Gulp (Warriors 106, Rockets 109)
Over my fan-blogging career I’ve written close to 350 posts. I’ve broken down my fair share of losses. By now, there are usually one or two things that go wrong that fall into the predictable patterns. An opponent goes big or the Warriors get three-happy and it’s only a matter of time before the other shoe drops. Friday night’s loss to the Rockets was perplexing, however, because it didn’t fit into the usual storylines. I’m not sure whether, in the long run, that makes the defeat better or worse. In the short term, however, — given home court advantage and wins by Western rivals — there’s no positive way to spin this close-but-not-quite performance.
Here’s why this loss has me scratching my head a bit:
The Rockets went small. This is usually death for opponents, particularly those that don’t bring overwhelming athleticism. The Rockets opted to abandon Mutombo at center and start a team equal, if not smaller, than the Warriors. When teams match the Warriors’ size, we usually feast on them at the rim and force them into a bunch of bad outside shots at the other end. Against the Rockets, however, things were different.
The Rockets’ smalls beat us up. Stealing a page from the Van Gundy “they-can’t-call-it-every-time” playbook, the Rockets laid a body on Davis and Ellis at every possible opportunity. It made a difference, particularly on the fast break. The refs called a few of them, but the Rockets did it so consistently that it basically became the accepted level of physical contact. The Warriors typically rely on Davis to overpower smaller guards and Ellis to blow by slower ones. For whatever reason, Davis didn’t work much from the post against Alston, Head, and Jackson. And although Monta had a fair number of show-stopping moves, Alston and Head did a nice job staying in front of him. We beat bigger teams because we’re tougher. That wasn’t the case the entire game against the Rockets, even with their smaller players on the court.
The Rockets’ bigs left us relatively unscathed. The Ws out-rebounded the Rockets as a team, 48-41. They held Scola in check, kept Battier from too many easy points, and even forced Landry to work pretty hard for his points (in the sense that they had to run plays rather than simply dump the ball to him or allow him to feast on put-backs). This wasn’t a repeat of the Jazz or Lakers games from earlier in the season when we just give up points at will inside. Rather, the Rockets put us away with mid-range (McGrady) and long distance (Jackson) accuracy. Were they just hot? Maybe. McGrady looked unconscious in the second half and Jackson hit the luckiest shot I’ve witnessed live all year with his double-clutch heave three. Beyond the luck, however, the Rockets were patient, moved the ball for good looks, and generally probed the Warriors sagging defense until they got something they liked. Any disciplined team in the West will be able to do this, which has me worried.
The Rockets played both small and slow. The 109-106 score is a bit deceiving. This game was played at the Rockets’ tempo, despite being filled with Warriors-sized players. When the half-court game took over in the fourth quarter, the Warriors once again struggled to find points. There aren’t many teams that can play both small and slow, but it might be something we see more frequently if opponents come to believe that they can consistently get good looks from 12-16 feet. Jackson did a good job generally on McGrady, but the Warriors’ relatively inability to stick on men continues to haunt them. They can cover for it to some degree with fast switches, but even then they still have too many gaps and breakdowns to really be a lock-down force. Ellis, Pietrus, Davis, and Harrington cheat all the time, simply handing their guy off to another defender when they hit a screen. Sometimes the other defender is ready to take over, but other times he’s not. When games get close in the fourth quarter, it’s an awfully flimsy way of producing stops.
But despite all of the above — and awful foul shooting — the Warriors almost won this game. Credit goes to Pietrus, who was active without being out of control. More than any game in recent memory, he looked like his mind was keeping pace with his body, particularly on offense. He continued to sell his new identity as a power forward as well, with 13 rebounds. Harrington was similarly active, with 14 boards, but missed a lot of close looks that the Warriors would love to have back. Although Al doesn’t play as many minutes as Baron, Stephen, and Monta, the miles have to be adding up on his legs at this point in the season. Nelson’s unwillingness to play his bench in a tight game suggests that whatever they showed him over recent games wasn’t enough to sway him on their efficacy. Finally, the Warriors showed some scrappiness in the fourth quarter, both at the rim and collapsing on the ball. Had they managed that sort of intensity the entire game, the outcome likely would have been different. But what you see through nearly 70 games is, most-likely, what you get. It’s too late now for hand-wringing over the dangerous of playing with intensity for extended stretches.
Without being overly dramatic, how the Warriors respond to this loss may decide their playoff fate. The Lakers play the Warriors better than anyone but the Jazz. If the Ws don’t come out fighting for their lives on Sunday and Monday, we could find ourselves outside of the playoff bubble by mid-week. Portland provides a slight respite on Thursday, but only for one game before we plunge into the at Denver, Dallas, at San Antonio, at Dallas stretch. I worry, however, about a few of the signs of regression — free throws, ball-handling errors, missed lay-ups — that crept into Friday’s game. Now is not the time for the team to struggle in its execution. Despite everything above, this team has earned my faith through its relentless resiliency this year. The sky is not falling yet, but check back Tuesday morning.
Man this one stings.
We blow the Rockets out twice. They eke by us twice.
I really thought we’d beat them tonight. I think we’re the better team, and expected our dubs to prove it.
Well let’s hope we bounce back again.
Of course I don’t think a team that consistently bounces back from losses is a very good one. That’s a 500 team.
Too many threes, not enough ball movement, not enough clutch shots from Baron, another poor shooting night for Jack, too many missed shots at the rim (contested or otherwise), and lack of concentration at the stripe. Maybe too many minutes for the starters and too few from the bench, but it’s hard to say for sure if it would have made a difference to use more of the bench.
With all the tough games ahead, my biggest worry is Baron. He doesn’t quite look himself, and he may not have enough left in the tank to carry us at crunch time in close games like he’s done in the past.
The Ws feast on the other team’s turnovers. When they don’t get ‘em, their energy just runs flatter.
Interesting that, with all the negatives — bad free throw shooting, jacking up flat-footed 3s, getting burned by one crappy official, all of it — the Dubs still stayed in this game.
They are definitely looking a little worn around the edges. What cures them, what turns them back into the wild Warriors, is turnovers. They usually clamp down defensively after a loss, and that ends up producing those steal-and-a-pass-to-jackson-back-to-baron-JAM moments.
Can they do that AGAIN? Can they put out that kind of intensity and drive once again? They’ve done this before, that’s all I can hope….
Jeez. How can a team be this fun and this aggravating?
This was a playoff game and as such we lost a playoff game; which given how many of us were hoping for a W’s-Houston opening round doesn’t bode well. We didn’t raise our game for the circumstances, got some crummy calls at the end, but that’s not an excuse. We simply need to play over our heads in order to stay above water (enough cliches there?), but it’s true. Playing pretty okay isn’t enough. Who is this Landry guy everywhere, I think he plays for Utah under the name Milsap, and for Portland under the name Outlaw. Doesn’t the league know about this??
If they can beat the Lakers twice all will be forgiven. At least split the two games. Great anyalsis. They need to come out swinging. When was the last time the W’s were in a brawl? Was it Hardaway vs. Barkley in the early 90’s?
I still like playing Houston in the opening round, as long as we make some adjustments like run people at McGrady like we did on Dirk. T-Mac was way too comfortable last night.
Otis, remember when we first mentioned the possible LA/GSW 1st round matchup a few weeks ago. Starting to look more likely and I don’t like it.
#1
A team that consistently bounces back from losses is not a 500 team, unless they never go on a two game or more win streak during the course of a season. Not very likely.
At this point in the season, if the Warriors consistently bounced back from losses, they would be in the playoffs.
#6
Didn’t get to see last night’s game, but I found your comment about running people at McGrady (way too comfortable) interesting in light of another DNP for BW (a lengthy player who seems to close out quite well on outside shooters). Of course BW would likely have trouble stopping McGrady’s drives to the hoop, but who doesn’t have a challenge gaurding McGrady?
The box score also indicates that CJ Watson didn’t get a chance to spell Baron or Monta too much. Did he look bad in the 3 plus minutes that he got?
Al averages 27 minutes a game. He’s 27 or 28 years old.That doesn’t seem like a lot of “miles” in a season to me for a fairly young player. He was active, played very well in spurts, and as usual, missed a lot of shots in close. IMHO, no fatigue excuse for Al.
Points were there for Baron, but I believe he had more turnovers than assists, that never bodes well for the W’s. As other posters have mentioned, he seems a bit off his game lately. Fatigue or a funk? Probably some of both, but he’s going to have to bring his all around game to the next 7 contests.
Someone once wrote the Jax is one of the few players in the league that can shoot you in and out of the same game. I’d say there is some truth to that, but I still think he is the true “warrior” of the W’s so I can live with his streaky shooting……most nights anyway.
Gulp! is an excellent description of how I felt when I realized the W’s weren’t going to pull out the game last night…………………………………….
Warriors starters expended a ton of energy in this one, only to absorb the L. In that sense, the failure to involve the bench was disastrous. Anyone looking for a sweep of the Lakers is deluding him/herself. I pray for just a split.
On the positive side, Monta was a human highlight reel last night. I don’t recall the last time I saw so many amazing finishes from one guy - at least one guy on the Warriors.
I liked the Baron and Pietrus technicals - if there are ever “good” technicals, those were good ones. At the end of the day, though, the calls that preceded those technicals and the extra Houston free throws resulting from the Ts were the difference in this tight one. How is it that the Warriors don’t seem to get any home court advantage from the refs on most nights at the Oracle?
One of those games that could have gone either way. No conclusions to draw from it other than the Rockets and Warriors are pretty evenly matched. Better free throw shooting by the Warriors, a few misses by Houston, fewer three point attempts, more turnovers forced, more intelligent shot selection, a few different calls - any one of those and our guys could have won it. Play the Rockets in the playoffs and I like our chances.
Mikey66 @ #6, IMO thought Rockets did a great job of spreading the floor & moving the ball with the pass (as opposed to the Dubs method of dribble movement)…this kept the Dubs from doubling on T-Mac…thought Jax did as good as he could on him though…
What I find perplexing Adam is how “small ball” can occasionally produce such a lack of motion on offense…Shouldn’t small-ball represent fast athletic players in constant motion? Fitz & Barnett kept harping about nobody moving on offense! Especially at the end when we ran our “one-on-five offense”…
Also found it curious that Fitz-Barnett kept trying to compare bench stats…when our bench didn’t play?? Basically 5 1/2 man rotation (Does that qualify as a rotation?)…Shades of Jazz playoff series??
All & all that was a qualtiy NBA game (To bad the refs missed it). And cudos to Jax for his charitable efforts!
Note to Brian Chavez, in case u missed it, check out Bruce Jenkins in the Chron today. He goes into your querry on the last thread about players coming out early.
Tough loss. Houston made to many shots, including some lucky ones. One or 2 stops on D and it would have been a W. The missed free throws didn’t help either.
BD plays hard at times, but soft at times. More should be expected from an “all star”. Over the course of 3 consecutive plays, his man on D got a easy offensive rebound and a put back, next play BD turned the ball over which led to a score, then on the next play BD dribbled for 5 seconds and shot a long 3. All of a sudden, Houston had scored 6 points.
Adelman took the small ball concept and surprised the W’s with their tenacity. Only Monta took the ball to the hoop with any regularity, and this was a rocket team that didn’t play a legit center. The W’s keep thinking the 3’s are the way to go, even without an opposing center guarding the lane. The offense is usually one pass, dribble, dribble, dribble and shoot.
Good to see AH and MP go to the boards. Biedrins had a rough night.
W’s have the best and worst finishers in the league. ME is the best and AH is the worst.
Let’s hope the W’s are still in contention a week from now. They’ll need some help from Denver.
adam says “When teams match the Warriors’ size, we usually feast on them at the rim and force them into a bunch of bad outside shots at the other end. Against the Rockets, however, things were different.” Barnett called this during the telecast. He stated that the Rockets were deliberately going underneath screens to bait the dubs into settling for the outside jumpshot rather than attacking the rim and then kicking out for a WIDE OPEN look. Basically, Adelman flipped the script on Nellie and won.
Other factors:
Harrington and Jax.
Harrington needs to stop f**king with the three cuz he is not feelin it. I don’t care if there is a continent between him and his defender. His ass needs to go to the basket instead of standing there like the damn Statue of Liberty while his long rebound is gobbled up by his defender 4 feet from him!!!!
Jax got his points as a volume shooter last night, same as Harrington, and he got bit with the hero complex on that ugly 3 miss at the end of the game. There was about 30 seconds left and we could have gotten the sure two and been down by one. He missed, Ellis missed the tip put back and the Rockets secured the rebound. nd of game right there.
I am so f**king tired of beating my head against the wall pleading for nellie to use more PLAYERS. Their season can easily end with the stink of his obstinacy.
6 players, in a playoff atmosphere game, r u kidding me? if the rest of the players have so little value that they are not worth using, then why the f**k did he keep them during the trading deadline!!!!!!!!!
Just a little pissed this morning.
Adam, thanks as always for letting me vent.
Jack never stops shooting — and when he’s cold, it’s a certain death. FTs kill mediocre teams, and our misses are becoming alarming. No bench at all, other than Goose — and Nellie’s stars are now showing they’re running out of gas, at just the wrong time. Barnes, though playing poorly, would have been useful to counter Houston’s very effective physical play on our guards.
In short, when things are clicking on all wheels, we’re more than OK; otherwise, we’re just another middle-of-the-road team without much upside.
Bottom line: reign Jack in; hit the FTs; and play an 8-9 man rotation REGARDLESS. Nellie just won’t adjust, which is why he’s a very, very good — but definitely not a great — coach. Too bad, because a little flexibility would mean a lot right about now.
Maybe we need to modify Cohan’s mantra…
“No Bench - No Playoffs”
????
Oldfan,
thanks for pointing out the article for me.
i just read it.
I agree with him, for the most part, but I still feel like the NBA and David Stern should stay out of kids decisions about college.
Either let these phenoms come straight into the league and get theirs, or make them stay in college to get the degree to fall back on.
Oldfan,
LOL.
No Bench - No playoffs indeed.
Last I knew there are 14 roster spots, with 12 active.
I guess Nellie has trouble counting over the five fingers that cradle his drink!
That Bobby Jackson shot was absolutely ridiculous.
No need to draw any insights from losses to Western Playoff teams (0-3).
Only wins against bad teams: We’re Great!
I did not see the Clippers game. I know my next statement would cause a riot with most of the Warrior nation, but from what I’ve seen in the Kings and the Rockets game, Baron has been a detriment to the Warriors offense for the majority of both games.
1 - His shot selection, a majority of which are fade away jumpers, have been spotty. I think we’ve grown to trust Baron and the decisions he’s made in the past. However, in these 2 games he has SETTLED for fadeaway jumpers instead of driving to the basket or taking advantage of smaller defenders in the post. Nelson has to remind him that certain mis-matches necessitate Baron punishing opponents until adjustments are made.
2 - I have recently noticed a trend where Baron is looking for his offense more and not becoming a facilitator. For all of Nelson’s criticisms of Ellis’ lack of decision and play making last year, I have noticed Ellis as the only player at times who takes advantage of Andris Biedrins’ positional advantage during certain offensive sets. Has B-Diddy and SJax lost confidence in Andris? Is it due to his absence from his illness or his noticeable propensity to mishandle potential assist? We used to get at least several points in any game from Andris from pick and dives to the rim or curls from around the restricted circle.
3 - Lastly, Baron’s teammates (by design or through habit) become inactive and just stand at a specific spot at certain stretches during EVERY game and especially during crunch time. Is this by design? A product of in-game fatigue from out brand of run at every opportunity offense? A product of our gambling/switching based defense?
BTW - I can’t remember the last time or anytime I’ve considered Mickael Pietrus as the best Warrior in any game; but he was. He was efficient, effective, and energized. Why didn’t his teammates look for him more?
I’ve got mine - but still no playoff tix for Fauchon!
You have season tickets? Is that all you’re yammering about? Any thoughts on the game?
Phew! What a tough loss.
Is felt one of the food groups?
Oldfan #11, that’s a good point.
Hard to say what’s going on with Baron. Wasn’t he just quoted a saying he feels great? If that’s true, then I’m really worried because it looks like he’s lost his explosiveness.
Jax needs to keep shooting. Here’s why.
On the last road trip, he regularly pump-faked, had defenders run past him, and then dribbled and dished it off to a wide open shooter. Harrington was the beneficiary a few times.
Other times, he drives in for a lay-up or gets fouled after the defender flies by. Sometimes he drives in and dishes when somebody leaves their man. Now if he goes 1-8 and listens to people who say stop shooting, then those things can’t happen.
If you watch closely, I think you’ll see that plays open up as a result of those threes.
He was 3-8 on 3s last night. Not great, but not awful either. He’s at 43% in last 24 games.
He’s not Monta, he can’t get to the rim at will. If he doesn’t shoot the 3, then his game is too predictable, which leads to dribbling into traffic and turning it over.
Jax knows exactly what he’s doing and Nellie is one of the few coaches who is smart enough to let him do it.
I’m not crazy about the offense, but I don’t think Jax is the problem.
On the other hand, I agree that we’re not going far on the 6 or 7 man rotation that we saw last night.
I think we’ll need BW’s help on the boards in the next few.
Mikey = Don Nelson.
Just keep shooting.
We’ll gloat every fifth night when yuo hit 50%, just wait. It’ll be sweet.
No playoffs, homers. Not unless Nelson uses a bench he didn’t build and runs a strategy he’s morally opposed to.
Nellie better hope this smallball bullsh&^ gets us into the playoffs because if it doesn’t and brandon wright wastes away on the bench, well it would be no different than now… am i the only one that sees that nellie’s senility is bringing us down? its obvious to all but him, isn’t it…to think we have another year of this crap…
but keep in mind…
all the stars are lined up….
it’s Nellie that has to make sure they continue to shine and grow the bigger stars…
the kid better play 15+ a night starting against the LA teams or the Dubz will be bouncing down and out…get it done
remember…
we’re the bosses….
Nellie is hired by us…
it’s time he gets the message or gets out…
Nellie, we’re all hoping you get the message but you’ve never won and there is a reason for that…change now or never change,
but the time is now….
Small ball works. It’s quickness over height and strength, it’s anticipating the passing lanes and making the steal, messing up the other team’s timing.
It sucks when the other team protects the ball, doesn’t get rattled, and patiently works it and creates a path to the basket. That’s Utah, that’s the Lakers, that was the Rockets last night.
But turnovers are game-changers. They’re more than fun, they turn a game around quickly — or put it out of reach.
It’s smart basketball. And it’s playing to the players’ strengths. If that’s not adapting your strategy to your players, I don’t know what is.
This is a tough loss but let me try to paint a silver lining if I can. These 8-game “series” is not exactly of equal importance in terms of playoff seeding. The 2 most important games are the Denver/Dallas B2B games next Saturday and Sunday. A win against Denver is a MUST. A win against Dallas gets us closer to 7th.
If it’s true that Baron is somehow not 100%, then he will logically try to save his best for those 2 games. Although I know he’ll play very well against his hometown team LA tomorrow.
If I’m a scheming coach and I’d like to “help” Houston to get back on top (to hopefully meet them in the first round), I might not mind losing the game last night that much.
I’m not saying that was the plan. It was obvious from the frenzied finish that they tried their best to win this one. Just didn’t work out.
I expect they’ll turn up the intensity tomorrow and try to steal one in LA. If they somehow pull it off, I wouldn’t be surprised if they came back to Oakland and ride the energy of the Roaracle crowd to a B2B sweep. I’ve seen crazier things happen.
Let’s see if this bunch is capable of some magic.
Love the blog. But this one is pretty simple. The good news is the W’s can play with any team on any night. But, when they lose it almost always comes down to one of two things or both, defensive energy and shot selection. Houston went small, which was surprising, and they sometimes played slow, small ball. Neither of those things was the difference. The W’s 4Q was full of two many 3’s and jumpers, when the Rockets are small, they can’t defend the 3 and the inside — unless you just settle for 3’s.
This is the best year performance wise of the past more than a decade. The team is great fun to watch and usually wins. Without stupid officials, I think it would have been an easy win last night and I give credit to a team and coach that doesn’t blame them, somehow except through the T’s during the game. We’re so fortunate to have Nelson, not the people on the blog who keep second guessing our success..I’ve seen him play lots of young players- Monta, Hardaway, Spreewell,Richmond so he =must know who is and who isn’t ready. Perhaps his mistake last night was playing a backup point guard instead of Azubuike, they lost a lot of points in just a couple of minutes with BD out.
I’m tired too.
What disturbed me the most was:
1. Lack of ball movement. As stated by Adam and others. What is with all this one against five stuff at this point in the season? We have utilized good movement many times this year. If BD has a fault, it is that he doesn’t really distribute as much as the best point guards. Why doesn’t he pass earlier and more often on fast breaks? He gets his assists, but he also seems to feel that he can drive on any team and must carry the load by himself, especially at the end of games. That is what killed the rally in the Sacramento game. CJ had the ball moving around and then BD came back and it stopped. Last night was more one on 5 than I have seen in weeks, although it seems to be a growing trend.
2. The switching “defense” was terrible. AB apparently has been told to come out on 3 point shooters and then switch back. Watch how well that is working against a savvy team. He was caught several times and there is no one to back him up. If you are going to do that, you had better get a turnover out of it or have someone back to defend the pick and rolls it virtually creates. Why he is doing it the first place is a good question.
MacGrady was hot and Jackson got lucky on that one shot, but they got a lot of good looks and they were constantly moving the ball around and setting screens in order to get them. A patient team knows they can get looks against the Ws. You will see more of this trend.
3. Bench: How do we HAVE a bench when your 5 best scorers are already in the game as starters? AB, KA and Maybe CJ? They don’t even get plays run for them when they are in there, except AB, and he is not going to be a big scorer. The starters who are still in there don’t utilize the subs much. They go into dribble and shoot mode and let the the subs fend for themselves.
Most championship type teams have a couple of players who can come in and light it up a bit and/or play a lock down defense- change the game. Houston did, we didn’t. That is ONE BIG REASON why AH should not start. It must be nice for other teams to only have to defend 3 people.
Well, all things considered, the game could have gone either way, which IS disturbing to me. A few free throws and better ball handling and things might have been different. But if you are going to live by dribble and shoot threes, this is what you get. Move the ball. Spot up. Catch and shoot. Get Monta some screens. Get back to what works.
Get used to the small bench regardless of who is there. The die are cast.
The Ws can beat any team on a given night, but are they built for the playoffs, which is like another whole season, with different rules?
regulus25, man you must be out of your mind.
W’s are 42-26. Nelson’s senile? If so, may I be blessed with the same. W’s and Nuggets both are more than good enough for the playoffs. It’s the skewed balance between the conferences keeping good teams in the west out.
Get real.
Gulp, indeed. Playing like this is just not going to cut it.
The W’s have now only one win more than Denver, but the Nuggets have much easier schedule the rest of the way.
Denver has just 4 more tough games - against the Suns (2), Mavs, and @ Jazz. Only 2 of these are on the road.
The W’s have 7 more tough games: Lakers (2), Dallas (2), @ Spurs, @ Hornets, @ Suns. 5 of these 7 games are on the road.
It will boil down to the 2 games between W’s-Nuggets. The warriors have to win both remaining games against Denver. If Denver wins even one of these games, they’ll have the tie breaker advantage and move on.
Some observations:
I believe that the Rockets put forth the “perfect” defense, “anti-small ball”, that I have no doubt other Western Conference teams the Warriors have to play have noticed. The way to stop the Warriors is simply have the opposing teams’ guards not crash the board and instead stay back, thereby prevent the Warriors from getting into the fast break game. The Rockets won this game by DICTATING the type of game that took place: a half court game. When one adds the fact that the Warriors are percentage wise a poor three point shooting team, that Baron Davis, for all this heroics is actually a relatively TERRIBLE three point shooter, and throw in the added fact that Davis and Jackson look a bit weary, that’s a formula for a foreboding succession of close losses. Other than Ellis, there were no “fast breaks”, attacking the rim drives. Let’s face it: if the opponent forces the Warriors into a half court game, they have won the battle. With no ball movement, with a host of mediocre and now, due to fatigue, poor three point shooters, deteriorating free throwing, and no post game with Biedrens riding the bench, they look vulnerable.
A second observation repeats a bit of what I said above: Jax and BD look a bit tired. The “small” things beat the Warriors vs. Rockets: BD’s missed free throws, Jackson looking so tired in throwing an alley-opp pass to Ellis that from almost mid court that landed in the upper deck, the technical fouls.
A third observation that I think Adam missed about Pietrus: despite his recent great athletic play, there were two plays vs. Houston that once again reflected his lack of basketball IQ. There were two passes, one made by Ellis and one by Davis, as each drove the lane and kicked out. Unfortunately, on both occasions there was no one to kick out to: Pietrus was at the 3 point line but had vacated it in anticipation of crashing the boards. On both occassions the ball was lost: backcourt violations, going through the spot Pietrus vacated. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
All in all, despite all this they made the game close, with missed free throws and an all star performance by McGrady turning the game. But the “ominous” note about this game is the combo of an opponent stopping the fast break (except when Ellis takes off), the Warriors poor three point shooting and Davis’ and other’s failing free throw shooting, all seem ominous.
Another thought: no one mentioned the technical fouls on the “all-star”, BD, when he lost the ball out of bounds. His technical, and a dumb technical on Pietrus, plus Baron’s missed free throws, all “add up”. Once again BD showed his undisciplined self, especially when things aren’t going well.
It’s crunch time and someone will have to step up: I was waiting for Baron for do it vs. Houston but I think that having to play a full game of half court play took too much energy out of him by the time the final minutes rolled around.
Finally, one thought: why would Biedrens consider coming back to the Warriors, given how Nelson uses him: not as a “starter” but instead as a “match up” center. He frankly looked “lost” out there in “small ball”. With a future of being used inconsistently as Nelson has used him, why would he consider a long term future with Golden State. What a strong statement Nelson made vs. Houston: Al Harrington as starting center….equals no shoot intimidation.
Very disappointing loss, and ominously, a “statement game” of how a Western Conference power can stop the Warriors’ forte. Just some thoughts: I hope they have enough energy to steal one vs. Lakers. However, let’s also remember that Davis has not played a full season is several years, and frankly, he looks fatigued and almost out of shape.
Happy Easter Adam and Fast Break posters!
It has been a very entertaining season and it only gets better from here as we have now entered, in a sense, the first phase of the playoffs. (Really Stern should just drop the 8th seed in the East and give it to the Nuggets, Mavs, or Dubs because no one outside of Atlanta would mind. What a shame that one of the top nine teams in the West won’t make it.) The only thing more entertaining than the Western Conference right now it the NCAA tourney.
The Dubs have a .519 winning percentage against their opponents in their next 14 games and they play half of them on the road with three back-to-backs. Their schedule is slightly more favorable than Dallas and Denver. It is a matter of who gets hot and who gels. If the Dubs can find the same mojo they had at the end of the season last year, things will be looking good. And why can’t they? The have same personnel minus JRich, plus an improved Monta, a better bench, and more size (if Nellie will use it). Finding that mojo will require what many posters have been saying in this thread: more ball movement and unselfish play, better shot selection, smarter and increased use of reserves, and a more consistent, disciplined effort on defense. With no major injuries and a bench that is strong, the Dubs are in a good position to make a run–the last game notwithstanding. Break out the tapes of last year’s improbable run and show it to the guys. It might be the stardust that the team needs to have sprinkled on them.
Good to be back!
#25
I’m not Don Nelson, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night.
Holidays are depressing-I have to watch the game tonight with Laker Fans.
how bout them bruins folks! anyways, just like to point out that that playoffs or no, the w´s are definitely a playoff team. cohan, if we fail to make the playoffs, i hope when you´re gloating you know its not because we´re a deeply flawed, unworthy team as you love to point out, its because the west is ridiculous this year. sure we have our problems, but there is no doubt that we are a playoff team. this year is just an anomaly of which we might be the unfortunate victims.
Mikey, are you one of those little dweebs who sits by the Warriors bench on the floor in sharp kakhis and polo shirts?
Or are you Bob Fitzgerald’s hair gel and stepping stool caddy?
The privilege of being this close to greatness is mine, I assure you.
khakis?
kakas?
I can’t spell.
Too filled with the Holy Spirit of Don Nelson’s Bourbon-infused Communion Kool-Aid.
Small ball works if you use a 9-10 player rotation and keep the energy and intensity at a high level.
The object is to get the other team’s stars tired, not your own.
Tired players coast, make dumb mistakes and turnovers, take low-percentage shots, play one-on-five offense, and matador defense.
The Warriors under Don Nelson have NO PLAYS. That’s why you see one guy trying to drive and penetrate against 5 defenders and the others just stand and watch. Pietrus wasn’t spotted for the 3 on that rare occasion when BD kicked back out because once BD penetrates that far, he usually shoots. MP was crashing the boards and you blame him for low IQ? You don’t complain when he outleaps everyone and slams a putback on a missed shot, do you?
One problem the W’s seem to have is that there are only 3 guys with any hops (4 if you count Nellie’s six-packs). BD, AB, AH, and SJ are all below average and aren’t particularly quick leapers either. Only Monta, BWright, and Pietrus have exceptional hops and are quick leapers also. That is why Nellie plays MP out of position at the 4.
BWright is not ready to contribute significantly because Nellie hasn’t developed him to have confidence in big games. Imagine if he felt he had the “go ahead” to take as many shots as BD does. Left-handed hooks, dunks, short jumpers, and heaven forbid maybe even a jumper from 15-20. This kid can score, he is one of the few true “finishers” on the team. Defensively it is true he has a hard time maintaining position but he challenges almost any shot within 15′, changing most and blocking plenty. We can’t use that? On many nights, there are alot of starters not playing much defense.
If the Warriors finish 9th and out of the playoffs, it will be a rough off season. Monta will contemplate big offers from ??? BD will press for a new long-term big contract, threaten to leave, then return for his last option year and 17.8 million. MP is as good as gone unless Mullin strokes him and rewards him with a MLE. AZ? It was nice knowing you, they won’t pay him. AB and his agent want big bucks, the W’s want him at a lower price, it will be tough. Between BD, Monta, and AB it will cost around 39 million give or take a couple.
Nowitzki looks done for the year.
Congratulations to all, the Warriors just made the playoffs.
Brought to you by Yao Ming and GHC.
Ws need 3 miracles to beat the Lakers:
1) Bynum out
2) Gasol out
3) ????????????
Pietrus out.
Kobe Bryant out
Barnes pulls Kobe’s finger!
The bench is the only thing that can save the Warriors. Nelson will lost the playoff for NO using the bench.
Nelson deserves Kudos for making the Warriors what it is at this moment. However, no one knows why is he so reluctant to make the Warriors even a better team through their bench.
Bench use: check
Consistent effort on defense: check
Monta Ellis is the man: check
Hurt opponent: check
Lazy opponent: check
No pressure since Dallas guaranteed a playoff spot: check
Looks like the Warriors can have no full strength Lakers or Mavericks and coast into the playoffs now.
Lucky us.
OK Mikey– You got this one. Jax was the man late.
Not sure what to say about us letting it get to that point, and Jax gets a lot of blame with Baron for the terrible second half…
but those two 3 pointers were the S–t.
Those two three pointers are also all we have.
Put Pau and Bynum on that floor and we die.
CC:
Twisted logic. They completely outrebounded us, pretty much owned the lane in the second half, hit clutch 3-pointers and still lost. With Pau and Bynum in the game, they would be slower and certainly not perimeter defenders. First half the W’slooked as good as I’ve seen them this year.
And if Kobe doesn’t hit his two 3’s, the W’s win by more.
KA did a terrific job covering Kobe. He’ll get his points but Kelena made him work. And BW fumbled a few but was very active, blocked some shots, and looked real good.
If you’re going to be the best team, you need to play through adversity. They didn’t. W’s took it to them on their own court in a game they needed. Don’t forget MP was out and he’s been looking terrific of late.
If you can’t get excited over a win at Staples, then nothing will please you.
What a great day:
* Trashing the Lakers in LA.
* Getting closer to the playoffs.
* Dirk’s out for the 2 upcoming games against W’s.
Go Warriors!
Stephen. Jackson.
Ahhhhhh….dinner with the Laker fan relatives wasn’t so bad after all!
Picture Mikey in a hostile environment wearing his bright orange road Warriors shirt.
CC, welcome aboard!
Just finished the game (Tivo). Jackson made Kobe his bitch!!!! Yeah, I’ll regret it tomorrow but right now…it’s alllllll gooooood.
54. “CC, welcome aboard!”
Oh come on: he’s pulling a big cop-out. The writing’s on the wall and it’s looking like the Warriors are in. Now CC is manuevering: he’s got to find a way to be right and also enjoy the Warriors being in the playoffs.
I call B.S.
This team is far improved over last year, the best team in years. Because of the problem with the imbalanced conferences, a good team isn’t going make it.
Whoever that team is, is playoff worthy. Forget all the other BS you see posted here.
Better win big tonight City or it’s more of the same from a gimmick team.
Let me guess CC: your prediction for President is McCain, Clinton and Obama.
Just like in the playoffs race, if you predict all outcomes you’re bound to be right.
Where have you been: Obama 08!
Called it weeks ago.