Recap: Game 5 - Warriors 115, Mavs 120 - An Inspiring Loss.

by Hash on Nov 8, 2007 11:52 PM PST in Recaps

Okay okay okay.... Before you hang your head too low, let's acknowledge a few things about tonight.

1) We looked electric tonight. There was passion and heart bleeding from so many of our players that I won't even bother listing them in this intro.
2) Missing a key element like Jax affects both our offense and defense. And we still had the Mavs doubting themselves the entire game.
3) A powerhouse is budding on the Warriors. Right before our eyes. We are witnessing the year of Kabuki. (insert Nike symbol here.)

But the fact remains that we are 0 and 5. There's no point hiding it. There's no point denying it. It's a statistical fact that the majority of teams, good or bad, hit slumps.

We're just getting ours out of the way at the start of the season.

Open Thread (180+ Comments)

A brief moment of tension between Harris and Barnes where they... um... kind of looked like they wanted to kiss... Oh C'MON! I'm the only one who sees it?! Look at it!!

(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)

Box Score

Maybe I should be feeling more disappointed than I am right now, but I'm not. I really think that tonight we almost saw the same brand of Warriors basketball that we saw last year. We were running. We were gunning. We were dunking. We were shooting. Our bench didn't flow as deep as the Dallas but our starters were more than picking up the slack. Mark my words if we somehow stole this game from the Mavs tonight, Cuban would stood up and called off the rest of the games we have scheduled against each other this season.

With the level that we played tonight, I bet we're happier with our loss than Mavs fans are with their win. They didn't want it to be that close! That, my friends was one aspect of the game I really enjoyed.

Watching Mark Cuban squirm in his seat? Priceless.

Okay, I better stop myself before I make it sound like I'm writing on a win here. I'm really not that thrilled. To be frank, we lost for two specific reasons.

Reason #1: Free.
Reason #2: Throws.

Seriously. You have got to be kidding me. Tonight, the team that has the most 3-point attempts in the NBA last year (or in other words, consider themselves to be shooters) went an absolutely abysmal 16 for 30 from the charity stripe. That's a petty 53.3% from the line. It didn't even look like they were focusing up there! Take some time with your shot! Realize the importance of what you are doing!! Do something about this!! WE BEG YOU!

In a game that the Warriors lost by 5 (2 of them being useless free throws at the end), the Warriors missed 14 open looks from the free throw line. We only needed to shoot at about 70% (arguably average) from the line to get the win. It was painful to watch. It really was. No team that shoots that way from the line will ever be premiere. Getting sent to the line is part of this game. You best to have a way to fight back when it happens. And that's all I'll say about that.

As we sit in the wake of our opening slump, let us bow our heads and give thanks for the following:

1) Baron Davis. I'm pretty sure that you're not even human. And I mean that in a good way. A ridiculous 37 points, 5 boards, 5 dimes, 1 jack and giant heart makes you a BEAST. You are why I watch this game.
2) Kabuki. Everyone is comparing you to J-Rich. Your strength. Your quickness. Your dunks. And NICE work on the glass! You keep this up, and they'll soon be comparing J-Rich to you. I miss the man, but I missed him less tonight. Now go shoot 100 free throws before you hit the lockers.
3) TMNT. Clutch baby. Clutch. All the right scores at all the right times. That was some serious turtle power out there.

We have until Wednesday to think about what went right for us and what went wrong for us. But keep your head up Warrior Nation. There was something out there bigger than this loss tonight. We were in danger of actually looking like a team.

Now go shoot 100 free throws before you close your browser. (What's good for the players is good for the fans.)

How can I not give this to Baron? Did anyone notice that he played the last 8 minutes of the game with 5 fouls and STILL didn't miss a beat? Still, a huge nod to Kabuki for his all around performance tonight but overall, Baron was the beast of the evening.

"BARON HUNGRY!!!"

(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)

Update (Atma Brother #1): Here's some video highlights of the great game over at ESPN.com.

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Optimism

i usually hate that word (and also pessimism...i dont like -isms)

But we are, slowly but surely, getting our pieces back on track:

Azubuike is fixing one of the swing positions all by himself
Harrington is proving Nellie right- no wonder he was dubbed best guy in training camp.
Baron Davis tonite was on fire, he crushed Dirk in the battle of superstars. If he had any rest at all, that shot goes in.
Biedrins- I'm letting this guy take any more crap, because he had 5 blocks tonight and cured his TO and fouls woes. (Yeah, he was bad from the line, but ...can u have everything?)
Barnes seems to have found his shot, he was, i believe, 3 of 5 with a dislocated knuckle. I have two good hands, 9 good fingers, and I still can't shoot. Thanks for toughing it out (that goes to all the W's)

Jackson comes back even halfway decent and our starting lineup might start crushing fools again.

Goat of the losing streak?

Monta Ellis, shooting below 40% FG, below 70% FT and giving it up on defense. Maybe those missed practices hurt more than it seems, but man, what a disappointment. This is unfair, but right now he's more Juan Dixon than Leandro Barbosa.

Secondary Goat?

Pietrus who makes me laugh everytime someone mentions he's "potentially a shutdown defender".

Anyways, I have to pause and say this:

Devin Harris is sucks. Seriously. If the refs were halfway straight tonight they woulda just fouled him out in the first quarter and save NBA fans the trouble of watching him, he's a disgrace. People talk about Varejao and Ginobili flopping, this kid could perform for Cirque De Solei.

Questions? Complaints?

(AIM: JetForze; email: Jon.d.ma@gmail.com)

by OptionZero @ Golden State Of Mind on Nov 9, 2007 12:02 AM PST reply actions

Barnes is better when something's broken

He couldn't make a shot when healthy, yet the moment he breaks something he starts making shots. Someone needs to keep a hammer in the locker room and make sure Barnes has something dislocated.

by lightz0ut on Nov 9, 2007 12:20 AM PST up reply actions

I Disagree... circle gets the square.

You can't put Monta as the GOAT of the losing streak maybe the first couple games but he played very well against Cleveland and did a good job of handling the ball tonight and dealing with some TERRIBLE calls against him. His night at the line was terrible but really can we hold that against him when the whole team stinks it up at the line?

I think Monta is getting too harsh criticism because people view the trade like we got rich of J-Rich for Monta.

Honestly up until tonight (and even a little bit tonight) you got to put the blame on Don Nelson and Baron. Nelson for not utilizing much of a bench and Baron for being very un-Baron (prior to tonight's Dallas game). Look at the stat lines before tonight's game:

Player     G     GS     MPG     FG%     3p%     FT%     OFF     DEF     TOT     APG     SPG     BPG     TO     PF     PPG
Baron Davis     4     4     39.3     .372     .120     .703     .80     3.50     4.30     9.8     1.75     .50     3.75     3.00     21.8
Monta Ellis     4     2     33.5     .367     .273     .708     .30     2.80     3.00     3.0     2.00     .75     1.25     1.50     16.0

Baron was also below 40% and low 70% at the stripe. Baron had a superstar game tonight but Monta didn't play terribly. Comparing him to Jaun Dixon over Barbosa is pretty unfair, actually take a look at Barbosa's shooting numbers he's also off to a slow start.

Monta's explosiveness and quickness to the basket are huge. Once he learns to finish better and how to use his quickness to set up others he could be similar to Tony Parker on the offensive end. Tonight he should have gotten one if not two charging calls using his quickness something that you just can't coach. The kid is 22 years old and he's still going to get much better.

Don't get me wrong Baron is the star of our team so I don't mean to throw him under the bus, but I'm going to stick up for Monta and this Warrior team. We lost to the NBA finals runner ups, the team that does to us what we usually do to the Mavericks (Jazz x2), a Clippers game that we SHOULD HAVE WON (that one did suck), and tonight we lost to a Mavericks team that absolutely NEEDED to win that game. And not only were we out Jack we had Pietrus on the shelf too.

We've played one of the toughest opening schedules of the NBA and without our second best player, a lot of teams would go 1-4 or 0-5 in those circumstances.

After tonight's game I'm going to go Jim Fassel on all the haters... "I am shoving my chips right in the middle of the table. I am raising the ante. Anybody who wants out, can get out. This team is going to win 42 games. OK? This team is going to win 42 games." We have to do a better job against the LA teams and the Hornets but we should have a chance once we get to full strength and can use a deeper bench.

Oh and I will give Dallas credit for using a little bit of a press tonight and giving us a different look. It took a little bit more energy out of an already stretched thin team. I don't know if the fatigue is part of our terrible free throw shooting but I'm going to start rocking a "Bring Back Granny Style" is we keep shooting sub 60% at the line!

I'm ranting because this is a game we should have won (just like Cleveland and the Clippers) and in the tight Western Conference those 3 losses could really come back to haunt us.

by ScorpioSnake on Nov 9, 2007 2:58 AM PST up reply actions

Seriously

Devin Harris is a joke. It's getting to the point where he barely deserves to be in the league.

by goGSW24 on Nov 9, 2007 6:59 AM PST up reply actions

Okay

That may have been over the top. But it's kind of ridiculous.

by goGSW24 on Nov 9, 2007 7:02 AM PST up reply actions

free throws

it's tough as a fan to watch nba basketball players, who are the best in the world at what they do and get payed millions of dollars to do it, be so pathetic at one of the basic aspects of the game. we watch professional athletes in part to see them do things that we cannot, yet i know that many of us on this board could easily step up to a free throw line and knock down at least 7 out of 10. again, for professional basketball players not to be able to do this is embarassing, pathetic, and inexcusible.

by AJC3317 on Nov 9, 2007 12:03 AM PST reply actions

Looking Good

I was at the game and I honestly have to say for the most part given all the circumstances everyone played hard and looked good. I was happy with pretty much everyone's effort tonight and Nellie seemed to have a decent enough game plan. The Warriors shot the ball well and I thought there D was fine. It was a good, entertaining game by both squads.

Nice games from:

BD
Biedrins
Kaz
Barnes
Al

The problem isn't this loss, it's the 4 preceding it. There's no shame in losing such a close game like this to an elite team. It's shameful that they were down 0-4 coming into it though.

Unfortunately this just ain't a very good team right now. As Beyonce would say this roster needs an upgrade.

by Atma Brother ONE on Nov 9, 2007 12:18 AM PST reply actions

Hey Atma,

The crowd seemed more subdued on TV. Whassup w/ that?

THIS IS OOOAKLAND!!!

by Tim N Chris Burger on Nov 9, 2007 12:32 AM PST up reply actions

Seriously

Have all the rich quiet folks bought up the season tickets? I yell louder at my TV than some of the people at those games. How do we get the crowd back into the ROARacle?

by belli nellie on Nov 9, 2007 8:21 AM PST up reply actions

hold gsom night

every night

THIS IS OOOAKLAND!!!

by Tim N Chris Burger on Nov 9, 2007 8:24 AM PST up reply actions

Ill have 2 disagree

I was at the game last night and it was poppin'. The crowd WAS into it (I never screamed so much foul language in my life last night) most important I had a god ass time and so did everyone uptop from my perspective. (section 218) That whole rich folk thing you pointed out... be more specific and see for yourself... all I saw last night were families, hard core fans and peeps who wanted 2 see a dope match up and have a good time. I think we got our money's worth last night. This is coming from someone who slept at midnight the night b4... woke up at 5am 2 print out Tony.psd signs at Kinko's, worked a 7am-4:30 shift and fought traffic for 2 and a half hours to get to the arena... I thik the crowd will be more lively when we get a W.

by Tony.psd on Nov 9, 2007 8:36 AM PST up reply actions

Dude section 218

was loud and into it last night. I was in row 6 of that section. Right after the Baron putback dunk when everyone stood up and cheered, a guy in the row behind me got so excited he flipped over my row and ended up in row 5. But then again the section also had a Dallas fan group and they were rubbing it in after the game...

by nautica on Nov 9, 2007 9:23 AM PST up reply actions

ROARacle

It was not nearly as quiet as it may have been depicted on tv. It seemed as if there was ALMOST the playoff atmosphere. I sat in the lower level, section 108, and yes it seemed as if the season ticket holders were quiet. I was obviously the loudest person in my section. They just sit there and watch and the only emotion that is shown is when something exciting happens.

The people I sat around didn't seem to know much about basketball. I was rather disappointed in my conversations with them. Knowing that they are season ticket holders and the lack of emotion for the game and the team is very upsetting. Most of them bought season tickets because the Warriors were the hot item at the end of last season, and not really Warrior OR basketball fans for that matter.

by lyricalgenius on Nov 9, 2007 9:24 AM PST up reply actions

I think it was decent

Nothing unBELIEVABLE, but nothing to be ashamed of. I think the key difference is the intensity level and Roaracle-ness just wasn't there for an entire 48 minutes compared to the 16-5 run and the playoffs. It was there for a few minutes at a time. But honestly after sitting in University Ave-84-880 for about 1.5 hours I can't blame anyone. I was pretty tired when I got there.

by Atma Brother ONE on Nov 9, 2007 1:31 PM PST up reply actions

Baron played his heart out.

fatigue set in on that last three. shoot.

We need Jax...and another superstar.

Warriors, Stupidest franchise in the league.

by kenntoe on Nov 9, 2007 12:38 AM PST reply actions

Just 1 question

Is there any chance AB is getting ball more frequently? Moments when he's standing at 3point line doesn't count.

by Pipuks on Nov 9, 2007 1:45 AM PST reply actions

diemzheel pipuk nee

kameer Azibuke un Haringtons kraamee iekshaa shitaadus ciparus Biedram jaapaspeelee bik bez bumbas
-tobish aizsardziiba (5 blokshoti ir krietns raadiitaajs)

As a fan, I've seen worse

by Lat We N Trash on Nov 9, 2007 1:55 AM PST up reply actions

nelamaajies..

It's gonna be alright.. Acctually first game in which ab played quite stellar help D. Of course, stopped to make BS calls, but anyway - he showed some signs of last season (in FT shooting as well).

by ramiism on Nov 9, 2007 6:19 AM PST up reply actions

i didn't swore

lol
blame the guy for hes nick

As a fan, I've seen worse

by Lat We N Trash on Nov 9, 2007 10:28 AM PST up reply actions

BD have things to say

As a fan, I've seen worse

by Lat We N Trash on Nov 9, 2007 1:57 AM PST reply actions

"Getting our losing out of the way"

Um ... no. I'm guessing you were kinda kidding, Hash, but it irks me because a lot of sports fans actually think this way ... "We've lost a bunch, so we're due." No. The 0-5 start is in the bank, unrelated to what we do from here on out. We're not karmically "owed" a win streak to make up for it. To finish above .500, we now have to go no worse than 42-35. To make the playoffs, we likely have to do better than that.

I agree that we're finally showing flashes of late-last season form ... but if that doesn't start translating into wins soon, we may find ourselves in a hole too deep to climb out of.

by Sleepy Freud on Nov 9, 2007 6:36 AM PST reply actions

Indeed I was kidding.

I know (and every fan should know) that we're not losing due to some mystic karma. We are most certainly going to have to earn all of our wins and if some of our flaws over the past 5 games continue, it's going to be a long season.

But think about this. If we win the rest of our games for the rest of the season, we will have finished with a 77 and 5 record. THE BEST NBA RECORD EVER!! Exciting stuff!!

(Kidding there too.)

by Hash on Nov 9, 2007 8:17 AM PST up reply actions

Karma...or stats?

That depends on what type of talent level you think we have.

Do we have a .000 winning percentage team? If so, then yeah, we aren't owed a winning streak.

But if we .500 winning % talent, then...yeah, we are "owed" a 5 game winning streak, cuz that'll even our record to what it should be.

Removing all basketball analysis about 3Pers and Fts and zone defenses...it's statistical regression.

Even the crappiest of hitters can get 10 straight hits, but over the course of a 162 game season, he'll eventually start hitting like a crappy hitter. Example: even Neifi Perez strung a couple hits together before, but he still sucks. Really.

Likewise, there is nothing to stop anyone from flipping a coin and getting 10 straight tails, but over 100 flips he's prooobably gonna end up with around 50 tails and 50 heads.

Questions? Complaints?

(AIM: JetForze; email: Jon.d.ma@gmail.com)

by OptionZero @ Golden State Of Mind on Nov 9, 2007 9:44 AM PST up reply actions

See now

I figured someone would use this "logic," but I didn't think it would be you, OZ...

You're confusing statistical regression and the gambler's fallacy.

If you flip a coin 100 times, you're most likely to end up with right around 50 heads, yes. But once you've already flipped 20 straight heads, you're most likely to end up with right around 60 (or maybe more, since you're probably dealing with a defective coin...)

Similarly, if the Ws are a "true .500 team," they should be expected to go 39-38 or 38-39 from here on out -- which puts us at 38-44 or 39-43.

Of course there are a zillion psychological and schedule-related factors that mess with this calculus, but the basic point stands: the five losses don't make us "due" for an equal-sized winning streak. Alas...

by Sleepy Freud on Nov 9, 2007 2:30 PM PST up reply actions

dang

started my response a while ago...then had to do some work....beat me to it.

by TMC Forever on Nov 9, 2007 2:58 PM PST up reply actions

hey

I said it depends if u believe in karma =P

Questions? Complaints?

(AIM: JetForze; email: Jon.d.ma@gmail.com)

by OptionZero @ Golden State Of Mind on Nov 9, 2007 5:15 PM PST up reply actions

i think the point is....

....we don't know if we're a .500 team or a .000 team yet.

you can assume that...and we'd like to assume that....but i think one of the first laws of stats says that whatever happens in the past is not a predictor of the future...and people are worried (right or wrong) that we're not as good as last year.

by the way, for fun, the odds against flipping a coin tails 10 straight times is:

1/2 ^ 10 = 0.098% (1/10 of one percent)

one angle on the warriors goes like this:

last year we:

lost to the clips on the road (twice)
lost to the jazz on the road (twice)
lost to cleveland at home
beat dallas everywhere
beat the jazz at home (twice)

so, we're two games behind last year's pace.

the "how we're doing" question is heavily dependent on expectations (and semantics):

first, what do we expect in terms of final record?
second, what do we expect in terms of playoff advancement (if we make it)?

i think the people who are disappointed aren't necessarily freaking out at the 0-5 start....I think they are seeing with their eyes that this isn't the same magical warriors team that finished the season last year. many people were hoping that's who we are now.

while i know the warriors will do better and i think they will end up winning more than losing, i would have a hard time arguing with somebody telling me we'll most likely end up in the 8th spot and getting bounced by the Spurs in the first round. i think that's what people are worried about. we wanted (hoped for) more than that.

again, we have reasons to think we can get this together and do better....and that's why we hang in there and watch.....we believe.

by TMC Forever on Nov 9, 2007 2:57 PM PST up reply actions

whatever

the reasoning, the warriors are 0-5.

They have already dug themselves a deep hole. With NO, showing up this season, i think it'll be extremely difficult for the warriors to make the playoffs.

Warriors, Stupidest franchise in the league.

by kenntoe on Nov 9, 2007 10:21 AM PST reply actions

This is

a long season and I liken it to a marathon (which is is). It is not the early sprinters and lead the pack who always arrived at the finish line. Sometimes it is the early strugglers are among the finishers. Last season (February), we are on a 6-game losing streak. We were 26-35 after losing to the Wizards on technical foul on Nellie after the regulation time. That seemed to be the key and started to hit our stride.

After that emotional defeat with the Wizards the team regrouped. Perhaps losing with the Mavs on a defensive mental lapse last night, will be the same feeling that they will feel when they face Billups and co . Incidentally, our next game is with the same Pistons on Wednesday 11/14 who have sparked us on that slump.

Having said that, we almost always out run and out gun other teams because of our atlethicsm but we cannot do that with short rotation and rusty guns. In the last three games we saw some some positives which I hope will be translated into wins.

by muritqua on Nov 9, 2007 1:21 PM PST up reply actions

Monta

Even thou he strugled with his shot. There was a part of his game that rocked 7 assists and only one turn over!

by Psion on Nov 9, 2007 11:36 AM PST reply actions

patient fan...

I like the rest of you here have been a patient warrior fan. I was prepared not to have too much high expectations for this team. I would have to admit the 0-5 start would not be as grim as an 0-5 start last year when you consider that early 06 lineup. I like the energy the Warriors have brought this year. But I just can't help but notice the inconsistency on the free throw line, which was a key problem down the stretch during those close playoff games with Utah. I think the Warriors need to find a way to make their free throws because they can use their quickness to get to the hoop and if fouled get more attempts. There is no room for error on this team, but I do hope they continue with that run and gun style. The Warriors do bring exciting basketball even through the tough losses so far...I wanna see more "Ellis to the rim!"

by Spree15 on Nov 9, 2007 2:50 PM PST reply actions

things are looking pretty good, not win wise tho

barnes seemed lik he knew what he was doing until he was taken out. nelson needs to recognize that al harrington can play 38-40 minutes now and he needs to use that to his advantage by not taking him out in the final 3 minutes of the game. i hope ppl noticed but they played a lot better without pietrus playing. belinelli played pretty good. kaz is playing really well and im not really missin j-rich scoring wise and rebounding wise(HIS A MONSTER ON THE OFFENSIVE GLASS). and of course lord baron does what he does best but he did miss the clutch 3 which he is used to.
on the other hand...
biedrins isnt being productive offensively his just the teams rebounder basically. and MONTA ELLIS IS PISSING ME OFF. his being a ball hog that cant score. and his killing the team on defense when he collapses on one player living his man wide open for the j. as of now i think we're not gonna win until the 9th game in the season. the return of action jackson will help tremendously but i think he will b out of it the 1st game bak.
i think monta, pietrus, and croshere should be traded for a decent big man and pure point guard cuz they are really suckin rite now

by gswLLBatman on Nov 9, 2007 3:20 PM PST reply actions

Simple

Mavs went 0-4 last year.
Mavs won 67 games last year.

Warriors are 0-5 this year.

However, we all know Warriors > Mavs.

For all intensive purposes, I'll let that extra loss stick.

Therefore, Warriors will win only 66 games this year.

1st Seed here we come!!

Now, seriously speaking.. We're only 2.5 games out of the 8th seed, and that's the number that I care about. The Clippers will come back down to earth, but the Nuggets will also eventually wake up. Either way, we're only potentially 3 games away from where we could hope to be.. after going through a really rough schedule as well.

We made a 16-5 run last year, I believe this team is still capable of doing things like that.

by jlagace on Nov 9, 2007 3:58 PM PST reply actions

lol

67 games would be nice, as well as all those 17 game streaks the mavs had going on last season.

I feel ok about our chances, but the west also got tougher...new orleans with peja healthy and chris paul playing well...clippers...if we can make a strong push towards the end of the season, we should be able to make the playoffs and aim towards a seed so that we meet the mavs again :o)

by blahblah on Nov 9, 2007 5:26 PM PST up reply actions

Ball hogs and crowd noise.

Don't have 7 assists and 1 TO on the night.

I'm pretty sure Don Nelson was the one calling the collapsing zone defense that left so many guys wide open late for 3 point shots. Why were we in that zone when Biedrens wasn't in foul trouble and doing okay inside. If they tried to isolate Baron for his 6th we could have double teamed but still stuck in a base man formation. To me that choice to play the zone late in the game was a bigger reason we lost than Monta (who by the way was PLAYING with the flu, whereas Pietrus didn't even show to the arena). But it was the FT shooting that killed us.

And I challenge anybody on here to be louder than me at games this year. I single handedly get sections 121 and 122 going throughout the game. I think the crowd was pretty dull until that run to end the second half but pretty good the second half. It's unfair to compare the crowds to the Mavs series last year, we pretty much gave a top 10 in the history of basketball (and maybe even sports) home court advantages for that series. Not even in the Utah series did we really approach that level again.

I think you'd be hard pressed to find a much better NBA crowd than we had in the second half in a non opening night game 2 weeks into the season.

by ScorpioSnake on Nov 9, 2007 11:17 PM PST reply actions