It's over. It's finally over. What was supposed to be a dream season has become a nightmare but alas, it has finally ended. Game #82 is in the books with loss #48. The Warriors finish 34-48.
Okur with his silky smooth moves, Dunleavy
playing defense lying down and Andris jumping
a little too early.
Ike Diogu
Dream: He played one of his best games of the season tonight with a monster game against a talented frontline of Okur and Boozer. He contributed 20 points and 11 rebounds to go with excellent free throw shooting (8-9).
Nightmare: 6 fouls and 6-16 shooting. In typical rookie fashion, he collects as many fouls as field goals.
Mike Dunleavy
Dream: 15 points while shooting 7-8 on free throws and just 1 turnover.
Nightmare: Field goal percentage 25% (3-12) and 3 rebounds (1 defensive) in 37 minutes. Everybody (including Jazz players) with 30 or more minutes had more rebounds than him except for Fisher who also had 3.
Adonal Foyle Dream: 3 blocks, 6 boards, 4 points (any scoring from him is a bonus). Did he actually catch a pass this game?
Nightmare: Adonal trying to use those stones he calls hands to try to catch a pass. There should be a stat similar to wide receivers for him about dropped passes. It would be a "Worst Hands in the League" award.
Derek Fisher
Dream: 20 points, 3-3 free throws. 7-18 shooting (39%) At this point in the season, it seems like anything above 35% for Derek is a miracle.
Nightmare: 7-18 shooting. It's still ugly to see that many misses. 2 assists for the starting point guard is ridiculous. Good thing Monta was there to help contribute in the passing department.
Monta Ellis
Dream: Wow, 27 points (ahem, 20+ point prediction), 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. He carried the team tonight by doing everything. Scoring, dishing, rebounding, and getting in the passing lanes. He had his best game as a pro and finishes the season with a strong final month. He can make his claim as the best high schooler of the draft.
Nightmare: 4 turnovers, 1-6 on three's, and more importantly, the rookie Utah backcourt had big games. CJ Miles (who?) had 23 points and Deron (don't call me Darren) Williams had 12 points and 13 assists.
Andris Biedrins
Dream: 3 fouls in 23 minutes? Wow! I'm ready to give him the Warrior Wonder. With Carlos Boozer banging down low I'm surprised he didn't foul out in 5 minutes. Seriously though, his 7 points and 11 boards (7 offensive) helped keep the Warriors in the game.
Nightmare: With the Warriors down 2, he missed 2 free throws in the closing minute that could have tied the game. In fact he shot 1-5 from the charity stripe. Guess what he's working on this offseason.
Calbert Cheaney
Dream: Uhhh. Hmmm. Wait, there's something good here. Hmmm. Uhhh. Oh he cheered really loud on the bench. I got another one, he scored double his season average tonight with 4 points.
Nightmare: 3 fouls in 21 minutes? That's Biedrins-like. Scary.
Will Bynum
Dream: Well he only got 13 minutes, but managed to score 5 on 2-3 shooting. Projected over 48 minutes, he would have scored nearly 20 on 8-12 shooting. Don't you hate when people do that? Such a useless stat sometimes to project someone's numbers over 48 minutes.
Nightmare: Well those rookie Utah guards did go off tonight. Fisher, Monta, and Bynum are mostly to blame.
Warrior Wonder
Jason Richardson. No really, Monta Ellis, the kid played out of his mind tonight. He was all over the place.
Proof that in fact Greg Ostertag is really on of the ugliest
players in the league
Once again, the nightmare is over (and you'll never have to see Greg Ostertag again for another 5 months, I promise). But the Golden State of Mind will be a dream come true for you hoops junkies. We'll be covering the playoffs where the real season begins. So stay tuned for continued coverage of the NBA.