Originally posted Dec 30, 2009 12:08 AM PST
First and foremost I'd like to do something that our frenemies down in La-La land can't do and that's give a big shout out to the Bay Area footballers who have been named to the 2010 NFL Pro Browl. San Francisco 49ers LB Patrick Willis, TE Vernon Davis, P Andy Lee (also see my man Fooch's notes and quotes over at Niners Nation) will be donning NFC blue jerseys and Oakland Raiders CB Nnamdi Asomugha and P Shane Lechler (check out SIlver & Black Pride) will be sporting red AFC jerseys.
Sure LA's got a hoops contender and tonight's win, but do they have not one, but TWO punters going to the NFL All-Star Game in South Florida?
I think not.
YAY AREEEEAAAAAAAA!
Ronny Turiaf: Hehe I got you good on that REJECTION!!
Kobe Bryant: You know what's even funnier? I told Mitch to get rid of you like Shaq and you ended up on the Warriors.
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Ain't no shame in this loss or recent stretch of basketball by the Golden State Warriors. JUMP like Ronny Turiaf REJECTING Kobe Bryant at the rim for the recap!
The Lake-Show
Tonight this:
was very similar to this:
It's easy to be two things in life:
- A bandwagon LA Fakers fan.
- A Faker hater
Just so people don't forget:
- Ron Artest didn't even play tonight. That's a very physical defender, 3pt threat, and nearly 5 boards and 4 dimes MIA tonight. If the Lakers had him on the floor the game wouldn't have even been this close.
- Don't forget that Kobe Bryant could easily be sitting this one out as well as many others. Do you realize this guy just dropped 40 points in 3 quarters (including 16-16 from the free throw line) with a FRACTURED finger (see Bryant to Play Through Finger Injury). During the Warriors telecast on CSN Bay Area they zoomed in on Kobe at the line and he was shooting his free throws without using his index finger. Try doing that at home folks. That's great stuff. What if his index finger was fully functional? 88 points tonight?
- Phil Jackson was kind to the Dubs faithful and decided not to unleash the beast that is Adam Morrison.
PAU WANTS YOU TO JOIN THE ARMY.
In case you missed it in the preview some HollyHood-ness...
The Positives
I want to emphasize that there's nothing to be ashamed of about this loss from the Dubs side. They hung in there, played tough, and in the end just lost to a better team. A much, much better team. Let's put it like this. Of the Warriors 5 starters tonight only Monta Ellis would start on the Lakers (over that flopping fish fellow). The rest of the Warriors starting 5 might not even crack Phil Jackson's rotation. Ronny Turiaf is a key part of the Warriors rotation, but remember he was the Lakers' Adonal Foyle hyphy-style. The Lakers roster is just that good.
But here's looking on the bright side on a gloomy December day in the Bay:
- For a team that has it's share of turnover problems and can be young and dumb way too often, it was absolutely refreshing to see some fantastic ball movement tonight. Everyone in a blue jersey was moving without the ball and making sharp cuts to the basket. The Warriors were eagerly pushing the ball up the court too. It all showed up in the stats with the Dubs 31 assists and 2:1 assist to turnover ratio. Nearly 70% of their made buckets tonight came via assist. Again, absolutely refreshing. This isn't what we usually see here in Dubs land. I could get used to this.
- Ronny's highlight reel swattage stole the show (video below), but can you believe the Warriors actually out-blocked the big Mean Team Lakers tonight? Anthony Randolph and Turiaf both rejected 5 shots each. Way to protect the paint fellas.
- C.J. Watson continued his strong play tonight and sunk 4 of 5 treys. This D-League product is making big leaps that I honestly didn't foresee a year ago. I wouldn't be surprised if he stayed in the league for a long time. He's not in the Warriors long term plans, but he's a nice change of pace backup guard. Let that be a message to contending teams as we approach the February trade deadline.
- Anthony Morrow continues to display a diversified offensive game. Too bad Sasha Vujacic hit him in the nuts when the refs weren't looking and threw his game off a little. Shoot, that would throw anyone's game off. I guess when you're a guy whose name is Sasha- well, I'll be nice and not go there.
- Vladimir Radmonic aka Rad Vlad finally had a decent offensive performance. He's had a lot of struggles since the trade with the Bobcats. I give him credit though for trying to play through them and pitching in on D and rebounding, but the Warriors desperately need some more offense out of him. Tonight was a good start.
- Monta Ellis wasn't sinking his J's like last night against the Celtics, but I'll take 7 assists to 1 turnover from a guy who has a good chance at breaking the league's record for most turnovers in a season any day.
** Watch that at least 5 times before reading on **
What to Work On
- First and foremost Stephen Curry needs to stop throwing soft one handed passes. Curry gets intercepted on those like Brett Farve at the most inopportune moments in playoff games. It might've worked at Davidson, but this is the big leagues. Nellie promptly benched Curry after his second turnover of this sort. Give the coach some props for the teaching moment.
- Anthony Randolph needs to be a consistent rebounding force. In his first 14 minutes Randolph managed only 1 rebound and as Bob Fitzgerald and Jim Barnett alluded to on the Warriors telecast Nellie gave him a few words about his weak rebouding totals when he brought Randolph back to the bench. Guess what? It worked. Randolph did a much better job on the glass during his remaining time on the floor. Again another good teaching moment. If he has the patience and health, Nellie is the right guy for this rebuilding project.
- The Lakers went to the line tonight a whopping 36 times and hit 88.9% of their tries. It's next to impossible to win when you give the other team that many freebies. You have to love the tenacity and attitude the young Warriors exhibited tonight on D (the effort was definitely there), but they're going to need to play smarter and foul a LOT less. Giving up 36 ridiculously high percentage shots amounts to horrendous defense. Remember the Warriors shot 55.4% from the field to the Lakers' 48.3%. Those fouls and consequential free throws pretty much erased any advantage the Warriors had from their nice shooting night.
Ref: "Have you ever tried deodorant?"
Ronny: "Who me?!"
On a night when we can celebrate our Pro Bowlers here in they Bay (which they can't in LA!) tonight's honor goes to San Francisco 49ers legend Roger Craig's cousin.
Some of Corey Maggette's impressive work tonight includes:
- 25 points on 11 shot attempts
- 11 for 13 from the charity stripe good for 84.6%
- 3 assists and ZERO turnovers- what black hole?
I'm surprised Maggette didn't get the foul call on this one too.
Before I forget... DON'T SLEEP!
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