I WAS IN AN ELEVATOR WITH ALYSON! Oh man, it was awesome. Granted, there were about 15 other people in the elevator with us, but still; we shared a moment. Okay we never actually spoke to each other, but there was an undeniable spark there that I'm pretty sure all of our fellow passengers noticed. Okay, we didn't exactly make any eye contact, but our physical presence seemed to meld on an almost spiritual level by being in the same coordinates at the same time; even though it was only for 15 seconds.... Dude, she's totally gonna call.
Oh yea. The Warriors lost.
Boxscore | AP Recap
Enough said.
Being mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, this was more like an exhibition game than anything else. Unfortunately, most of the "exhibition" came from the opposing team. Stromile Swift had himself a few monster dunks that had the entire Arena cringing. Still, they were pretty badass. In the end, however, he wasn't our biggest problem.
Dude. Yao Ming is tall. That fool is freakishly tall. I know that this comes as no surprise to anyone, but for me, this is the first time I've ever seen him up close. And thanks to the seats that I had, I'd say I got to see him pretty close up. After some careful analysis, some plotting of coordinates, and an exhaustive study of his statistics over the past few seasons, I have finally reached an acceptable conclusion. Yao Ming is tall. For further reference, please consult my research below.
Result: YAO MING = TALL!
In any case, Yao plays the excellent role of the silent killer. He went 30 and 14 on us last night, yet his style of play is so modest and quiet that you can't help but wonder at the end, "Damn, he scored 30 on us?!" He made it look effortless. That doesn't say a whole lot about our defense. For additional proof, please refer to Luther Head dropping 26 on us as well.
Okay, I'm going to take a second to step away from the game and register my disgust at possibly the worst promotion I have ever seen. Last night, as one of the Arenas free giveaways, they partnered with Symantec to strap copies of Norton Antivirus software to small parachutes, attach them to the roof and then drop them down on the crowd mid-game. At first it was pretty cool. Everyone stood up and cheered and reached their hands in the air in the hopes of not going home empty handed. Then it hit me. It's Anti-Virus software. They are dropping down Anti-Virus software on the crowd. At a basketball game. Do they do any demographic research at all before they concoct these promos? Two rows behind me a man caught one. At first, he was ecstatic. Then he sat down and looked at what he had caught. Anti-virus software. Yay. You could literally see the joy fade from his face. I'm not sure what he was thinking exactly, but I'm pretty sure it was along the lines of, "Damn, I just made an ass out of myself for a copy of Norton Anti-Virus software."
In any case, I digress. Back to the game. One of the nice things about last night was that everyone on our team got some decent playing time. And let me tell you, the Arena LOVES Monta Ellis. I can't entirely disagree. When he shot over Yao Ming in the first half the crowd was on their feet. (Did anyone else see that?!) With a little more practice playing with the big dogs, I think Monta may have the potential to be a solid backup point for us. Now if only we had a big man.
At the end of the game, the Dubs decayed in usual fashion, coughing up the lead in the fourth. To add icing to the cake, Adonal shot a horrendous last second airball that made the entire Arena boo and leave with 5 seconds left in regulation. Democracy first; basketball second, apparently.
So in conclusion:
a) We got another ping pong ball.
b) Yao Ming is tall.
c) I was in an elevator with Alyson.
IT WAS A GREAT TIME OUT!
Warrior Wonder: I almost want to give this to Monta for shooting over Yao, but (surprise) J-Rich again proved to be a true Warrior. Without his offense, (29 pts) we'd be lost... um... even more so.