Awesome wrap-up you put together here man...Who cares if the Warriors lost, we got to see Jessica Alba for a little bit :)

About those Dubs--I'm enthusiastic about this team's potential. A little more gellin' (just like Dr. Scholls') and we might be runnin' nicely in the Bay.  Interesting remark about Barnes you made, who knows, maybe a deal really is in store? Who would it be for though? I don't know if there are any great rebounding bigs on the market currently...? Gasol wouldn't want to come here, Garnett is out of the picture--who do you guys have in mind?

I haven't seen the game, but one thing Biedrins needs to learn is that it's NOT necessary to challenge every shot that it's taken around the Ws basket. If you have to let them get an easy basket, so be it.

Maybe if we had a back up center who could get us around 6-8 boards if needed we could afford it, but not in this situation.

Of course, we all know that the refs don't help with any of those calls.

By the way, what happened in the last minutes of the 4th? Poor shooting selection and TOs?

Sarunas's TO's, Baron's cramp, and generally sloppy play is what happened. We also mysteriously went to a zone D at the end of the game, within which Walton was able to get an offensive board and putback (off a BRICK 3 by Kobe) and Kobe was able to get a game changing dunk.

Well, you definitely hit the nail on the head with this one Atma. Toughest loss of the year in my mind (maybe because I live in L.A. and have to deal with the obnoxious media and jackass Laker fans on a daily basis). That had to be the most pathetic final minute or two I've seen from the Warriors in a while (Luke Walton?! You've got to be kidding). And you just know the collapse coming. Heck, the guys on FSN West were predicting a Lakers victory midway through the fourth period ... when the Dubs were leading! I'm just so tired of watching this team give games away night after night after night. Yes, we're young. Yes, we've had some injuries. Yes, we have a new team and need some time to jell. The bottom line is, this team can play well when it wants to. We see it for three quarters nearly every game. In the other quarter, which is usually the third or fourth, the Warriors turn into a group of five "individuals" just trying not to lose. It's like watching a game of H-O-R-S-E. I swear I've seen more cohesive units on the Venice Beach blacktop. As Atma said, I blame Nellie for not being proactive enough to call timeouts when the Warriors start getting sloppy with the ball and Baron starts throwing up fadeaway hook shots from half court (ok, a little exaggeration, but not much). Not to say that's the  absolute solution to our problems, but it's a start...

As for the trade talk, I agree with Atma (and just about everyone else) that we need another big body down low. AB is still learning and we can't expect him to play 40+ minutes every night. With no Murphy or Diogu (POB and Foyle hardly deserve mentioning), we're being forced to depend on Beans way too much. When he was forced to the bench with foul trouble tonight (and when he eventually fouled out) we were flat-out awful in the paint. Andrew Bynum looked like the second coming of Shaq at times. I see no way Warriors management doesn't make a move before the deadline. In my opinion, they don't have a choice. Maybe it's MP2 for McDyess (we'd have to throw in someone like Zarko to make the deal work). Dumars is telling local media McDyess isn't on the trading block, but they'd be out of their minds not to make the deal if they're looking for an athletic swingman. And if we're not planning on re-signing Pietrus anyway, then why not? Yes, McDyess is far past his prime and actually listed as the exact same size as one Al Harrington, but their games are completely different. Plus, McDyess is in the last year of his deal, so it's smart for salary cap purposes as well (unlike that Nazr guy everyone's been clamoring about, who's a salary cap nightmare and, oh by the way, can't even get a start in Detroit over 37-year-old Dale Davis). We've got plenty of trade bait, so if not McDyess, fine. Actually, he's just the first name that popped into my head (after KG, of course). But there's no excuse for not getting a deal done. Heck, I'd even take ol' Dale right about now. I bet he could block out Luke freaking Walton...

really a Warriors fan? LOL I always see her at Dub games in the big cities.

other than al harrington, the warriors seemed to have no threat on the inside, biendrins with 8 points and 6 fouls isnt going to cut it.  the lakers didnt have to be concerned about the warriors inside game which allowed them to be agressive, and lead to the warriors sloppy play.

i really hope mully isnt done dealing, (no i am not saying nazr is the answer) but the team needs someone who can play good solid D, rebound the ball and catch it when baron or jackson drives and dishes

one guy that has a rising trade stock, at least for a while, was matt barnes, i personally think we can live without him and if we can package him with adonal or zarko to get something, it wouldnt be a bad idea to consider.

i think maybe mullin is working on something, because i dont think barnes played at all last night. i hope mullin can do something, he has been good with trades, the baron trade, this latest trade, then i remember a useless one for tskitsvilli, but that was a garbage trade, it didnt really have any impact, we did get eddy naruraja in it though

biendrins really needs to step up his play, i was really impressed by him in the first part of the season, but lately, he has reverted to his one minute man days, nellie is good with young guys, hopefully he can help him get it going

just my couple cents

I really liked what I saw from Josh Powell in last nights game...I could see him filling in some back up time at the 4 and 5. He looks very athletic and strong enough to fight for some boards. Maybe if Nellie puts him in the right position he could end up being a usable piece here.

Well, let's try and look at the bright side. We've got New Jersey (minus Richard Jefferson!) and Charlotte coming up. There's two games that we could definetly win to round out the week. Then, we go from there. If we just hang around 500, we could gain momentum. It didn't help that trying to transition the new guys in, we had to play Lebron, and then Kobe!

i don't see this as the toughest loss so far this season.  it hurts to fall this far below .500 but if you look at the western standings there's no way we should have even hung with the lakers.  we're fighting for 8th in the west and they're looking like top 4 or 5.  i will say that NJ and Charlotte are must wins.  

my optimism is bolstered by that blistering first half.  the new guys look hungry and fired up and that's infectious.  i'm glad harrington brought his game but what happened to jax?  let's hope jax will bring his game back for wednesday and we can see some of the same production (plus boards!) from al.

monta looks good with the new line up, seems like less pressure to score.  andris needs some big bodied help for sure.  

 

And then die in crunch time.  Let's see now.  We watch the energy, verve and all-around good feeling generated by the trade. . . .and then, it's back to basics -- first, we lose a 20-point lead at home; then, we get outscored 13-2 at the end of the game.  Same as it ever was. . . .

Oh.  And you've got to love the "major upgrade defensively" Harrington has brought.  While he went off (except for the fourth quarter, of course), his counter-parts did pretty well, too.  And ONE REBOUND in 43 minutes?  And worse, NO DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS?  Gee.  

Bottom line.  Street ball is a lot of fun to watch. . .until your opponents turn on the defensive screws -- which both the Cavs and the Lakers did, almost effortlessly, these last two games.  Then, the joy dissipates as fans ask themselves: "How did we lose that game?"  I know, I know.  I complain too much when I see collapse after collapse at crunch time; I should enjoy more "highlight" play during the first three quarters.  But I guess I'm too old school: I still like to win games, rather than just put on a show until crunch time.

- Mike Dunleavy bad

I don't recall Dunleavy ever playing anything close to 43 minutes and pulling only one board?  That is the weirdest stats of the night

haha

Easy there cowboy. That was not street ball. Not even close. That was basketball the way it should be played. Streetball involves NO defense and nonstop dribbling. These guys looked great out there together. I especially loved how many times guys made that extra pass into the corner to get the open three. At first I thought all these forwards were going to clash, but the teamwork I saw from Jackson, Pietrus, Ellis, et all was encouraging. And the pressure D? Phenomenal. There were times they just TOOK the ball from the Lakers.

Don't get too down on Al, he was huffing hard in the 4th quarter. You have to remember we play at a frenetic pace and he needs to catch up in terms of conditioning. And the 4th? If Koby got hurt with the game tied and three minutes left we would expect the full strength warriors to win. Why is it any different when our playmaker goes down? Its not an excuse, but we shouldn't get down on them for it either.

Just a vision. Baron, Richardson, Jackson, Harrington, and Biedrins. Name a more athletic 1-5 in the league. I dare you.

Something about "Fools Gold"?

I mean, I hate to say it, but that's Nellie ball.

It's exciting, it's fun, it fills the arena.

It never wins championships.

We need a big PF that can intimidate and score and rebound.  Harrington is a small PF that can score.

We can see what the team looks like without Baron.  Pretty bad.  We'd better be looking for a better backup than Sarunas in the draft next year.  I think with our pick we should get someone good, and maybe an elite point guard to develope.  Unless there's a stud PF to be had.

We don't need another 7' beanpole.  We have one on the floor, one in the D league, and one in Europe.

We don't need another SG/SF combo guy.

We need a 6'10" PF that can rebound and bang and pass, and we need a better backup to Baron than Ellis, though the return of JRich might ease that a bit.

The confusion in games should go away in two weeks.  Give them time.

But some of the Pacers fans were right.  Harrington can't Board much and has not great "D" overall, but he's quicker than Murphy.

He's not the bulk and sheer size of Murphy, so it's just a different skill set, the two are pretty evenly matched.  I think Harrington is better, but not by that much.

The roster can at least be tweaked easier now due to better salary structure overall.

We are going the right direction!

Nice wrap up Atma!  Always fresh.

Baron has been playing great all season.  Some critics feared him reverting to last year's "And 1" ball.  Thankfully he hasn't (much)!

But...I don't know how BD's HORRIBLE decision making last night could be left off the "What went wrong" list.  BD was taking TERRIBLE shots (7/18 FG).  He was making more bad decisions than normal (5 TOs only 7 asts).  Honestly, it looked like he was pumped up about the suspension, and wanted to show off for the new guys.  Are you serious?  From a 9 year, allstar, vet?  It's nights like these that have me scratching my head about BD.  He is a great player, and could be incredible.  I'm sending him better basketball videos by Steve Nash for his Valentines Day.

I thought we looked pretty good last night.  Although we didn't get the W, we got a peek at what the new Warriors are gonna do for our team and CHAMPIONSHIP GOAL.  We're faster and create a bunch of turnovers which translate into fast break points.  We killed the Lakers with points in the paint which we haven't done too many teams all year.  

Although Biedrins fouled out I love way he's playing.  He's aggressive on D and snatches key boards.  

I love watching the progression..this is the most exciting time in my eyes.  

the warriors looked good last night, hence i have little to complain about. although they did get owned at the ft line. I think they were playing a little too aggressive at times. Fouling jump shooters? come on, you got to be smarter than that. Phantom calls for kobe and especially against AB. I think the zone at the end of the game was a bad choice. It allowed walton to sneak in there. Yes, we need a pg that can step up and relieve Baron when he gets tired and still not have a drop off in production. I also think we need to draft an NBA ready player. Whether that's a pg or a sf or a pf, he needs to be ready to play.

No more projects please! Jrich better come back soon or else it'll be too late to climb back into the standings. Even as it is right now, the Warriors are close to having their backs against the wall.

Aside from the two glaring stats (free throw disparity, rebounding) mentioned in this post by Atma, we lost because we couldn't force tempo in the second half.  Forcing tempo is not only pushing the ball on offensive possessions, but it is also playing pressure defense as well.  

During the first half, we were more active on the defensive side of the ball.  We were able to get steals and force turnovers; thereby, leading to the fast break and optempo style of play that Coach Don Nelson likes to run.  The first half was emblematic of what Golden State Warrior Basketball COULD be as long as we put pressure on the ball and run off of long rebounds, steals, blocks, and turnovers.  

In the second half, the Lakers were able to control the tempo of the game by running a lot of isolation sets primarily through Kobe Bryant, and we played right into their hands.  What we should have done was double team Kobe Bryant off of Smush Parker or Sasha Vujacic.  

Had we done this, a couple of things would have happened.  One of those things would have been that we would have dictated the tempo.  Doubling down on the ball puts pressure on the ball handler and could possibly force him into making turnovers which translates into transition baskets going the other way.  

The second thing that would have happened is that we would have forced Parker or Vujacic to beat us from the perimeter.  Vujacic never plays well against the Warriors.  He was 1 of 6 from the field.  Parker was 4 of 6 from the field but 1 of 3 from 3-point range.  He did not prove that he could hit that outside shot with regularity.  I would much rather run at Parker and Vujacic on the perimeter than Walton and Radmonovic because those two players are paid to hit the open perimeter shot even though they shot 2 for 10 and 0 for 4 respectively.  

Since we did not elect to go to this strategy, Bryant was able to pick us apart against 1 on 1 coverage and get to the line; therefore, leading to stopages in play and the obvious free throw disparity.  I understand that this is only the second game that our newly acquired players have played in a Warriors uniform, but the Warriors have to realize that we are more athletic now.  Consequently, we can take more risks on the defensive side of the ball because our players are athletic enough to recover on defensive roations and can run out to shooters.  

We need to think more like the Phoenix Suns and run at every opportunity.  If you play defense at a frenetic pace, you're liable to give up some open shots both on the perimeter and in the lane because of the amount of risks you take; however, you force the other team to play at your speed.  You force them to make quicker decisions against the defense and any change in possession is being run in the other direction.  The Warriors are lethal when they get out in the open court.  It's when the tempo slows down that the Warriors go through scoring droughts because they don't have enough half court options that can consistently get points.

Knowing this, they need to run at every single opportunity.  The less we see Baron Davis, Monta Ellis, and Sarunas Jasikevicus walking the ball up the court, the better.  We need to push the ball and throw the ball ahead every single time down the court, including off of made baskets.  

I know it's difficult to play at such a fast pace for 48 minutes, but that's why you have substitutions, and no one is better than Coach Nelson at utilizing the entire roster.  Bob Fitzgerald has said that we are a team with depth.  It's time to start using it, and you can do that if you run all of your players hard on both ends of the court for the entire game.

The Suns are adept at doing this.  Granted, it's the third year they have been in the system with Coach Mike D'Antoni and point guard Steve Nash, but we need to start having the same mindset of running as much as possible in order to consistently win games.    

in this system for 4 players.  Its going to take some time.  Better sooner than later.  We need to hang around until the Allstar break.  Getting JRich back is going to be another adjustment, but at least he can focus on being a penetrator again.  Once we get Barnes and Azubuike worked into the rotation, and yes, have Nazr or Ely banging down low, I like our chances.

I can't believe the stupid "MVP" chant for Kobe.  They were chanting during his free throw.  Laker fans are the worst.

One thing getting old is watching Baby Al post up and forget to control the ball.  We should have better options than that.  Overall, his game is so much better than mrphleavy.  i'm optimistic.

I thought I would just pop in and give you guys a nice read in the Sacramento Bee about your recent trade. I am not familiar with the writer - not one of the usual guys over here. Enjoy! Have a good game with the Nets tonight.