Recap: Warriors 99, Spurs 112 - Outplayed.

by Hash on Apr 7, 2007 9:16 PM PDT in Recaps Comment 27 comments

Damn.

Okay honestly, that would have been a stellar end to our three game road trip, but all is not lost. As I write this recap, the Nuggets are playing the Clippers and... well, okay the Nuggets are down by 9... But it's only the second quarter!

This is what it comes down to. After getting solidly put away by the Spurs tonight, Warriors fans across the Bay are reduced to resting our postseason hopes on the collapse of the Clippers. Unfortunately, the Clippers decided that this would be the best time to start up a win streak of their own.

Okay, I can't think about it anymore. What will be, will be and to be perfectly honest, it feels pretty good to even be in a position to worry like this so late in the regular season. It does us no good to rest our hopes on the Clippers' flaws.

Let's focus on our own.

Boxscore

The lesser employed "Roundhouse to the Face defense."

I can't really say a whole lot of positives or negatives about our performance tonight. At least, not any new stuff in any case. Considering the fact that the last time we played this team we lost by almost 40 points, I'd say that tonight was a considerable improvement in fact!

But alas, the Warriors do not seem to be a team that learns from their own mistakes. As the close of the season creeps up upon us, our dismal situation can be blamed on 4 or 5 consistent flaws in our game strategy the plagues us seemingly every other game!

Shooting from beyond the line tonight was totally unacceptable. Collectively, the team went 11-32 with Jackson going 1 for 7 while Baron and Barnes went 1 for 4 each. I can't say this to our boys enough. If you can't make it, DON'T TAKE IT! Now I'm not saying that they have to go 100% beyond the arc, but they need to learn when to try something different!

"Hey Mr. Owl! How many bricks does it take to get to the center of the key?"

Our lack of offensive presence on the inside took its toll again tonight. We ended up at the charity stripe a mere 14 times tonight; less than half of the Spurs. In fact, the Spurs made 50% more free throws tonight that our total appearances at the line! Free throws = free points. Get in there and drive the ball! They'll hit your wrist sometimes. I promise.

Tonight was simply a night where the mediocre version of the Warriors simply would not do. Regardless of what may happen in the rest of this season, the Warriors need to solve their woes of inconsistency. They must be one of the only teams in the league that can upset elite teams while dropping to the bottom feeders. Vegas must hate these guys.

Say a little prayer Warriors nation. We need a "Nugget" of hope tonight. Because we just got outshot, outrebounded, outassisted, outstealed, outblocked... and outplayed.

Jason Richardson tonight, with an honorable mention for a well put together game by TMNT. When it came down to the right shots at the right time, they had some bullets in their guns. Keep the faith guys! The Promised Land is coming.

UPDATE: Nuggets beat the Clippers, 96-93! Check out the Final Box Score.

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If anyone hasn't seen it:

How I feel the game is, descibed in one word.

(Yes, I know I've shown it too much.)

With his past behind him, Adonal looks toward the future, wherever it may be....

by Zorgon on Apr 7, 2007 9:40 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Clippers up 2 with 1:27 left

by twelve years on Apr 7, 2007 9:53 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

THANK YOU NUGS

woohoo!!! Paperclips lose!!!

by wander7 on Apr 7, 2007 10:03 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

YES!!! YES!!!!! F***ING YES!!!!!

THE NUGGETS WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FINALLY A TEAM THAT WE NEEDED TO LOSE ACTUALLY LOST!!!!!!!! WE'RE STILL IN THIS THING BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by AJC3317 on Apr 7, 2007 10:05 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

THANKS NUGGETS!!

Thank you Denver! And I will congratulate you guys for taking over the 6th seed!! Let's hope the LAL or LAC both have a crackdown and we can slip in at 8!! I really want us to face DAL or PHX because if we face SA we will just be demolished. at least with DAl or PHX we can run our type of game!

by ballin on Apr 7, 2007 10:08 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

well

I am happy. We went 2-1 on our trip, and are still only 1 game back! Let's do this! Clips will fold down the stretch!

by tadams1080 on Apr 7, 2007 10:16 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Clips need to lose 3 more games

and we need to win out. Then we will be in.
Forseeable losses for the Clips: DAL, LAL, PHX*

*Last game of the year for the Suns and on a back-to-back. If they are not only one game or less ahead of the Spurs, they will not really play this game. Maybe one of the two NOK games can be substituted for this.

by racsan on Apr 7, 2007 10:32 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

both NOK games they could easily lose

More Hardware Coming!

by gsw4life on Apr 8, 2007 4:43 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

go nuggets

our only chance is to catch the clippers, and hopefully that loss puts them in a rut for the rest of the season.

by llamalimbo1 on Apr 7, 2007 10:37 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I like your sig

and I hope we make it. Clips need to lose more games

by chili01 on Apr 7, 2007 10:54 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Get in there and drive the ball!

"They'll hit your wrist sometimes. I promise."

And if they don't you can hit them with your wrist and make it look like they hit your wrist. Much better odds of making a basket or drawing a foul inside than there is throwing up bricks from outside, but maybe nellie wants them to do it his way instead of the easy way? I can't think of any other reason to be reluctant to drive.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Apr 7, 2007 11:16 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

playoffs

only 5 games to go in the season....Warriors need to win at least 4 games to make it into the playoffs

P-Forty!

by pforty on Apr 8, 2007 1:39 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Quickies

Aside from giving up 40 in the 1st, this really wasn't that bad of a defensive effort from the Warriors. Sure there were mistakes (letting the wrong guys shoot wide open shots), but overall not that bad. Al Harrington has been playing great defense the past couple of games against some elite players- Yao, Gasol, and Duncan. Al deserves a ton of credit even though his stat lines haven't been that great (aside from tonight) the past couple of games.
The bench didn't step up. I believe the Warrior starters outscored the Spurs' starters (correct me if I'm wrong), but the bench just didn't provide a much-needed scoring boost when it counted.
This was a very winnable game late in the 4th. The Warriors awful free throw shooting really killed any momentum they could've stirred up.
Manu Flopobili is the most annoying player in the league. That flop when Barnes was bringing the ball up the court was absolutely ridiculous. Can't the refs give him a red card or something for his silly antics?
It's really a shame that the Spurs are one of the league's elite teams. Tiny fan base, small market team, BORING style of hoops, and a coach/ roster full of whiners and complainers. I wonder if the refs wear earplugs every time they have to officiate a Spurs game. I hope the Mavs or Suns knock them out of the playoffs. A sweep would be wonderful.

by Atma Brother ONE on Apr 8, 2007 9:47 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Small Fan base?

Come down here to the south and define small for me.

And it is nice that a small market team can succeed in the NBA, I don't want to see a NY-LA final all of the time.

With his past behind him, Adonal looks toward the future, wherever it may be....

by Zorgon on Apr 8, 2007 12:02 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

ya I live in San Antonio

I hate the Spurs mostly cuz everyone here is so obsessed with them (and really irrational when talking about them). They have no other pro sports team not counting silliness like WNBA and minor league hockey

More Hardware Coming!

by gsw4life on Apr 8, 2007 4:46 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

BORING style of hoops

hmmm, I think I'd take Duncan and competing annually for WestConfChampionship anyday over our scrap-and-scrabble-for-the-8th-spot-if-da-depleted-Clippers-stumble situation

by hardcore on Apr 8, 2007 10:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I dunno,I'm enjoying this season!

More Hardware Coming!

by gsw4life on Apr 8, 2007 11:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oh agreed

I think the Warriors play a much more entertaining brand of hoops than the Spurs, BUT after 12 long years for me the most entertaining thing is wins. I'll take the Spurs and their whining over this horrendous Warrior losing streak and their "we need TONS of help just to scratch and claw to the 8th spot (mediocrity)".

I'd rather watch the Mavs and Suns win over the Spurs though.

by Atma Brother ONE on Apr 8, 2007 11:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

11 for 32 behind the line is...

at least regarding points scored, better (11 for 33 would be equal to) than shooting 50% from inside the line, which isn't a bad shooting percentage.

I didn't see the game and I appreciate the wrap-up but I have no idea if they were just jacking up 3's a la the "old" warriors or if they were driving and dishing their way to open 3's a la the "new improved" warriors.

by sfhand on Apr 8, 2007 12:12 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I'd say the latter

Lots of good open looks a la "New Warriors", but a shooting percentage reminiscent of "Old Warriors". The FT's were just unacceptable too.

Still, looking at the bigger picture 2 out of 3 wins on the road for this Warriors team is a welcome surprise (at least for me).

by Atma Brother ONE on Apr 8, 2007 1:45 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

11/32 isn't at all a reason to stop shooting 3's. It's not like Spurs make a habit of giving up open layups. It's actually basically right at our season avg (11/32 = 34%, season avg 35%) We're right in the middle of the pack at a tie for 15th in 3pt%, but we're only .002% away from being 12th. Our averageness in terms of percentage might be an argument to shoot less 3's and improve the percentage from average to good, but that's debatable, because as sfhand said you can afford to shoot a lower percentage from behind the arc because u get more points. 35% 3pt is roughly equivalent to 50% 2pt, so if we think we can shoot better in 2pt than we should shoot more 2pt. This probably is the case against some bad defensive teams, but definitely not against the Spurs. Of course there are other factors involved, like 3pt shots yield longer rebounds allowing our small guys to rebound the random bounces more, but also relying on 3pt shot makes your team very streaky. In the end the answer is probably pretty much what they're trying to do - shoot the first open shot. I greatly disagree with some of the "early offense" jump shots, however, because it doesn't make sense to me to shoot a jumpshot before you have any rebounders down there. But I trust Coach Nelson, who are we fans to act like we know better what's good for the offense. If we had a coach like Doc Rivers or something then we might have a legitimate argument. But in our case there must be a reason for the early shots that I'm underestimating, like perhaps the confidence instilled in players given an overall green light more than makes up for the missed free chance at a rebound. But some ppl say Nelson's an alcholic that just uses small ball cuz he's bored by the traditional style of play, so maybe I trust him too much

More Hardware Coming!

by gsw4life on Apr 8, 2007 5:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Excellent points

...on the arc shooting. Perhaps my frustration is misguided on the percentage made and should have been directed a bit more towards the frequency (Almost twice as many as the Spurs) as well as the fact that certain Warriors simply couldn't get their long bombs to fall. And GSW4life, I very much agree with you on the early shot. While I trust in Nellie as well, I too fail to see the advantage of a missed shot when half of our guys are still running up the court.

by Hash on Apr 8, 2007 10:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

randomness

On average, hitting a third of your 3's is the same as hitting half of your 2's, but the three isn't as dependable. It's easy to say that the team shouldn't take the shot when it's not dropping, but that assumes that they know that it isn't going to drop ahead of time. When success is still means failing far more than half the time, the random nature of the event will make it look like the 'shot isn't there' some nights. If the first 5 shots don't fall, it may mean that the shooters are cold. But it may be that on any given shot, you're more likely to miss than to make it, even as a 40% shooter. Occasionally, luck just has it that you miss several in a row. That's just the nature of statistics.

by jae on Apr 9, 2007 11:39 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

the free throws were off

that was wierd seeing us miss free throws, because lately we been making them. haha. i never thought i be sayn that. next five have to be lights out. utah is dead!

by stevenro59 on Apr 8, 2007 2:48 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

They shot

perfectly in the first half. in the second half you could tell they were tired and didn't have any legs in the free throws. They kept shooting them short. I wouldn't worry too much about the free throw shooting.

by yehyeh82 on Apr 9, 2007 11:32 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thank U AI, Melo and Linas (who?)

I just said don't shoot anymore to Linas Kleiza because he was ice cold shooting in the 4Q. As soon as I said it, he shoots another 3-ball and makes it to put the Nugz ahead and win the game. I thought AI or Melo were there to do those things ;).

As for the Warriors, we can't worry about what the other teams do at this point. I say just take it one game at a time, but it will be very, very difficult to get to the playoffs.

We need to win 4 out of 5 to reach .500 and a probable playoff spot, but it may take 5 out of 5 to really put the heat on the Clips. Not to mention 2 out of the 5 games left are on the road. It's not impossible to do, but very, very tough for the Warriors and we need help with other teams beating the Clips.

by callahan on Apr 8, 2007 4:53 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

we're still in it...

yes, tough loss against the spurs, but i'm still proud that we didn't lose big especially on the road. at least we can see improvement from the last 40pt. loss.
also happy about the denver win as well! we need this kind of help especially now. whether they make it or not, one things for sure... they're not gonna give up that easily. c'mon now 2-3 on the road, not bad at all.

by ally314 on Apr 9, 2007 2:00 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs