Bucks-Warriors Analysis From Witness @ The Game

I’m from Oakland and go to Marquette so, I decided I wanted to go see just how dysfunctional my beloved Warriors were. While I did see some good things, I finally saw all the problems that we have with each other.  I’ll just go thro

Before getting into an analysis, I got there a bit early and saw Turiaf getting some work out time in. Practicing on some low block moves and constantly hitting the 12-19 baseline jumper. He seemed to be moving pretty well and should probably be returning soon (God knows we need him tomorrow).

While the Bucks came in as one unit at the 20 minute mark, the Warriors didn’t come out until the 13 minute mark. Than we they came out, not everybody was out there. I was trying to figure who was missing and then I realized Maggs and Monta were missing. Didn’t understand that…. Since when does some of the team not come out? Maggs & Monta arrived lethargically at the 9:30 minute mark. Maggs was the Captain at game time as well. Is he the new Captain? Anyways, on to the game.

POSITIVES

• Mikki Moore was droppin buckets! 11 points if I remember correctly. Good to see that sometimes even the 12th man can step up and extend the floor.
• Maggette had a great game. 25 points, including not one, but two three pointers along with 9-9 from the line. He kept Bogut in foul trouble and off the floor near the end of the game. Even saw him pass the ball a few times.
• Small ball worked for a large amount of the game. It was the reason Andrew Bogut was in foul trouble.
• Curry worked the hell out of BJ one of the only times they guarded each other. Jennings was playing Curry to make him go to his right, and made a fake to go over the Pick & Roll as Jennings got crossed nicely. Pulled up and made a jumper from 8 feet. Jennings made Curry fall on the next play, but I didn’t see how so it wasn’t as bad to me.
• Jack didn’t argue with the refs when he was called for a travel and when he didn’t get a call. That was a great site to see for me!
• Acie was doing well against the 3’s & 4’s on D. Guess Nellie knew what he was talking about
• Curry had a nice stroke going tonight. He tried somewhat to get the team involved, but it just didn’t work out.

NEGATIVES
• When the game started, Randolph was at the end of the bench. I’m not sure how he usually sits, but it was disturbing for me to see him all the way at the end of the bench. I could not tell if he was depressed or not because he always looks sad.
• A certain girltothemax reminded me of a very important negative.Losing Buike for what looks like for an extended amount of time is down right terrible. When I was watching it, I thought it was his shoulder but when they showed the replay, even the crowd winced. A six year old a few seats away from me yelled "That looked horrible." He was getting into a groove on the court the past few days and he was really helping the team with his scoring and rebounding. His presence will be missed. This time will open up more time for the bench, but the plus does not outweigh the burden. Get healthy Kelena.
• Back with Anthony Randolph, he still has no kind of offensive game. His outside shot is inconsistent, and he has zero post-up ability. Whatever we saw from Summer League is gone. But more concerning was Anthony Morrow
• Morrow was extremely passive and seemed to be scared on the court. He bobbled the ball on two consecutive possessions and rarely put the ball on the court at all. He also looked as if he was dreadfully terrified to shoot the ball. That was very concerning  because he is supposed to be the shooter and when he got some daylight, he either hesitated or quickly passed it. What confidence he once had seems to have gone away with little hope of coming back. I am sure he will find it again, but right now the prognosis doesn’t look too good.
• What killed us was their three point shooting that was created off of penetrate and pass out’s. Everytime Bogut got deep in the hole three people would collapse on him and then there was a kick out to score. Ridnour got two three’s from the corner with the kick out, Jennings got a couple from the top of the key and likewise with Bell. Our help defense is the worst in the NBA by far.  The team was discombobulated at best when it came to help D. Honestly, Marquette plays better help defense than the Warriors do. The effort on defense is there, but they give up quickly when there is ball movement involved. This was probably the most frustrating thing about the whole game. Without those easy open looks, we win the game.
• There is no such thing as Chemistry on this team. Passing is a last resort for this and they never know who is going to do what. Isolation or pick’n’pop/go to the basket is 98% of the plays we run. For such a great offensive coach, the package seems pretty simple these days. O yeah, we are also the worst 2 on 1, 3 on 1 team in the league; we were 0-5 in those situations (Jack 0-3)
• When we did have a chance to win or tie the game at the end, Nellie called a play for Morrow. What in Gods name was Nellie thinking? Morrow was 1 of 2 if I recall before that play was drawn up, had played 20 minutes all game, and hadn’t seen the floor for a while. Not to mention how timid Morrow was today. One of two things should have happened. Either a screen for Monta with the pick’n’pop or the iso for Maggette. Usually I despise Maggette and isolation, but in the fourth he was matched up against Bogut and was very successful at getting to the line. Maggette was having a good game, even making 3 pointers, but got a little heated when Bogut hit him in the eye on accident, which brought a massive elbow/forearm to meet with Bogut. Let’s just say he’s lucky he only got an offensive foul, because anyone could tell that was about as intentional as it could get.
• Jennings is as ready as can get. Before he went on his 29 point third quarter tyrant, dude had me going back to draft day because of his impressive play. As I stated then, I wanted Jennings because he would fit perfectly in as the PG. He sets his teammates up well, controls the floor with ease and does a lot of things really good. He can pass, shoot, and has a calm composure at all times. He is very active on both ends of the court, his Basketball IQ is much higher than people give him credit for and he’s been the model citizen since draft night. I see many of the same traits as Curry, except for one key difference in both players. Curry is a better shooter (not on this night) and Jennings is faster. I’m telling you guys, dude is faster than pre-moped Monta. That quickness that Jennings has made many of his driving buckets he made much easier. Monta, CJ, Acie, and Curry couldn’t keep up. Stephen gave him problems with size, but the only time he was guarding him was during screens. His defensive awareness and shot will mature, but speed is something you cannot teach, and is one of the reasons I wanted to pick him instead of the Curry. No need to talk about what he did tonight, we all know dude had the game of his life.

All in all, the negatives outweigh the positives and I can’t blame this game on Nellie except for that last play. The players need to take some responsibility for their play on the court, and come out trying to get others involved. The first half pass friendly, and the third quarter was 1 on 5. Whatever the team needs to do, whether it’s be trading Jackson, or Ellis, firing Nellie, or simply building some comrade must take place before positives came outweigh the negatives. Only then we can begin to look towards the light at the end of the tunnel where our future resides.