From my preview for last night's game:
No doubt. This W extends the Warriors winning streak to 5.
Real Warriors
The Warriors were without big men Troy Murphy and Ike Diogu. It didn't help that Baron Davis went down after a hit to his ribs (very, very painful) early in the game. But it was really nice to see Jason Richardson (18-4-3 with some pretty active defense), Mickael Pietrus (19 points, 2 blocks, and 12 boards!), Andris Biedrins (13 Rodmans), Monta Ellis (all around wonder-full), and Mike Dunleavy (13-9-7) all step up. Props to them all and Nellie for putting them in a position to succeed. I was a little surprised that Nellie elected to only go 7 deep for this game (6 if you consider Baron was mostly gone for 3 quarters), but collecting W's is all that matters. Protect that home floor.
The Dubs came together like ONE tight fist.
(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
Monta has arrived
The entire GSoM crew was pretty impressed with Monta last season. I've been hyping him up saying that in 2-3 years he'd be Tony Parker on steroids, but I NEVER imagined he'd be playing this well already. Who would've thought?
Tonight Monta was just money. Without Monta stepping up in BD's place the Warriors might've lost one to a team they should be able to beat 7 times out of 10. He was confident, aggressive, and brought a will to win tonight.
The Real JRich is coming...
JRich had a pretty solid night and looked a lot smoother with his cuts and hops. My guestimate: in another two weeks we'll be get to see the real deal Jay Richie-Rich. Imagine Baron, Monta, JRich, and MP2 all at 100% running the court at the same time. Oooooh, that's GOLDEN.
Too Hot for TV!
At times the Warriors seemed a little sloppy, but there were some beautiful highlight plays that I don't want to rob Warriors Nation of. These plays all got me and the crowd out of our seats:
1) Jrich behind the back alley-oop from Monta!
2) Mickael Pietrus kept serving up a peanut butter and jelly jammin' sandwich to the Sonics!
Mickael: "Dunk you very much- and I'll smell you later!"
(AP Photo/Ben Margot)
3) But here's the play that shocked us all the most: the Warriors turned the ball over and Sonics had a great fast break opportunity. A guaranteed easy transition bucket- BUT NO! Mike Dunleavy hustled back on D and out of nowhere swatted the layup out of bounds. I would try to describe the block in greater detail, but thanks to GSoM's connection with Miss SunsGossip of the SunsGossip crew, we were able to score this exclusive photo of the rejection (it can't be found anywhere else on the 'net, so brace yourself!):
A present from the good folks at SunsGossip to the GSoM Community. Very nice of them indeed. Let's show them our gratitude by showing the Suns how we throw up W's at The Oracle Arena on Monday night!
Monta, LL Cool P, and Andris the Giant are making dollars
Monta Ellis, Mickael Pietrus, and Andris Biedrins are all dramatically improving their stock. So far this season Monta has shown us that he has a legitimate jumper, Pietrus has shown us he can crash the boards, and Biedrins has shown us that he's getting better at staying out of foul trouble so he can spend time out there rebounding, blocking shots, and finishing. Given the Warriors salary cap mess, it's hard to imagine that they'd be able to keep all three unless they made some creative moves (trades or contract buyouts). I'm just warning everyone...
Ray-Ray can shoot-shoot
I'll admit it, there were times last night where I was just rooting for the Sonics to pass to ball to Ray Allen so he could fire away. It was a pleasure watching Ray Allen sink all those jumpers. His form, touch, and accuracy are just amazing. I remember in the stands a Warriors fan shouted "Put a Warriors jersey on number 34!" Can you imagine how pretty the Warriors offense would be with a sharpshooter like Ray-Ray? Dish and swish with Boom Dizzle and Monta driving and passing the rock and Ray stroking it from downtown. We can only dream...
Don't even bother guarding Ray-Ray. It's going in.
(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
If I were a betting man I'd say that either or both Sonics' sharpshooters Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis won't finish the season in green and yellow. Imagine these two guys on a squad that had some semblance of low post scoring. Swish... swish... swish...
SuperSonics = SuperSoft
In fact they're probably a lot softer than the Warriors' interior. I'm still shocked that they seemed so eager to move Reggie Evans last season. For those of us critical of the Warriors for drafting not one, but two project big men in this past NBA draft take a look at the Sonics who've invested 3 straight 1st round draft picks on 3 project big men: Saer Sene in the 2k6 draft, Johan Petro in 2k5, and Robert Swift in 2k4. Barring a trade or some unexpected rapid development from these projects, the Sonics are going to have charmin' soft interior for the next few years. It's good news for everyone else in the West, but not for Sonics fans.
Oh wait- come to think of it the Warriors have pretty much done that 2 out of the past 3 drafts with Andris Biedrins in 2k4 and Project O'Bryant in 2k6. Uh-oh.
Chris Cohan and Robert Rowell rose ticket prices so that... they could do what?
This used to be our strength. Our bread and butter. No matter how much we stunk it up on the hardwood, we could always be proud of our in-game entertainment. We had a great live band, the Jr. Jam Squad, the Thunder dunk crew, the Weekend Warriors, and the Warrior Girls in some fly attire. Man, we even had INFLATEABLE Thunder! Oddly enough at all three regular season home games I've been to this year all of these goodies have been MIA. What happened? I miss these folks.
Last year I gave the entertainment at the Arena a juicy A+, but if this continues I'm going to have to hand out an F at the end of this season just because they're all MIA. Cohan, Rowell, and "friends" (the ones Cohan hasn't sued yet!)- I know you're reading this. Come on ya'll- step it up!
Warrior Wonder
He's arrived and he's also the game's Warrior Wonder. There's no question about it. 31-7-7 with a steal and only 2 turnovers (which has been his only flaw this year) is simply amazing. Without Monta this wouldn't have been a 12 point win.
A wonderful arrival!
(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
Track of the Day: The Luniz featuring Dru Down, E-40, and Spice 1- "I Got 5 On It" (remix)
UPDATE: Make sure to check out He's just Dunny from the block from SunsGossip