Recap #41: Golden State Warriors 110, Indiana Pacers 108 - Monta Ellis FTW! Dorell Wright Plays Well Against Danny Granger

http://www.nba.com/video/games/warriors/2011/01/19/0021000624_ind_gsw_recap.nba/index.html

David Lee was trying to make sure the guys stayed on the bench because there was still time on the clock, otherwise I have no idea what that was…

Should just be called:

“UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM”

Monta’s GW is the number 1 play in NBA.com’s top 10! savor the rare air of national recognition!

Very entertaining game… but we are in such a strange situation. The team clearly plays better when Curry is on the floor and he seems to be the only one that pushes the ball quickly for easy transition baskets. However, Monta Ellis carries such a huge scoring load, especially when our bench can’t hit anything in the arena… I’m starting to think you can’t really trade either of them right now…. but the defense is so bad sometimes…

as long as we’re going to criticize coaching, I might as well throw in my 2 cents:

1. Most obvious coaching error was the wholesale substitution in the 2nd quarter that led us to being down by 11. Now, I can understand the hockey-line-change mentality behind it, but if you’re going to do that you have to run Curry with them, not Ellis or DWright or Lee. Curry loves making mediocre players better, whereas Ellis feels the need to dominate to compensate for their badness and Wright is just clueless. One could argue that his entire career at Davidson + last year serves as example of this tendency.

2. 3rd Quarter Lineup Management. Our starting lineup was running circles around INdiana’s for the first 7 minutes of the 3rd quarter. However, they were playing at an intensity that was clearly unsustainable, and Smart should have started rotating reserves in, especially for the bigs. Biedrins needed to be subbed out about 6 minutes in; he left him in too long, Beans got tired and then picked up two quick fouls. THat being said, even if it was a bit of a desperation move, inserting Brandan was an awesome, awesome play and Indiana had no answer for his length and energy off the bench.

That’s about it. Overall I thought the game time strategy wasnt too bad. I thought our players played great, which I’m going to point out from off the top of my head:

- Lee’s hook shot. Though still horrendously soft and short armed (a bit jamison like), he’s making it at a more consistent, dependable rate.
- Lee’s jumper. Money.
- DWright taking things personal against Granger in the 3rd quarter. Awesome. Too bad he couldnt two hand that dunk over granger to really drive his point home. You could tell he really wanted that by his complaining after.
- Ellis’s 2nd quarter burst. The team needed him to take over there and he did. And he did it so efficiently. A rested Ellis, I believe, can play like that more often.
- Biedrins. Just… I’ve been saying this for a while but even if it doesnt show up stats-wise, Biedrins is such a positive force for us. The only comparable player we have in terms of effecting D and Rebounding is BWright, but he still doesn’t have that heft that Beans does. Beans was awesome today… actually he’s been good for the past 5 games imo if you disregard offensive output.
- Curry. Great all around game, could have used more 4th quarter minutes. Really wanted to point out his rebounding in the 3rd quarter though. Unbelievable. He grabbed like 3 straight defensive rebounds over the Indiana front line and just ran it from there. Also wanted to point out the inside dish he made to Ellis in the third quarter. Pardon me if i’m wrong, but I think it’s the first time Curry has connected with Ellis for an inside score. The two have always drifted on opposite sides of the perimeter, but for one brief moment the two showed great offensive chemistry.

overall great game, great win. :)

he only got blown by once and then he had that huge mental mistake in the 4th. Everything else was pretty good. He had a steal that was really nice where he didnt gamble and was still able to reach the ball. ANd his rebounding was amazing in the 3rd.

I think Curry’s layup was just as clutch as Ellis’s jumper tbh. You have to remember that shot came right after Ellis missed one badly.

I’d pay good money to watch an Ellis vs Curry 1v1

i liked the total rejection that beans had on somebody.. too bad it went straight to a pacer for a easy layup..

CURRY AND ELLIS BOTH need to stay on this team in my opinion.!!!!!!! they are both too good. if we had a iggy type to split up the minutes between them then i think it would be perfect! i think our only hole then would be at the 5. and maybe a little more bench depth.

BW played excellent. so happy to seee him do well with his little playing time.. he has done well i think in his few stints so far this year but this time it was in a critical situation.. go figure.. give the boy 20 a night!!! please! or at least 10 – 15. we seem to be starting to gel. we are HEALTHY and things are looking up.. again im just overjoyed with our timely surges to win these big games of late.. good teams surge when it matters and thats what we did against the clips and now tonight against the pacers. good sheet boys!

ELLIS = ALL STAR.

my current DO NOT TRADE LIST;
Curry.
Ellis.
D.W.
Lee
B.W. (bench)
Udoh (bench ideally hopefully starter material some day)
Radman (deep bench)
Williams (bench)

And in news completely unrelated to this game…

Kevin Love is such an insane rebounder. He ended Blake Griffin’s huge double double streak by holding him to 8 rebounds Love had 11.

So…..good news! Missing Barry has solved his Warriors watching problem. Also, bad news! Missing Barry is still on EST and went to bed with 3 minutes left in the game last night. Apparently I missed a great ending.

to be working on staying out of foul trouble since he got only 2 fouls this game.

Monta Ellis kept the pressure on, but B.Wright turned this game around in the intagible department. He made play after play on both sides of the ball with a ton of energy. A drop step reverse LH layup in traffic, two huge shot contests on Dunleavy that kept the game winnable because both of those shots were wide open 3’s from the defensive rotation.

Have we given up on seeing if Poor Man’s Commish is ever going to give out a Warrior Wonder?

If I was Smart I would have pulled Curry with 4 minutes left. He is the main reason Indiana stuck around. Defensively he might be worst player in NBA. Granger’s kick 3 was all his fault, Collison blew by him, forced Dorell to collapse in. (This happened more than once by the way). If you re-watch the game Granger gets a lot of open looks because curry’s inability to stay with Collison forces the defense to collapse and breakdown TIME AND TIME AGAIN.
And then we can discuss that horrible foul he gave Collison. Lucky for him Monta bailed him out and no one will be discussing it.

I don’t even understand how it’s considered a topic of discussion that Curry and Monta are equally bad defenders. Monta is a better defender on 2guards, as is Lee on PFs. both of course leave a lot of be desired, but they understand the basic concept of staying infront of your man, proper rotation. Monta may over gamble but he doesn’t foul players from behind. Something curry does WAY WAY WAY WAY too much.

Monta may be a below average defender, Curry is actually a liability defensively. You all thing Iguodala would make a difference? Explain to me how Iggy would have stopped Indiana’s run at the end of the game? How he’d stop Collison from penetrating Curry? Getting into the lane, and forcing Dorell and Lee to collapse onto him, giving him open passing options. Or if they don’t collapse, getting to the hoop with ease.

Simply put, Curry needs to learn some better defense, or put on the bench, because he nearly cost us the game down the stretch.

The only major fail on Law playing was taking Monta and Lee out at same time. In second half Law was a +/- or 0 because Monta stayed on the floor. That was a horrible idea Keith. I hope you learned your lesson.

Wow; the criticism that Steph takes from some quarters amazes me. They are watching different basketball than I am. Steph makes everyone better. Period. The +/- stats show that. He’s unselfish. Gets everyone involved — most of the time in a position to make a play (It’s amazing how many would be assists of his get blown or don’t count because the recipient of his pass gets fouled). His shooting goes without saying. He’s a crafty playmaker and driver. He sees the floor SO well that it sometimes results in turnovers because others can’t see what he sees. He rebounds well for his slight frame. He’s an excellent help defender with quick hands. His biggest weakness is his defense and lateral quickness, but it’s not nearly as bad as many here complain about. He tends to reach too much (because of his confidence in his hands), but it’s his 2nd year! He’s still growing, learning, and adjusting. My goodness, have some patience, people! I would also point out that Smart puts him at a disadvantage by keeping him out so long — I understand foul trouble, but last night? he had 0 fouls going into the 4th and sat out starting from a few minutes left in the 3rd until 4 minutes left in the 4th??? What? And people complain that after sitting there for a half an hour, he didn’t defend Collison well enough on his drive? Who could under those circumstances. Sheesh.

I actually ilke the one leading up to it more:

There is no need to defend Steph. People who understand basketball can clearly see what a nice player he is, and for people who don’t (itmay include our head coach) no explanation will help. Trust me, would he be given as many shots and picks as Monte has he would be scoring on the same level or better. He is just trying to coexist with Monte and play PG. And taking about defense. Collison did some damage interacting with Granger nicely thanks to their “Pick and Roll” W’s defense in these situations did not look good, but this is not only Steph’s fault. This is a team thing So people who defend Smart and blame it on Steph are silly.

I am happy for BW. He and Udoh as well as Curry are W’s huge assets. let’s keep our fingers crossed that Smart will not screw this up.

Well, scoring could’ve been better but I will take a 7:1 assist:turnover ratio any day.

I don’t usually take the time to post on this site, but it’s often a fun read for me….
That was a great win! For Monta, that final shot was actually a pretty high percentage shot, and one he takes often, especially when his J is right.
…But there seem to be a lot of fools on this site that would rather see the Dubs lose than see Monta hit a game winner. What’s up with that?
My favorite player on the team is still Steph, but he’s taken a step back from where he was at the end of last year. I’m sure he will get it back. From the beginning of the season he’s been saying he’s focused on improving his D, “being a pest”. And, to some degree he has, but at times it seems to be at the expense of the other aspects of his game. I think it takes a few years to learn how to be a good defender in the NBA, especially at point. The thing that bugged me most about the way he finished the game last night wasn’t the stupid foul. It was pretty terrible, but a simple mistake, with good intentions… and yeah, I thought he should have gotten some help rather than try to defend from behind.
But the thing that bugged me was the behind the back pass in the backcourt, to… nobody.
Fortunately it didn’t result in a turnover, but seriously, what was he thinking?
He just seems to be off his game a bit. We are all hoping he gets it back, but do people here really need to hate on Monta in the meantime?

Monte’s last shot was great,but why in the hell can’t we run a play in 14 seconds !!
With that much time we can’t do better than a18-20 foot fade away!!!
Give me a break ! C’mon Smart,design a frickin’ play,I’d much rather have seen a dunk or lay up for that last basket-BAD COACHING.
It was nice to see B. Wright get some burn,keep runnin BW.

Enjoyed it! Although the game ended at 7.15 AM local time and I was sleepy as hell. It’s tough to be an European NBA fan ;)