Golden State Warriors 108, Sacramento Kings 101: GSoM Night 8 FTW!

by jae on Jan 9, 2010 9:45 AM PST in Recaps

If there's a technical definition of comeback it probably started in the 3rd. Warriors trailed by 18 midway through the 3rd and every indication suggested the indignation of a blowout loss at home to a rival division bottom-feeder. There was not much good to look at. Our second-year-end-of-the-lottery big man crumbled to the floor clutching his ankle after 12 minutes of play. Their 2nd year end-of-the-lottery big man had an off night, but was still in the game. Our rookie point guard played ok, making half his shots, twice as many assists as turnover. Their rookie point guard kept banging on the rookie of the year door. There wasn't even solace in watching Spencer Hawes suck, as Westphal kept him on the bench for most of the game, and when he played, he showed the sort of offensive moves that might fool someone into thinking that he did not suck. That triple fake-spin-shake shoot shot of his in the forth to end Monta's personal 7-0 run was nasty!

I was hoping that my GSoM amigos were enjoying the camaraderie of their fellow sufferers, as the product on the court wasn't much for lifting spirits. Every glimpse of Warrior hope seemed to be eclipsed by a bigger shadow of doubt and dispair .

(Continue after the jump. It got better.)

(No, really, it did.)

And then the 4th quarter happened.

It started to change exactly 9 seconds into the 4th when Monta gets fouled on a jumper from just beyond the top of the key. Two points from the charity stripe to close it to 8. SAC brings the ball up and the Warriors defense appears to care. SAC turns it over, Monta charges down and dunks; 6 point game. SAC turns it over again, Monta nails a three to cut it to three behind a solid screen by Ronny Turiaf, exactly the sort of open look three that a small-ball team has to figure out ways to take.

There was a different atmosphere from that in the previous 36 minutes of the contest. SAC didn't fold immediately, but There were things happening that normally do not normally happen. Our guys stuck to the Kings like hyperactive shadows on defense, taking away easy looks and paths to the basket. Tyreke Evans (who appears on his way to scary good basketball beast-hood) had half of his 6 turnovers during the final quarter.

It was clear that something was different. Radmanovic even dribbled it through traffic to push it home with authority!

Some back and forth kept it in doubt for a while. Even after cutting it to 1, the Kings' short burst pushed it back to seven and there was every opportunity to fold it up and quit with an "almost, but not quite." But at 4:38 to go, that's where it stopped. The Kings weren't going to get the ball in the bucket until sinking a meaningless bucket in the closing seconds of the contest.

Monta's 38th and 39th points at just under 3 minutes to go put the Warriors up by 1.

You want reasons? There's a few.

When it mattered, the Warriors took care of the ball and forced the Kings into turnover after turnover -- 8 in the 4th quarter, with a pair of 24 second violations forced by our defense.
When it mattered, the Warriors got to the line and took care of business when they got there.
When it mattered, Monta Ellis was the best player on the court, the fastest, most agile, most confident player in the house, active and aware and in charge on both ends of the court. He brought us back with his ability to get by anyone and everyone, and when the Kings finally reacted, collapsing octuple teams (give or take 3 defenders) on him, he smartly found his open teammates who responded by nailing their open looks.
When it mattered, it was GSoM Night 8, and it went oh-so-much better than #7.

(I do not want to think about the potential severity of Randolph's injury.)

That win felt good!

Warriors Wonder: Are you kidding me? Is there any doubt?

via imgs.sfgate.com

Special props to some Kings. Sacratomato has a keeper in Tyreke Evans. In future years, he'll be responsible for many wins. Also impressive was the human incarnation of a bruise, Jon Brockman. The Kings played great when he came into the game. He pushed people around inside, grabbing boards, controlling space. Special thanks to Westphal for sitting him after the opening minutes of the 3rd. He was working and I have no idea why Westphal thought that he needed him to help keep the bench from flying up to the ceiling when the game was on the line.

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watching the Kings feed was kind of funny… the whole game the commentators were talking about how Monta was getting out played by Tyreke, and they effectively shut their mouths in the final 3

by monta ellis on Jan 9, 2010 10:09 AM PST reply actions

Boy jae, you write with attitude

that was a great recap. Not sure if the Warriors had anything to do with it, but the Kings started missing shots in the 3rd, giving us a chance to make up 8 points of the 18 point deficit. The last 2 steals on Evans in the 4th made me wonder if the Warriors focused their defense on him more in the 4th, like running a helper on him when he was tangled up by someone.

by IQofaWarrior on Jan 9, 2010 10:10 AM PST reply actions

We started playing defense...

that’s how we won.

by Cpt. Jack in the Box on Jan 9, 2010 12:56 PM PST up reply actions

"The human incarnation of a bruise"

That was great. I liked Brockman’s game a lot at Washington, but I wasn’t sure he’d be able to translate to the NBA. Looks like he can bang with the big boys.

Don't worry about me Thurgood, I'll be fine. The robbery is what's important now.

by the guy on Jan 9, 2010 10:22 AM PST reply actions

thats all he does is bang. Limited skill set. He will be a solid 10th man in this league.

by Eschew Obfuscation on Jan 9, 2010 10:25 AM PST up reply actions

Nice to have

Job security these days.

Don't worry about me Thurgood, I'll be fine. The robbery is what's important now.

by the guy on Jan 9, 2010 10:29 AM PST up reply actions

That was an awesome first GSoM night

It was also my friends’ first ever basketball game and he enjoyed the hell out of it.

by GoldenStateGuerrero on Jan 9, 2010 10:25 AM PST reply actions

Great recap of a fun underdog win.

I do think it’s worth noting that, Monta, while obviously a deserving Warrior Wonder, really did go into hardcore tunnel vision for most of the fourth quarter. In the last eight minutes of the game, he went three-for-eight from the field and didn’t get to the line; he forced several shots and ignored several open teammates. The pass to Morrow for the game-clinching three was doubly significant, in that Monta broke himself out of his tunnel vision and surveyed other options again. Without that decision, we easily might’ve lost the game.

Here’s hoping Randolph’s results are as good as possible.

Ladies and gentlemen, your Golden State Worriers.

by onlxn on Jan 9, 2010 11:03 AM PST reply actions 1 recs

The pass to Morrow for the game-clinching three was doubly significant, in that Monta broke himself out of his tunnel vision and surveyed other options again

this is what separates him from next level -how much he is able create for others -real leaders are able to pass the ball

31 Y 6.5 ft 250 lbs 0 IQ

Fire Nellie! Fire Cohan! Fire Gregory! Fire David Stern! No need for explanations, just fire em all!

by Missing Barry

by Lat We N Trash on Jan 9, 2010 12:17 PM PST up reply actions

another hater of the best player on the team

That’s funny. If you watched the game, Monta was the only Warrior who kept us from getting blown out by 30. Without Monta, the Warriors would not win 20 games this season. Let’s just criticize the only player on this team who draws double teams, and who other teams gameplan around for. According to this guy’s logic, most of the Warriors are great players, and Monta is just bringing them down, lol. It’s amazing to see so many ignorant fools not realize that teams need more than one star to win in this league.

by illmaticwarrior on Jan 9, 2010 12:30 PM PST up reply actions

personally i don't see anything wrong wit setting higher standarts for teams best player

-especially if he is able to be better -there is no doubt that Without Monta, the Warriors would not win 20 games this season but W’s would win more games if Monta would not concentrate his leadership skills just on scoring but creating for teammates (though i’d like to see some of them playing better w/o ball)

31 Y 6.5 ft 250 lbs 0 IQ

Fire Nellie! Fire Cohan! Fire Gregory! Fire David Stern! No need for explanations, just fire em all!

by Missing Barry

by Lat We N Trash on Jan 9, 2010 12:43 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs

Exactly. We have other weapons. And the more Monta includes them in his attack, the better off he, they and we will be.

Ladies and gentlemen, your Golden State Worriers.

by onlxn on Jan 9, 2010 2:06 PM PST up reply actions

Fine

Monta is perfect. He is better than Kobe Bryant. There are no flaws in his game. He doesn’t turn it over too much, and he doesn’t has tunnel vision.

by Reverend_Randy on Jan 9, 2010 7:20 PM PST up reply actions

*have tunnel vision

but seriously- I love Monta, but I can reconcile his flaws with what he’s good at.
You have to take the bad with the good.

by Reverend_Randy on Jan 9, 2010 7:21 PM PST up reply actions

I wouldn't say he has tunnel vision

He just likes to take it himself a lot cause he is very confident that he can be his man, now the turnovers……..

Rookie: "Why did you bench me?"
Nellie: "You're a rookie"

by dubzfan on Jan 9, 2010 7:57 PM PST up reply actions

On the TV side

it was very entertaining to see Fitz, who’s usually over-optimistic and protective of the Warriors and gives them a very long rope, get so frustrated when the Warriors kept FAILING to grab a rebound.

by IQofaWarrior on Jan 9, 2010 11:19 AM PST reply actions

Well he refuses to point out that Turiaf is a bad rebounder

so having the Curry-monta-cj-maggette-turiaf lineup is just utterly pointless. it does nothing for us on the offensive end and we get DESTROYED on the boards. thats nellies fault.

Bellineli, Gallinari, and Radman are my heroes!!!
Monta PPG> Monta IQ
Lakers Fans= Terrible
Go C's
Giants need to sign Barry Bonds outta retirement.

by monta.da.boss on Jan 9, 2010 3:26 PM PST up reply actions

Song before game.

Did anyone catch the name of the song by Zion I during the pre game pre game celebrations? I searched all over couldn’t find. thanks.

by LoGiiK on Jan 9, 2010 12:33 PM PST reply actions

I remember

Looking at the player’s points on the jumbotron and seeing Monta and Maggette as the only players with any points. Monta wasn’t getting any help this game and handled business.

Had a couple drunk and rowdy Kings fans behind me who would scream for every free throw their team made. They were pretty much quiet half way through the third quarter. It was nice.

Anthony Randoph for Most Improved Player

by danielholl on Jan 9, 2010 1:00 PM PST reply actions

HAHAHHA.

danielholl, were you sitting in section 224? If so I heard the same stuff, cursing like nobodys business, saying Warriors fans sucked, how the Kings were soooo much better than the Warriors. Calling Spencer Hawes, Spencer H-awesome. OMG.

In the third the shut up not only because of the shift in momentum, but also because a mother told them to be quiet, because they were yelling at her kids to sit down. Man, it got real quiet, real quick!! AHHAHA!! They sure don’t know how to act in Oakland, I’m suprised they weren’t confronted earlier, and also suprised they made it out of the arena in one group…

Some people don’t know how to act. Geez.

by The Anthonys on Jan 9, 2010 4:41 PM PST up reply actions

Spencer Hawesome?

Ok, I kinda like that. hahaha….

by GoldenStateGuerrero on Jan 9, 2010 9:04 PM PST up reply actions

btw

whatever happened to those Morrow questions? Did they get asked? Was it recorded?

by IQofaWarrior on Jan 9, 2010 5:08 PM PST reply actions

They were asked

There were a couple huge cameras recording the Q&A session. Not sure if it will get uploaded onto youtube.

Fitz was the one asking the questions. Only bad thing was since Morrow is fairly soft spoken and the volume from his mic was low, it was kind of hard to understand what he was saying. It was well worth staying after though.

This is Kristin Kreuk, now zip it. - GTTM

by disguy on Jan 9, 2010 5:43 PM PST up reply actions

Morrow Q+A

I was there, about 10 rows up. Fitz hosted the Q+A. The questions that were selected to be used were asked, I thought that was awesome. The interview went on for about 7 minutes. I was real glad that Anthony hit that 3-pointer in the closing minutes of the game to give the whole thing an upbeat atmosphere.

Unforunately, I couldn’t hear most of the interview because Anthony wasn’t speaking loud enough to project his voice. I did catch bits and pieces though. I’m assuming that people a little closer had a better time hearing him. He did have some funny answers to questions. I’ll try to recall them as best as possible.

-The Killer Horse Shot –
He said he could shoot from anywhere with both hands. Mentioned that he and Randolph played HORSE numerous times where he would beat AR with the left. The crowd tried to egg him on to show us, but no luck.

~~Team Mentor~~
COREY MAGGETTE.

~~Loudest Arenas~~
Rose Garden and Staples.

~~Favorite Place to Eat~~
Houstons.

~~Challenge Reggie to a 3-Point Contest~~
He said he’s still game for that one. Bring it on Reggie!!

That’s all I really remember. I did try and record it with my iphone, but it didn’t pick up the sound very well. If people want to see it I’ll try and upload it.

One thing that did annoy me was that the majority of the people around me didn’t even know who Anthony Morrow was and talked the whole time while sitting through the interview. All they worried about was getting his picture and possibly getting his autograph. Other than that I had a really great time at the game with my girl (who is a Kings Fan).

GSOM FTW!!

by The Anthonys on Jan 9, 2010 5:44 PM PST up reply actions