Recap #1: Golden State Warriors 132, Houston Rockets 128: Golden State remains unbeaten!
by jae on Oct 27, 2010 11:38 PM PDT
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PrintThe Warriors played the Rockets.
It is time to confront our fears.
A year ago the Warriors opened at home against the Rockets, losing a close game where they faded down the stretch. All who have been more than a fair-weather fan had to be nervous that their psychotic visions of success fade once real games begin in late October. We fear the regular season because the regular season tends to bring about a reality of losing, of failure, of hopelessness.
Tonight the new look Warriors closed out a close game, an exciting high scoring affair where opportunities to fold presented themselves and were summarily rebuked.
Warriors 132-126. It is time to conquer our fears.
The fear: Once again, the Warriors would get pushed around, inside, finding themselves over-matched in the frontcourt.
The new hope: a healthy Andris Biedrins and a revelation at PF in David Lee give the Warriors a tandem that matches up favorably with most of the league.
Any fear that Lee and Biedrins would regress into Mikki Moore on the boards, stealing rebounds away from each other rather than complementing each other should be put to rest. Their performance on the glass resulted in a 45-39 advantage over a competent Houston team that held a 9 rebound advantage over the Lakers the night before. While Houston rested Yao Ming against the Warriors, a year ago Houston managed to hold their own on the boards without him. This is a different Warriors team. This team will not get beat by losing out on missed shots night in and night out.
Let's hope that the revelation in the paint is not a phantom performance. No, neither are good individual defenders in the post -- Luis Scola should not score 36 points against competent defenders -- but both are quick and tenacious and their ability to secure possessions goes a long way to make up for that. Eliminating second looks makes it more difficult on an opponent.
Lee has shown offensive skills in his NBA tenure. He will get his points this year and provides a true threat in the paint. He can shoot, he can rebound and he can pass. He will have an athletic advantage over his opposite numbers most nights and out hustle his man even more often. It was what we paid for, what we needed and what we've been rewarded with. More surprising was Biedrins. An injury filled year where, when available, Andris was too timid to have a positive effect made us forget that for several years before, the Warriors were a significantly better team when he played than when he sat. At least for a night, this was once again true.
The old fear: Monta Ellis would not take a back seat to Stephen Curry and would shoot the Warriors out of the game time and time again.
The new hope: At least for a night, Monta can be the man. He certainly can if he plays like this more often.
Yes, Monta shot the ball 24 times (including a half-court heave at the end of the first half that came rather close to finding the mark), but it was a dramatically different performance from a year ago. All but a few were good shots. He took the ball into the lane when he beat his man, rather than charging blindly at a stacked wall of defenders. Consequently, when he took it to the paint, he did not miss. Neither did he miss often from mid-range. What is characteristically a high risk, low reward investment paid off; more often than not the shots were clean looks coming off solid screens or when teammates identified that his defender had failed to keep up with the lightning quick guard. Kevin Martin cannot handle him and Shane Battier could not close in fast enough when Lee or Biedrins or Dorell Wright are in the way. His two assists were not a problem; most of the time the ball found his hands, he had a look worth taking.
And it appears that this does not silence Curry either. How often is 25 points on 16 shots to go with 12 11 assists overshadowed? Rarely. Those are numbers that get you invited to All-Star games.
Is this a new reality?
No, it's not a championship team, but it felt different. It felt encouraging. That characteristic knowledge that leads would evaporate, that losing was a foregone conclusion regardless of what the scoreboard said after a half, after 3 quarters, after 40+ minutes of player, that feeling just was not there. The team competed. It is not a top defensive squad, but they adjusted at the half and began to take away the easy baskets. (Houston stayed close only by getting to the FT line [by my count] 48,973 times; I expect a few thousand from Martin, but when Scola and Courtney Lee buy property at the stripe, something is amiss.) This team can actually put up a fight and make scoring points against them a challenge. Some of this is better personnel. Dorell Wright and Rodney Carney are improvements over anyone Nellie's squad tossed out at opposing wings last year.
If there was anything to fear, it was the bizarre span in the 1st and 2nd quarter when Lee and Biedrins both sat and Radmanovic did a poor impersonation of a real big man. His 5 minutes on the court were 6 too many. That experiment with "small ball" was awkward and unimpressive and brought back the terror of last year's underwhelming returns. Similarly, with Lee and Biedrins going to the bench shortly after the 11 minute mark in the 4th, Smart experimented with the lineup of Brandan Wright alone in the post with Curry, Bell, Carney and Williams on the wings. It was similarly uninspiring. But it was short lived, short enough to keep things close. Houston pulled within a possession until Lee and Andris returned and Bell sat for a rested Ellis.
Stay healthy guys. At least until someone steps up, Curry hobbling along the sideline is scary. Biedrins picking up his 6th foul any sooner will try nerves. The second squad looks like it could cause bouts of anxiety.
But not fear. We conquer the fear.
Blog buddy's take at Dream Shake: It was another heartbreaker for Houston. Best of luck to y'all.
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Were undefeated and Miami is .500? Were better than them!
For a day! LOL
Notes
- Monta was walking on water
- Lee is really smart but is awful on defense
- Rebounding = Good things
- DW is the utility guy
- Carney and Reggie are good off the bench
- Loved the rotations for the most part, should have played BW more
- The new unis and court are awesome
- the pregame intro with the bridge was awesome ,the fire was straight from 2007
- I can see us in the battle for 8th
" Only build on positives , don't stack the negatives...Instead of criticizing , what was a positive?" - Donavin Darius
"There is nothing like a wise phrase or quote to help convince others that your decision makes sense." - Anon
"If you're ever in a fair fight, then your tactics suck." ಠ_ಠ
Interesting assessment
1. Monta showed why he is the leader of this team he’s truly the only player on the Warriors that can score on a consistent basis.
2. Lee sees things that most big men do not see, he’s a solid passer, solid rebounder, but leaves a lot to be desired defensively.
3. With Biedrins and Lee getting minutes rebounding deficiencies that the Warriors have lacked of late will be solved for the most part unless there’s foul trouble.
4. DW was impressive with his ability to drive and his length is a definite benefit defensively.
5. Carney again wasn’t anything special and Williams needs to come into the game with the mindset to score points, he had a wide open three that he passed up and gave instead to the weaker shooter which was Carney.
6. Brandan Wright still has a long way to go before he gets significant minutes, he should get only 10-15 minutes a night. He doesn’t rebound, but can make a difference with his length with blocking shots.
7. The new unis are awful!
8. Pregame intro was nice
9. Need another big man if the Warriors want to even remotely be in the race for the eighth seed.
The last part of one... are you kidding me?
by GovernorStephCurry on Oct 28, 2010 7:41 AM PDT up reply actions
I liked carney
he had a great block that was mistakenly called a foul, he made strong takes to the hoop, played good defense and brought energy at a time when we were lacking it a bit – just what you want off the bench. also, body language suggests that this guy looks straight HUNGRY. He wants so bad to play well and help this team win (as opposed to Mags at times last year when it seemed like he could care less).
Wright does rebound. He rebounds at an average rate for his position. It’s just that when we play very big, good rebounding teams and when compared to Andris and Lee, he doesn’t seem to rebound. His offensive rebounding is better than average, actually.
The Golden Glow is the only way to reach the upper level.
The new uni’s are awful? I mean, there are some legitimate complaints, but awful overall? Whaaa?
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 8:28 AM PDT up reply actions
? Yellow is such a small part of the jerseys yesterday, I don’t know what you’re talking about? The floor maybe?
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 8:50 AM PDT up reply actions
Um, yea man. The disgusting, vomitous mustard colored floor.
Sittin in my scraper watchin Oakland goin wild, ta-dow!
I liked the floor. I kinda like being bright and obnoxious.
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 11:01 AM PDT up reply actions
Yup the yellow floor is way to bright in tone….an actual mustard color would almost work,,,it should have a deeper more golden tone. Love the blue away uni’s.
by Only In Fairfax on Oct 29, 2010 11:54 AM PDT up reply actions
can't stand the new unis
they look they were designed by some kid in a high school art class. so unprofessional
by Tom Huddlestone on Oct 28, 2010 2:00 PM PDT up reply actions
The girl I went to the game with is a 3D artist and she remarked on how simplistic the bridge modelling is, for what that’s worth. Not that I know anything about it, but she seemed to know what she was talking about.
I thought the whole lightning bolt theme amounted to the worst unis in pro sports, so I actually feel like these are a huge upgrade. The floor is painful, though.
Sittin in my scraper watchin Oakland goin wild, ta-dow!
I don't think were going for some super sophisticated piece of art that would get you by in a Harvard art class
Just something that looks good , if it’s better simpler than it should be simpler
" Only build on positives , don't stack the negatives...Instead of criticizing , what was a positive?" - Donavin Darius
"There is nothing like a wise phrase or quote to help convince others that your decision makes sense." - Anon
"If you're ever in a fair fight, then your tactics suck." ಠ_ಠ
And the floor in person looks good
It looks really good in person
" Only build on positives , don't stack the negatives...Instead of criticizing , what was a positive?" - Donavin Darius
"There is nothing like a wise phrase or quote to help convince others that your decision makes sense." - Anon
"If you're ever in a fair fight, then your tactics suck." ಠ_ಠ
It looks much better in person than on TV
by GovernorStephCurry on Oct 29, 2010 9:25 AM PDT up reply actions
Also, what are you talking about with this “Monta is the only player that can score consistently” stuff? Did you see Curry or David Lee?
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 8:29 AM PDT up reply actions
Neither Curry or Lee
Can on a consistent basis score. Most of Lee’s points came off of hustle plays. Curry is the pass first point guard which is great, he was quiet in the first half with only six points, he scored 19 in the second half.
The reason for the big second half is because Curry decided to find his shot more and also Monta got a bit of a rest as well.
what are you going to do
when Monta regresses to the mean? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you will soon.
Regress to what?
As long as Curry stays healthy, Ellis is going to continue to get the good looks. Will he shoot 18-24 every night? No. Will he have games where his shot isn’t dropping, of course.
But, you’re also forgetting that last time Ellis had a true point guard around him he shot 53 percent from the field. I’m going to say that Ellis will end up over 50 percent on the season.
He will average 3-4 assists per night and 2-3 rebounds per night. With Lee and Biedrins in the lineup it allows for Curry or Ellis to push the ball up the court before defenses can set up.
you’re also forgetting that last time Ellis had a true point guard around him he shot 53 percent from the field
why are you not counting last season?
Monta was 18-24 for 75% from the field yesterday
Totally sustainable…
The San Francisco 49ers, inventing new ways to lose every week!
by Badly Browned on Oct 28, 2010 10:08 AM PDT up reply actions
Monta was 18-24 for 75% from the field yesterday Totally sustainable…
Haha, Yeah we’ll take the win but it’s not very satisfying cause houston looked like the better team. They played precision team ball while we lucked into a career night from montay.
Lights please, lights please, turn off the lights.
by Skeptic con Urquell on Oct 28, 2010 10:30 AM PDT up reply actions
If you didn’t notice, Lee’s points were coming that way because Monta was shooting a lot. Not that that’s a bad thing, but the point is, when Lee decided to try to do something….well, he’s pretty capable of it. Same with Curry. Even Andris scored from the block! And of course, when they don’t create shots for themselves, those guys are all good passers to help create shots for others (yesterday that was often Monta!).
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 8:51 AM PDT up reply actions
Andris’s hook looks pretty good, actually. Nice weapon to have.
The Golden Glow is the only way to reach the upper level.
agreed
It looks good, and he should take a couple more shots a game.
Baseball is a chamber orchestra. Football is a marching band. Basketball is a modern quintet. jazz, rock, hiphop, pop/ all about the beat./ still my revolution not/ til you dance through it.
That's why i don't get the criticism for no offensive game.
He does. Watch most of the centers in the league, they can’t even tie their shoes, nonetheless back down and do a nice hook.
by GovernorStephCurry on Oct 28, 2010 11:54 PM PDT up reply actions
Loved the passing and team play from Lee. Monta had a big night but there is a ball hog shadow following him around. Hoping here that he starts to pass and set up team mates a bit or we may see the bad Monta emerge.
by Only In Fairfax on Oct 29, 2010 12:03 PM PDT up reply actions
Neither Curry or Lee Can on a consistent basis score. Most of Lee’s points came off of hustle plays.
Last season’s performance from Curry and the last few seasons from Lee would beg to differ with you. Lee averaged 20ppg last season, Curry 17, and that brought down by a slow start. Hustle.points.count. And Lee got them often.
Curry is the pass first point guard which is great, he was quiet in the first half with only six points, he scored 19 in the second half.
I am not convinced you have been watching the same Curry that I have watched for now a tad bit more than a season. This is perhaps the first time that I have seen Steph referred to as a “pass first point guard” with any semblance to being serious about it.
As an accurate assessment of the team, I’m giving your post a D- (I’m feeling generous). Was it meant to be funny? Perhaps I’m missing the irony, but I can’t give it more than a C- for humor value either.
Here's a question for you then
Late game situation who are you going to give the ball to? Ellis, Curry, or Lee? The answer is Ellis because he’s the pure scorer.
Stephen Curry I’ve watched he’s a great shooter who picks his spots, but he is also the type of player who is unselfish and will look to find the open teammates.
There’s a reason why he was effective with only scoring six points in the first half and there’s a reason why he became more effective with his scoring in the second half. He was getting the open looks that he needed to take.
Lee on the other hand has improved his scoring can hit the mid range jumper although he missed most of those last night. A majority of his points last night came on hustle plays, which isn’t a bad thing.
In fact it’s great because he’s on the offensive glass or he’s cutting to the hoop. He’s also a very good passer for a big man as well.
I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but Ellis by far is the superior scorer to both Lee and Curry right now.
I don't
Ellis was never able to close last season.
I believe that ghosts are like dogs. They just do things arbitrarily.
by Reverend_Randy on Oct 28, 2010 12:04 PM PDT up reply actions
Here’s a question for you then Late game situation who are you going to give the ball to? Ellis, Curry, or Lee? The answer is Ellis because he’s the pure scorer.
Well, you don’t really appear to be asking me a question. You appear to be using the false premise that you’re actually asking a question to go ahead and tell me that you’ve got a conclusion that Ellis is the only choice for a late game situation. I reject both your rather amateurish used of a rhetorical device and your rather simplistic conclusion.
Ellis looked great last night. Ellis was also a ‘pure scorer’ only in the sense that he took more shots than his success rate warranted a year ago. It appears that you are relatively new here but ignorance of efficiency in making your conclusions will make your conclusions (no matter how much you try to hide them as questions) look weak.
It appears that you are relatively new here
Alas, LPBear aka Rocky isn’t new. As is so often the case, his new handle seems to share many of lame traits of his old one: typically, random, baseless assertions spouted with religious conviction and an unwillingness to listen to or dialogue with other posters. Frequently accompanied by a link to a poorly written “article” on Bleacher Report.
LP: welcome aboard, I guess… ;-P
There will be no extra point!
by Sleepy Freud on Oct 28, 2010 2:37 PM PDT up reply actions
Oh, I just noticed this comment. I honestly, finding the open teammate in a late game situation is not a bad thing….
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 1:11 PM PDT up reply actions
Neither Curry or Lee Can on a consistent basis score. Most of Lee’s points came off of hustle plays.
Last season’s performance from Curry and the last few seasons from Lee would beg to differ with you. Lee averaged 20ppg last season, Curry 17, and that brought down by a slow start. Both can and have scored.
Curry is the pass first point guard which is great, he was quiet in the first half with only six points, he scored 19 in the second half.
This is perhaps the first time that I have seen Steph referred to as a "pass first point guard" with any semblance to being serious about it.
Curry is a pass first point guard
Funny, I remember in the draft everyone pegged him as a shooter
The San Francisco 49ers, inventing new ways to lose every week!
by Badly Browned on Oct 28, 2010 10:09 AM PDT up reply actions
There's a difference
Between being a shooter and a scorer. Curry can shoot lights out, but at the same time I’m not sure Curry can score 20+ points per game consistently. Curry does not seem athletic enough to score from anywhere. Yeah he can shoot exceptionally well, but at the same time he cant drive as well either. Curry’s still young and his game will improve so i may be mistaken. Curry’s game is a better passing point guard than a scoring one. Take out Ellis from this team and i think this team will struggle offensively in my opinion. By struggling offensively i mean this team will feel like it is missing that extra player who can add to the scoreboard. Lee and Curry (D. Wright hasnt proven he can be a 20+ scorer yet) are not enough for this team to put up points on the scoreboard.
by Jayd92009 on Oct 29, 2010 2:18 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I’m not sure Curry can score 20+ points per game consistently.
Real NBA games would beg to differ with you.
Besides which, "scoring 20+ points per game consistently" is the be-all, end-all -
- way of evaluating someone’s scoring contributions.
BW only 10 minutes?
Did you watch? He helped SO much out there, and Carney played great, I basically disagree with everything you said but 8, the 1st half of 1 , 3 and 4
" Only build on positives , don't stack the negatives...Instead of criticizing , what was a positive?" - Donavin Darius
"There is nothing like a wise phrase or quote to help convince others that your decision makes sense." - Anon
"If you're ever in a fair fight, then your tactics suck." ಠ_ಠ
I wouldn’t say Wright helped that much, but he looked like a solid bench performer. I think he can do better.
The Golden Glow is the only way to reach the upper level.
Yeah 2 rebounds in 10 minutes is iffy.
But was very active, missed a few assignments.
by GovernorStephCurry on Oct 28, 2010 11:55 PM PDT up reply actions
Speaking of 10 min play did anyone catch the Timberwolves game where K Love only got 9 mins.
Rambis said that it was due to his preference for Tolliver’s energy and defense!
by Only In Fairfax on Oct 29, 2010 12:14 PM PDT up reply actions
Lets not get ahead of ourselves about Monta
It was one game, and he we’ll be lucky if he scores 30 on most nights that he takes as many shots as he did last night.
by freerandolph on Oct 28, 2010 9:42 PM PDT up reply actions
agree about Monta walking on water
Lee looked horrible on D
D.Wright and Carney make me nervous.. especially Carney… but especially D. Wright!
Being a Warriors fan is like cutting yourself... without the cutting
Knick fan here
I am really curious to see how Lee plays for you guys this year.
He was a great player for us, but his D man… really made it easy to say goodbye. It was very noticeable for us last night not having him in there when the Raps tried to go inside.
Good luck with him, he always seemed like a stand up guy (except for the fact that he was constantly complaining about calls… did he do that last night? I fear for him with this new tech rule).
20pts and 10boards is amazing, but not when you factor in his opposite avg 35 pts a night.
I am a fan of both the mets and knicks... so just kill me now.
But then again, Amare has the same issues…..
Always good to get another perspective, though. Share your thoughts here anytime!
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 8:52 AM PDT up reply actions
i know I have not seen STAT as much as DLee play
but they are not even close to comparable on D. Amare is not the best, but there is an intimidation factor that DLee just doesnt have.
I am a fan of both the mets and knicks... so just kill me now.
Yeah Amare’s pretty bad but he is at least athletic and can block a shot now and then.
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 8:57 AM PDT up reply actions
Lee’s athleticism impressed me. It’s not in that ultra elite league of Stoudemire, but he’s faster and more in control than most PFs. His inability to block shots seems peculiar, though from what I’ve seen, he just doesn’t try. He does not leave the floor to challenge shooters. I’m curious if the Knicks fans saw it this way.
Yeah, he does seem to have some pretty decent ability to move, but he’s much less impressive in the “leaving the floor” category. I’d also guess he has short arms, and length counts for a lot in all aspects of D, including challenging shots.
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 9:09 AM PDT up reply actions
His pre-draft measurements were pretty mucht the same as Turiaf (who am using as a comparison because he’s a decent shot blocker, drafted in the same year, is close to Lee in draftexpress’s measurement table, and I’m lazy). I think he doesn’t like to leave the floor for fear of fouling or to be able to get in good position for the rebound faster.
Monta Ellis's #1 Fan!!!
You seem to be right. I suspect Boozer is very similar to Lee in that regard, as well. I bet it does help their defensive rebounding, but it would be nice to see more effort to protect the rim and generally stay in front of his man…
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 11:13 AM PDT up reply actions
I think he needs to focus on holding his position down low. He doesn’t seem to have the physical tools to challenge shots, so he needs to keep from getting bodied up. Scola is an impressive physical specimen who seems to have a knack for getting off soft hooks and finger rolls, but he was also able to consistently knock Lee off his mark on the block and go straight up with the ball.
Sittin in my scraper watchin Oakland goin wild, ta-dow!
DLee on D
was the most frustrating thing to watch.
He should not be that bad, no NBA player should. He is such a hard worker and a smart, team oriented guy that you would think he would be better.
He has hops, we see it when he dunks. He is not that small a guy, so there really is no reason he should be so bad.
It was so frustrating. The reason many of us had no issues letting our first allstar in like 10 years go. We were all more then prepared to lose him for nothing.
But like I said, he is a stand up guy and will be a solid player for your team. If I could afford knick tickets, I would applaud him when he visits the Garden. But it would just be strange for me to stand and clap in my apartment.
I am a fan of both the mets and knicks... so just kill me now.
Not at all. Me and my buddies stood and bash-brothered every time the Giants scored last night.
"I wasn't able to extend so I had a serious lack of extension."--Dallas Braden
by StJosephBurningTheOakTreesToTheGround on Oct 28, 2010 10:29 AM PDT up reply actions
in my apartment.
"I wasn't able to extend so I had a serious lack of extension."--Dallas Braden
by StJosephBurningTheOakTreesToTheGround on Oct 28, 2010 10:30 AM PDT up reply actions
Amare has help though
Turiaf will get minutes so will Randolph. Both can block shots and make up for the lack of defense from Stoudemire.
Not seeing the distinction. Lee has help in Biedrins and Wright and eventually Amundson and Udoh.
There will be no extra point!
by Sleepy Freud on Oct 28, 2010 10:15 AM PDT up reply actions
Comment on Udoh and Amundson is spot on.
Tough to have twin pieces of the puzzle missing. BW seems to a showdow drifting in between “at the moment” and hopfully will solidify into his potential this season.
Going to be real interesting to see what Griffin does to us tonight. :-(
by Only In Fairfax on Oct 29, 2010 12:23 PM PDT up reply actions
We're undefeated
yeah we are tied with NYK and NJNets for second place, only 1/2 game behind league leading portland :>)
Lights please, lights please, turn off the lights.
by Skeptic con Urquell on Oct 28, 2010 3:07 PM PDT up reply actions
I thought we looked quite good
My biggest fear was that Keith Smart would dismantle the remnants of the Nellie uptempo style. It looks like that fear will not be realized. crosses fingers We still suffer from defensive lapses and we gave up way too many points in the paint tonight. But the tempo was good and it sure helped that Monta was lights out tonight. David Lee already looks comfortable in the offense which is great. +7 on the boards was also a very encouraging sign. One thing to note: the FT disparity tonight was ridiculous; Rockets attempted 56 freebies to our 26. Monta attempted 12 of those FTs. Hopefully we can find a way to get ourselves to the line more often, because we can’t count on 55% shooting and Steph/Monta carrying the load all the time. Great start, let’s keep it up. LGW
by Tom Huddlestone on Oct 28, 2010 12:04 AM PDT reply actions
It is not a top defensive squad, but they adjusted at the half and began to take away the easy baskets.
They also took away the open three, essential against the Rockets, and I think a huge part of the reason they were able to hold on. Dorell in particular rotated and closed out well. The interior D was a semi-trainwreck, but it might not have looked quite so bad had the refs swallowed a few whistles. 52 trips to the line is not going to be a nightly occurrence against us, one assumes/hopes.
For now, all is right with the world. Great diary, jae!
There will be no extra point!
Our new Jerseys are FRESH with a capital FRESH
Play hard, then rock out even harder.
by TheBigLeburnski on Oct 28, 2010 12:18 AM PDT reply actions
Yeah, we're definitely not a championship team
but I can see why Larry Riley thinks (actually proclaimed) we’ll return to the playoffs within a few years. I think Riley’s next step is to build a solid bench either by trading Radman and/or Gadz’s contracts, or simply letting them end next summer. So we’ll only have to suffer through Radman and Gadz for one season.
I think the made some good defensive adjustments in the 3rd qtr that made it harder for the Rockets to get their shots, especially after open thread commenters were complaining about how porous the Warriors defense was in the 1st half. What I want to see is that kind of defense for all 4 qtrs.
One thing we saw in the game was the effect the team had when Biedrins was subbed out of the game. It seemed like when he was taken out of the game, the Rockets ended up with more of the rebounds, and something about the flow of the game changed. We’ve seen this kind of effect before back in 2008-2009 when Biedrins would get into foul trouble, get taken out of the game, and then the game changed. For example, the opponent would find easier drives to the basket because Biedrins wasn’t there to clog up the paint and shoo away the guards. So Biedrins needs to work on watching his fouls.
When I think about it, I think Biedrins will look like a better player this season than last season. I think last season, Nellie tried to squeeze more out of Biedrins, like running plays for him. That made him a focal point for the opposing defense, which put more pressure on him to play well, which put more pressure on him to hit his FTs when the opposing defense zeroed in on him and hacked him.
This season, with the addition of DWright and Lee, there are 4 other starters on the floor who can take on more of the responsibilities of the offense, and the defense doesn’t have to zero in on Biedrins, and he can play with less pressure and stick to rebounding and cleaning up misses and maybe take an occasional shot, which also keeps him off the FT line, something he didn’t like to do. So if my read on this is the correct read, Biedrins should have a better season than last season.
Come to think of it, it’s actually pretty similar to the role he had during We Believe and the 48 win team.
Considering opponents will use hack-a-Biedrins at the end of games, maybe it was better he fouled out. ha ha Love Biedrins and all (particularly tonight… very happy), but I don’t have much confidence in his FT shooting yet. His form sure as crap has improved, though. I figure that’s a good sign.
The Golden Glow is the only way to reach the upper level.
Well, all Keith Smart has to do is sub him out at the end of the game, so he doesn’t become a FT victim. I’m getting the feeling that we won’t see many FT shot attempts from Biedrins, excluding the explicit hack-a-biedrins tactic. I think Smart will only call for plays for Biedrins when Biedrins has an easy advantage. If the opponent chooses to hack Biedrins on any of his shot attempts, Smart can simply call for a play for 1 of the other 4 players.
As a result, I don’t know if we’ll ever get a good test out of Biedrins’ new FT stroke with the knee bend. Based on the very few FT shots I saw during preseason, I have “more confidence” in it than last season’s stroke, which was almost always clanging off the front of the rim. This season, his shots are up there somewhere over the rim, so that’s an improvement, I suppose.
by IQofaWarrior on Oct 28, 2010 1:15 AM PDT up reply actions
You can't run a hack-a-player strategy on a player who doesn't have the ball in his hands.
You could do the hack-a-shaq because the Laker’s offense revolved around getting the ball to Shaq down low, and him pounding it in.
However, you can’t hack-a-beans on a drive-and-dish. There’s no time. Often, you’ll just increase the risk of giving up the three-point play.
This is a phantom fear.
I’m pretty sure you can hack-a-player w/o the ball, as long as there is more than 2 minutes left in the quarter? Teams were doing it last season, and they would tell the ref they were doing it so they would look for it…and also so things didn’t get out of hand.
If Biedrins shoots FT’s at a 55-60% clip, which isn’t unreasonable to expect out of him this year, that’s a bad strategy.
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 10:17 AM PDT up reply actions
It’s not a bad strategy if the Dubs are trying to run the clock down. Better to have them possibly miss 2 FT’s and run no time down then run 24 seconds down when there are only 30 sec.‘s to go and you’re down by 4.
The Golden Glow is the only way to reach the upper level.
When there are only 30 seconds left -
You can’t foul intentionally away from the ball. It’s a tech and they get a shot and the ball back.
So you just don’t throw Biedrins the ball unless it’s at the end of a drive to finish right by the basket.
If Beans shoots FTs at 54%
Then hacking him is a bad strategy compared to merely letting the team run its offense, and that’s before you account for the fact that the opposing big men will quickly foul out if they adopt such a strategy before the very end of the game.
If the other team wants to start hacking Beans wily-nily with four minutes left on the clock, I suspect that benefits us even if he were only hitting them at a 35-40% clip. Seriously, don’t you think getting Miller and Scola out of the game with a few minutes to spare would have made last night’s win easier, even if it cost us a few points?
They can use any player to hack him as soon as the ball is inbounded.
Teams that employed that strategy would put their 12th man in the game just to foul someone. Nellie did this before too, by putting in Marco just to foul.
I suppose.
But again, I don’t think giving the opposing team free trips to the FT line is a winning strategy. Biedrins is a career .519 FT shooter, and that includes last year (can we put the rest the notion that his injury wasn’t an issue yet?) and his first (.425) and second (.306) years.
That puts developed, healthy Biedrins’ career average at around 56% percent – above league average scoring efficiency. I don’t think you win games by giving your team an easy look at above-average scoring efficiency with three minutes left in the game when you’re behind. That the part of the game when you’re trying to get stops, not give up free points.
Indeed.
Half of Monta’s baskets were assisted, and that’s encouraging. Less creation and more finishing from him will drive his efficiency way up, I think.
by Spider Jerusalem on Oct 28, 2010 12:42 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Nice to pull out a win here, after the grossness of last year’s debut.
Still and all, I don’t know that I came out from this game feeling too encouraged… there are still a lot of problems here. Everybody’s still fouling too much, and ye gods, that interior D is rough; David Lee was every bit as bad defensively as one might fear. The new-look bench is pretty damn dicey, too, although hopefully Reggie and BWright will get in sync.
Awfully nice to see Biedrins performing, awfully nice to watch Lee on offense, awfully nice to see Dorell’s poise, and awfully nice to see Monta thrill Oracle with a night like that. But Monta’s not going to have many nights like that, and when he doesn’t, the Dubs are going to need to stop people near the basket at least occasionally. Louis Amundson can’t get healthy fast enough.
Golden State Worriers: Angst & Analysis
fouls were too much
but we also got a lot of foul calls that were questionable. some of the fouls came because guys on defense were trying to help each other too much at times, which is something they can adjust.
D in the paint improved in the second half – and i think if your defensive strategies is to try and limit threes, it makes it tough to also play good post defense. They picked their poison and scola is one of the most under rated PFs in the league. Lee said after game that the D wasn’t good – so that is a good sign.
I think it's worth pointing out how the interior D really improved in the second half -
- when the team seemed to improve the timing of their double-teams.
In the first half, the double-teams were either too early, resulting in open looks for the guards, or two late.
And in the first half the Rockets had open cutters all over the place. Hard to play good interior D with open cutters everywhere.
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 9:10 AM PDT up reply actions
I definitely noticed that rotations seemed to greatly improve after half time
In the first half the team looked a little too anxious, almost like they were overly eager to rotate and help out which lead to a lot of ball watching and made the team susceptible to back cuts. In the second half the Warriors seemed more disciplined in their rotations which shored up the defense a bit but then the fouls started.
Maybe I’m still feeling a bit too much of the kool-aid from all the preseason hype but I did think the Warriors were giving a lot more effort on the defense than they have in a long time. Hopefully they can focus their energy a little better going forward. I think it will be a stretch to think this will be a good defensive team but I still think they will be better than last year.
saw a lot of good rebounds
not just empty stat-fillers, but honest-to-goodness fights for the board that were won out by our big men. really encouraging to see
Goal: 8 seed!
yeah!
I know it’s just one game, but I am super encouraged to see the results when Lee and Biedrens are set loose on the glass….
Ahhh, hopefully we stay healthy and when we get Lou and eventually Udoh back on the court, rebounds are going to be hard to come by for the oppposing teams!!
"There's more to life than basketball. I can't play this game my whole life. I'm just trying to figure out what I like to do and meet some cool people along the way." -Chris Bosh
by Duby Dub Dubs on Oct 28, 2010 10:33 AM PDT up reply actions
Thanks for the recap, Jae. I gotta say, that’s great to get a win against a hungry (after a tough loss to the Lakers) and good team. Provided we didn’t have such a FT disparity, we probably could have beat them at home, too. Otherwise, we would have lost horribly.
Regardless, the rebounding was so good to see. True joy. The way the offense was clicking was awesome. Between David Lee, Curry and Ellis, we ought to be in the top 3 again in offense, easily.
Then add in our superior rebounding talent, and we should be way better than last year.
My question marks are, like Jae says, our bench and frankly, I’m still skeptical of Smart. I hope he’s great, but we’ll see. Not many good coaches available, so I really, really hope Smart turns out to be a genuine, top rate coach.
The Golden Glow is the only way to reach the upper level.
Smart seeemed to make better decision on his rotations
I don’t know why Bell and Radman got so many minutes in the preseason, but was glad to see that Smart knocked them back to the deep end of the bench
"There's more to life than basketball. I can't play this game my whole life. I'm just trying to figure out what I like to do and meet some cool people along the way." -Chris Bosh
by Duby Dub Dubs on Oct 28, 2010 10:41 AM PDT up reply actions
Except he still went to Vlad before Carney in the 1st half. Fortunately Carney played well enough to (hopefully) put Vlad to bed. Now it’s time to get Adrien some real burn (5-10 minutes is all I ask).
Sittin in my scraper watchin Oakland goin wild, ta-dow!
Vlad came in as a “big” in place of Biedrins when he entered in the first quarter. Lee went to the bench shortly thereafter. Vlad left and was replaced by Lee. Unless the Warriors wanted to go micro-small, that’s not a situation where Carney is going to play over Radman.
True, it’s a palce where Wright should play over Radwoman.
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 11:56 AM PDT up reply actions
More shades of Nellie Ball. Great offensive execution, but horrible defense.
Team defense shuts down opponents, and not making guys like Luis Scola look like Superman.
He’s not that good. Luis Scola runs wild at Oracle Arena fouls out Andris Biedrens … Luis who ??
Actually, Luis Scola is an excellent player. He shouldn’t score as many as he did tonight, but the guy can ball.
The Golden Glow is the only way to reach the upper level.
agreed
Scola killed Pau gasol the night before and was the second best player in FIBA after Durant – guy is over rated. Also, the defensive strategy was to close out on the three pointers and this makes it easier for guys in the paint.
let's not lose perspective
we’re at home
we shoot 55%
the rockets are playing the second night of a back to back
yao isn’t playing for them
squeak out a 4 point win.
i loved the rebounding form lee and biedrins, and i loved HOW we were getting shots on offense.
i didn’t love how easily the rockets were finding teammates with their passes into the paint (either cutting guards or big men posting), and how easily they finished.
dorell knocking down his open looks from 3 was SO SATISFYING. so were his pump fakes, then getting a step closer and knocking down the midrange jumpers. (he did that twice. love it.)
curry keeps freaking me out, coming up limping all the time. i was there in san diego last week when he left for the locker room, too. not a good feeling. he played great thoguh.
monta made me smile tonight. it’s sad to think good play from him could simply be boosting his trade value. :(
but we won a game! wahoo! we outrebounded our opponent! the warriors! wtf! love it.
Ok Let's not
Yes the Warriors were at home and if they are expecting an eighth place finish you got to win at home.
Warriors have good shooters they’ll be plenty of games where they’ll shoot above 50 percent from the field and there will be games where it seems like the Warriors can’t hit a shot.
That’s an excuse teams will be playing back to back games throughout the season.
Yao is playing, but he was sat out because the Rockets don’t want him play back-to-back nights and it still wouldn’t have mattered if Yao was in the lineup the Warriors still would have won.
Wouldn’t say squeaked out the four point win, I’d say the Rockets squeaked back into it because of missed free throws, but the Warriors had a big enough cushion in the final minutes to win.
Lee and Biedrins will make a good tandem rebounding the ball, liked the fact that Biedrins got involved early offensively and he seems to be playing more confidence.
The Rockets got plenty of layups in the first half, but not as many in the second half, which helped the Warriors push the lead up.
Wright showed why he was a great signing for the Warriors, like his length the most because he can help out either Curry or Ellis defensively.
Curry was tremendous getting everyone involved and getting Ellis to the spot where he could be effective.
Monta’s not getting traded, He’s the leader of this team.
expecting an 8 seed? really?
i’m sure jae, sleepy, iq, atma, etc. would agree with me that it would be ridiculous to expect it. dream for it, sure, but don’t expect that. not till the warriors earn it.
i understand the yao back-to-backs situation. to say we definitely would have won anyway when you give the opponent a dominant all-star center is absurd, even if he’s only playing 24 minutes.
they got fewer layups in the second half in large part because kmart, courtney lee etc. were shooting so many free throws. in crunch time, they were attacking therim and scola was getting a lot of finishes in the paint, posting his man up or getting second chances (or getting to the line himself).
i’m just saying on even footing, the rockets are probably a better team than we are right now. which is why i’m so happy that things worked out for a warriors win.
as for monta, i’m not so sure he’s safe here. lacob still hasn’t given his approval of him, like he immediately did with steph and dlee. i hope he stays, but i don’t think we can definitively say he’s not going anywhere. :(
Exellent recap
All I can add to your comments is that the bizarre rotations were idiotic and killed momentum. I held my tongue during the preseason, but if this team performs anywhere near its’ potential, it will be in spite of Smart, not because of his game coaching. He appears to have a greater commitment to mediocrity than anything else.
Baseball is a chamber orchestra. Football is a marching band. Basketball is a modern quintet. jazz, rock, hiphop, pop/ all about the beat./ still my revolution not/ til you dance through it.
and props to Dan – he only took one shot tonight. He didn’t bobble the perfect pass to him wide open under the basket, and he didn’t miss the dunk. It’s a little thing, but more than Rad or Bell were able to achieve in more minutes.
Baseball is a chamber orchestra. Football is a marching band. Basketball is a modern quintet. jazz, rock, hiphop, pop/ all about the beat./ still my revolution not/ til you dance through it.
I really don't get the criticism on the rotations
None of our weaker bench players saw much time on the floor at all. Every player, I think, who was healthy got at least a couple minutes (good for chemistry).
All our starters got minutes to rest on bench – at one point, Monta and Curry were out together and we held on to the lead. They then both came back rejuvinated.
The main guys who subbed were BWright, Reggie and Carney – which is what people on this site have been asking for.
Our starters got into foul trouble which can dictate the rotation more than coaching.
I thought Smart did well here.
agreed, generally
but it seemed like Smart would put all the subs in at once. I’d like to see him sprinkle the subs in one at a time (or 2 at most). So, we’d have rotations like:
Curry
Williams
Lee
D. Wright
Biedrins
or
Curry
Ellis
D. Wright
B. Wright
Biedrins
or
Willams
Ellis
Carney
Lee
Biedrins
instead of
Williams
Ellis
Carney
B. Wright
Lee
If you're going to refuse to play Adrien, sure.
But if you’re playing percentages and decision value, your best option is to put Adrien in at center instead of Vlad, especially with Hayes on the floor. I’m not saying you have to keep playing him, but you have to give him a shot first.
Why? Because the chance of him being able to play center against that lineup is significantly better than Vlad, Gad or Brandan. You do that because he is a high-rate player with a good success rate over the preseason, because you already know (or should) that asking Vlad or Brandan to be heavy duty rebounders has a really poor chance of success, and Gad’s foul rate is is very high and his conversion rate is very low.
Jeff is absolutely a risk, in that we really don’t have long-term values for him. But unless you rank his chances to play at the level his stats show at less than 30%, he’s a better first choice than Vlad.
So you don’t commit to him, but you give him say 3 minutes. At his rate, if he hasn’t produced in 3 minutes, pull him, and go to your second choice – which I think is Gad, and that still surprises me. He played with good discipline last night. Vlad should be the fourth choice, not the first.
Baseball is a chamber orchestra. Football is a marching band. Basketball is a modern quintet. jazz, rock, hiphop, pop/ all about the beat./ still my revolution not/ til you dance through it.
if you didn’t see the game, you don’t know that Adrien’s one foul came from aggressively boxing out Scola. It appeared to be a questionable call, but the play did end with Scola down on the floor for the only time I can recall last night. I’m all for a finesse game, but does anyone really think he’s going to board and score like that if someone puts a body on him regularly?
In the last 2:40 of the game Scola went 4-5 and picked up 5 boards, so his full game numbers are inflated. Again, the correct first choice at that point is Adrien.
Baseball is a chamber orchestra. Football is a marching band. Basketball is a modern quintet. jazz, rock, hiphop, pop/ all about the beat./ still my revolution not/ til you dance through it.
where did you get the notion that I would "refuse to play Adrien"?
or that I would prefer Vlad over Adrien?
Did you hit the reply button by mistake or something?
yeah, the Guv has it
You didn’t list Adrien in your rotations – and those are the rotations Smart will use first. So sorry, that wasn’t aimed at you. Now, this may just be overblown histrionics on my part. Perhaps Smart will lean faster than it appears. Jae got it right – the turn at the end of the first, and the turn in th fourth, actually were scary.
Baseball is a chamber orchestra. Football is a marching band. Basketball is a modern quintet. jazz, rock, hiphop, pop/ all about the beat./ still my revolution not/ til you dance through it.
In theory, Udoh will bring tough defense and a jump shot as a backup for Biedrins, more often than not. The jump shot should open up the floor more, so Lee can score more easily.
The Golden Glow is the only way to reach the upper level.
I'm not impressed with his jumper.
It doesn’t appear he will stretch the floor, and he can’t really finish that well around the rim, so maybe his best option is pick and roll?
by GovernorStephCurry on Oct 28, 2010 11:57 PM PDT up reply actions
rebounding
We did win the overall rebounding battle, due to the offensive end. However, we had a 67 DREB%, which is not good. Last year’s squad had a 68 DREB%. Lee and Biedrins did more than their share of rebounding, but we need to see a bit more from D. Wright and B. Wright when he’s in the game.
Good point
It was nice to win the rebounding battle but I think a lot of the reason is because the Warriors shot so well. We limited the Rockets chances to grab defensive rebounds by making 55% of our shots.
Lee and Biedrins did a lot of nice things and will definitely improve our rebounding but I’d still like to see more effort from the perimeter players (especially D Wright) to help out on the defensive boards.
Similar thing could be said about the Rockets, though. Not sure we had many more defensive rebounding opportunities than they did – they missed 46 FGA’s, and 10 of 52 FT’s, while we missed 41 FGA’s and 4 of 26 FT’s. I think we still win the rebounding battle if those are more equal.
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 9:33 AM PDT up reply actions
Great recap
The Warriors didn’t play their best game. Yet, they still came out with a victory against a good, probably playoff bound Houston team. In the second half they traded giving up easy buckets for picking up tons of fouls. They sent the Rockets to the line 21 times in the 3rd quarter, and Kevin Martin was having a field day taking advantage of the refs reliance on whistles. Houston was living at the line without even getting to the bucket.
Last year’s Warriors team would have folded the tent and used that as an excuse to lose 130-100. This year’s team isn’t that team. Are they going to get 46 points from Monta often? Not likely. But remember that Monta and David Lee inexplicably missed 4 of 5 foul shots in the waning moments. They had a comfortable lead until the very end… it was never a one possession game. Partly thanks to David Lee’s rebound (which the Warriors NEVER would have recovered sans Biedrins in the past).
As you said jae, there were more than ample opportunities for the Warriors to pack it in tonight and give in to their “Warriorness” for the loss. They didn’t. They outrebounded the Rockets, successfully made a second half adjustment defensively to stop giving up easy layups, didn’t turn the ball over much, and beat a playoff team (at home, when they’re on the second night of a road back-to-back). A great win to start the season. I’m cautiously optimistic that they can reach 40 wins on the season.
A few clerical errors, 132-128, Curry had 11 assists, not 12. And I think there was another in there somewhere. I understand, it’s the first game of the season. Both Curry and Brooks dribbled the ball off their feet, you get a pass this time too.
Trust me, learning english isn’t a waste of time. It is actually sort of useful.
-randolphforpresident
by Dubs fan in Boston on Oct 28, 2010 6:43 AM PDT reply actions
It occurs to me, 11 assists is an incredibly high number considering Curry didn’t handle all the time. Monta did that for him a great deal, it seems.
The Golden Glow is the only way to reach the upper level.
I completely disagree.
Monta didn’t have the ball in his hands much before his scoring. He was coming off screens looking for stuff. Curry and Lee had the ball the most, and did a great job with it.
by GovernorStephCurry on Oct 28, 2010 11:57 PM PDT up reply actions
Well we certainly aren’t going to become a great defensive team over night. I think this team needs time together under their belt to really find a defensive game (even if that ends up just decent). But yes, there was certainly a different feel to last night. You get so set in those emotions as a Dubz fan of the team hitting little dry spells through a game where they will miss a number of shots on repeated possessions. We are so used to having those be one and done, to see Lee and Andris in there giving us 2nd and 3rd opportunities and getting those converted download was jarring. In the best possible way of course. The free throw ratio was troubling and needs to be improved, but it WAS the Rockets. For whatever reason dating back to the We Believe team, there seems to be about 2 games like that where they just rack up these fouls in their favor and won’t be called for absolutely anything. I know at least two of the games in the past few years Nelson got tossed for finally having enough of it. I still remember a play where Andris went up for a rebound against Scola and Yao, he was the outside guy and basically just jumped. Scola and Yao had the inside positions and had major contact together, but Andris got called for a foul on Scola. Scola who was on the OTHER side of Yao. Screwy things happen against the Rockets so a win against them is a win. Lot of promising things from this game. Can’t wait for Friday.
Carney won the backup 3 spot from BadVlad
His defensive performance, particularly down the stretch when he was matched up on KMart, was a revelation. He made a couple plays that I thought secured the win for us. He doesn’t do much to fill up the stat sheet, but he knows how to play defense, and he has very active hands. Vlad must now sit down, forever.
Adrien played 48 seconds and, surprise, got a rebound. Why did Smart go small at any point rather than let Adrien into the game? I don’t get it. The guy is big, strong and physical, and most importantly he understands positional rebounding.
Monta is a beast. There is a pure joy that comes from the aesthetic appreciation of his skills, one that is only amplified by seeing him encourage his teammates, hustle on defense, and make (for the most part) intelligent basketball plays.
If you don’t think David Lee is one of the most effective offensive bigmen in the league, you don’t know basketball. His court awareness, passing skills, feathery touch, and nose for the ball make him a huge asset for us. While I was writing this, Luis Scola got another putback, so Lee does have that going against him.
Sittin in my scraper watchin Oakland goin wild, ta-dow!
I always refer to Kenyon Martin as “that dude who let Trina tattoo her lips on his neck.” KMART is Kevin.
Sittin in my scraper watchin Oakland goin wild, ta-dow!
Um. No.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/martike01.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/martike02.html
Notice how Kenyon’s page actually specifies K-Mart as his nickname. Kevin’s does not. In terms of how well known they are, well, Kenyon is a former #1 overall pick who’s made an All-Star team. He might not be as relevant right now as Kevin, but he’s definitely not “the other guy”. More importantly, Kenyon had the nickname first, and was one of the originators of the first letter first name, beginning of last name type nicknames, before it became completely overplayed and utterly unoriginal. You can’t just go and give a current active players nickname to another player. KMart = Kenyon Martin.
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 9:25 AM PDT up reply actions
-
"I wasn't able to extend so I had a serious lack of extension."--Dallas Braden
by StJosephBurningTheOakTreesToTheGround on Oct 28, 2010 10:51 AM PDT up reply actions
it's like re-using the "LT" nickname in football
that should always have just been for Laurence Taylor
"There's more to life than basketball. I can't play this game my whole life. I'm just trying to figure out what I like to do and meet some cool people along the way." -Chris Bosh
by Duby Dub Dubs on Oct 28, 2010 10:49 AM PDT up reply actions
Except even worse, it’s like re-using LT when Lawrence Taylor was still an active player!
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 11:02 AM PDT up reply actions
Agree about Carney
The guy showed us hustle when we needed it. There were two shots he took that were bad looks, but he got his own rebound on both of them and dished the ball out to Curry or Ellis both times I think. He plays with physicality and seemed excited to be playing in the game.
I think this team still needs some time
The offense looked great as always, although I hope we don’t always have to rely on so many jump shots. I would have liked to see a little more slashing from players other than Ellis and Curry. The D really was leaving gaping holes in the paint, but this is where they just need time. Practice in the off-season is great and all, but the D will only form with more experience in the regular season. I will give them a month to show continuing signs of improvement. Rebounding was awesome
My thoughts….great way to start the season. I’ll never complain about a W. Offensively, this team fits together as well as I could have possibly imagined – Lee really is a great team player on offense, Andris is back to doing what he does as a great complement to other options, Monta still had a huge role today (I’d still like to see him do a little less in the future but no complaints today, he played extremely well!) but wasn’t forcing things – his opportunities were good ones, Curry did his thing, Dorell looked like he fits into the role we were hoping for him perfectly. Then you have offensive options like Reggie and Wright off the bench. Good stuff. We should be a very good offensive team this year. And not a “we only score a lot of points because we play at such a fast pace” kinda team like last year (we were actually only 14th in BB-Ref’s offensive rating last yaer), but a real top 5-10 offense in the NBA.
That said, defense is still a huge concern. David Lee isn’t getting better because he’s a PF. He’s a bad defensive player. We still lack interior D. We’re not a good defensive team. I do think we’ll be better in the future, though, the Rockets played good basketball, Scola is a good player who had a very good game, and they lived at the FT line – the most efficient shot there is.
Other random thoughts. Hey, surprise surprise, Biedrins is the same Biedrins before he was playing with a serious injury. Not only that, but he actually looked solid when he got the ball on the post the few times we ran something for him. Good news. And some people complain that he doesn’t work on his game or improve, I don’t know what game those people watch. To them, I say "bully"*! Radwomanovich should never see the floor. He’s not good at basketball. I was hoping Smart would slow the pace down some. Sure didn’t in yesterdays game. We don’t have the personnel to play good positional D, we need to force a lot more turnovers. We did a poor job of that yesterday. The Heat are going to be very, very good when they figure things out, and there’s no way Evan Turner becomes anything less than a solid starter. He just does way too many things well.
Enjoy Game One while you can...
I’ve still got a bad feeling that the Giants will lose this series in five or six. I want nothing more than to see the Rangers lose, but I’m just not sure the Giants have what it takes.
"I wasn't able to extend so I had a serious lack of extension."--Dallas Braden
by StJosephBurningTheOakTreesToTheGround on Oct 28, 2010 10:54 AM PDT up reply actions
but I’m just not sure the Giants have what it takes.
they deifintely don’t have what it takes but luck so far has been trumping skill so who knows?
Lights please, lights please, turn off the lights.
by Skeptic con Urquell on Oct 28, 2010 10:59 AM PDT up reply actions
So you just don’t think the Giants have as much luck as the Rangers. Ok.
(The point is whatever happens in a 7 game series is largely decided by luck)
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 11:03 AM PDT up reply actions
So you just don’t think the Giants have as much luck as the Rangers.
no, I’m saying they’ve had more luck than SanDiego, colorado, atlanta, and philly so far so maybe the rangers will be one more victim of fate?
Lights please, lights please, turn off the lights.
by Skeptic con Urquell on Oct 28, 2010 11:13 AM PDT up reply actions
Oh, two more things. We outrebounded the Rockets! I mean, I basically expect it knowing our roster, but actually seeing it in action is beautiful. Second….did my eyes deceive me, or did I see a GSoM commercial last night?!
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 8:53 AM PDT up reply actions
I especially liked seeing Biedrins post up on the left side, the the ball and pause, waiting to see if a double team came. When it didn’t, he seemed to know that he had a spin hook that, one-on-one against a PF who he had 3 or 4 inches on, was a shot he could, should, and would make.
Radman seems to have fooled coaches into thinking he should be in NBA games for years. I have no idea where he managed to get a complete collection of photos of every NBA coach in compromising positions, but it’s the only halfway credible explanation.
I liked Biedrins in the post
Against Scola. That was an interesting matchup. He was slow and methodical and got off a very good shot. That awakened him and he hustle on the offensive glass and you could tell his confidence was up. That’s the way Biedrins played when the Warriors made the playoffs.
If the Warriors get 8-10 points and 10-12 rebounds from Biedrins a night it will be huge.
That said, defense is still a huge concern. David Lee isn’t getting better because he’s a PF. He’s a bad defensive player. We still lack interior D. We’re not a good defensive team. I do think we’ll be better in the future, though, the Rockets played good basketball, Scola is a good player who had a very good game, and they lived at the FT line – the most efficient shot there is.
My thoughts exactly. Keith Smart said the defensive philosophy they’re trying to implement is a “work in progress” so although they didn’t accomplish what they want to do defensively, they at least acknowledged it was bad last night.
I’m not holding my breath on David Lee. I will accept that his defensive contribution is getting defensive rebounds and that’s it.
by Doctor Kajita on Oct 28, 2010 9:00 AM PDT up reply actions
All the open cutters seems like a very correctable problem to me. It’s about understanding help defense and the proper rotations and assignments.
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 9:11 AM PDT up reply actions
Exactly.
I suspect this is going to be the recurring theme in shootarounds and tape sessions all year.
I don’t think we’ll be a great defensive team as currently constructed. But we can be an average one, and that might be good enough given the offensive weapons we have.
I don’t even know if we’ll be average, but we can be better, and I think we can be “good enough”.
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 9:26 AM PDT up reply actions
I am looking forward to Amudson coming back.
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 9:33 AM PDT up reply actions
What's the word on his likely return date?
"I wasn't able to extend so I had a serious lack of extension."--Dallas Braden
by StJosephBurningTheOakTreesToTheGround on Oct 28, 2010 10:55 AM PDT up reply actions
Communication
They have been selling on this “being vocal” thing all of training camp but there were many miscues last night where a simple “left” or “right” would have solved the problem with the open cutters.
by Doctor Kajita on Oct 28, 2010 9:58 AM PDT up reply actions
It’s about understanding help defense and the proper rotations and assignments.
let’s remember that these Rockets are very, very good at using movement to get open looks. They ran a lot of the same stuff (with about as much success) against the Lakers the night before
"There's more to life than basketball. I can't play this game my whole life. I'm just trying to figure out what I like to do and meet some cool people along the way." -Chris Bosh
by Duby Dub Dubs on Oct 28, 2010 10:52 AM PDT up reply actions
we look like a real team..
Great read. Its hard to not get excited about the victory even with our lack of defense but lets not make excuses for the Rockets either, back to backs are part of the game and its not like Yoa dominated the night before.
Having real big men on the floor, rebounding, passing, fluid offense, teamwork, closing out a game those are things other teams do, but we saw this last night and it was Warriors players doing it.
I agree the rotation is whack. Too many bench players at one time let the Rockets cut into our double digit lead.
Monta may still not make the All-Star team but pound for pound he is the best player in the league (he does only wiegh 87 pounds)
oh and by the way.....
our big 2 outscored Miamis big three and our starting five outscored most teams last night.
As someone who attended Miami’s game last night…..man, that team is talented. They have spurts where they show what they’re capable of being, and it’s scary.
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 9:27 AM PDT up reply actions
Not to dump rain on your sunshine pumping, but do you realize how few players have ever managed to do that? Chris Paul has done it twice in his career. Steve Nash never has. Deron Williams never has. John Stockton never did. Jason Kidd never has. Mark Price (edit: Warriors Assistant Coach Mark Price!) never did. Lebron James never has. Rondo never has. Last year, only 3 players even averaged double digit assists per game – Paul, Deron, and Nash. Rondo was close.
Just want you to realize exactly what your prediction entails!
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 9:21 AM PDT up reply actions
Hey
If Monta’s knocking down midrange jumpers all season like last night, Curry’ll get 5 easy assists right there.
Trust me, learning english isn’t a waste of time. It is actually sort of useful.
-randolphforpresident
by Dubs fan in Boston on Oct 28, 2010 9:31 AM PDT up reply actions
I'm actually a little less worried about the D than everybody else.
Yes, it’s a work in progress. No, I don’t expect us to turn into one of the best defensive teams in the league anytime soon.
But I felt like the team defense was fundamentally shoddy in the first half, and got a lot better in the second half. The refs called a lot of ticky-tacky stuff against us, otherwise this game isn’t close. And it seemed like when the team did execute it’s double-teams correctly, we got good results.
That being said, I have no idea how we’re going to contain Blake Griffin, who’s going to be a much harder player to double-team than Scola was. The only good news is that nobody else seems to have a clue about how to guard him, either.
Blake Griffin might be the best power forward in the league, already.
Sittin in my scraper watchin Oakland goin wild, ta-dow!
Let’s not forget about that Tim Duncan guy….
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 9:28 AM PDT up reply actions
I’m not sure the Spurs are good enough this year to do their typical “coast into the playoffs so Timmy is fresh” routine. If that’s the case, does he have enough in the tank to make it a full season and playoffs? No question he’s a first ballot HOF’er, but I’d take Griffin this year.
ps- the Brandon Jennings comparison is way off base. People called him the second coming because of what he did in that one game against us where he got unconcious hot. The only thing that will keep Griffin in check is his kneecap.
Sittin in my scraper watchin Oakland goin wild, ta-dow!
ps- the Brandon Jennings comparison is way off base. People called him the second coming because of what he did in that one game against us where he got unconcious hot. The only thing that will keep Griffin in check is his kneecap.
I don’t think it’s that off base at all. Speaking for myself, I’m skeptical of all this newfound hype he’s getting because of one game. I think it’s more than a bit overblown, especially when you start talking about how you’d rather have Griffin right now than freaking Tim Duncan.
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 2:04 PM PDT up reply actions
It's not just one game.
The guy was a beast in the preseason, too. Of course, yes, I admit to being somewhat hypocritical about this because I am fairly dismissive of Lin and Adrien’s preseason numbers, but Griff got a lot more time than their of them.
I’d almost certainly rather have Duncan for this season. But if you could have either of those players on your roster for the next five years, Griffin might well make that an interesting discussion.
Griffin looks real.
He’s already capable of being a dominant presence. And though I somewhat disagree on our rookies’ numbers, it’s not hypocritical at all to be cautious of them. I was skeptical of Blake before I saw him – no more. He’s everything you want in a first pic, and then some.
Baseball is a chamber orchestra. Football is a marching band. Basketball is a modern quintet. jazz, rock, hiphop, pop/ all about the beat./ still my revolution not/ til you dance through it.
Because of one game? Did anyone even watch the Clippers game?
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 9:28 AM PDT up reply actions
I saw parts of it
and he looked dominant every time he got the ball. they couldn’t handle him down low.
Then again, the same could be said about Luis Scola…..
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 9:56 AM PDT up reply actions
For serious
Remember when the talk about Brandon Jennings was: “Best PG evar?”
One game does not a career make.
Trust me, learning english isn’t a waste of time. It is actually sort of useful.
-randolphforpresident
by Dubs fan in Boston on Oct 28, 2010 9:59 AM PDT up reply actions
that's true
But the way the two players do it is different. Blake muscles his way into the post and Scola is a lot more finesse, with little hook shots and step backs. Blake is raw power, which I think is more consistent. And harder to defend, in general.
Blake is raw power, which I think is more consistent.
It’s easier to see how indefensible a “power” game is in any sport. However, there’s a lot that goes into Scola’s skills that isn’t easily captured by the fan’s eye. He’s got a very wide array of post moves, an incredibly soft touch, and a Troy Polamolu-like knack for getting around the ball and scoring on broken plays. It looks easy to do what Scola does, and thus it looks easier to defend. But it’s not.
Trust me, learning english isn’t a waste of time. It is actually sort of useful.
-randolphforpresident
by Dubs fan in Boston on Oct 28, 2010 10:09 AM PDT up reply actions
I'm not necessarily saying it's "easier to defend"
rather that he’s more susceptible to having off nights. Power is consistent, whereas all that finesse stuff is less so.
Blake's only weakness is the team he plays on.
I don’t think they can get him the ball enough.
by Spider Jerusalem on Oct 28, 2010 6:03 PM PDT up reply actions
He does have a really bad team, as long as Baron isn’t Baron. So far, he looks very unBaronish.
The Golden Glow is the only way to reach the upper level.
The only good news is that nobody else seems to have a clue about how to guard him, either.
Are you implying that the Clippers potentially being a good team is somehow “good news?” They’re in our division, we have to play them more than the rest of the league.
I too am not that concerned with the defense. I mean, if they even get to “mildly acceptable” I’ll be doing backflips in my living room. They went from putrid in the first half to half decent in the second… with a bunch of ticky tack fouls. They need to learn how not to foul. They took a ton of bad fouls.
Trust me, learning english isn’t a waste of time. It is actually sort of useful.
-randolphforpresident
by Dubs fan in Boston on Oct 28, 2010 9:29 AM PDT up reply actions
Well, you're right.
But everything I’ve seen about Blake (and I’m in L.A., so I get exposed to a lot about him) suggests that he’s going to be really, really, really good.
That’s not good for us, obviously. I simply meant by it that if he shreds our defense on Friday, that’s more a function of him being awesome than our interior defense sucking.
Ahhh....
Setting expectations low already I see! Well played, sir! Now if we see Griffin struggle against the Warriors D because he has an off night, we can proclaim the Warriors as the best team EVAR!!!!
Trust me, learning english isn’t a waste of time. It is actually sort of useful.
-randolphforpresident
by Dubs fan in Boston on Oct 28, 2010 10:01 AM PDT up reply actions
my expectations for the Clips game are very low
very unlikely that Ellis and Curry shoot that well 2 games in a row. Blake and Kaman will be quite a load for us up front. It will be interesting.
I like how Warriors fans are tempering their expectations
“Look, we played really well this last game. There’s no WAY we play nearly as well the next game.”
Guys, it’s going to be fine. This isn’t Stephen Jackson’s Warriors. This isn’t Baron “Here one minute, gone the next” Davis’ Warriors. This isn’t Nellie’s Warriors. This is a new group of guys who just played really well, caught a ton of bad breaks on the whistles, made good defensive halftime adjustments, and seem to actually care about playing defense. Let’s just watch this next game without the expectation of failure.
Trust me, learning english isn’t a waste of time. It is actually sort of useful.
-randolphforpresident
by Dubs fan in Boston on Oct 28, 2010 10:12 AM PDT up reply actions
My expectations are high. I honestly don’t expect the Clippers to be that good. I don’t think they’re very talented outside of Griffin.
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 10:19 AM PDT up reply actions
But... but!!!
Baron Davis! Eric “I’m taking Curry’s Team USA minutes” Gordon! Al-Farouq “Better than Udoh” Aminu?!?!?!?! These guys are WAAAAAYYYY talented!
Seriously, though: Baron Davis gets up for this game, so that gives them at least two talented players against the Warriors. If Lee and Biedrins can offset Griffin & Kaman, we should come out well ahead. At best, their bench is just as turrible as ours, and Curry/Ellis/Wright should be better than Davis/Gordon/Gomes.
Trust me, learning english isn’t a waste of time. It is actually sort of useful.
-randolphforpresident
by Dubs fan in Boston on Oct 28, 2010 11:26 AM PDT up reply actions
I think Baron's oft-indifferent work habits may have reduced his ability to "turn it on."
If he’s out of shape, quite frankly, he may be unable to turn it on when he needs to.
Its early in the season
So Baron hasn’t had time to get his usual nicks and scratches. He may be out of shape, but he’s not remotely winded or nicked up. He’s still Baron Davis and still very talented. Did you see the geriatric Celtics against the Heat? He’ll find a way to get up for this game. I’m not expecting “Beating Dallas in the playoffs” BD, or even “vintage” BD, but he won’t be his usual lackadaisical ready to be put out to pasture Baron Davis… and that makes him dangerous. Especially in crunch time. But who knows, maybe he’ll dribble the ball off his foot like Brooks.
Trust me, learning english isn’t a waste of time. It is actually sort of useful.
-randolphforpresident
by Dubs fan in Boston on Oct 28, 2010 11:33 AM PDT up reply actions
I didn't watch the game, but Simmons tweeted something to the effect that Baron basically killed the Clips against Portland.
3-11, 3 ast. suggests something other than him being on top of his game.
Early in the season might mean no nicks and scratches, but it also means Baron hasn’t had the time to play himself into shape, Shaq-style, yet….
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 11:58 AM PDT up reply actions
Oooohhhh
Good point.
Trust me, learning english isn’t a waste of time. It is actually sort of useful.
-randolphforpresident
by Dubs fan in Boston on Oct 28, 2010 10:23 PM PDT up reply actions
They need to learn how not to foul.
Yep. Honestly, this might be the most important variable of the season.
It’s not like the Rockets living at the line came from nowhere: we allowed our opponents to shoot more free throws per game last season than any other team, and pace alone doesn’t explain that. Biedrins’s foul rate has always been high, but it was absurdly high last season, and Opening Night didn’t make it seem like he’d solved the problem… Monta led all shooting guards in fouls per game last season, and he was back in foul trouble last night. Curry committed more fouls last season than any NBA guard had in three years, and he was back to his old tricks last night.
This is one of those little aspects of the game that, if not dealt with, can keep you from going anywhere, and it’s one of the lasting legacies of Nellie’s defensive apathy. You can’t compete on defense if you’re sending your opponents to the line 30 times a night, and we can’t afford to see our starting backcourt get in frequent foul trouble, because our guard depth is so poor. The Warriors have to learn to stop fouling as much as they do. If Keith Smart can’t make them do that, this season will not be a successful one.
Golden State Worriers: Angst & Analysis
We should see if Jamal Crawford is available again. He never finds himself in foul trouble! He never sends guys to the line. He could anchor our defense.
Oy. Actually, if there’s a big-man equivalent to Crawford, it might be our new 80-million-dollar man, who has posted abnormally low foul rates for a 4/5…
Fouls aren’t always a bad thing, by any means — if you’re a big man who never fouls, you’re probably not competing very hard. But the Warriors need to find a happy medium between the defensive invisibility of Crawford and Lee and the hack-happiness of Curry, Biedrins and Monta.
Golden State Worriers: Angst & Analysis
Can we somehow create a new player with all the good qualities of each of them? Monta’s explosiveness, Curry’s vision, ballhandling and shooting, Lee’s strength and hustle, Biedrins height, ability to catch and finish, and rebounding, Crawford’s nothing and an average of all their fouling….yeah, I’d like that player.
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 1:25 PM PDT up reply actions
Nah, I’m talking about a way better player than Durant. A more athletic Durant who can actually pass and isn’t rail thin!
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 2:05 PM PDT up reply actions
LeBron with a J?
I believe that ghosts are like dogs. They just do things arbitrarily.
by Reverend_Randy on Oct 28, 2010 3:46 PM PDT up reply actions
Good points.
I actually thought Biedrins’ fifth and sixth fouls were both reasonable. He was really close to getting in position for the charge on the fifth, and the sixth was one of those, you’re the help man, it’s your job to help. Unless you’re in a truly desperate backup situation, I don’t like it when players go super-passive because they have four or five fouls.
When we get Amundson back, Biedrins fouling out will be less of a big deal, overall I liked Biedrins aggression last night. If he can play at the 4.5/4.6 rate/36 that he did his last three healthy seasons, I’ll be happy.
I don’t entirely disagree on Biedrins’s fifth and sixth fouls… they weren’t unreasonable plays, and I don’t like seeing guys go half-speed on defense to avoid whistles either (something I think both Curry and Monta do at times out of necessity). But you don’t want one of your best players putting himself in a position where one unfair call gets him ejected. Bad calls happen… you’ve got to be able to weather them.
Golden State Worriers: Angst & Analysis
Griffin even has the beastly face to match his play.
He is looking like he will have his way in the NBA like he did in college. Amazing for a rookie! If he stays on a improving year by year curve the Clips may have the next superstar.
by Only In Fairfax on Oct 29, 2010 12:35 PM PDT up reply actions
leaps and bounds better than last year. the highlight of the game was when monta posed up shane battier. Hah, I don’t think Shane even so that coming.
Monta was impressive. He really is something special. Shoots with a hand in the face so often it reminds me of Jordan or Kobe (hahah don’t worry, I’m not putting him in their league.) What worries me is his sustainability. I hope he doesn’t put this much on his shoulders when he’s not hitting the J.
Monta had the more jaw-dropping night, but Scola really took the cake. Talk about scoring at will. The last quarter it didn’t even feel like he had a man on him. He made us look SILLY.
Still I am feeling alot better this year than last.
funny all the offseason talk....
about us having to trade Ellis to get to the next level. Seriously, last year he averaged 25.5 points, in 07-08 he shot 56% from the field and it seems he has that touch back (only one game I know)
so to those experts, who could we possibly trade him for that can do the things he does? Kobe, Lebron, Durant, Wade? Sure I would make those trades, no one else comes close.
I love Monta, he IS that special player and I hope Lacob takes a wait and see approach instead of trying to put his stamp on this team right away.
I cringe when I see Monta taking jumpers with a hand in his face. Not a shot you want to see often. Him going to the rim without having to create it himself off the dribble is a good thing, though. Despite his size, he’s also surprisingly effective as a post player. I wouldn’t mind running a few plays every game to get him some post touches.
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 9:30 AM PDT up reply actions
I noticed he was always "posting up" Brooks at the FT line.
It seemed like the lane was pretty clogged and he never really got to the bucket there, but it’s an effective spot and something I think we’ll see more of.
Hey, did anybody notice that Battier played 23 minutes, got abused by a red hot Monta, and beat off the dribble by Curry? He’s 32 years old. I doubt he can remain effective for much longer.
Trust me, learning english isn’t a waste of time. It is actually sort of useful.
-randolphforpresident
by Dubs fan in Boston on Oct 28, 2010 9:34 AM PDT up reply actions
I thought he had dropped off his game noticeably last season. Age is definitely catching up to him.
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 9:38 AM PDT up reply actions
He’s 32 years old. I doubt he can remain effective for much longer.
If only somebody had pointed out recently that Battier might well be over the hill.
Hm. I can’t think of anybody who might have said that .
Hm.
Hmmmmmmmm.
:)
Look buddy...
My words are original, nobody’s ever said anything that’s ever come out of my mouth before ever. Like, totally ever.
Also, if I write down 30 separate predictions that each of the 30 NBA team will win the championship this year and I’m right about one of them, that doesn’t make me a prophet ;-P
Trust me, learning english isn’t a waste of time. It is actually sort of useful.
-randolphforpresident
by Dubs fan in Boston on Oct 28, 2010 10:03 AM PDT up reply actions
Simmer down "buddy" -
I was just having a little fun with you.
I’ve been suggesting that Shane Battier wasn’t “Shane Battier” for a little while now. Most of the time, people have heaped abuse on me for it, so I feel entitled to crow a little.
And you might have noticed that I don’t make tons of predictions. The notion that I’m just randomly throwing stuff out there and getting right on occasion is b.s.. I also tend to be more than willing to admit when I’m wrong.
Sheesh...
I knew I the message was going through the interwebz sarcasm filter and thought I laid it on sufficiently thick… but apparently not.
Trust me, learning english isn’t a waste of time. It is actually sort of useful.
-randolphforpresident
by Dubs fan in Boston on Oct 28, 2010 11:27 AM PDT up reply actions
I enjoyed that post up on Battier, too. It was a bit of a shock to me, frankly.
The Golden Glow is the only way to reach the upper level.
Monta was very intense with his movement. It was ferocious, and explosive. He's a very nice post up player.
He’s got good bounce and body control that allows him to push his man down even when they got 20-30 pounds on him.
by GovernorStephCurry on Oct 28, 2010 11:59 PM PDT up reply actions
With Lee's inability to play defense
The drafting of Udoh make even more sense. He would have had at least 3 blocks last night. How many Blocks did Brandan get?
How many blocks did Brandan get?
1 in 11 minutes — a rate of 3.3 per 36.
There will be no extra point!
by Sleepy Freud on Oct 28, 2010 10:29 AM PDT up reply actions
1, in 11 minutes.
You absolutely, positively, can not complain about Wright’s shot-blocking last night.
I’m not seeing how that makes much of a difference, unless we can play Udoh on D and Lee on O?
by Missing Barry on Oct 28, 2010 11:05 AM PDT up reply actions
I’m not seeing how that makes much of a difference, unless we can play Udoh on D and Lee on O?
With Lee at heavy mins Admunson and Udoh will be filling in for Beans while Lee/BW are at PF.
by Only In Fairfax on Oct 29, 2010 12:44 PM PDT up reply actions
By the way ...
… this is one of the best write-ups I’ve seen on GSOM in a long time. I like the presence of real analysis, and the reduced emphasis on gimmicky photoshop images.
Let’s have more write-ups like this one, please!
Awww...
Everybody likes gimmicky photoshops. Usually when we’re 10-32 in the middle of yet another crappy season, those are the only things that keep the constituency entertained. Now that we’re over 0.500, it’s not nearly as utterly depressing to actually analyze the game. I predict more analysis unless/until we hit 0.400 or worse.
Trust me, learning english isn’t a waste of time. It is actually sort of useful.
-randolphforpresident
by Dubs fan in Boston on Oct 28, 2010 11:30 AM PDT up reply actions
WARRIORS 2.0
Little to NO “D” (good thing Smart said it will be a priority !!?) and runnin’ and gunnin’.
Interior defense was atrocious,WAAAAAAAAY TOO MANY layups !!
We can’t count on Monta going 46 every night! We gave up 128 points to Houston-what did they average last year about 100 ?!
I’d rather see the W’s winning 112-100.
And we must cut out the stupid fouls (hello Biedrins !),giving up 52 free throws is astronomically absurd !!
Dr. Jeff
There were SO many bad calls
I’m not worried about fouls, and no I like scoring 132 points. It was a run n gun game so giving up 128 is more understandable. Sucks, but it’s not like it was a slow game. There was good efforts on defense but Lee and Beans together aren’t a good defensive front court
" Only build on positives , don't stack the negatives...Instead of criticizing , what was a positive?" - Donavin Darius
"There is nothing like a wise phrase or quote to help convince others that your decision makes sense." - Anon
"If you're ever in a fair fight, then your tactics suck." ಠ_ಠ
The defense was porous, but at least it was from blown rotations and not cutting off slashers, as opposed to the usual lack of effort.
Sittin in my scraper watchin Oakland goin wild, ta-dow!
Most off came from Curry/Lee screwing up
They were awful on defense
" Only build on positives , don't stack the negatives...Instead of criticizing , what was a positive?" - Donavin Darius
"There is nothing like a wise phrase or quote to help convince others that your decision makes sense." - Anon
"If you're ever in a fair fight, then your tactics suck." ಠ_ಠ
This win made my week
Great to start on the right foot. Let’s smash them Clippers next!
PFortyy :)
'11 Champs!
Insane
to go to NBA standings and see the W’s sitting in 2nd place.
Ha.
I'm drenched in P.I.N.K...you?
Game thoughts
First, nobody should be arguing about consistency on offence. The Dubs put up over 100 every night.
Second, Monta was on fire and made some sweet Kobe-like shots with hands in his face. The only difference is Kobe takes them as the shot clock expires, Monta took them with 19 seconds left on the shot clock. He was on fire, so that is awesome, but take away 3 or 4 of those (which is more realistic cause Monta won’t be 75% every night) and we lose that game.
Third, the Warriors decided they won the game with 2 minutes left and STOPPED playing defence. I am pretty sure Scola had 8 uncontested points and the Warriors would let the Rockets score and then just trust themselves at the charity stripe. Monta’s free throw fails was a fluke, but still… no easy baskets in the final 2 minutes please!
Third, Steph Curry is the man. I think resting him and his ankle a game or two would be worth it so we can watch him the other 78 games of the season AND in the playoffs.
Fourth, Dorell Wright was very impressive. Reggie seems to be a great iso/driving player, but he takes too many jumpers. He should accept to not have the same stroke as Curry and stick to the floor.
Fifth, I am so glad the season started again. I flew to the Bay Area (from Utah) this weekend for Opening night AND my Giants happened to be in town. Best trip ever.
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