Recap: Warriors 115, Sonics 117: COLLAPSE
Remember that loss to the Milwaukee Bucks just a week ago? Tonight was a rinse and repeat of that.
The first two quarters the Warriors were building something beautiful...
After the first two quarters the Warriors were up BIG 72-56. It looked like it was going to be FAN-tastic win #1,201 for Nellie.

It was looking simply marvelous!
The highlights:
- The Warriors came out firing. They were literally hitting everything. It was like watching 5 Ray Allen's out there when the Dubs were shooting: 72.7% from downtown (8 for 11) and 93.3% from the free throw line (14 for 15).
- On defense the 1-2-2 zone seemed to be working pretty well. Troy Murphy in particular looked solid. Keeping him down low with those zones masks his inability to move laterally.
- Fan favorite Adonal Foyle got some playing time!
but then it all COLLAPSED!

Uh-oh- NOT AGAIN!!
The lowlights:
- I don't know what the fellas were sippin' at halftime, but they came out and were thoroughly dominated in the 3rd quarter, surrendering 31 points and only scoring 16.
- MP2 and TMurph only managed 2 points each in the 2nd half after a nice 1st half.
- Monta Ellis couldn't be heard. It was a pretty quiet night for him.
- Andris Biedrins with 10, 5, and 5- that's 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 fouls. He looked like the Human Foul Machine of last season. Despite a few nice rolls/ cuts and finishes, it just wasn't his night.
- Mike Dunleavy just didn't looked focused out there, especially on defense. His disappearing act included more fouls than rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks-- COMBINED.
- Keith McLeod missed a free throw! No seriously, props to him for going to the line so many times tonight. I didn't realize that tonight's miss was his first of the season.
- Defense! Last I checked Damien Wilkins, Luke Ridnour, and Earl Watson weren't a three-headed 20 point scoring trio.
The Sonics were SuperSonic
You really have to hand it to this squad. It looked like they were going to get run off their own floor by halftime, but they hung in there and pulled off a big win without Jesus Shuttleworth. Denzel would've been proud of Ray's teammates. Props to Rashard Lewis (25 points, 8 boards, 4 assists, and 4 thefts), Luke Ridnour (26 points with 13 in the 4th and 9 dimes), Earl Watson (20 points, 5 assists, and one nasty fall), and D. Wilkins (22 points and 9 boards)- that's Damien, not Dominique (although the Warriors made him look THAT good tonight). They Got Game.

Denzel: "Sit this one out Ray. Your boys got you covered."
Also, props to the Sonics' great fans. KeyArena was loud and bumping all night long. If they do in fact move this proud franchise, the entire league should be ashamed. Our friends in Seattle deserve an NBA squad, like Warriors Nation deserves some serious playoff action.
10-11
Yup, for those of you paying attending to the Western Conference standings, both the Seattle Sonics and Golden State Warriors have recorded 10 wins and 11 losses. That's absolutely embarrassing for the Warriors. The Sonics are a squad most of us would have slotted with the 2nd worst record in the West at the beginning of this season. But the records indicate that these two squads are equally good or equally bad- however you want to look at it.
Seriously, can you believe that through 21 games the Warriors and Sonics have identical records? I know I can't.
Warrior Wonder
Boom Dizzle came to play tonight and his near triple double (that's back to back nights where he missed the Oscar Robertson by only 1 board) were brilliant. BD was knocking down jumpers, taking it strong to the hole, crashing the boards, and creating for others: 28 points (10-19 FG, 2-3 3pt, and 6-7 FT), 13 assists : 1 turnover, and 9 rebounds. It was a fabulous effort wasted by another team collapse.

BD gets bonus points for showing off his volleyball skills!
(AP Photo/Jim Bryant)
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22 comments
Comments
Shocking
by SkipT on Dec 10, 2006 10:56 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Well that certainly sucked.
Guess this is our just pennance for the talk about trading Jason?
Does anyone think Iverson would even want to come here? Games like this would have him demanding to be traded again.
What happens in these games? Does the other team toy with us for 3 quarters then start to play? or do we somehow suddenly go braindead and forget how we built a lead ?? or are we actually trying to win the Oden lottery( although I'm not sure we need a pot of japanese stew)???
by Skeptic con Urquell on Dec 10, 2006 11:00 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
JRich
by FoyledAgain on Dec 10, 2006 11:28 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Uh-Oh
ONE THAT GOT AWAY: Davis unhappy spectator after 16-point lead vanishes
His unhappiness was obvious. The Warriors had blown a 16-point lead in the second half, and on one of the last plays in which he participated, guard Anthony Roberson pulled up for an ill-advised jumper in transition with the Warriors down by five and 31.9 seconds to go.
by Atma Brother ONE on Dec 10, 2006 11:56 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Great
by SkipT on Dec 11, 2006 3:29 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
baron's attitude
lets hope baron keeps his head cool.
by pacifictigerpepband on Dec 11, 2006 3:53 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
This sums it up
So do I BD. So do I.
by Atma Brother ONE on Dec 10, 2006 11:59 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
lol.
The difference between this year and last year is that they can't blame the coach. Atma, I'm gonna have to disagree with the "drama" comment. I think that we may have high expectations, but Baron's may have been even higher. I think that with a healthy J-Rich (He should have sat out a couple extra weeks to begin with. It's never smart to come out at 75%, unless you're in a playoff chase) They don't squander games away. The only real person I consider a vet out there is Baron. So when the pressure gets to him, I think it gets to them all. J-Rich will provide a helping hand in just calming everyone down.
They just need to focus. They lose focus. Tonight they blew a 16 point lead in 4 minutes. That's just plain not paying attention. They pissed away the lead, and in turn it pissed them all off.
Now I'm just repeating myself. There's my two cents though.

If you take a look out of your windows, you can now see Dallas, TX. Quite the site, no?
by coma on Dec 11, 2006 12:05 AM PST reply actions 0 recs
Baron & Nelson
I'm going to return to a theme predicted here last summer - due to the make up of this roster, Nelson has had to play zone nearly the whole time. Now we're seeing teams making half time adjustments and penetrating against Dubz defense with greater ease in the second halves. Professional players and coaches are smart enough to make those adjustments. Does Nelson have another counter?
It's nearly impossible to be a running team after the opponent scores, so defense is affecting offense (as well as visa versa). We have a hard time getting out on the break when the other team is carving up our defense and scoring ...
Beyond that, Mullin is the one who brought this group together and he and Nelson need to make some roster changes to strengthen this team. Trade for AI or not, there are gaping wholes along the front line, and JRich's return will only cover up some of that when he returns ...
by hardcore on Dec 11, 2006 8:36 AM PST reply actions 0 recs
Good point
But nothing seemed to be working in the second half -- when the guys just ran out of gas (strange, for a "running" team). A good example of how statistics can be misleading: BD has the same line as the night before, but on Saturday he really played in the second half; last night he was just another diasappearing act (tho at least he scrambled from time to time) and once again Little Luke ate his lunch (now THERE's a guy who played a good fourth quarter).
Maybe it's because of the injuries, but my biggest problem thus far is I'd like to see these guys in better shape -- with their many weaknesses, they need to be able to outrun other teams, and the Sonics took it to them last night.
by johnl on Dec 11, 2006 9:00 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Luke vs BD
I actually don't remember those two matched up that much last night. Did you see them guarding each other a lot?
All I remember was Luke getting those wide open looks and knocking down those treys to beat the shot clock.
Also, I don't think Dunleavy played much last night because he had two unforced turnovers off some lazy passes and some pretty porous defense. Barnes was having the better night, so I think Nellie opted to go with him over Dunleavy.
by Atma Brother ONE on Dec 11, 2006 9:11 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Reply Points
*I didn't notice anyone guarding Ridnour in the second half; he seemed to be able to float free at will. I'm assuming BD should have been on him -- and it's clear Luke gets BD's goat (remember BD's cheap shot at him last MLK Day preceded Ridnour's being selected over Davis to try out for Team USA). Maybe Monta was equally to blame.
*As to Dun, I agree he had a poor first half -- but, fortunately, it didn't matter because the rest of the guys -- and BD, in particular -- were playing very well. But things started going in the dumper immediately as the second half began, and the W's lost virtually all of their 16 point lead in the the first four minutes. Why? Two reasons: they stoppped moving and settled for bad, long-range jumpers that didn't fall (I think they missed 10 of their first 11 shots); second, their "point" on the zone wasn't using his arms to prevent passes in to the low post, where Murph and whoever were just getting easten alive.
*Dun, even on a bad night, plays really effective D at the point of the 1-2-2; his arms are always up and he deters or deflects a lot of passes into the post. Why Nellie didn't put him in simply to slow down the Sonics is beyond me, because once they got it back to even, I think we all knew the W's were done.
*Barnes, to his credit, scored some in the fourth quarter when all others seemed stymied, but his overall shooting -- and shot selection in the killer third quarter -- was weak (6-16, I think), and his defense was really poor (at times it seemed as if he was playing without any arms at all). Guess he was tired.
Anyway, I'm still looking to see if this team can play some good ball consistently at crunch time; good players play when it counts.
by johnl on Dec 11, 2006 9:40 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Dun
by Psion on Dec 11, 2006 10:38 AM PST reply actions 0 recs
Baron?
I didn't realize Baron took so few shots at the end. Why? Was it a matter of the defense doubling him or was it by design? The other players certainly didn't come thru so maybe Baron should just go to the rim all the time? What happened to the Dunleavy to Baron post up play?
by Skeptic con Urquell on Dec 11, 2006 11:10 AM PST reply actions 0 recs
I'm wondering
I don't care if we put out ZARKO, just don't put in these crappy crunchtime performers out there!
Keep Roberson Barnes Ellis OFF the floor at the end of the 4th!
by Zorgon on Dec 11, 2006 1:19 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Does Our Coaching Staff Ever Read the Stats?
I think some coach is so sold on him "developing" that he is campaigning for MP to play major minutes. Here are the problems:
He doesn't move at all without the ball. Watch him in a half-court set. He just camps out in one corner or another and waits for a pass. So on offense, we're virtually 4 against 5. (Even BD has to wave him out of the corner at times.) Because of this mindset, MP has shot more threes than anyone else on the team! The coaches act like he's some kind of a 3PT ace or something. Earth to Coaching Staff: MP is only shooting 37%!
(To give you some perspective, Luke Walton's at 56%, and there's six more players over 50%. And a whole bunch in the 40% range. Those are 3PT aces. Nash shoots 50%. Hey, even Matt Barnes shoots 47% and Troy Murphey shoots 46%!)
Next, when he does attempt to penetrate, he's like a bull in a China shop. No agility or ability to alter his path. That's why he looks so awkward.
Penetrate and dish? He never dishes off. Last night he played 32 minutes and didn't have one single assist! And this is from a guard?
As a matter of fact, MP has less assists than every player on the team except Roberson (big surprise), Ike (injured), POB and Adonyl, none of whom get anywhere near MP's minutes. For all the minutes he plays, that's a big problem. Even Matt Barnes, for the few minutes he usually plays, has almost twice as many assists as MP. Even Keith McCleod has significantly more with a lot less minutes. As much as people talk about Dun, MP is playing more minutes than Dun, and yet Dun has over three times as many assists as MP!
Even not counting assists, he is not a proficient passer. He has trouble simply executing a fast break and even Adonyl gives him a run for the money with handling passes. As a matter of fact, with Adonyl's improvement this season, I'd say MP has the most trouble hanging onto passes of anybody on the team.
MP has more fouls/game than every Warrior except one...Guess who? Andris. We all know Andris fouls a lot, but MP? Nobody seems to mention that stat.
Finally, his FT. MP shoots 62% from the line.
So why is he getting major minutes? This is a shooting guard. Don't the coaches even watch the film or look at the stats? I almost cringe when I see him on the court.
I know the talk about him being a defensive stopper, but I just don't get it. Who has he stopped this season? Everybody's having career nights against us, just like last year. I think the hype that MP is a solid defensive player is one of the biggest myths about the Warriors right now.
Sure, he does some things OK. He seems like a really nice fellow and he is, of course, a twenty-something multimillionaire, so I don't think he will worry too much about my post.
I think he can help the team as a deep bench player with a strictly defined role. But all those minutes?
I feel that as long as the coaches continue to play MP major minutes, we're going to lose a lot more games than we win.
by pineriver on Dec 11, 2006 6:35 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
this sums up
by AJC3317 on Dec 11, 2006 9:56 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
arrgh
by kenntoe on Dec 11, 2006 7:52 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Rebounding?
Is the bad rebounding due to the small ball crap? They're probably so anxious to run that they forget that you need the ball first? Boxouts are just as important as fastbreaks.
by Skeptic con Urquell on Dec 11, 2006 8:35 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Following up
DAVIS PLACES ONUS ON VETERANS AFTER LATEST LOSS
``We're asking a lot of Monta (Ellis), Andris Biedrins and even Matt Barnes,'' Davis said. ``That's unfair to those guys, and us veteran guys, we need to step up. We've got to push ourselves past the level that we've been playing at in order to be successful.''
It's hard, though, for Golden State's veterans to have a large effect when their roles are shrinking by the day. Adonal Foyle has been a non-factor under new coach Don Nelson. Mike Dunleavy, having been bounced around the lineup and into a reserve role, played only 9:45 on Sunday and was yanked early in the fourth quarter after tossing a pass into the hands of Seattle forward Rashard Lewis.
Good to see this too...
by Atma Brother ONE on Dec 11, 2006 11:37 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

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