Gerald Green? What happened in Houston? Did he get released or something?

deserved being highlighted, it was this game - the difference he can make when playing well is the ingredient that puts GSW passed the tipping point

obviously with MP out for a bit more MB's role is even more critical now

Honestly, though, the Jason Richardson stuff is getting tired. Kelenna Azubuike has been playing extremely well lately (as j rich's march stats were mention, kelenna's are 8 pts and 4 rebs and almost a block a game in 20 minutes of action) , and the Charlotte Bobcats are...uh, not good (26-45).

The trade paved the way for getting monta ellis more playing time. Looking at their stats you see that Monta is a more efficient player than j rich. J rich is a solid nba starter, not an all-star caliber player. He is a great guy but is not a franchise player or even a guy who can lead a team to the playoffs (see this year's bobcats). The warriors do miss his rebounding and shooting, but it honestly looks like the warriors are better off in the long run without him. They did not get "pennies on the dollar" for a guy who is a shooter and good rebounder for a guard. The warriors set themselves up financially to resign monta and andris and acquired a prospect for the future who has looked very good this year albeit in a small sample. I honestly think they don't get enough praise for the move.

As much as I appreciated what J-rich brought to the table when he was a Warrior, I understand why he was moved and I support what the front office did with him. Allowing Monta to get more minutes was the main caveat, but he also brings in a different dimension to Warriors style of play that J-rich couldn't provide --a reliable mid-range jump shot and the ability to get to the rim and finish and/or get the foul called. I never really expected the front office to use the trade exception we got in return (for full value anyway), but I do think they could've benefited from getting someone like Kurt Thomas, or someone who could provide toughness, rebounding, and shot-blocking when Andris isn't in the game. The J-rich trade was a salary dump, plain and simple, so that we could re-sign both Andris  and Monta.   I really don't see how keeping J-Rich improves  the lineup at this point. He camps out at the 3 point line a little too much, and that's exactly what we didn't need with Baron, Stack Jack, and  TMNT already in the lineup.          

JRich argument is like beating a dead horse.  With JRich, we'd be in a little better depth position right now.  But the question you always have to ask is "Would having Player X on the team make us a championship contender right now?"

The answer with JRich is no.  He doesn't provide enough.  We'd maybe be one game ahead of where we are in the standings.  We'd still get creamed by Utah in the playoffs, and we'd still be on the losing end of a toss up against everybody else.

When you add that to his ridiculous contract and that he had knee surgery just a year ago, it was a phenomenal trade for us going forward.  Imagine trying to resign Monta/Beans/etc. in the offseason with $11.1111M already committed to JRich.  Imagine paying $14.4444M for his services is 2011 when he's 30... marinate on that for a moment.

When the guy runs the court he is just plain exciting. It may take 2 to 3 years before he beefs up enough and gains enough confidence to truly post up, but he is no Eddy Curry or Darko.
He has shown glimpses of being a great rebounder and shotblocker, but his slight frame is too easy to knock around at this point.

Under Nellie (And Monta), Wright should become a crazy finisher on the fast break and a great option in the high and low post. Also, we have no idea if he has a jumper because the W's have so many good jump shooters. Monta said he could become like another Chris Bosh. I don't see why not if he's given the opportunity. However, it will be years until he gets the shots that he would need to see if he could put up Bosh-like numbers.

what does usual consistency mean? that he's inconsistent?

brandan wright is way better than biedrins was at 20. He doesn't have far to go at all to match biedrins "usual consistency."

Nellie knows what he's doing just like Billy Beane knows what he's doing with the A's. Wright doesn't have a body ready for the NBA. He's lighter than Baron Davis.

I think he'll be a bigger contributor in the future but you're right (No pun intended), now is not the time to develop younger players when we're fighting for every game and one loss can make or break our playoff chances.

Much props on the assessment. Critics say stuff just to create hype without actual facts to justify their opinions.

...that was a very necessary and very pleasurable win. I couldn't catch the TNT studio show, but I hope Webber got into Barkley a little bit.

On the topic of Brandan Wright's playing time, I've never insisted that we'd be better off without Nelson by any means, nor do I think there's a grudge against Wright in the way there seems to be against POB. I think that Nelson's problem is that he worries too much. If we're up twenty points to start the fourth, Nelson needs to have the confidence that the bench can close it out. Have we lost big leads? Of course we have. But I'd suspect in many cases a fresher bench unit would be more apt to polish off a blowout win that Baron Davis on zero minutes of rest would be.

Similarly, he worries about rookies making mistakes. When A young player screws up, he's visibly much more upset than he is when Harrington touch fouls an opposing center during a dunk, Jackson dribbles the ball off his leg, or Pietrus fumbles a pass. He has a habit of hyperpressurizing every situation in his mind that dissuades him from spreading around the minutes even when the team needs it.

As far as the ROY winners mentioned, Mitch Richmond and Chris Webber are both hall-of-fame candidates, and by my objective analysis should both be enshrined. Tim Hardaway is a worthwhile subject I suppose, although Nelson has traditionally put a lot more faith in guards than big men (Webber and Dirk excepted).

So, I guess my point is, I don't think it's accurate to point to them and say (or imply) that because Brandan isn't getting minutes like Webber did, he's not at a level where he couldn't help the team. Even though I like Brandan and suspect he'll be at least a two time all-star someday (and Atma doesn't, and that's fine), he simply doesn't have the pedigree and talent set that Webber had. I guess my point is, if you're going to compare every Nelson rookie experience to how it went for Hardaway (very well), Richmond (very well), and Webber (very well on the court), you're gonna have a long day since those three were in the top three at their positions at some point while playing (maybe not Hardaway, but he was easily top-5).

I look at POB as an ironclad example of Nelson being prickly with rookies. Arguemtns about his work ethic aside, Nelson followed up the best game of his career, our first win on the season, by signing DJ Mbenga, a wonderful and inspiring guy who was simply not very good on the court for us and gave us less than we likely would've gotten out of more burn for Patrick.

The Richardson thing is starting to turn my hair gray, and I'm willing to concede that it's clear Atma feels so strongly about that deal that it's unlikely I or anybody else could convince him otherwise (with the possible exception of Brandan Wright). Whenever I write something about the Richardson trade (mostly only when it gets brought up in a recap), I never hear anybody give me an answer as to what our starting five is with Richardson still on the team, and I think it bears repeating... with Richardson, we're likely playing Jackson at starting PF. That team has a worse record than we do, and I'd put money on that.

Enjoyed the TNT show with C-webb,chuck and EJ. Anybody see the pic of Chuck,Method Man, and C-webb? what did u think of chuck's pants? lol

seriously, quit b*tching about the J-Rich trade all the time. It has made the Warriors better in just about every facet, and you continue to deny the evidence.

For one, J-Rich is putting up those numbers, but you forgot to mention that he would be the fourth scoring option here as opposed to the 1st or 2nd option in Charlotte.

For another, More J-Rich means less Monta Ellis. We are getting massive numbers in J-Rich's absence from Ellis, and if you had to take one, would you really take J-Rich?

Because if J-Rich was still here then how are we going to sign Ellis AND Biedrins in the offseason. You can't just ignore the salary situation. If we still had J-Rich people would be panicking because we would be about to lose Ellis or Biedrins this summer. You can't just act like the salary cap doesn't exist so you can build a super team. We aren't the New York Knicks.

Part of me thinks the only reason you say Brandan Wright won't even be average is because you want the J-Rich trade to fail, because Wright doing well means it was an even better move than it already is. Tell me, what will we need more of next season, guards or forwards? And if Belinelli pans out, then the forwards are in even higher demand.

You say that you take Year 1 into account of any trade, and you should, because the Warriors are big winners in Year 1. Much better record, much better financial flexibility, much brighter future, and just as good if not better present.

And I'm not saying he will be good by any means, but can't you at least give Perovic the benefit of the doubt until he plays? Or Belinelli, or Wright, or anyone for that matter? People were saying Biedrins was a bust too, but it's just too early to say.

Come on now, next you are going to be saying that getting Ron Artest makes the Warriors a championship conte...oh, wait.

Great win by the Warriors though, we can both agree on that.

Even before I read any of this thread, I was thinking about writing "Nellie's best game of the Year" in the subject line. Then I read ATMA's treatise on "Nellie knows what's Wright". Oh wow.

My opinion is that Nellie's coaching job so far is a "C". Average. He has excelled this season at out-of-bounds plays, end-of-game coaching decisions, and forming a fairly cohesive team in which players know their role. Well, except Harrington. He has struggled mightily with a substitution pattern, developing the young centers, general overuse of starters, and in some games, he's been very slow to respond to obvious mismatches.

I was at the game last night, and I loved Nellie's decision to put B. Wright in the game at around the 6:00 mark of the 1st quarter. And it was immediately quite apparent that Aldridge was just bigger and stronger than Wright, and he repeatedly overpowered him. Also, it was obvious that Portland's athletic lineup neutralized Wright's strengths. So, when Nellie yanked Wright a few minutes later, it was a very good decision.

This moment of clarity, however, does not mean that Wright will have a mediocre NBA career, nor does it showcase Nelson's amazing touch with rookies. It was apparent to most that the Warriors were playoff contenders in mid-December, when the 0-6 start was a distant memory. But as Zack Vank says above:

In other words, only play players you can trust. There were many games in December, January, and Feburary in which B. Wright (and POB and maybe even Kosta) should have gotten burn. How about in the middle of the 2nd quarter of a game in Milwaukee? Or Minnesota? Or Seattle? There's just no logical defense here.

That said, I could not agree more that the front office has made a number of large blunders, starting with the J-Rich trade. While I was somewhat wrong with regards to the trade, clearly this statement I made a while back illustrates the blunder you point out:

Five years from now, the Warriors biggest mistake will probably not have been trading J-Rich; rather, in the whirlwind sequence that culminated in the deal, the front office did a lousy job of scouting and, subsequently, choosing the correct player to fit the W's biggest needs. Look at some of the players who were taken after Wright:

*Joakim Noah
*Thaddeus Young
*Julian Wright
*Al Thornton
*Sean Williams
*Jared Dudley
*Carl Landry
*Glen Davis

One could argue that all of these players were better "fits" than Wright, that they would have helped fix the major holes in the Warriors current game (namely shot blocking and rebounding). I want to make it clear that I like Wright, that I want Nellie to use him, especially against non-athletic teams, and that he just had a bad game last night.  But harping praise on Nellie's "marvelous" coaching this season because he noticed an obvious mismatch with Wright in the game last night seems a bit naive and jaded.

anyone know what song plays when the warriors come out for warmups?

He reminds of some guys you might see playing pick up ball.  You know, the sneaky types that look don't like players but yet make every shot they take.

Plus one other thing I notice is that NBA players usually like it if a player "challenges" them by going one-on-one.  Even if said NBA player is not a good defender, he'll give it a effort.

But guys like Steve Blake don't usually go one-on-one.  They bide their time and look for openings instead.  That's tough for guys like Monta who's use to the Kobe's and DWades's of the world attacking one-on-one.

i only discovered the site this year and i gotta say it is off the hook...the NBA is lucky to have this site...it's been a hell of a fun ride this year and i don't know if i can take anymore or i never want it to end...a lot of both...

ive yet to see a major league site like this one...it reminds me of the tagging movement in the 80's and 90's around the bay, especially in SF

but wow, the Lakers fell to the Grizzlies tonight. They are in a funk. Let's hope they stay that way. Meanwhile, Phoenix is looking more like the real deal with Shaq. I was hoping the Shaqxperiment would fail.

some new material...  He never misses an opportunity to rip the warriors for being too small and taking too many 3's.  I know he's hard on everyone and I like that he says what no one else will but its starting to get old when the only good thing he says about the warriors is they are fun to watch.  Never one good word about Baron, Monta, or Nellie, or the way the team plays together...  Whats up with that?  

C-Web represented himsef AND GSW really well.  He's great on camera, very smooth.  And yes, he gave it right back to Charles, it was great. He didn't let Barkley get away with talking about gsw being weak inside, pointing out that not every team can pound it inside.  And when that happens he said Baron, Jax, and Monta will "eat you alive".  Thanks C-Web.  I hope TNT brings you back soon!!

i didn't realize he got released either... i say the dubz should pick him up.  the dude is pretty athletic and i think nellie can work with him.  

plus, he'd be a good lifting partner for brandan wright! i can see it now... green and wright bench pressing, getting all excited that they're getting stronger with the 16 pound bench press... then special K walks by, lays down on the bench next to them, and benches like four thousand pounds.

There is nothing like the Warriors. That's why old fat guys like Barkley have to criticize. He would never survive on this team.

A buddy of mine sent me this post about why the Warriors are so unique.

I thought it was great.

http://pondculture.wordpress.com/2008/03/26/is-it-possible-to-love-twelve-men-at-the-same-time/

Very good contribution from the team all around, especially after a slow start. I was at the game however, and if I were to give the Warrior Wonder to anyone, it would be the Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco. Those little kids were ballin' out of control during halftime! lol

but if not for the critics fighting for more Wright time we'd be on the outside looking in...you may think Nelson is the man, and I'll admit he is a really good coach, it's us critics who are trying to make him great and realize that his way has produced 0 championships and how many Finals appearances?  The sooner Nelson finds a better way to blend small ball with a little post pounding and learns to trust the kids who might bring him a championship before the window of opportunity closes without him even seeing it was open.

now and later

and i like how you make Wright look bad, that's too typical from a Dub fan

you don't have a clue on B.Wright and you should speak for Dub fans instead of yourself...B.Wright can put up better numbers than Beans, Wright now if you and Nellie would get off the hate wagon...we would have a much easier time climbing the power rankings without the two of you in the way...

Go Dubz!

that talk like they know everything bother me