Golden State Of Mind: FanPosts

Progress

2013-05-20T02:25:52Z

On the eve of what would eventually be the second-greatest season of my Warrior fandomship (nothing could supplant that anything-is-possible, lighting-in-a-bottle feeling in 2007... though a Larry O'Brien trophy would be nice), I had trouble sleeping. My mind was buzzing with questions of health and rookie potential. It seems like so long ago, and yet, just like yesterday, that we were debating if Harrison Barnes was an upgrade over Dorell Wright, who would be the starting small forward, or Stephen Curry should be extended.

The Warrior's franchise has taken a quantum leap forward in the past eight months since. The magic of 2007 was ephemeral, the pent-up emotion of 20,000 fans bursting forth. Our current team is built to last. On the 07 roster, there were 8 rookies or sophomores. If that seems like a lot, it’s because of that group, only Kelenna Azubuike and Monta Ellis were in the top 10 on the team in total minutes played. So, while the current iteration of Golden State basketball held a measly 5 rookies and sophomores (I decided, since Jeremy Tyler and Charles Jenkins weren't on the team during the playoffs on the roster, to not count them) 4 of them (I’ll let you guess which ones) actually contributed to the winning cause, each of them in the top 10 total minutes played (and two in the top 5!), doubling the number on the 2007 roster. What I’m driving at here is that this team is built with longevity in mind, not some ragtag ensemble haphazardly cobbled together.

I bring this up because I feel as though we truly witnessed the franchise itself progressing out of the dark ages. Some may call this preemptive, or say that the playoffs only truly start in the second round; to that I reply that the foundation of a successful franchise is built upon an intangible ‘winning culture’, and that, at the end of the day, Mark Jackson has succeeded in creating a lockerroom atmosphere conducive to winning. He battled, he fought, he took a lot of flack from us fans, but he did it. I still say his Jacksonisms is fodder he feeds the media; regardless, on all accounts the Warriors possess one of the best lockerroom atmospheres—whether Jackson just got lucky that he has a roster full of exemplary human beings is debatable. The lockerroom serves as a kind of barometer to gauge the culture. Guys don’t hang their heads or point fingers in the Warrior’s lockerroom. The culture of losing and giving up has been vanquished this season. The franchise is taking steps out of the darkness of irrelevancy, into the warm embrace of perennial playoff basketball.

I plan on doing some more fanposts to try and galvanize GSoM’s fanpost section this offseason. Let’s get some ideas going!

How I was saved from the Lakers

2013-05-19T04:22:19Z

Hey GSoMers! I'm sffanforlife and some of you may know me from gamethreads. my name wasn't true at one point.

I was a laker fan

let me explain

as a child of 7 years old, my father found interest in watching the nba. of course he bandwagoned and chose the lakers as his team.

he also later adopted the heat, but I stayed with the lakers.

crazy times, huh?

monta era

since I loved the game so much, and because my dad worked on the weekends, I was typically home with my mom with nothing to do in 5th grade

I watched monta screw up the warriors, but I thought he was great for the team. :P

so eventually, the warriors became my hobby and became closer and closer to me (just like how my crush grew on me lol(I got rejected :'( ))

so I was a casual dubs fan for a while. I actually was shocked that we would trade Monta. OUR MONTA for a scrubby center, but I understood that Bogut was awesome. I thought he was a major risk though.

I also thought Monta was an all-star snub. I guess I didn't have a brain back then. but I suppose I did have some sense, because I thought curry deserved ROY.

this year, I headed in as an equal lakers and warriors fan, but the warriors are so much fun to watch. just watching those young players grow up was an amazing experience. the first game I became a real warriors fan was against the lakers.

It was a really hard choice back then, but I liked the dubs a lot and wanted to see what they could do.

hence, the start of an epiphany

since then, I've cussed about kobe being kobe, manu flopping (partly cuz of lakers upbringing) and wade flopping.(I did also liked the heat because LeBron was there)

so where are my loyalties now?

well, I am proud to say I am a 100% warriors fan. while I still respect kobe and LeBron a lot, I would love the dubs the whip the heck out of them.

this is the history of sffanforlife

oh, stop it you, stop it

oh, and I was too lazy to capitalize

Poll

Who here changed their loyalties to the dubs?

Nerlens Noel Scouting Report

2013-05-18T00:29:00Z

via media.timesfreepress.com

So with the NBA Season wrapping up and the playoffs in full swing(GO DUBS) I thought I might take a look at this year incoming class of rookies. Now while this class is generally regarded as being one of the weakest classes in the past 10 years with no real superstar. However I think that's not the case and that there are some real NBA talents in this class and today I thought I'd take a look at one such talent in the Kentucky C/PF Nerlens Noel.

FACTS:

Nerlens Noel is a 6’11 C who weighs in at 211lbs(These measurements vary quite a bit from site to site. The one’s used here are from DraftExpress.com) with a 7ft 4 inch wingspan. Noel was part of the 2012 recruitment class and was even ranked as the No.1 recruit in the country by many experts including ESPN who named him the No.1 recruit in their Top 100. Noel committed to Kentucky where he would be part of the class that would try to fill the void left by the previous championship winning Kentucky team. Noel played 26 game and averaged 10.5 PPG with a 9.5 RPG and 4.4 Blocks per game and a 2.1 Steal Per Game average. Noel’s season was cut short however when he sustained a ACL injury against Florida back on February the 12th of this year.

ANALYSIS:

Noel is a freak. Both athletically and defensively. Before I go into specifics on why just watch this play against Tennessee:Noel starts at the top of the screen guarding his man on the perimeter before drifting into the middle to take up a sort of sweeper role in the defense. He stays in his position and doesn't follow the man he was guarding out onto the perimeter. From there we see the penetration by the Tennessee point guard which leads to Noel providing the help defense. When the Point Guard passes out to the guard Noel left, Noel immediately shifts his focus to the open man on the wing side. Noel makes a fantastic read on the play and reads the pass perfectly to the open wing man which allows for him to come up with the steal.

This play is what I think encompasses the strengths of Noel in one neat bundle. A terrific reader of offense's and an athletic freak that can make plays like that one you saw before with alarming regularity. In this Kentucky team he played back stop/paint protector/destroyer of worlds role where he sort of just drifts around the whole paint area waiting for his moment to make a play. This usually needs to a bit of sagging off his man if he's anywhere outside of the paint, but if needed he's got all the tools to guard the post with his huge wingspan and terrific athleticism. But his best role is when he's allow to just lurk around the paint area and punish anybody that even attempts to get a shot off at the basket. Take his 12 block game against Ole Miss as a perfect example of Noel in his element. You'll see a ton of examples where he's coming across for help defense which in all of these cases leads to him getting a hand or a few fingers on the ball to turn it away. I just laugh at what the Ole Miss coach was thinking as he watched Noel send away shot after shot

Assistant Coach: Coach we're getting killed tonight by Noel, what should we do?

*Head Coach ponders for a second*

Head Coach: Keep driving to the paint! He can't keep this up all night!

Sadly for Ole Miss he did. But in terms of guarding the defensive paint I think Noel may be more developed as a shot blocker then Anthony Davis was coming out of college. What he did this season for Kentucky was similar to what Larry Sanders did for Milwaukee. He locked down the paint area and completely locked out all other players from getting in there. Even if he's not able to contest the shot the chances the shooter won't have to alter his stance or his shot attempt is extremely low. Noel has also got a real nose for the ball especially when it comes to disrupting passing lanes. He's got deceptive quickness and uses his length to poke and steal balls away. This is particularly apparent whenever he's defending the pick and roll or anybody on the perimeter. He's always looking for the steal and if he does get beat he's got the quickness to track back and get the block or at least contest the shot.

Noel's only real knock when it comes to defense is his inability to guard the biggest centers in the league. Take his first game against Maryland where he was thrown in at the deep end against the bigger Alex Len who bullied Noel all night. Noel's game is limited offensively and generally revolves around his ability to get put backs and alley oops. A lot of these come from his ability to get up and down the court with fantastic speed and ability Basically his offense is pretty much the exact same as Tyson Chandler in that 70% of it revolves around those hustle plays while 30% will revolve around 1vs1 where he abuses the larger less athletic big man who appears to have concrete blocks for feet, take this play for example. His back to the basket game is extremely rudimentary and his one on one's will usually revolve him catching the ball on the block like he does in the clip before facing up, putting the ball on the deck and driving past his defender and getting an easy bucket in the paint. While it's fun to see a big man be able to dribble like that but considering his opposition he'll no doubt struggle to pull off moves like that against better competition. What's even more interesting is his lack of a jump shot considering near all of his 1vs1 revolve around him being face up. Or maybe his tendency to shy away from jump shooting is the same reason he is shooting 50% from the free throw line which you would like to see improve if he were to progress to the next level.

CONCLUSION:

While Noel has stated that he thinks his ACL injury will keep him out till Christmas it doesn't seem to have affected his draft stock as much as we would think. To me Noel's future in the NBA will strongly rely on how he adapts to where he's made to play. For me he's a perfect 5 in the small ball system. He's athletic enough to be able to get up and down the floor and be able to play at the high tempo along with having the length and defensive ability to lock down the paint on the other end. However if he's going to be playing against the bigger western conferences centers he will struggle due to his size. If he's given time to recover and then develop you're looking at Larry Sanders 2.0 at the minimum. (EDITORIAL NOTE: Noel measured in at under 210lbs at this years combine. There are point guards in the NBA that are in the same weight class as him.)

(I've left links to all the Noel Highlights I could find on youtube for you guys to enjoy and make up your own mind about Noel. Enjoy. )

Noel vs LSU

Noel vs Texas A&M

Nerlens Noel vs Louisville

Noel vs Maryland

Noel vs Tennessee

(And for a Little Comedy........

Noel's cringe inducing announcement of going to play at Kentucky( Warning contains phrases such as ''Taking my talents to'')

via media.timesfreepress.com

FACTS:

ANALYSIS:

Assistant Coach: Coach we're getting killed tonight by Noel, what should we do?

*Head Coach ponders for a second*

Head Coach: Keep driving to the paint! He can't keep this up all night!

CONCLUSION:

(I've left links to all the Noel Highlights I could find on youtube for you guys to enjoy and make up your own mind about Noel. Enjoy. )

Noel vs LSU

Noel vs Texas A&M

Nerlens Noel vs Louisville

Noel vs Maryland

Noel vs Tennessee

(And for a Little Comedy........

Noel's cringe inducing announcement of going to play at Kentucky( Warning contains phrases such as ''Taking my talents to'')

Come show your support & appreciation today at 11:45am

2013-05-17T17:50:51Z

If you would like to come show your appreciation to the Warriors players, you can come outside of the practice facility 1011 Broadway Oakland, CA 94607 at 11:45am.... Gotta fill out the 75 words long requirement.. kind of a hassle, not sure what this requirement makes any sense. djkflj jkjljl kjljl jkjljl jkjljl jljlj l jl jljlkj jkj k jjl jlkj ljk ljlkj ljklj ljjlkj lj jlkj lj l jlkj jlk jj ljlkjkjl jjkl jljljkjlkj jk ljlk

An Ode to Game 6: Preparing to Roar

2013-05-16T20:39:32Z

The lungs, they are ready…despite all that phlegm.

The voices will shout….encourage young men.

The year has been long…and short just the same.

My Celtics are gone…yet my Warriors remain.

No Truth, No Big Ticket…

That Era may end.

A Human Torch (Curry) and The Kindling (Thompson),

A shiver they’ll send.

The Spurs and their Pop, with Parker’s spinning drives.

The real gem they’ve discovered, a man named Kawhi (Ka-WHY).

The Big Fundamental and the old Euro-stepper,

Manu and Duncan: familiar as salt paired with pepper.

Mark Jackson may know the power of positive thinking,

But without Bogut and Jack, that ship will be sinking.

This time of year, its so fun and exhausting.

School-ending is cake; Playoffs, the frosting.

—-

Jonah Hall and his Ladybug will be roaring for a team other than the Boston Celtics tonight, from the balcony of Oracle Arena, in Oakland, California. The anticipation is strange. The Warriors will never replace the Celtics in their hearts. Yet, the heart has room for two basketball teams now. Jonah writes The Darko Index (www.darkoindex.com)

The lungs, they are ready…despite all that phlegm.

The voices will shout….encourage young men.

The year has been long…and short just the same.

My Celtics are gone…yet my Warriors remain.

No Truth, No Big Ticket…

That Era may end.

A Human Torch (Curry) and The Kindling (Thompson),

A shiver they’ll send.

The Spurs and their Pop, with Parker’s spinning drives.

The real gem they’ve discovered, a man named Kawhi (Ka-WHY).

The Big Fundamental and the old Euro-stepper,

Manu and Duncan: familiar as salt paired with pepper.

Mark Jackson may know the power of positive thinking,

But without Bogut and Jack, that ship will be sinking.

This time of year, its so fun and exhausting.

School-ending is cake; Playoffs, the frosting.

—-

Curry, Klay, Game 5 & 6.. some BWGSW thoughts....

2013-05-15T22:40:23Z

I have seen a number of posters in the post-game thread talking about people at GSOM making excuses about Curry, so I feel obliged to go into a little more detail on the matter and overall review of last nights FUBAR....

Firstly, Curry had a shocker of a night...no one is contesting that or making excuses, however there are some of us who have watched Curry from his very first game in a Warriors Jersey and before and so we may feel duly entitled to make observation about Curry's performance last night, without a bunch of 'excuses' accusations. The primary point of note to be considered is the rock solid fact that he is carrying an injury right now…but I’ll come on to that a bit more in a bit.

via i1287.photobucket.com

I have watched Curry develop as a player and monitored his continued rise as a genuine star of the NBA, I even marked him as a future 'All-Star' at a very early point in his Dubs career, much to the chagrin of others who thought he was average at best. Over this period, we have seen a young man who can make the most incredible shots and deliver truly superstar like performances that are very rare to witness in the NBA. There is no doubt he was 'Off' tonight...but for some of us, we like to understand 'why', especially when it is possible to see with our own eyes and through some past BBall experience, that even his actual shot style was different last night. The most noticeable element for me, was watching Steph's jump on his shot. Curry is what some call a 'forward jumper' traditionally...when he takes off, his feet often end up landing forward of his lift off position. As shown below:

via i1287.photobucket.com

However, it is also one of the most common indicators of someone who gets ankle problems, the reason being, their feet often end up close to or near other players feet on landing and more importantly, they are ‘motion’ shooters, with the majority of their shots being either in motion or coming from motion into a pull-up jump shot. This often results in the player being slightly off-balance on landing (under greater load), or they are often either immediately chasing their shot for a rebound, or turning to get back on D. In short….. Steph is a mobile type of shooter as opposed to some of the more static shooters in the game. (I.e. they like to receive the ball planted in a set position for a straight, up and down jump shot). So watching Game 5 against the Spurs last night, I saw a VERY different shooter, most noticeably in his action and also in his motion on defence. Before I go into this, I want to discuss the injury/ankle issues. For any of you that have twisted your ankle to the point it goes ‘black and blue’ and swells to the size of a small orange (been there, done that, many times…) You will know that this is not something you recover from with no side effects, within a matter of days. You may think you have fully mobility, you may ‘say’ you feel fine, but the reality is, your tissue and ligaments have been damaged and they are basically ‘under repair’ by the body. This in itself means that the body swells more fluid around the affected area to protect and support it in that repair. Yes the majority of swelling goes down quite quickly, but some will remain, and whether you choose to have strapping or not, the ankle joint simply will not have ‘quite’ that same freedom of movement it had before the sprain/twist. For a player like Curry, even the smallest amount of reduced movement will hinder his game somewhat. This is less noticeable while jumping, although it does affect balance somewhat and an unintentional effort by the brain and body to protect that ankle slightly when jumping, i.e. placing more load on the good ankle (which is Curry’s case, is strapped and already considered a weak link, following surgery). However, quickness in transition and direction change is really noticeable. Steph was simply not at the races last night… One might argue that he is simply tired, but hey… he is a young man, playing in the NBA 2nd round playoffs and guys 10 years his senior appear to have equal levels of energy… that says to me, it is not just stamina. On ‘D’ last night, Steph was being run all over the court, ‘Pop’ knew what he was doing and he had his players run Steph through tough screens and from one side to the other, what you could see easily, were the number of times that Steph simply could not get there in time and the guy he was due to pick up, had an easy open jumper. Again… this is not the Curry we have seen this year or in previous playoff games… I suspect, that while he may say he is fine, the picture on screen, shows otherwise, which is also the reason for us using the ‘Zone D’ last night… our guys were simply not able to keep a tight handle on their assigned player in man-on-man D.

via i1287.photobucket.com

Let’s not kid ourselves… Curry is in a spotlight moment in his career, hopefully the first of many, but do any of you honestly think he is going to say….’Look guys, my ankle just does not feel good right now’…. Of course not. He is true fighter, a genuine Warrior and he wants to be out there giving all he can to help lead this team to victory. But as many say ‘the ball don’t lie’ equally… nor does the TV screen. Last night, Steph was really struggling… his shot would not drop, he could not beat screens to save his life and to a certain extent, I blame Jackson for not sitting Curry in previous games when he had the opportunity, to help his star guard recover… But let’s go back to that shooting action. Last night, I have never seen so many ‘sideways’ jumps, as Steph took last night.

via i1287.photobucket.com

He just didn’t have anywhere near the fluid action that we have come to see and love, some of that may also be attributed to the much closer ‘D’ being applied by the Spurs to Steph. I swear that if Green gets much closer to Steph he will actually end up wearing Curry’s shirt with him still in it!!! While this is high quality ‘D’ by the Spurs, the constant banging of shoulders, hands on and off-ball fouls being made against him and being systematically ignored by the refs, is clearly starting to affect Steph’s rhythm.

via i1287.photobucket.com

Combine this with a healing ankle and being played more minutes than possibly needed, it is all contributing to the performance we saw last night. So no, I don’t think he was to ‘blame’ for last night’s performance, but you simply cannot say it was all his fault, without looking at the contributing evidence that Steph is simply not firing on all cylinders at the moment. We just to need to understand why and then the coaching staff can make changes to change this. As for Klay… I simply have no idea what is with this kids inconsistency, however, the one thing I do recognise, is that he defends well, but we appear to lose the plot as to how to use Klay in the offence when both he and Curry are on the floor together. Klay is a straight up shooter… he possibly has an even better action that Curry, (if possible) when it comes to actual grade ‘A’ typical, basketball shooting action. His shot is poetry in motion, from the lift through the release and poise…it simply is THAT good. So…why on earth is he getting so few looks at open shots? Step forward coaching staff…. You have some questions to answer. There is no doubt, Klay had a stinker last night, combine this with Curry being ‘off’ and we lost a truly golden opportunity to put the Spurs away, as they had way too many ‘open’ shots and way too many free points from TO’s. Had either one managed to light up; I think we may have seen a different result last night. So what do we do for Game 6? The coaching staff must be given credit and praise for getting this team and its players into a position today that none of us expected 12 months ago. Even keeping us in with a shout of the team that is expected to win the Western Conference, says all that needs to be said about the efforts of our coaching and fitness staff….. However….. We are starting to see the difference in experience at coaching a veteran team in playoffs, versus a great coach who can motivate young players like no other currently in the NBA. Mark Jackson and our coaching staff have got to learn from the reaction tactics of the Spurs, because as of right now, they have finally worked out how to shut down the Warriors firepower and they will do so again in Oakland, UNLESS…. Changes are made. For example, when San Antonio got themselves into penalty foul trouble, what did we do? Did we drive the lane on every possession? Did we use our ‘bigs’ to get into the paint to draw the fouls? NO…. we spent most of the time running around the three point line, often resulting in a TO….THAT gentlemen, is NOT high basketball IQ or high percentage play selection. We simply MUST adapt better to Spurs play changes, or Thursday’s game will be our last in these playoffs. "OK genius…so how do we do this?" In each game the Spurs looked truly uncomfortable against us, our ‘Bigs’ were causing them a real problem. Ezeli banging shoulders with Duncan, Bogut looking like he just beat 40,000 persians single handily, and Dray, Landry and Barnes, causing havoc with open look buckets…. While all this is going on, Klay, Steph and even Jack, often got themselves into open look positions, just waiting for the kick out to the three point line. I lost count last night, of the number of times I saw Curry and Klay within the same 3 meter radius of each other on the court. Often both trying to lose their defender, in the same direction…POINTLESS!!!! I do not ever want to see Steph and Klay, running in the same direction, at the same time, across the base line… that is stupid and the coaching staff needs to see this. Those two prolific shooters, should be pulling their markers in opposite directions, opening up the threat for Barnes, Jack, Bogut, Dray, Lee… last night saw ‘road traffic’ style accidents and clashes all around the paint, there was no ‘width’ to our play at all.. I don’t think I have seen the ball travel side-line to side-line and back again, once in this series. The ball movement is simply not high enough! Instead we are attempting risky dribbles, into crowded areas, against experienced veteran players, able to force the turn overs we are seeing. Yes a cross-over is nice, yes a fancy pass is great….BUT DO IT WHEN WE HAVE A CUSHION!!! There is simply no excuse for risky passes and flash moves, at critical moments of these games, 8 times out of 10 we are currently creating another TO from these risky moves, as opposed to the high percentage option. There simply does not appear to be any cohesion on play making and we certainly did not attack the paint with our bigs last night. THIS has to change on Thursday…. I want to see high pick and rolls, double screens set, to allow our shooters to break free of their markers, while rotating back into the paint for the pop up layup. In short.… WE need to run the Spurs around the court, not the other way around. I want to park Curry and Klay outside the 3 point line, almost the entire game. I want to see our bigger bodies ‘forcing’ the Spurs to collapse back to the bucket to help on D, due to the pressure we are putting on the paint… this in itself, will open up our killer 3 point shooters. Watch the game again from last night…this is exactly what the Spurs did, leaving Green parked on the 3 point line, where he scored so many uncontested easy 3’s….we have to learn from this. So…. Come Thursday, I want the team to come out and give the biggest first half effort we have ever seen from this team…. I want to see them give absolutely everything…. Walk into the halftime dressing room, just about ready to puke! I want to run the Spurs so hard… their legs simply collapse from under them. If we can build a big enough lead, that enables us to rest our key players through the 3rd, knowing the Spurs will come back, only to step on the gas again in the 4th with rested starters…and put the boot into the throat of the Spurs for the final time in Oakland…. THEN…we have a chance to win this series! If we do not adapt to what the Spurs are now doing to contain us, then this series is lost. If we do adapt… and we absolutely destroy the Spurs in Oakland, I think the tide will swing hard in our favour and we will take the series in San Antonio…. (wow… to even suggest such a thing in recent seasons, would have had me laughed out of this community due to our record in SA, how times change…) Finally…. To YOU… the fan…. The game attender… the bar game watcher, the ‘wake your neighbours up stupid foreigner up all hours of the night’…. YOU ALL have your part to play….

via i1287.photobucket.com

Oracle Arena is simply THE BEST STADIUM in the WORLD, for noise. Granted the concrete bunker is a bit of a relic and an eyesore, but the acoustics of that stadium, combined with the fans, create an atmosphere of such intense electricity and passion, that it places an element of intimidation on visiting teams not experienced since gladiators walked into ancient Roman Arena’s with thousands clamouring for blood and death! While the blood and death element may have gone, the ‘Arena’ remains and there is none finer than Oracle for that atmosphere. But without you, it is just a concrete building, with you…it becomes a ‘living’ ‘breathing’ thing of wonder and amazement and most importantly…it becomes TOAEM!! As I noted in my past article… The Oracle Arena Extra Man….is the most feared in the NBA….. Thursday will become its most important game night for the last 40 years… What will YOU do to support this great night in our young teams history??? I know I will once again give up another entire night’s sleep in the UK, just to do my part, even though I have to work the next day (2 hours kip really starts to hurt at about 2pm next day!)… You all have to do your part too! By that I mean… I want US nationwide TV reports of a 7.1 level earthquake of noise being reported in Oakland on Thursday night… So the question the Spurs have to answer is …. Do You Feel Lucky?..... Well do ya?.... Punk!!

via i1287.photobucket.com

LETS GO WARRIORS!! I have seen a number of posters in the post-game thread talking about people at GSOM making excuses about Curry, so I feel obliged to go into a little more detail on the matter and overall review of last nights FUBAR.... Firstly, Curry had a shocker of a night...no one is contesting that or making excuses, however there are some of us who have watched Curry from his very first game in a Warriors Jersey and before and so we may feel duly entitled to make observation about Curry's performance last night, without a bunch of 'excuses' accusations. The primary point of note to be considered is the rock solid fact that he is carrying an injury right now…but I’ll come on to that a bit more in a bit.

via i1287.photobucket.com

LETS GO WARRIORS!!

It is Time

2013-05-15T06:32:50Z

I am a younger Warriors fan than most of you but an older fan than many; I started watching the Dubs in the fall of 2008. After being introduced to the Warriors in the aftermath of the "We Believe" run by a pair of Bay Area lifers, I was instantly captured. So wide-eyed was I that I cannot even remember for sure if the games I had been introduced to were during that magical playoff run, although I believe they were. But I remember the emotion.

At the instant I became a warriors fan, they fell apart. I did not truly experience the highs of 2007-2008, and I certainly can't tell tales to those fans who remember any of our three championships. But I can listen. We are a proud franchise. We have won more titles in our history than the Miami Heat, the Seattle Supersonics (Chris Hansen I'm talking to you), or the New York Knicks. And we are working back.

But we are playing 5 guys on 8 legs. If we beat the Spurs, we will lose to Memphis. It doesn't matter how many games it takes, we will lose. I would take our full squad into battle against any team in the league, but that's not what we have. Memphis is healthy, they are hungry, and they are about to likely take down the Thunder in 5.

I don't want to see Stephen Curry, at the nadir of his national break-out season, drag that ankle around for 6 more games, which is the minimum if we win this series. Do you? He will put himself out there until he breaks because that is the kind of competitor he is and Mark Jackson will play him because that's the kind of faith that he has. But it is not worth the wear and tear on Steph's ankle. Or David Lee's hip. Or Steph's other ankle. Or Andrew Bogut's everything.

We could get past the Spurs. It is possible, if not unlikely, given the way the team has stepped up this season. But we will not get past Memphis. This year the Warriors exceeded all expectations. If the season ends on Thursday, not a single soul in Warrior Nation will hang their head. We were not picked to make the playoffs, we were not picked to beat Denver and we were not picked to challenge the timeless buzzsaw of the Spurs. Especially not after that Game 1 heartbreak. But we did all those things. And we should stand tall.

I do not want to watch Steph, DLee and Bogues leave any more on the court than they have already. I do not want to know what six more games will do to their' bones and and muscles and ligaments, frayed and aching as they already are. I want them to heal, strengthen and temper themselves into a razor sharp edge for next season and for seasons to come. I do not want them to sacrifice their bodies any longer in the twilight of this season. Our Warriors will not give up - they are fighters and they believe in themselves and each other. But it they lose on Thursday, I will not be sad. The future is bright.

Should the Warriors Resign Jarrett Jack

2013-05-15T00:13:52Z

The Warriors Jarrett Jack has been the Warriors sixth man all season long and has flourished most of the season playing along side Stephen Curry.

When on the floor, Jack often runs the pick and roll. 31% of the time Jack runs the pick and roll as the ball handler. 23% of the time Jack is dribble dominant and runs isolation to himself.

This postseason especially Jack, has been seen dribbling far too much and forcing up bad fade away jumpers. Jack has shot under 35%, already three times this postseason and takes almost every 10 points per game.

Against Denver, Jack averaged four turnovers per game and now against San Antonio, Jack is averaging 2.5 turnovers per game.

Jack needs the ball in his hands to be successful. In the regular season, he scored 3% of his points of screens and 0.6% on off ball cuts to the rim.

Jack is a good secondary ball handler and sixth man, but often is relied upon too much.

So should the Warriors keep Jack?

I say yes, keep him but only at the right price. If Jack is seeking more money than his current five million dollars deal than they should be weary and understand there are other ways to get bench scoring.

Jack is worthy of a mid-level exception at the most, but if he wants a deal say three years, thirty million than that is far too lucrative of a contract. Jack was a valuable member of the Warriors but is not irreplaceable.

The Warriors Jarrett Jack has been the Warriors sixth man all season long and has flourished most of the season playing along side Stephen Curry.

When on the floor, Jack often runs the pick and roll. 31% of the time Jack runs the pick and roll as the ball handler. 23% of the time Jack is dribble dominant and runs isolation to himself.

Against Denver, Jack averaged four turnovers per game and now against San Antonio, Jack is averaging 2.5 turnovers per game.

Jack needs the ball in his hands to be successful. In the regular season, he scored 3% of his points of screens and 0.6% on off ball cuts to the rim.

Jack is a good secondary ball handler and sixth man, but often is relied upon too much.

So should the Warriors keep Jack?

Poll

Should the Warrriors Resign Jarrett Jack

Advanced Basketball Statistics

2013-05-14T04:17:11Z

Terrible timing, I know, but I'm working on a AP Statistics project and (for my own enjoyment), if anybody could explain some "basic" advanced statistics, this would be greatly appreciated. Anything on Win-shares, Player Efficiency Rating (PER), True Shooting Percentage, etc. would be nice. I do understand what most of them measure, but I'd like to know how they're calculated and what flaws each system has. I understand that now is a bad time for getting some pointers; Thanks Golden State of Mind!

Draymond Green: The Least Talked About Reason Why the Warriors Have Been Successful This Postseason

2013-05-14T00:03:33Z

Stephen Curry is the headline story. Andrew Bogut’s presence another. David Lee’s torn hip flexor and the impact it had on Harrison Barnes another key reason. But the least talked about and arguably second most important reason why the Golden State Warriors are still playing basketball in the 2013 campaign is the increased production of Draymond Green. (Stephen Curry’s jump to stardom is the first)

For starters Green is playing eight more minutes per game this postseason from 13 to 21. And Green’s overall production and Mark Jackson’s reliance on Green has paid off big time for the Warriors. In the regular season Green’s net rating, (the advanced statistic measuring the amount of points his team scores per 100 possession minus the amount of points they give up per 100 possessions) was 0.4. With Green playing the Warriors would score 100.5 points per 100 possessions and give up 100.1 points.

In the postseason Green’s net rating has increased to 7.6 The Warriors wold project to score 110.3 points with Green in the postseason and give up 102.7 per 100 possessions.

So why is Green playing an increased role in the playoffs?

The answer is quite simple actually. Green is shooting far better from the field and three in the playoffs than he did in the regular season.

In the regular season, Green shot only 33% from the field and a dreadful 21% from three. Green’s shooting has drastically improved his shooting percentages in the postseason, shooting 46% from the field and 45% from three.

Green has become one of Golden State’s crunchtime performers and is a member of the Warriors two most productive Warriors lineups this postseason. With Green’s improvement in three point shooting he is able to allow floor spacing while additionally being strong enough to guard San Antonio Spurs power-forwards,Boris Diaw and Dajuan Blair, and also small forward Kawhi Leonard and shooting guard Manu Ginobili. Green is also an incredibly smart player that understands his role. He seldom turns the ball over or makes plays that he knows are not in his repertoire. Green crashes the boards hard and is a good small-ball four, and also has played some center when the Spurs also play small.

The twenty-three year old rookie and second round pick is making a major contribution to the Dubs this postseason and is one of the main reasons the Warriors have been so successful in all facets of the game.

In the postseason Green’s net rating has increased to 7.6 The Warriors wold project to score 110.3 points with Green in the postseason and give up 102.7 per 100 possessions.

So why is Green playing an increased role in the playoffs?

The answer is quite simple actually. Green is shooting far better from the field and three in the playoffs than he did in the regular season.

The Crucible that is the Spurs

2013-05-13T21:52:53Z

The youthful, talented Golden State Warriors are locked in a prolonged second round playoff against the crafty, veteran San Antonio Spurs. Youth is synonymous with spry athleticism and enthusiasm, yet also learning, potential, and on-the-job training. Age is synonymous with crafty know-how and fire-forged experience, yet also fatigue. As game 5 of this apparently grueling series heads back to San Antonio's home court advantage, something is taking hold. Some say the Warriors are spry and the Spurs are fatigued. That this affect of age is why the series is locked 2-2, and why the Warriors might gain further advantage the longer the series runs. With only a day off between games, having played 3 overtime periods already, there could be merit to what some are saying about youthful legs vs aging craftiness. I do agree that an affect of age will be the deciding factor, but I say no, it is not fatigue. This series is not about if the Spurs can hold on to win before their legs give out, the question is, can the Spurs win before they teach us everything they know!

Spurs are a step slow and only getting slower as the series wages on, but I don't think that is what's happening here. Following a game 4 where the Warriors, incredibly, "out-Spurred" the Spurs, here's what I see happening: the Spurs are teaching the Warriors how to be Champions. And the longer this series goes, the more the Warriors glean from the battle-tested Spurs.

The Warriors were not expected to match the Spurs blow-for-blow because playoff basketball isn't for the inexperienced. Weaknesses get exposed, flaws become magnified, strengths become minimized; in short, the difference between winning or losing in the playoffs is a 1% game, and that 1% is ever so elusive. How does a team gain that final 1%? Well The Spurs have a tried and true formula to gain that 1%. That is, they execute - relentlessly.

What's the Difference?

The Spurs are consistent. They don't turn the ball over, their cuts are precise and well-timed. Their passes are precise and well-timed. They rarely mismanage the shot clock, their substitutions, their timeouts, their fouls, or the(ir) refs. Their fouls are never stupid or ill-timed. Their inbounds plays are flawless. Coming out of a timeout they always get a good shot. In fact, they always get a good shot, period. They don't react emotionally. They never get flustered. They never come out too high or too low. They will not back down. They just keeping coming, and coming, like a face-less machine. Consistency. Execution. Craft.

Would any of that have described the regular season Warriors? These are things the Warriors are not. Well, were not. They might be the perfect adversary for this point in Warriors' development.

Signs of Change

We got "Spurred" in game 1. Sure, it was somewhat miraculous, but the ingredients were 2-fold. First, the Spurs remained unfazed and relentless in the face of tremendous adversity. And then, the Warriors were a youthful, energetic, confidence-shooting team with problems turning the ball over and executing down the stretch. Sound familiar to the regular season? Now, fast-forward to game 4. Dead in the water, with 3 of our stars limping on one leg combined (Lee, Curry, and Bogut). After being discombobulated in game 3, the normally raucous crowd came in tentative, almost ready to give one last courtesy applause of appreciation for a great season. Across the board, the energy failed us early in the game as we missed 11 consecutive attempts; meanwhile the machine-like Spurs inconspicuously took advantage to put us in an 11 point hole. The crowd went silent as fast as our shooting hands. Our big dumb big's let the Spurs dictate to the refs, who gladly assigned our big dumb big's to the bench in deep foul trouble. Things were bleak. What do we do..? No bigs, everybody is limping, nobody is hitting, the crowd is silent.. what do we do?

We did what the Spurs taught us to; we executed, relentlessly. We stopped fouling, we played defense, we rotated, we got open looks, we started earning calls instead of giving them away, we stopped turning the ball over! We pushed the game, once down by 8 in the 4th quarter, into over time. By that time the Spurs were left without answers. With the meaty Spurs heaped upon our backs like a big stinky ape, crushing us under their weight, we remained composed, reached back, dragged the ape over our shoulder, pinned it to the ground and pounded it into submission. We steamrolled in OT. Lesson learned.

Right next to this I am going to point out our crowd, our players, and our maturing championship demeanor. When the Spurs whooped us on our home court game 3, they exited our court silently. In almost single file, heads bowed, in lock-step. It's because they know. Most of us felt a bit silly dropping confetti from the rafters to celebrate mid-series playoff wins. We also felt a pang of over-exuberance as Curry fist-pumped and hot-lapped around the arena during a particular 3rd quarter. Not because any of it is out of place or undeserved, but because the innocent rarely triumph. Cheering like that occurs early along the journey, is one way I'd put it. We know there is so much more a team must achieve between the fist-pumps during a 3rd quarter shooting spree in the first round and the fist-pumps that come with a Trophy firmly in the palm. But game 4? That 3rd quarter by Curry was far more heroic, and maybe exactly why he wasn't hot-lapping anymore. Any yeah, the crowd was loud, maybe as loud as ever, but even they sounded more battle-tested. Lesson learned.

Through the Crucible of Age

We have a lot of youth, fortunately this means a lot of learning opportunities. Almost every accomplishment from here on in is practically a "first time ever" deal. We can look at our own lesson learner's to see who is learning what. Is Curry learning to play like a superstar when he's being defended as one? Is the whole team learning to find options 4, 5 and 6, when 1, 2, and 3 are minimized? Can we inbound the ball? Can we get a good shot? Can we manage the clock? Do we honor possessions? Do we value fouls on both ends? Do we learn from the referee's whistle? Do we focus our boundless energy instead of spraying it all over the walls? These are all good questions. But I believe age is the question. Or, more importantly, learning.

This is how age truly matters right now. Take a look at our teacher and realize we are being taught by the best in the business. The Spurs are teaching us everything we didn't know before this series. So, no, I don't ask if their legs will fail them before they can win four games, I ask, will we learn enough championship lessons before we manage to lose four games?

If we do lose, from where this team stood before the series started, we could not have asked for a better opponent to prepare us for the future with our young squad.

If we do win, it might be the tutelage of the Spurs machine-like efficiency that puts us over the top. Lesson learned? We'll see.

Waaaaaaaaariorrrrs! Waaaaaaaaariorrrrs!

Note: It's a great time to be a Warriors fan. I spend a lot of time on here with you guys and I want to say everybody's voice is really appreciated. I partly wrote this just to share my voice with you guys, but also because the fanpost section is really destitute. I learn a lot from everybody here so I know there are some of you who could put together some really sharp pieces, right? So let's see it! Here's to celebrating our community and to everything each of us brings to the table!

What's the Difference?

Would any of that have described the regular season Warriors? These are things the Warriors are not. Well, were not. They might be the perfect adversary for this point in Warriors' development.

Signs of Change

Through the Crucible of Age

If we do lose, from where this team stood before the series started, we could not have asked for a better opponent to prepare us for the future with our young squad.

If we do win, it might be the tutelage of the Spurs machine-like efficiency that puts us over the top. Lesson learned? We'll see.

Waaaaaaaaariorrrrs! Waaaaaaaaariorrrrs!

Jarrett Jack's Redemption Song: Warriors Get Even With Spurs in Game 4 Win

2013-05-13T17:48:12Z

Game 4, Sunday, May 12, 2013. Oakland, California.

Jarrett Jack’s Redemption Song played for two and a half hours on Sunday afternoon in Oakland, California. The song was on repeat at Oracle Arena, unofficially renamed the “Roar-acle,” for Jack’s 37 minutes of play. Following a sub-par, 11-point (5 of 12 shooting), 3-rebound performance on Friday night, and three less-than-stellar games against San Antonio, Jack came to the rescue of the Golden State faithful and catapulted the Warriors into a 2-2 series tie with the Spurs as the teams head back to Texas for Tuesday night’s Game 5.

Jack has a rare skill among guards. He can get two shots off: a mid-range jumper and a running floater among bigger defenders. Where other guards would get blocked, Jack gets the ball over out-stretched arms because of the arc he puts on the shot. The floater is reminiscent of Tony Parker and Steve Nash. If we go back to the 1990′s, think of Sherman Douglas. On the full gallop, certain diminutive guards have a knack for avoiding the blocked shot. But few of them have the ability to hit the shot with much accuracy.

Jack’s ball-handling is also a skill, though it can lead to over-dribbling, which takes teammates out of the game from time to time. Jack is the proverbial “wild card.” Jarrett finished third in this year’s “Sixth Man of the Year” voting, an award that goes to the most valuable reserve in the league. J.R. Smith and Jamal Crawford finished one and two. Like Smith and Crawford, Jack’s role was to provide instant offense and infuse energy into those second quarter lulls, beating rookies and other reserves off the dribble. Like Smith and Crawford, Jack would often finish the game on the court, helping the team find shots in crunch time. On countless occasions this year, Jack was a fourth-quarter catalyst for both Curry and Thompson, creating enough balance for the Warriors to survive difficult tests, winning road games they’d lost in previous years.

—

Jack’s weaknesses are passing and lateral quickness, which allows opposing point guards to drive by him at will. Jack is more suited to defending 2 guards. In the playoffs, these weaknesses have often been exploited, leading to some costly turnovers and factoring in the demise of Golden State’s crunch-time offense. However, when Jack is finding ways to get that shot off, dribbling all over the edges of the court, the Spurs defenders swarming Thompson and the hobbled Curry (who still contributed 22 points on 15 shots and 5 of 10 from range), Jack’s penetration and knack for finding a split-second opening in the paint enabled the Warriors to overcome an 8-point deficit (80-72) with 4:50 remaining.

—

This edition of the Golden State Warriors have an element of redemption to them. A coach that won’t stop pushing them to greater heights. With a complete, devotional confidence in each of his players. Doubt can kill an athlete. Free-throw line disasters. Pitching mound melt-downs. Goal-line interceptions. Complete belief in one’s abilities can make one look foolish. It might lead to dribbling the ball for 23 seconds and then heaving up an air-ball with the shot clock expiring. But it can also lead to dribbling your way out of trouble, spinning in the lane, and sinking that clutch, fading jumper, or tossing in that floater over Duncan, in traffic.

To read more on the Warriors and the NBA Playoffs, click here:

http://darkoindex.com/2013/05/13/jarrett-jacks-redemption-song-warriors-get-even-with-spurs/

Game 4, Sunday, May 12, 2013. Oakland, California.

—

To read more on the Warriors and the NBA Playoffs, click here:

http://darkoindex.com/2013/05/13/jarrett-jacks-redemption-song-warriors-get-even-with-spurs/

Most Hated Spurs Player?

2013-05-13T04:47:29Z

After watching the first four games of this series I have come to the conclussion that I absolutely cannot stand the San Antonio Spurs. All they do is complain and try to get away with dirty plays. First I'm going to start with Tim Duncan but does he need to complain about every little thing? Come on now you are a future Hall of Famer. Next is Danny Green the only thing this guy does is shoot 3's and when he makes them they are always at the worst time possible. He also never changes his facial expression whatsoever which just irritates me. Next is Tony Parker that guy is crazy good and the way he finishes inside and converts just amazes me. Manu is next and I have never been a big fan of his but it sealed the deal when he made that 3 point shot in game 1 to beat the warriors. Lastly is Patty Mills after every single basket does he really need to wave his towel and act like the Spurs just hit a game winning shot? I mean come on man. Don't get me wrong I totally respect the Spurs as a team but i just cannot stand them. I hope I am not the only one that feels this way.

Poll

Most Hated Spurs Player?

Barnes is ready to take off

2013-05-12T23:56:26Z

Barnes' 26 points were highly, highly eye-opening for a number of reasons. While yes, it wasn't a particularly efficient 26 points, given that the Warriors won the game, the takeaways are wonderful.

Seeing that he can, indeed, mentally take on a primary scorer role when needed.
While he had a lot of misses, the types of shots he took were almost all good. They were within the flow of the offense when he had a clear advantage over his defender and/or saw an open lane to exploit.
Multiple efforts, following his own misses
Did not relax on the defensive end, playing well
Did not settle for jumper most times unless he had a good look
Made all of his free-throw attempts

The main parts of his game I think he can improve on in the short term are his hands/handles -- he still fumbles the ball a bit more than I'd like, he sometimes fails to protect the ball when driving or when inside (he had a horrible attempt at a totally unnecessary power dribble after an offensive board in game 4, for instance). He also needs to pick up the Kobe Bryant (and others) habit of making audible sounds when he gets bumped so he can get an extra foul call or two per game. He takes contact silently and simply tries to adjust every time, rather than occasionally accentuating the contact in order to draw attention to it. Hard, subtle skill to learn, but he'll benefit from it.

In any case, as far as the missed shots, they weren't at all shots that I expect him to continue to miss, especially the ones coming off of drives and post-ups. He was putting the shots up softly and the balls were all around the rim, but unlike say, Tony Parker, does not have that knack of knowing where to place the ball off the rim & backboard in order to get the best rolls. I guess we'll just call it "touch" around the rim.

We'll have to see what happens for how ever many games the Warriors have left to play -- a lot of Barnes' strides have been as a result of the extra amount of attention being paid to defend against Warrior threes, specifically against Curry and Thompson, so that Harrison is being forced into more mismatches and isolations. That being said, it's really wonderful to see that he's apparently developed more facets to his game during the season than I thought.

Barnes' 26 points were highly, highly eye-opening for a number of reasons. While yes, it wasn't a particularly efficient 26 points, given that the Warriors won the game, the takeaways are wonderful.

Seeing that he can, indeed, mentally take on a primary scorer role when needed.
While he had a lot of misses, the types of shots he took were almost all good. They were within the flow of the offense when he had a clear advantage over his defender and/or saw an open lane to exploit.
Multiple efforts, following his own misses
Did not relax on the defensive end, playing well
Did not settle for jumper most times unless he had a good look
Made all of his free-throw attempts

Poll

How did you feel about Barnes' shots and shot selection in game 4?

Is Steph Curry just a younger Monta Ellis?

2013-05-11T16:21:32Z

I am happy to see the W's in the playoffs but I have this nagging feeling that we are highly dependent on Steph putting up monster numbers on his own. I've seen this movie before starring Monta Ellis and his heroics. Is this a remake but with a new actor, the 'same old, same old'?

Is Steph at the 1 the best for the W's? Should they move him to the 2 and have Jack play the 1? Klay has not been consistent enough to be dependable, I feel.

I just feel like this is the same old 'one-trick pony' strategy that will eventually peter out. Now with his ankle being not at 100%, our dependence on Steph Curry is all the more suspect.

Is Steph at the 1 the best for the W's? Should they move him to the 2 and have Jack play the 1? Klay has not been consistent enough to be dependable, I feel.

I just feel like this is the same old 'one-trick pony' strategy that will eventually peter out. Now with his ankle being not at 100%, our dependence on Steph Curry is all the more suspect.