Warming Up (Warriors 140, Kings 132)
After the most demoralizing extended road trip of the year, the Warriors looked very happy to find a depleted Kings squad waiting for them in the friendly confines of Oracle Arena. From the first series of possessions to the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, the Warriors hit the Kings with consistent energy. The Ws weren’t mistake free, but they didn’t need to be against Sacramento’s ragtag group. With bounce-back games all around — from the starters to the end of the bench — you couldn’t ask for a much better victory in anticipation of Thursday’s duel with Denver at high noon (the 5 pm tip might as well be at noon for those hoping to attend the game).
Nelson’s game plan against Sacramento became clearer as the game progressed. For those worried about our depth, ability to play larger teams, and energy, what we saw was encouraging.
Nelson rotated a variety of players into the game until he found a combination capable of busting open the game once and for all. That magic five — Davis, Biedrins, Croshere, Pietrus, and Watson — may not have spent a minute of regular season ball on the court together but they brought the right combination of speed, size, scoring and scrappiness to finally put down the frighteningly resilient Kings. The results speak to the advantage of Nelson’s usual willingness to try different looks until one clicks. It’s a safe bet that no one in the Warriors’ organization picked those five guys Tuesday morning as the key line-up for the game. But those are the pieces that worked together, and Nelson kept them on the court for much of the fourth quarter to seal a vital win.
The Biedrins / Croshere / Pietrus frontline matched a large and active Sacramento crew down the stretch. Mikki Moore, Spencer Hawes, and Sheldon Williams may not be the most offensively blessed big men in the game, but they’re the type of guys who have managed big nights before against the Warriors. The Warriors kept them in check with aggressive play down in the paint. Andris snagged some huge offensive rebounds, Croshere displayed his usual willingness to throw around his body, and Pietrus looked every bit as rested as he should given an extended stay on the inactive list. With giants on the horizon (Denver’s crew, Brand in LA, and Shaq / Amare in Phoenix), Nelson experimented with a few different “big” looks with pretty nice returns (more on Harrington below). The fourth quarter line-up was so close to a tradition five-man NBA crew that I’m even tempted to drop the usual Nelson-qualification quotation marks around the word big.
The Warriors smalls attacked the rim. Sacramento’s interior defense looked nothing like what the Warriors will see Thursday from Camby, Martin, and Nene, but it was still great to see Nelson exploit it relentlessly. Baron and Monta took turns slicing and dicing it. Even Jackson, who two days ago looked slower than the Mississippi flowing past the Crescent City, managed to return to the line. His 9 free throw attempts are a fantastic sign that he’s finding ways to contribute, even with tired or injured legs. It doesn’t matter at this point whether the Ws are worn-out or injured. Everyone needs to find a way to contribute, or else they’ll have time soon enough to rest and heal.
A few other random observations:
Al Harrington turned in a wonderfully understated performance. It wasn’t one of his can’t-miss nights, but he hustled for rebounds, forced a double-take inducing 5 steals, and exercised just the right amount of discretion on his shot. The Warriors don’t need him to carry the team, just his load. As the third or fourth option most times when he’s on the court, he played the part perfectly against the Kings.
After such poor play earlier in the season, I never thought I’d be so happy to see Mickael Pietrus return. He was a game-changer in the fourth quarter, from two of the prettiest, much emphatic blocks you’ll see all year to the three point shooting and put-back slamming offense we’ve come to expect. We sure could have used him during the road trip, but it’s just a huge boost to have him back now. If Jackson looks a step (or two or eight) slow against Carmelo on Thursday, Pietrus and Azubuike will likely get turns trying to slow him down. I think they’re both up to the challenge.
CJ Watson isn’t a starting NBA point guard. He was in the D-League for half the season for a reason. That said, the Warriors don’t need a starter, they need a back-up. Watson did what the Warriors needed for the most part Tuesday. He played fantastic defense against Kevin Martin, after KMart smoked Monta throughout the earlier quarters. He ran the point with Baron playing off the ball, coughing it up only once in 18 minutes. The 3-6 performance from the line made this game much closer than it needed to be, but in every other area he kept the ship steady. Again, it’s not ideal, but I’m willing to risk some close-calls to give our backcourt extra rest.
Matt Barnes and Patrick O’Bryant were left at the end of the Warriors’ bench with a minute to play. POB made it into the game (and quickly picked up 2 fouls). Barnes was left to stand in his warm-ups until the final buzzer. We don’t know what goes on behind closed doors, but I’m willing to bet that Barnes is more than a little frustrated at the moment. We’ve spilled many words over JRich’s absence this season, but given the crucial rolled played by Barnes during last year’s push, his poor play has also left a hole to be filled. I still hold out slim hope that Matt can get things back on track. Not only would it make another great story of Warriors’ redemption, the team could certainly use another productive body on the bench.
Ron Artest is a perfect example of how people who refuse to act in the way society expects of them get labeled crazy. Mind you, I’m not saying that Artest isn’t nuts. I’m just arguing that in a profession so concerned with image and expectations, Artest turns the entire artifice on its side. Then stomps on it. During a heated moment in the fourth quarter Artest actually turned around and acknowledged the hecklers in the crowd. It was all good-natured from what I could see (Artest next found a camera across the court, flashed it a big smile, and started pounding his chest). That said, the last thing anyone associated with the NBA would want Ron to do is turn around and even make eye contact with opposing fans. NBA players rarely tear down that invisible wall between the players and the crowd, other than the occasional home player (like Jackson) urging on crowd support. Direct interactions between opposing players and fans are one of those things that got snuffed out by the David Stern rule-of-law era in the NBA. The last person I’d ever expect to bring a little bit of that interaction back is the guy who sat out a full season for engaging in its most extreme form. Is Ron showing his distaste for an opposing fan any different than Jackson urging the Ws faithful to cheer him on? They seem like different sides of the same coin to me. While David Stern and the league work so hard to build the myth of players engaged with their communities, Artest and Jackson play with a passion that leads them to make a connection with their most immediate community - the fans gathered to cheer or jeer them. When that connection is fist-to-face, as it was in Detroit, it’s a disaster. If both guys can stay in control, however, their fire brings an appreciated unpredictability to a game that sometimes risks growing too sterile.
We’ve thrown around the “most-important-game-of-the-season-so-far” tag quite a bit in the last month or so. Thursday night, we can drop the qualification. Thursday won’t decide who goes to the playoffs, but it will place a world of pressure on the loser. After delivering a demoralizingly poor performance against the Mavs last week, it’s time for the Warriors to seize the moment. Well-worn excuses and silver linings won’t get you to the promised land.
Fantastic. Thanks Adam.
I predicted the Warriors were out, last weekend.
But this is a fortuitous turn of events. They are still alive.
Thursday night is everything.
p.s. I can actually make to the game at 5pm. So if any of y’all with tickets can’t, I’m a buyer!
The game tonight depicted Nellie’s big dilemma: giving the starters a rest, while not risking losing the game.
Baron played for 42 minutes tonight. During his main rest in the forth quarter, the Warriors big lead was quickly shrinking.
If the dubs lose on Thursday as BD is struggling to run, penetrate, and defend, then Nellie would get a lot of heat for playing Davis 42 minutes against the Kings. How could he given Baron more rest tonight? We could almost had lost the game.
I saw similar patterns throughout this year. At the beginning of the season, Belineli played each game significant minutes. Then in mid-November, Belinelly shot 1-9 from the field, played for 22 minutes, and the dubs lost. after that game he was warming the bench for quite a while.
Man that was fun to watch. Especially the first half. They game out slingin and scrappin, vintage Warriors style. Im back on the wagon again and proud of it. Ups and downs I tell you, needless to say, my hair line has suffered this season.
Yah, we need some major help in the future and Nellie mos def did a disservice runnin the team to the ground all year. But this is what we have now, and hopefully the slew of talent that is the Dubs can find that next gear, the one thats been missing for a while.
We can beat the Nuggets playing like we did tonight. I thought the Kings hit some really tough shots, more then normal anyway. The final score looks closer than it felt, the way our boys (especially Boom) were attacking the rim, I never had that oh no! feeling. Everyone came correct with their mentality tonight.
My favorite thing to see was Monta sitting most of the fourth quarter and CJ getting run. It showed that Nellie can have a defensive mindset (once in a while). He recognized that the team was handling the scoring load without him and they needed a pit-bull to stick on K Mart. He got burned once that I counted, but other than that he stuck to him pretty well. Most importantly, he denied him the ball and kept it out of his hands. Im not saying play CJ all the time but in this instance, it played out nice. I had an “Im proud of Nellie” moment, even he came correct tonight.
PEITRUS!!!!! What a boost, and he didnt really even play all that great. Just those few things he did pumped life into a nerve wracked Oracle. That second block was insane, that ball went straight down, yah… wheres that stupid cocky smirk now Kevin. I dont understand MP nor do I care to, but when he comes correct, he brings the pain. And to think, he only did that travel/stepout move once!!
Jack still aint right, he hobbles a little and gets beat off the dribble too much but as Adam said, he found ways to contribute ie. ball movement, getting to the line, and of course draining a couple platypus threes. Still too many TOs though.
Half full for me fellas… half full.
Good story, Adam. At least Artest DID seem to be just having fun, no matter how weird he is.
I was glad to see the bench people play well. It has to be making everyone more excited since they are all contributing. That creates energy.
I’m not sure why POB was activated for this unless he really is going to come back and play a little down the stretch and on. He got a very short look, considering the Kings aren’t exactly a tough inside team.
I guess Nellie didn’t like the match-ups as far as Belli was concerned, which is too bad. It wasn’t like we were stopping any of their guards anyway, with whoever was in there. KM is just a beast.
It was funny to hear the announcers commenting with surprise that AB and Croshere were in the game together with AH, creating “a huge” front line. Yes, what a concept, more than one big man in the game at one time!
BW had to play the “center without help” role, unfortunately, but did a good job spelling AB in the second quarter, considering he doesn’t even know the PF position yet, let alone center. His reach for a low pass and then making a lay-up at full speed was an amazing example of his athleticism. He always has an effect on shooters and kept the ball alive with his long arms. 6 points in 6 minutes and several good disruptions under the basket. It seemed like BD and Ellis were looking for him for a change.
AB is back! He played a monster game, again. Its always nice when BD and Monta actually look for him down low.
The only negative thing about the rotation I would mention is that Nellie still played Baron for 42 minutes. The rotation was a lot better, but BD could have sat a bit more. He almost blew his cool in the 4th quarter and made some weird plays. He did make critical 3s at the end and played a good point game, especially at the beginning of the game. He looked better. I hope he can do it again on Thursday.
Nellie tried a lot of combinations and saved Pietrus for the end after a brief warm-up earlier. I didn’t realize that MP has a groin and hamstring combo injury. If he can play again after tonight, that will be good news.
CJ is a keeper in my book. He is fearless and even though his shooting was a little off tonight, he got valuable time with the A team du jour in the stretch. I could see him being the backup point. OK, he was in the D-League, but he tore it up and has shown good instincts and talent since coming up. He is a smart kid and came from a tough program in Tennessee. He stuck his nose in on D too.
It was a strange game in that it was pretty much the same story all the way through. The Ws got out in front and then stayed there without ever having a huge lead. That in itself was strange, considering the pattern that most games have taken, but the good news was that all the Ws kept that lead. Everyone did something to help. No one got in the way. Hey, it was almost normal basketball. And of course, Ellis was great.
Well, we gave up a lot of points- again, but in a strange way, the game seemed to be destined to be a shootout, with players coming in off the Sac bench who just kept firing and hitting. This was one time when the small ball principal of just outscoring the other team seemed to run as planned. It was obvious early on that Sacto was not going to be stopping much, so the Dubs just let fly- inside and out. How that will hold up against teams that actually play defense, I hope we don’t have to find out.
The 3s fell in tonight. The good thing was that they came with good looks and from passing the ball around. I hope it isn’t too late in the year for the Ws to keep going with this strategy. It will be interesting to see how far Nellie’s trust goes in the next game. THE game of the year.
Denver a is another team that can hang with the Ws in terms of point production. Somewhere, someone will blink and the wining points will be scored or a basket missed will lose it. One of THOSE games.
All in all, I say Improvement! Playing in this way could actually take us somewhere THIS year.
#2 Passion Man
Hey, you and I agree on most things usually so I’m only going to say that we could have rested BD a bit more without putting the game in jeopardy. The game was never really in doubt after the first quarter. The lead went down a couple of times when BD was out but it always went back up after adjustments. AB and MP were just putting the misses back in toward the end there.
Baron should have gone out in the second quarter when the Sac subs came in. I don’t think he really overextended himself in this game, though.
great read thanks, agreed, it’s put up or shut up time, considering denver’s road record, I am optimistic of our chances. I am actually more fearful of a let-down AFTER this game assuming we win it, thinking that all the work is done.
Agreed with #2: The leads always go down when Baron sits. It happened in the first quarter in New Orleans and it happened again last night. I hope he plays 44 on Thursday.
Ball movement and assists and playing the bench….
That’s what I saw in this game. Something that many of us have been wanting to see all year.
I agree with “Tired”. Taking the threes when the opportunity presents itself, and not the first mindset go to was another big factor.
Yea, the Kings were depleted as Adam says, but since he was given the opportunity to do so, I’m glad that Nellie veered away from his usual “let the starters figure it out”. Instead, we got team ball rather than “hero” ball and when that occurs, good things happen. When 5 guys are involved, they naturally contribute more, and are more likely to be a part of a flow, motion offense, instead of just taking up a zone in the court, while one of the big three do their voodoo.
And man, was it good to see Air France (Sir Air France, tonite)
Would have liked to see the dub’s show more of a killer instinct at the end. Didn’t care for the risky lobs and one on ones that created turnovers at the end.
Small objection though. Fun, exciting and relieved.
Adam,
Very nice analysis of the game. Really sums it up well.
Posters, let’s predict. Give a winner and a final score.
Dubs 118, Nuggets 117
SoA: Sounds like fun! W’s 127-Nuggets 111
Oracle should be rockin…Dubs 124 to 119 over Nuggets
Great write-up as usual, Adam.
Welcome back, MP. And at least Baron looked better physically even though Jax didn’t, but still managed to contribute.
Ws 131, Denver 120.
I don’t know if this was mentioned last night and who really cares anyway but this happened:
Final Score: Utah 77, NO 66
Half-time score: Ws 77, Sacramento 66
And during halftime of our game, Portland lead LA 77-66.
If the team does not make the playoffs it certainly won’t be due to the play of the starting five….With a roster of 12 (15) eveyone needs to carry their load…those who don’t really hurt the team as so many minutes have to be absorbed by BD, ME, etc and over a season that is a real issue. Note that games that we control and BD puts in minutes but takes few shots will result in the following game BD taking a whole lot more shots. I think you will see him take control of the game on Thursday.
No doubt there will be some roster shufflng come next year to assure us of some real depth.
congrats to the Dubs on a big win last night.
nice to see them hold serve in this final set, winner takes all.
i believe the score is now 15 all
let’s get an ace on thursday or at least a backhand winner down the line and we will be up 30-15.
great use of the bench last night. the teflon don is back.
We’re the 8 seed. Book it.
Vast improvement.
Charlie @ #7…
Very nice post!
Dubs 150 to 149…Buckle up
(I know absurd…but its going be fun)
To look at the posts around the trading deadline would you ever think that Mikey Pietrus might be the key to the Dubs season? But we’re a different team when he plays hard and well. Especially with Jackson at less that 100 percent, and with Barnes MIA.
I think Iverson is the key tonight - the sort of player who can go off and bury us on his own. If you think Kevin Martin’s a tough cover. Let’s hope he has one of his seven for 30 games.
I can’t even tell if CC is being sarcastic or serious anymore.
I want to say something that hasn’t really been mentioned in here much. I really appreciate the approach the real Chris Cohan has had with this team in recent years. He doesn’t make himself a part of the story like the Sterlings, Dolans, or Cubans of the world. He just has given the reigns over to his basketball people (Mully/Nellie) and has just sat back and enjoyed the ride. As much flak as I’ve given him in the past, I think he has become a solid owner in this league and appreciate his role in placing a quality product out on the court for us to support. Thanks (real) Cohan!
A couple of defensive matchups that I think will be vital on Thursday night:
1) Jackson or Pietrus on Melo: Jackson usually checks the opposing team’s best wing, and at 100% he would hopefully be able to handle Melo like he did Dirk last year. But Melo has been on fire of late and Jackson has not been himself. I would hope that if Jackson is struggling hard with Melo, the W’s would not hesitate to put Pietrus on him (it’s what I do if necessary when I play NBA 2K8 lol!)
2) Monta vs. Iverson: This isn’t a true defensive matchup, but somehow the net Monta/Iverson scoring difference will hopefully be relatively close. I have a great fear that Monta may show up on offense and drop 20-25, but be giving up 30-40 to Iverson at the other end. Monta needs to play defense, or Baron needs to do it for him and focus on guarding Iverson, even at the expense of his offense. Like Otis #17 said, Iverson is the type of player who can beat us by himself. I’m worried that Monta may allow him to do so by having a classic “score 25, give up 40″ game.
3) Al Harrington/Croshere vs. Kenyon Martin: Al has shown a williningness to man up down low of late, and I hope he continues to do so against Martin, who torched the Warriors last time. I also hope Croshere can keep the matchup pretty neutral in his minutes off the bench. Needless to say, I don’t think Brandan Wright should be within 100 feet of K-Mart at any time for his own safety. Nene’s health is a related question to this PF matchup.
Does anyone else have any thoughts about what the W’s specifically need to do to win on Thursday night?
I was in Japan last week, but amazingly, someone posted under the exact same name-not good.
hmmmmmm… they didn’t look very tired to me last night. They finally started to move the ball on offense, but need to find D again (other than opening moments). BW has been inconsistent from game to game since joining rotation, but still think the kid will be a big time player in a year or so.If Al can continue to improve his all around game, steals, rebounds, etc. and start to score the way he used to, he could become quite a player.MP glad you are back, but where were you?Nuggets are one team I don’t think we should try to out score…Got to bring some Warriors style D for that game. BUTTTTTT…the W’s are so unpredictable…who knows, they might win 190-188 in triple over time.
~The advantage of emotions is that they lead us astray~
Go W’ssssssss!!!!!
If any defense is played on Thursday night it will be shocking. It is going to be like NBA All-Star Saturday- the 3-point and dunk contest mixed with the defensive intensity of the celebrity game.
Look forward to a Paul Westphal special, so I won’t guess the score, but let’s just say Bet The Over.
I’m really looking forward to Thursday. We’ll need to play better defense against the Nuggets, but hopefully our shooting touch has returned for the rest of the season.
I don’t buy the over-played theory. The Warriors don’t shoot poorly because they’re tired, they play tired when they shoot poorly. It takes a special team to play harder when the points aren’t coming, and we’re not yet able to do this consistently.
Baron averaged over 39 mpg his first 4 years as a starter. In his first 2 full years here, he’s averaged 36 minutes, so he’s up less that 10% this year. What’s really changed for him is that he hasn’t had any significant injuries this year. Similarly, Captain Jack averaged over 36 mpg for the 3 seasons preceding last year. The players who are most important to their team’s success play a lot of minutes (Iverson is averaging 42.1 minutes).
I’m thinking K-Mart will be the player to watch on Thursday. Everywhere else there’s a reasonable matchup (counting MP and Jax as one player on Anthony)to exploit. Also Denver’s three-man bench (Smith, Najera,Kleiza) is playing a lot stronger and more consistently than the Warriors’ bench (which ranges from 1-4). Home court is huge for this one for the Warriors — hope they can take advantage of it.
Kenyon Martin beat us in the last game, as AI had a poor shooting night. We can’t count on Allen repeating, but Martin could if we don’t find a way to contain him. Maybe we’ll just rotate KP and POB in there, with instructions to foul him hard if he gets the ball.
Best coaching move of the night– benching Monta for CJ to defend Martin.
MP’s athleticism is perfect for this team. He would have been happier and contributing more during the year if he had Barnes’ minutes.
Adam–Jax and Artest are diametrical opposites. Jax wants support & cheers for his team. Artest desperately wants attention on himself. He’s a good player but I wouldn’t want his antics on the Warriors.
MrMully– I think CC is probably the biggest, most ardent fan here . It hurts him the most when they stink. He just has a different way of expressing himself (and I’m not saying he’s like Ronron ;-)) Good comment about the owner though. Hiring Mullin was his first smart move to turn this team around.
24: You’re not serious about KP and POB playing on Thursday, are you?!
23: Good mention of the Nuggets’ bench. Kleiza has Warrior-killer potential, but I think that if Pietrus is playing significant minutes, hopefully he can keep that matchup as a net positive for the W’s.
25: Great point about using CJ to defend Martin. Monta’s poor defense has been an elephant in the room for much of the season. It seems like he should be so much better, but it also doesn’t seem to stem from lack of effort. He just isn’t a smart defensive player yet. I think he can and will improve, but he has really hurt the W’s at the defensive end this season. Hopefully that won’t be the case on Thursday.
A couple of interesting strategic developments:
1) Monta sat out most of the fourth quarter. The player who has been our star, and was playing great offensively, was benched because C.J. Watson was doing a much better defensive job on Kevin Martin. It was great for Monta to get reminded that to be a top line player, he has to get better on defense this offseason. I think he will do that.
Martin is a unique player, and most nights Monta will be able to stay with his man much better, but I’m happy to see Nelson get his mind around the idea of substituting for defense.
2) Nellie is actually experimenting with two big bodies on the floor simultaneously - and it’s working! Adam, I disagree that “the results speak to the advantage of Nelson’s usual willingness to try different looks until one clicks.” I think that at this point in his career Nelson is terrible at trying new approaches. He has gotten so tied in with the concept of small ball with its implication of coaching genius that he stays with his offensive scheme even when it’s clearly not working. As an old guy myself I cringe from the idea that the longer we live, the more set in our ways, but I just don’t see Nellie experimenting as much as he should. Matchups he will still try to exploit, but his unwillingness to see if the rookies can be developed and until now his unwillingness to ever have two bigs on the floor at the same time speak to a failure of imagination, in my opinion.
I hope we sign Pietrus for next season. Never thought I’d say that, but his athleticism can actually change the direction of a game!
I’m with ya Petulaman, over-played theory has been over-played on this blog.Jax has missed 8 games or so thanks to his late start, so a relatively short season for him.. Monta looks great on offense, is 22 years old and 160 pounds, he should be able to hang with the minutes. I think Baron is more of a “power-sprinter type” than an “endurance-miler type” so he would be the one player who I think could be suffering some from seasonal fatigue,but,(dare I say it?)he doesn’t always play hard so he should have some gas left in the tank. The rest of the team should be WELL rested averaging under 30 minutes a game.I think at this point in the season, most team’s stars are a little tired. W’s got to suck it up and play like their hair is on fire these last few games!!!!!That is all.
“Michael(Los Angeles, CA): Brandon Wright has finally started getting a few minutes, and has shown a lot of potential. How do you see him playing next year, and years to come?
David Thorpe: (12:04 PM ET ) Yes, I really like his talent and work ethic.
Chuck (Oakland): True of False: Brandon Wright will develop into at least a 15 and 10 starter next season and the Warriors will rise to top half of West?
David Thorpe: (12:13 PM ET ) I’d say give it 2 seasons.
CJ Watson (Oakland): I was happy to see Nellie sit ellis for the 4th last night because he was playing zero defense on Martin. Is it a matter of effort or something else that prevents him from playing good D?
David Thorpe: (12:05 PM ET ) I saw the game-he was trying to guard Kevin as best he could. But c’mon, Martin is 6′7 and as quick as Ellis, plus he had lots of touches (Artest sat). Dude is 6th in the league in scoring-Ellis is not the only one who has issues defending Martin.
Barry (Minneapolis): Who would you choose between B.Lopez and A.Randolph?
David Thorpe: (12:08 PM ET ) Depends on the team. Seems Lopez brings less risk. Randolph could be Chris Bosh or Patrick O’Bryant.
Jeff (SF): Why does Don Nelson hate rookies? Does he really think he can win a championship with a 6-man rotation?
David Thorpe: (12:23 PM ET ) You can say that about many vet coaches.” — espn.com
Good post Bucky (#19) but one thing I would like to possibly try is to start BWright on Martin. Here is hoping with Wright’s lengthy arms would distract Martin if he tries to shoot outside and if he attempts to go down low then try to block his shot and foul him hard. I believe Wright could do it and then bring Harrington off the bench when the W’s are going small to possibly hit some 3’s if either Camby or Martin is playing big Al on defense.
Pietrus and JAX need to step up and play defense and let the others worry about the offense. This is the game JAX could make up for his lack luster performances the past couple of weeks.
#22: “I don’t buy the over-played theory. The Warriors don’t shoot poorly because they’re tired, they play tired when they shoot poorly.”
I’ve been thinking a lot about this and I agree with that for the most part. I do think though with the Dubs style of play, guys need significant breaks during the games so they have some umph in the 4th quarter. I’ll never forget the last game of the playoffs last year. The guys were completely depleted and it showed. Still, I’m inclined to credit poor ball movement and defense with a lack of discipline and court smarts. The freedom the guys are given is both a boon and a bane.
Valr, great distinction between Jax and Artis at #25. Nail hit squarely on the head.
Never thought that MP would be the wild card, but that’s why they say, “Never say never.”
Keep those predictions for tomorrow’s games coming fellow posters. I’ll tally them. Winner buys a round for all of us.
31: Wait, SoA. When i win the prediction, I don’t want to have to buy everyone else a round!! haha
IF the Warriors make it to the playoffs they will be only 1 of 2 playoff teams to not have an All Star representative(Phili being the other). Denver on the other hand has 2 All Star starters. GSW knocking out “All Star” laden Denver would be exquisite poetic justice.
“Does anyone else have any thoughts about what the W’s specifically need to do to win on Thursday night?”
Bucky, I think we have to take really good care of the ball. Minimize the turnovers. The “every possession counts” mentality.
Focus when going to the tin. We can’t afford a bunch of missed layups, nor count on so many tip-ins and follow-up dunks like we got against Sacto.
Use our fouls judiciously. Denver’s potent offense is going to be an even bigger challenge than we faced against Martin and Garcia last night. We can’t afford to have our starters spending too much time on the bench (or fouling out) due to too many foolish fouls. Speaking of which, I was surprised at how aggressive Baron was at the beginning of the game, harassing people out on the perimeter. I liked the intensity, but like Barnett mentioned, he got away with some things that could easily have been called.
Hollinger’s playoff predictor has us at 58% and Denver at 42%. Stats don’t fail me now!
The Hollinger predictor has accurate at 11% and completely wrong at 89%. I felt more confident when he was picking the Nuggets.
Yeah I always bashed him for underestimating the Warriors. Guess that would make me a hypocrite for supporting him now that his stat concoction is in our favor. Just scrounging for any ounce of hope I can grab onto i guess.
Artest is not the kind of person I would want around my children. He just makes me uncomfortable even through my TV set.
I think Artest and Jackson are apples and oranges.
Although I can’t say that I would hate to have a creep like Artest on my team because he gets the job done when he’s not acting like a caveman on LSD.
#39
Artest’s 4 year old daughter is diagnosed with Cancer. Ron’s playing with a heavy heart so I think your children are safe in his presence.
Gotta win or we’re two back with three to go.
Period.
.
#12, great score stats!
I saw that Utah/New Orleans score too - wow, unbelievably low. Gave me the impression of two teams taking it easy and resting for the playoffs.
Adam
THank you so much again. W’s 122 Nuggets 115 (closer than the score), or W’s 122, Nuggets 90.
Warriors 89 Nuggets 85
Its gonna be a defensive clinic.
I don’t really believe that, more realistic will be 112-105.
But you could imagine, maybe?
Trent Johnson is leaving Stanford after four seasons to become the new coach at LSU.
Looks like someone is scared of big bad Monty. Bring in Larry Brown!
Petaluman
“I don’t buy the over-played theory. The Warriors don’t shoot poorly because they’re tired, they play tired when they shoot poorly. It takes a special team to play harder when the points aren’t coming, and we’re not yet able to do this consistently.”
Good observation. I pretty much agree with the statement on a physical level. Also supporting your contention is the erratic nature of their apparent “weariness”. If it was physical tiredness (or nagging injuries) one would assume they would demonstrate this trait in all their games. But this has not been the case, as their bounce backs on the back end of back to backs, and last nights game would suggest.
But consider that 39 minutes of Warrior style ball is a lot more running than it would be on a half-court team. Which of course is why a lot of teams wear down against the Dubs.
I think the malaise demonstrated on the last road trip was more on an mental/emotional level. Sure BD has played the same number of minutes before, but in the last few seasons he has been injured and has had breaks during the season. Not only that, but this season there have been few games where you could coast. Most all of the games have been close. And as our offense is dominated by guard play, a large amount of stress is placed particularly on BD, Jax and ME.
I think it is just hard at this point for these guys to get up for one must win game after another. When they play a tough defensive team that bangs, they resort to the easiest path- outside three’s. Recently, I think the subs have brought a much needed sense of energy/urgency to the mix. Hopefully the mix will allow us to win the next 4.
Comments?
,
Warriors-109 Nuggets-103.
I think mindset has more to do than physical tiredness. We’ve seen the W’s look worn down and tired in one game only to come back a day or two later and play with a lot of energy. After last night’s win, they will bring it again on Thursday, maybe with a little added defense on their big three and a few less tunovers. Bench production will be key in this one.
Warriors 131 Nuggets 129 in OT. Buke makes the winning putback with 0.6 secs! (Don’t think my heart can handle it).
I gave my $0.02 to Adam by checking out the Google ad with the hottie in pink underwear.
Pietrus was back, the Ws were at home, and it wasn’t 10 AM. The ball moved, and the threes fell. WHAT A SHOCK!
Not a very exciting game, with Brad Miller and Artest out for the Kings. They have apparently been run into the ground by Reggie Theus.
FIRE REGGIE THEUS!
Nellie found a role for BW: center against the King’s munchkin second, no, third line. BW performed well, doing every thing Nellie asked of him in the role. He made himself available under the hoop, actually caught the passes made to him, and finished. He was disruptive on the boards and on defense. It helped that no one on the Kings thought to put a body on him or give him an elbow. And I thought he was caught out of position a couple of times on rebounds - one rb a game, even in 7 minutes, will not cut it. But those are quibbles. A gatling-worthy performance.
I don’t see him getting in against Denver. Nellie would be foolish to let him get within 10 feet of KMart. He WILL catch an elbow. And that might prove fatal.
Loved CJ’s extensive run. This kid’s cool at the point for a mid-season D-league call-up is nothing short of remarkable. And the skills…. my word. What a find.
Think Nellie was sending Monta a message? I’m sure he wasn’t crazy about sitting on the bench in the 4th quarter in an 8 pt. game.
Re: Nellie’s “experimenting” with 2 bigs in the 4th quarter. Nellie has NEVER been averse to playing 2 big men at the same time. Hello? Eric Dampier and Nowitzki? What he is averse to, is playing BAD bigs, or playing 2 bigs neither of whom can shoot from outside. With Croshere he has an active offensive player who can spread the court and drill from outside when he’s on. It should’t surprise anyone when he runs with Beans. Also, once the playoffs start, expect to see Croshere’s role expand dramatically.
BEANS IS BACK!
Chilling with my vodka and prozac until tomorrow…..
Biedrins is the key for the Denver game. If he comes up large against Camby and company, then it won’t matter too much if Melo and AI score their points. If the inside is a sieve and Denver controls the offensive boards, it’s over for the Ws. Biedrins will need help, no doubt, in keeping Melo, Martin, Najera et. al. off the boards, but his play inside will set the tone. If Pietrus guards Melo, I predict 5 fouls on Pietrus in 10 minutes of PT. I give Buike a better shot behind Jax.
Mr Mully & SOA, , btw I saw your posts about Monty coming to Cal. Only two year late but finally! But I sure didn’t see Trent bolting. Bowlsby fumble…
Still catching up on posts over the last few days…
I was at the game yesterday. Really fun game to watch. Not much to complain about w/ how the offense played team ball. Great passing from EVERYONE. Really good shot selection w/ a few exception of Jackson posting and turning into a double teams. He was fortunate to get a few foul calls but they were borderline turnovers.
Although we gave up 132 points, the defense was not as bad as the score showed.
The energy was great right from the tipoff:
-Harrington took advantage of Mikki Moore devensively (as well as offensively) right off the bat.
-Baron was blanketing his player, also playing good team defense.
-Monta was doing an admirable job trying to stay in front of KevMart but Monta just kept biting on his pump fakes. And KevMart is pretty automatic w/ his shots.
-The thing the CJ Watson did a lot better than Monta is that he prevented KevMart from getting the ball as much as he could. Monta doesn’t have the hustle to do that (yet).
-Biedrins was his usual active body in the paint.
-SJax, didn’t really notice him much. That means he didn’t get burned that much and he didn’t really shut down anybody either.
-MP, what can I say. He was exciting. They kept showing his block on KevMart over and over and over on the jumbotron like when Baron dunked on Kirilenko last year. It totally pumped up the crowd.
Speaking about the crowd. It was lively and energetic for some parts but it’s still not playoff ready. Ok, making 20,000 fans wear yellow tshirts might be a tough task unless it’s handed to them at the game. But there are still lulls in the game. I tried to do my part but trying to start the “defense” and “let’s go warriors chants” but my section was pretty tame(or lame).
Tomorrow’s crowd really needs to bring it. I mean even before the introductions we need to start w/ the noise. Although people might not get there til the 2nd quarter which would be really terrible. But as soon as you guys get there let the Warriors hear it and feel it.
Rampant Speculation:
Hack-a-Kenyon…Will Nelson resort to sending Kenyon Martin to the line where he is shooting 57% for the year instead of letting him go for 20+ points on 57% shooting from the field as he did last game against us?
Could POB be used for his fouls on Martin?
Could this cause the combustible Martin to explode(in a bad way!)?
Nelson has never seen a belt that he couldn’t hit below.
I like that. ;]
I was expecting more yellow shirts too. Hope fans were just saving them for Denver. As for crowd noise, the game felt “workmanlike”, not dominating— the Ws got the early lead but did not blow them away. There was a sense throughout the game that the Kings could rally back any minute. As expected the loudest cheers were for MP’s wicked blocks. Speaking of which— why not just block the ball gently toward your teammate instead of sending it out to the stratosphere? Just nitpicking…
Loved the win. But it won’t mean much if we don’t win tomorrow.
Hope the 6th Man cometh in loud yellow shirt and ready to scream their heads off!
Go Warriors!
Poor Patrick.
Busts it in D-League and gets reprimanded for succeeding with benchtime and no showcasing of Anti-Nellie skillz. Valr may be onto something– Shaq coming up, too.
Great win for Ws !!
Against Denver and PHX in the remaining schedule, we absolutely need Capt Jack. We miss his clutch play. Hope he finds his defensive intensity too.
I might get a lot of hate/criticism for posting this comment…
BUT, I’m wondering if anyone feels the same way I do…
I’m not a big fan of CJ Watson… I know I know where could we have found a back up point for Baron, but I don’t know… Something about him just makes me feel uneasy. I know he works hard, I see he’s trying, but I’m just not a big fan of his (Maybe, “yet” is the key word here)
If we get to the playoffs, will Nelson even use CJ?
blah.
I hope Matt Barnes can get it together soon. I hope Kelenna can get crazy aggressive and confident like in November, and I hope Pietrus keeps up his great play of late.
one more question, anyone else think nelson will use Kelenna in the Center position like the last game vs. the Nuggets?
#57
I agree, he looks for his own shot too much. That might be the team motto but for a backup, D-League point guard, I’m looking more for a defensive minded distributor, not THud junior.
Ever think about putting BW on Melo? No I’m not kidding. Brandon has great instincts and if he were to get beat, his length and athleticism more than make up for his experience. Melo has been content on shooting from the right wing and BW could disrupt his comfort level. Just need to keep Camby off the boards and second shot attempts. Could be an interesting experiment.
#s 57 and 58,
i have to disagree w/ you guys re: CJ Watson. From the moment he was called up he was told to play his game and to take his shot and be aggressive. In watching him since his call up, I’ve noticed how as soon as someone (Jax) raises their hands he passes them the ball right away. I’m not sayingit’s a bad thing to do but he was very passive.
Now i’m not saying he’s an all-star potential or even a possible starter but he does have game. Most important, he has confidence in his game. I didn’t mind the shots he missed because they were not bad shots taken. Only Jax and Baron are allowed to take crazy, “don’t make sense” shots anyway.
And his prevent defense helped keep the Kings at arms length.
I’m glad he’s getting more pt. If anything to get BD and Monta some rest.
According to the Denver Post:
“Anthony continued to play efficient and emotional basketball. In the two awful losses, Anthony scored 47 against the Kings and 38 against the SuperSonics. And on Tuesday, he was overwhelming against the underwhelming Clippers. Anthony scored a team-high 36 points and hit 13-of-17 shots.” Any question who to stop!
If you don’t think this is one exceptional blog, feel free to go around the league and check out some of the pathetic sites that are euphemistically described as fan blogs.
Here’s one example:
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/apr/08/nuggets-117-clippers-99/
Thank you Adam!
#60
I have othing against CJ. Like I said in my post, he works hard, he does what he has to do, but just something about him doesn’t bode well in my mind. I was just wondering if anyone else felt the way I did.
AND you’re right, we should welcome any rest for Baron, Monta, and JAX. =)
The reason C.J. Watson played most of the fourth quarter was that he challenged Kevin Martin on defense much better than Monta had and allowed the team to get a little separation, finally. He’s a little shorter than Monta but stronger and with better defensive instincts. He’s also a great shooter - 50% FG, 40% 3pt, 90% FT in development league. Hasn’t been that efficient in the big dance but that’s presumaly because he hasn’t played enough to get halfway comfortable.
59 JanG: I don’t think Wright would have a snowball’s chance in hot weather of stopping Melo. I think Melo would dominate him at will.
I trust that Nellie will play BD on AI to start and then switch ME and CW onto AI if BD picks up fouls or needs a break. The real story will be how well we contain Kenyon Martin who torched us last time. He must be made to be a jump shooter from long range. If he gets into the paint regularly, it’ll be a repeat of the last game at Denver. AH and AC will have to play good D on him. Finally, AB must follow Camby out to the elbow to prevent any wide open looks which he can bury consistently. Carmello is going to get his points, but hopefully we can make him pay at the other end. I like the Dubs chances at home. The early start sucks, but the “I BELIEVERS” should make it anyway. True fans must show up early!! Can’t wait!!
Sorry, forgot MP - who should also get some time on Carmello. After last night’s blocks and speed, MP should be another factor in helping hold down Carmello (under 30?).
Wright probably would need to help guarding KMart and Camby. We would probably see more minutes for Matt just because of Denver’s size. Not a chance of him playing against Carmello. I hope Ws go strong against Camby and get him into foul trouble. If there is an XFactor for Denver, it is going to be Najera. I love this guy’s hustle play.
#65 RocC-
If memory serves, Kenyon lit up the Warriors because he was hitting his jump shot. 15 feet for him is long range and he buried them, repeatedly. That game they did a great job of keeping him out of the paint. This time they have to find a way to actually challenge the jumper instead of leaving him wide open.
In the first Nuggets win, Iverson couldn’t miss and was allowed to literally throw himself at someone whenever he needed a trip to the line. If the Nuggets don’t get a super human performance from someone, the Warriors should be able to win. If K-Mart (the Original), Melo, Smith or Iverson go crazy, all bets are off.
Petaluman Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 9:43 am
“I’m really looking forward to Thursday. We’ll need to play better defense against the Nuggets, but hopefully our shooting touch has returned for the rest of the season.
I don’t buy the over-played theory. The Warriors don’t shoot poorly because they’re tired, they play tired when they shoot poorly. It takes a special team to play harder when the points aren’t coming, and we’re not yet able to do this consistently.”
Sorry but your logic is backwards on this one. The Ws showed a consistent decline in 3 shooting as the season wore on and especially the last three weeks. They also did a lot of that shooting when they were too tired to keep the tempo up. The last road trip was the most obvious. That is the way fatigue works. It builds over time. Good shooters do not suddenly get depressed when their shots don’t fall and play “tired.” I have never heard that theory before on a professional level and I’m sure i won’t hear it again.
Actually, we HAVE been a team that has found ways to win when the shots weren’t dropping until we got into this recent rut. I think we all saw several games where the Ws somehow managed to pull one out of the fire with steals, blocks, good passing and unlikely heroes or whatever else it took. No NBA team can do that totally consistently because “playing harder” should also mean playing smarter and making good decisions and adjustments and there is an opposing team out there that is trying to do the same thing. Just “playing harder” doesn’t mean much.
The Ws play hard. Some of them play too hard, but that is another story. The fact is, when your mind and body are not straight, you will do things that don’t make sense, like throwing up 3s and lobs at inappropriate times, making stupid fouls and passes or clanking free throws. Sound familiar?
BD and SJ have been showing signs of fatigue, not just being tired.
Fatigue is much worse than tired. It is mental and physical, and you can’t just take a day off to get rid of it. Also, you can’t just quote minutes when it comes to the type of playing these guys do for this team. Stats like that don’t cover the whole picture.
But if you have been watching the games and think back over the last few weeks, you will have seen a general decline in energy with the the two in question. BD doesn’t drive or finish as well as he did before. His free throw shooting has also been up and down for some time. Assists? His insistence on dribbling and then driving is also a sign that he doesn’t want to put the energy into floor play. He IS a Warrior, so he will never give in and he will always try to carry the team, but his body has betrayed him many times this year, and so has his mind.
I’m sure that he will dig down and find more energy, but one thing I do know is that he can’t play for 44 minutes or more at his best level. NO ONE CAN. And we need him at his best level. So we lose a few points when he is not in there. Big deal. We lose a lot more when he and SJ are just throwing up tired 3s. Him playing at his best for the time he is in there is worth a LOT more. All the great coaches know this. All the great teams deal with it. Its not brain surgery, but it is reality.
If you can’t see it and you don’t know the signs of fatigue, I’m sure I will never convince you so i will leave it at that. Enjoy the game. Lets all hope we see our best players with some energy at the end.
Go Ws!
When you think of the matchups doesn’t it seem crazy we’re tied with these guys?
Melo, Kmart, Camby, AI, JR Smith, Kleiza, Najera. Two all star starters, the defensive player of the year, a former no. 1 draft pick power forward.
#70
It’s also crazy that we are in this position considering the loss of J-Rich and regression of Barnes. Says a lot for the improvment of Monta.
Monta should win MIP again this year and if he learns to play D, he should 3peat next season!
On Defense.
Nobody can stop CA from getting his shots. His fall-away is unstoppable and he seems to be able to hit it from any place on the court. BW might be able to make him at least alter some shots with his reach, but Nellie may not give him enough time to get involved with that. He did bother Nowitski some in the Dallas game.
CA is also willing to pass, so we can’t just swarm around him with small guys. Look for a variety of defenses on him. MP could be a key. Taking away some of his favorite spots on the court would be a good thing too.
AB is going to need help in the paint. Maybe we will finally see at least two bigs in at a time. Denver killed us the last time by better passing and finding bigs (and some smalls) free under the basket when AB stepped out to help. They sucked us into that for practically the whole first half.
I don’t think AI really likes the fast pace game, even though he is good at it. Maybe he is just getting older. I have heard him interviewed about the Ws and he says it makes it tough on them. We should make him work on defense as much as possible. I see the Ws using more than one person on him during the game.
KM needs someone (a body) on him at all times to stop the short range shots. Keep the ball away from him inside as much as possible. We can’t play small ball with him on the court or will run wild inside. And he is a zone buster just like the rest of them.
I hope we can rest our stars, at least when they rest theirs. Our guys tired against them fresh will be a disaster.
This should be one hell of a game.
#70. Right on Otis
It shows you can’t buy heart or effort or smart coaching. Look what Houston has managed without Yao, although i am not a big Yao fan. Its not so uncommon in sports, though. Lots of owners have tried to buy championships. Not that many have succeeded.
I guess we find out what Denver is really made of tomorrow night.
We’ll find out what the Dubs are made of too.
Let’s not forget, the only reason the Warriors have a shot to make this latest “Most-Important-Game-of-the-Millennium” is because Denver crapped out against Seattle and Sactown. Meanwhile the Warriors lost head to head against Denver and Dallas in their previous showdowns of the century. #70 Otis, yeah it’s crazy but we’re fortunate to even have this opportunity.
#15 Is no one else going to give the suddenly quiet CC some props? While we were all hyping the bandwagon, CC kept tabs on the Dubs record against the Western Conference Best and accurately predicted the late season reckoning. #41, I still don’t think the Warriors will have to win out (4-1 Warriors vs 3-2 Nuggets) but Thursday is probably it.
#49 Feltbot, respect for finally acknowledging when BW has a rotation worthy game. He was absolutely out of position on at least two rebounding opportunities with no one touching him so he’s still got work to do, but at least two of those finishes were skills laden.
I hope when I look down at the crowd tomorrow night I see a sea of Yellow Craptastic Ads (Ooops) We Believe Shirts! Bill Simmons can cry “Jump the shark” all he wants about the unbelievable wave of shame but if the crowd shows up early, yellow and hollers until the final buzzer, all is forgiven.
#9 SOA, mark me down for 118 Dubs 113 Nuggies in the “I ain’t paying for bad hooch” contest. Hanger One, PJ Lily and Linden Street’s Common Lager on Friday Nights!
Winning around 50 games means that there’s a little more than luck involved in making the playoffs. You could say it’s bad luck that this is the year of nine very good teams in the West. Every team in the West can point to five or six games they should have won and didn’t, and to five or six that they were fortunate to win. Plenty of luck involved all around.
I don’t have any idea whether Brandan Wright can guard Carmelo and neither does anybody else. BW is a unique talent and with his long arms it’s possible. It would be more likely if he had more gameday experience. Worth a try, in my opinion. Azubuike has been a little disappointing offensively lately but a Kobe stopper should have some success against Carmelo. The other big question is who handles Kenyon Martin. If his recent scoring emergence isn’t a mirage we don’t have anybody who matches up too well with him - almost a Boozer situation. Maybe Andris is the best choice, since Camby isn’t aggressive offensively. The main thing is for somebody to be assigned to him and not lose focus.
Somebody named “Bucky” scolded me in the previous thread for being “mean spirited” in my critique of our “Hall of Fame Coach.” Bucky, stop the personal namecalling of other posters and get your facts straight. If you can’t do that, at least use a cooler name. Thanks.
BW guarding Carmelo?
OMGROFL.
sipping vodka…..
In the last game vs. Denver, Melo lit up the Ws for 19 pts in the first half. In the second half, an adjustment was made where AB came over to Melo’s side just outside the key so there was nowhere for him to go. He was guarded by a defender, and AB right behind them.
I expect we’ll see more of that tomorrow if its necessary. And I wonder if George Karl has any counter moves.
#75, is that the same CC who said the Nets are better than the Ws, the Kings would pass the Ws in the standings, that Portland was a much better team than the Ws, and that people were crazy for predicting more than 42 wins for this season, and endless other insane/inaccurate predictions that I can’t remember off the top of my head?
(Thanks GHC for that info-I only recall that stuff because of you. I hope you haven’t retired permanently, but if you have, thanks for the research and setting the record straight. Without question, you’ve influenced his posts.)
I’m going to be at a track meet when the game starts so I am bringing a Walkman so I can listen. It should be one sweet game. Or an utter disaster. *Pray*
I’m not trying to be smart but I just didn’t know if some of the people discussing BW guarding various Nuggets read Adam’s blog that says that he strained his groin. Just pointing that out. I wasn’t sure if they were just hypotheticals or not.
79. Mikey66,
You forgot CC’s prediction that the W’s would blow out the Spurs. Well, at least that one was in team spirit.
76. Wilson, I agree! It is not luck that the W’s have come this far nor will it be luck if they finish in the fashion that we all hope/think they should. The Nuggets didn’t give us anything.
As Monta says, “Paper don’t lie.” You get X amount of wins relative to other teams and you go to the playoffs or not. The Nuggets are playing with the same rules.
You can have the best roster in the NBA but if you don’t gel as a team than you go nowhere. It’s a team sport. That’s something I admire about the W’s when they’re hot. They play so well together as a team.
It might be okay to let Mello have his points because they lost both games when he did. (Seattle and Sac)
BTW, Adam, I enjoyed reading your paragraph about Nelson. Good blog.
W’s will likely try that zone, I’m not a big fan of it. I think it could allow someone like Kleiza or JR Smith to heat up with some open looks. I prefer the man-to-man and let Carmelo volume shoot.
Stack hasn’t looked right to me for the past couple of weeks, and again against the Kings. If he comes through it will be a gutty performance, if not we’ll find out what’s wrong with his foot sooner than later. Iverson’s shot hasn’t been falling recently either, he’s battling an injury himself.
If neither Biedrins, Baron nor Pietrus has more than two fouls by the end of the first half, I think that bodes well. Biedrins especially; he’s been very active around the offensive basket recently, how about giving him Baron-sized minutes tomorrow.
As for Baron, tomorrow would be a great night to bust out one of those 15 assist vs 1 turnover performances. Denver forces a lot of steals, as does Golden State.
That’s kind of like defense…
The best thing about Pietrus recently? His looseness, as he’s a lame-duck power-small forward for all intents and purposes, he seems more carefree than the rest of the W’s. Last year as the surprise story, Golden State could let it all hang out (insert image of Stephen doing a Jackson-5 spin on assist to J-Rich), this season’s been more Def-Con 1 than Def-Jam.
As for pre-game questions, how about asking Baron if George Karl voted for him as an All-Star? Or what he’s going to say to Charles Barkley after the game.
Maybe something like, “We accept your apology.”
Been a helluva season, hope the game lives up to it.
Mikey has too much riding on this.