Disaster is not upon us. Losing the first game of the season does not end all chances for a successful season. It is a long season and one game against the Rockets did not answer all the questions surrounding the team. But we do know a bit more about our squad than we did Wednesday at 7:29pm. We know that Monta can still score and looks to have the mid-range shot and the quick move to the rim. We have seen Curry against real NBA competition when a game mattered, and the kid looked pretty good. The offense ran well with him driving the show and final seconds aside, there's more promise than doom while he's playing. Beyond that, Jackson is still Jackson, Maggette is still Maggette and neither seem overly concerned about those often unfortunate facts.
Look for some changes tonight. Look for the team to try to find Morrow on the wing where he can do damage like few others. Chocolate Rain will not be frozen out by the defensive "force" of Barbosa and Nash. Curry and Ellis should also look for big games accordingly. And look for more PT for Randolph. Give him a chance to shine against a Suns' front line that shouldn't scare anyone defensively.
As for the Suns? This isn't the D'antoni's speedsters, nor is it last year's model with Shaq pushing everyone else out of the lane. We're also not going to see Jason Richardson, who is serving the second game of a 2 game suspension tonight. It's a different Suns team.
But they still have Nash, who isn't suddenly going to forget how to pass or shoot overnight. Barbosa will see plenty of time and can explode past defenders. Amar'e will likely try to thrive in a contract year, now not having to stand in the immense shadow of the departed O'neal. Unless the Warriors can turn up the defensive intensity from Wednesday's uh, "mediocre" first effort, we'll see point on the board. When you cannot deny Scola, stopping Stoudemire does not appear likely.
Let's see a psychological turnaround from the abysmal 3rd quarter some more ball movement to free up the shooters, which in turn will open up lanes to the hoop. There's not time to turn it around like right now, when the season is still young and the psychotic visions of Nellieball working wonders with this odd collection of talent are still tangible.
Predictions:
- Monta gets to the line 10 times
- Morrow doubles his shot total
- Andris gets a double-double, reminding us why we didn't give him away for Amar'e
- Turiaf fouls out in 20 minutes trying to stop Amar'e, who is trying to remind us why so many of us wanted him so very, very much
Warriors by 6.