My Venting Session

Ok, During the Clippers and Hornets games, I turned the game off, first time I can ever remember doing that. I don't know if it's because my expectations are higher than they've been in a while or because they have such fundamental flaws that seem to get worse before they get better.

I'm going to list the things that are driving me crazy starting with the "most" going to the "least".

#1 - Biedrins - Where do I begin? I actually like the guy. I think he’s a nice kid with good tools, but he’s regressing much faster than he should be progressing. The thing that makes me yell at the TV most and explain to my fiancée why I think he might actually be mildly retarded is his defense, or lack thereof. The whole jumping with the hands up in the air while players CONTINUALLY jump into his body and draw fouls boggles my mind. What also perplexes me is why no one seems to talk about it.

If he could learn how to avoid contact and just contest shots he would be able to stay on the court and be a value to us. We’ve all seen his 20+ rebound games, it’s great. He’s active, he’s confident, he’s valuable. Right now, I could argue that the team plays better with Gadzuric or Udoh on the court.

For someone who’s been in the league, what 7 years? He should understand that this league has turned into an actor’s league. Paul Pierce, Dwayne Wade, C. Paul. MANU GINOBILI, Corey Maggette. These are all players that “act” their way to the line and the must lick their chops when they see Biedrins standing there with his hands up in the air. Please change this Biedrins.

And what’s up with his new, facing the player on a box out and wrapping them up, thus disabling your ability to grab a rebound. Has anyone else noticed this? Where in the world did you learn that Andris? Stick to throwing your butt into someone with your hands extended, preventing them from getting around you.

#2 - On The Ball Defense – Monta and Steph….ay ay ay. You two are amazing on offense, but holy swiss cheese, you guys seem indifferent when guarding the opposition. You cannot allow players to get around you as easily as they do. This is the root to our defensive woes. When players get around you at will, you’re basically relying on Lee and Biedrins to help out. Not necessarily intimidating defenders. Lee, opponents know you can get your shot off against him, and Biedrins, they know they can draw a foul.

In my opinion, it’s a switch you can flip on and off, and they just don’t seem to want to switch it on. Example: you see players like D. Wright, Artest, C. Paul get feisty, get low to the ground and you can tell all they want to do is stop their opponent. You actually saw it in Monta when he and Kobe were going at it in the 4th quarter the other week. It needs to be like that all the time.

#3 - Smart’s Rotations – What is the most glaring hole with this team? I would argue low post offense and overall defense. What players on this team give you the best shot at filling those voids? I would say Udoh and B. Wright. Don’t get me wrong, I understand B. Wright isn’t a great on the ball defender, but he’s a great weak side helper. So my question is….why do they sit? And not only sit, but sit the entire game? Game after game after game? It sure would make sense to me to play both of them 5-10 minutes per night. Enough said.

#4 - Curry’s tendencies – Please tell me I’m not the only one who notices these two things and whom it bugs. Offense – Have you noticed how Curry nonchalantly dribbles the ball up the court. Kind of half assed, kind of swaggery, kind of sloppily? He kind of slaps the ball, takes a few steps before dribbling. Every time I see it I think the ref is gonna blow the whistle on him, but it’s the NBA. He’s so fundamentally sound, but it’s like he forces himself to take every inch of sloppiness the NBA will allow him to take. I don’t know if it’s a mixture of wanting to look cool or what. You NEVER see the player whom I think he has the potential to be a lot alike, Steve Nash do this. You NEVER see Chris Paul do this. You never saw John Stockton do it. I think it carries even further when you see his one handed passes or behind the back out of bounds. Please, take every possession very seriously and stick to the fundamentals.

Defense – I remember this summer when he was on Team USA and I saw an interview where he stated he wanted to take pride in his defense, that that was the thing he was working on the most. I do think he tries to take pride in his defense, but that’s the problem sometimes. I think he gets so set in stopping someone, that he forgets about situations. Like letting Collinson beat him, and then foul him with 4 seconds to go, putting him on the line and tying the game. He gets so set on stopping someone, that even when he’s beat, he still tries to reach or block the shot, when he needs to just let it go and focus on staying in front of his man. I guess he’ll learn with time (unlike Biedrins).

Well I guess that’s it. Other than that I hope they completely shake things up. I like where our cap is this summer. I like all the money coming off the books, but I think we need to go in a defensive direction. I know how much people in the Bay Area enjoy basketball, especially when it’s played the right way. This is what I want to see more than anything. Warriors I love you, but I had to let loose here.