstration of how close you can come to win a ballgame and just.....not.......quite......win. The magic are a hell of a team, and the warriors deserve a lot of props for not packing in the game in the third quarter, and rallying back to be in a position to win the game at the end. For everyone at GSOM who is yelling furiously into their keyboard about Monta Ellis losing the game at the end, they are dead wrong. This is a kid who had seven assists with ZERO turnovers, had a very good shooting percentage, had 12 rebounds (a career high), and played his heart out. Yes, his decision to shoot a three at the end of regulation was a horrible one, and I wish he had hit both free throws at the end of the game, but he didn't shoot 6-23 (Baron Davis), or shoot 4-17 (Al Harrington), or commit four turnovers in OT (Stephen Jackson). If BD or Al shoot any short of decent percentage, we win. However, they didn't, we didn't win, and it's okay. It's just one loss and we showed we can more then hold our own with an elite team. I look forward to attending Wednesday's game in person. I expect a nice showing versus the Bucks.
Friday, November 30, 2007
GSOM Still Angry with Warriors
Golden State of Mind. The gold standard for Warrior blogs. They have created a great community with fantastic ideas, such as community season tickets. The guys who run the site have been loyal Warrior fans for many years, and they clearly care about the team. However, ever since the Dubs traded J-Rich, they have been a tad bitter. Latest example: This random post about how the Warriors are super cheap and don't care about the fans that came out today. The basis for this is the fact that the Warriors apparently have the 25th cheapest roster in the NBA. Even though they are actually over the cap, it's still one of the lowest payrolls out there. For GSOM, this destroys the rationale for the Richardson trade, which was that the Warriors had to cut payroll. A few thoughts on this:
It's pretty much a fact that if the Warriors had wanted to stay under the luxury cap (which most of the NBA does, including the Phoenix Suns, who traded Kurt Thomas for that purpose) and resign Monta Ellis and Andris Biendris next year, that they had to cut payroll. And Richardson was the most easily replaceable of all the large contracts.
GSOM also continues to talk about the fact that Nelson is only going to be around for a few years, and getting and developing young talent doesn't make sense. For them, trading Richardson for Brandon Wright was something that Nelson didn't want to happen. Well, I have a feeling that Nelson might have been told about the Richardson trade before it happened, and would have had to approve of it for it to go through. It was also obvious that during the regular season and playoffs Nelson was not in love with Richardson's game. Nelson needs players who can play defense, rebound, create shots for themselves and others. Richardson could only rebound well, and his lack of ball-handling skills and lack of defense was a negative for Nelson's system.
Finally, this team as currently constructed has just won 8 out of 9, and is playing defense at a level they never reached before. They are loaded with young talent across the board They also have a potential franchise-changing big man in Brandon Wright, which is something they could only dream about last year. And they have the ability to sign and keep all this young talent because of the good cap flexibility they have. Thus, the Warriors having solid cap management is a good thing.
This team is better then last year, deeper and more versatile. The trade of J-Rich allowed the Warriors to discover Keleena Azabuike, and let Monta Ellis do his thing. As good of a player Richardson was, and as hard as he worked for the Warriors, he was a limited player, who had reached the peak of his playing career, and was likely headed for diminished returns. As Tim Kawakami pointed out around the time of the trade, Richardson was good when the Warriors were bad, and not that good when they finally became good. And the fact that GSOM can't get over the trade is a little befuddling to me.
It's pretty much a fact that if the Warriors had wanted to stay under the luxury cap (which most of the NBA does, including the Phoenix Suns, who traded Kurt Thomas for that purpose) and resign Monta Ellis and Andris Biendris next year, that they had to cut payroll. And Richardson was the most easily replaceable of all the large contracts.
GSOM also continues to talk about the fact that Nelson is only going to be around for a few years, and getting and developing young talent doesn't make sense. For them, trading Richardson for Brandon Wright was something that Nelson didn't want to happen. Well, I have a feeling that Nelson might have been told about the Richardson trade before it happened, and would have had to approve of it for it to go through. It was also obvious that during the regular season and playoffs Nelson was not in love with Richardson's game. Nelson needs players who can play defense, rebound, create shots for themselves and others. Richardson could only rebound well, and his lack of ball-handling skills and lack of defense was a negative for Nelson's system.
Finally, this team as currently constructed has just won 8 out of 9, and is playing defense at a level they never reached before. They are loaded with young talent across the board They also have a potential franchise-changing big man in Brandon Wright, which is something they could only dream about last year. And they have the ability to sign and keep all this young talent because of the good cap flexibility they have. Thus, the Warriors having solid cap management is a good thing.
This team is better then last year, deeper and more versatile. The trade of J-Rich allowed the Warriors to discover Keleena Azabuike, and let Monta Ellis do his thing. As good of a player Richardson was, and as hard as he worked for the Warriors, he was a limited player, who had reached the peak of his playing career, and was likely headed for diminished returns. As Tim Kawakami pointed out around the time of the trade, Richardson was good when the Warriors were bad, and not that good when they finally became good. And the fact that GSOM can't get over the trade is a little befuddling to me.
Simply Solid
The word to describe last night's game was solid. The Warriors played well offensively, and didn't force the threes, like they can do. They played smart, crafty defense, and were able to make Yao Ming an afterthought. The Warriors were able to dominate an NBA playoff caliber team, without playing out of their mind. They played their game, pushing the ball at every opportunity, kicking it out for threes, playing scrappy defensive which caused turnovers, and were able to slowly wear out the Rockets. But this wasn't the Suns game, when the Warriors just went to another level. They played a consistent game, and just took apart the Rockets. A few exciting developments from last night:
Al Harrington was a revelation. Not only was his shot going down, but his defense and intensity were apparent the entire night. It's not an easy thing to do to ask your 6-9 power forward who can't rebound that well and would rather be setting up at the top of the three point line for a catch and shoot to front and bang all night with the biggest man from China in the NBA. And yet, Al not only did it, but he excelled at it, causing Yao to seem clumsy and out of sync the entire night.
With five minutes to go at the end of the second quarter, with the Warriors only up by three, Baron had to go to the bench with three fouls. Monte Ellis was handed the ball, with the hope that the Warriors wouldn't be down to much at the end of the half. Surprise! Monta ran the team effectively, and they ended up ahead by 9 when the buzzer sounded. While five minutes isn't thirty, it does show that Monta as a floor general isn't just a dream, but one day, a potential reality.
Where would these crazy fuckers be with Stephen Jackson. One day after banging with Ron Artest for an entire game, he goes up against T-Mac, and holds him to eleven points. In my opinion, not only should Jack be in the conversation for an All-Star nod, but he should be on the short list for NBA defensive player of the year.
Don Nelson-----Play Brandon Wright!
Al Harrington was a revelation. Not only was his shot going down, but his defense and intensity were apparent the entire night. It's not an easy thing to do to ask your 6-9 power forward who can't rebound that well and would rather be setting up at the top of the three point line for a catch and shoot to front and bang all night with the biggest man from China in the NBA. And yet, Al not only did it, but he excelled at it, causing Yao to seem clumsy and out of sync the entire night.
With five minutes to go at the end of the second quarter, with the Warriors only up by three, Baron had to go to the bench with three fouls. Monte Ellis was handed the ball, with the hope that the Warriors wouldn't be down to much at the end of the half. Surprise! Monta ran the team effectively, and they ended up ahead by 9 when the buzzer sounded. While five minutes isn't thirty, it does show that Monta as a floor general isn't just a dream, but one day, a potential reality.
Where would these crazy fuckers be with Stephen Jackson. One day after banging with Ron Artest for an entire game, he goes up against T-Mac, and holds him to eleven points. In my opinion, not only should Jack be in the conversation for an All-Star nod, but he should be on the short list for NBA defensive player of the year.
Don Nelson-----Play Brandon Wright!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Now that was a game
That was one of the most enjoyable Warriors games I have ever had the pleasurable of watching since I became a fan in 1998. The Warriors played as well as they possibly could, especially in the amazing first quarter, in which they scored 45 freaking points. As the previous post indicated, I don't understand why the NBA doesn't put this game on national television. When basketball is played like this, it's impossible not to love the NBA. Some thoughts on the game:
Monte Ellis=Stud.
Ellis has destroyed the memories of his slow start to the season. This is the second consecutive 31 point game in a row for him, and it looks like he's beginning to take that next step from breakout young player to emerging NBA star. When Ellis is able to hit his floating 18 foot jumper consistently, he's basically unguardable. Guards have to shade off of him because he's too quick for literally everyone in the league, leaving this shot open all day for him. If his trend of making this shot consistently stays, Ellis should take the next step that Gilbert Arenas and Kevin Martin have.
Stephen Jackson=Hero
Stephen Jackson is my hero. His ability to get into the middle of the lane and hit that sweet leaning jumper allows the Warriors to have a fairly consistent offensive weapon, which is different than most of their offense, which is complete chaos. He was the most consistent Warrior during this game, and right now, is the team's MVP
Baron Davis=Boss
Baron Davis outplayed Steven Nash. Not bad for a shoot-first, selfish, injury-prone overrated point guard
Matt Barnes=Tattooed Freak
Matt Barnes had a very underrated game. He played good defense, kept the offensive moving, rebounded, and hit the 3 when they needed him to. Hopefully he's not too hurt. And hopefully his mom is doing well.
Brandon Wright=Play him more Nelson
See what Brandon Wright equals.
6-7. After a 0-6 start, I'll take it.
Monte Ellis=Stud.
Ellis has destroyed the memories of his slow start to the season. This is the second consecutive 31 point game in a row for him, and it looks like he's beginning to take that next step from breakout young player to emerging NBA star. When Ellis is able to hit his floating 18 foot jumper consistently, he's basically unguardable. Guards have to shade off of him because he's too quick for literally everyone in the league, leaving this shot open all day for him. If his trend of making this shot consistently stays, Ellis should take the next step that Gilbert Arenas and Kevin Martin have.
Stephen Jackson=Hero
Stephen Jackson is my hero. His ability to get into the middle of the lane and hit that sweet leaning jumper allows the Warriors to have a fairly consistent offensive weapon, which is different than most of their offense, which is complete chaos. He was the most consistent Warrior during this game, and right now, is the team's MVP
Baron Davis=Boss
Baron Davis outplayed Steven Nash. Not bad for a shoot-first, selfish, injury-prone overrated point guard
Matt Barnes=Tattooed Freak
Matt Barnes had a very underrated game. He played good defense, kept the offensive moving, rebounded, and hit the 3 when they needed him to. Hopefully he's not too hurt. And hopefully his mom is doing well.
Brandon Wright=Play him more Nelson
See what Brandon Wright equals.
6-7. After a 0-6 start, I'll take it.
It's just the second quarter
In fact, it's four minutes into the second quarter in the Warriors/Suns game, and already it's an amazing game. God, these two teams are fun to watch. Memo to the NBA: PUT THESE TWO ON PRIMETIME!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Giant squid in the living room
Well, that was fun while it lasted. The little three game winning streak the Warriors had ended tonight at the hands of the Celtics. The Warriors simply couldn't shoot with any consistency during the game, with their field goal percentage hovering around the mid 20's for most of the game before finishing at 33.3%. It was obvious that the toll of playing their first back to back on the road effected the starters, especially Jack and Baron, who combined to shoot 7 for 28. However, there was one thing tonight that got me excited....
Brandon Freakin Wright. Can you say 9 rebounds in 13 minutes? 4 offensive rebounds? 7 points, and showing some range to his offensive game? Please, Don Nelson, play him!! I know he's a rookie. I know you hate rookies, for some bizarre psychological issue you have that must date back many years. But Wright can help the Warriors right now, and provide a skills that no one on this roster currently possesses. So play him. For the love of God, play him!
Brandon Freakin Wright. Can you say 9 rebounds in 13 minutes? 4 offensive rebounds? 7 points, and showing some range to his offensive game? Please, Don Nelson, play him!! I know he's a rookie. I know you hate rookies, for some bizarre psychological issue you have that must date back many years. But Wright can help the Warriors right now, and provide a skills that no one on this roster currently possesses. So play him. For the love of God, play him!
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