Originally posted 10:55 PM PDT
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I'm honestly sad to see this season end. These guys played some inspiring basketball down the stretch.
Without a doubt it has been a very difficult Golden State Warriors season for all, but you know I wish it didn't end tonight. The past month and half these guys have really showed me something. Instead of just packing it in and idly counting NBA Lottery Balls these guys showed some fight and passion. From Stephen Curry's eye-popping post-All-Star break rise to amazing heights, to Don Nelson's record for most wins as an NBA head coach, to everyone on this roster including the D-League call-ups and Devean George playing like it's 2002- I can dig it and I'm sad to see it end. These guys got HEART.
JUMP for the final recap of the 2009-2010 NBA season!
NBA Rule No. 3 (Section 1A)
I've watched a lot of NBA basketball over years, but I've never and probably will never again see something like what happened tonight.
Devean George fouled out of the game with less than half of the 4th quarter left leaving the Warriors with 4 healthy bodies. That would mean George stays in the game and every additional foul he commits results in an extra tech. Right?
Nope.
Here's the catch. The Warriors had 3 dressed guys- Chris Hunter (though he was injured in the game and Nellie told the refs he wouldn't be returning), Ronny Turiaf, and Anthony Morrow sitting on their bench. Even though both Turiaf and Morrow were deemed injured and unable to play during the pre-game warmups, the referees stuck to their interpretation of the rule and forced Nellie to play his injured guys.
Nellie wasn't the least bit happy as he got into it (understatement of the season) on the sidelines with the refs for several minutes. Finally the arguing stopped and Nellie- well, Nellie was just Nellie. First he put in Hunter and then after a few plays of watching Hunter in pain Nellie pulled him out saying he was too injured to play. He then did the injury version of Hack-a-Shaq and trotted out Turiaf and Morrow for a combined total of 16 seconds just to appease the refs and then pulled them out as they were (drumroll please)... too injured to play.
The Portland crowd was booing like crazy while Nellie was (rightfully) screaming at the refs and even booed the injured Hunter, Turiaf, and Morrow as they headed into the tunnel towards the Warriors locker room injured. I'll forgive them though as they probably had no idea what was going on.
Props to Nellie for sticking up for his guys though.
Refs- you've got to kidding me. You do not force injured players to come onto the court under any circumstance. All it takes is one screen, one cut, one trip, for a player to be seriously, seriously injured. In case you haven't noticed these players are big and strong. Big and strong falls down hard. It was just a negligent and dangerous move on the part of the refs.
"Ref u suck?"
Game Shots
- Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis played EVERY. SINGLE. MINUTE. OF. THIS. GAME.
- Gotta love me some Nellie. That foul parade was something we'll probably never see again. He stuck up for his guys.
- Curry + Ellis = 76 points
- Your real rookie of the year had 42 of those points. Oh yeah he also had 8 assists, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block.
- Anyone who says that Nellie don't have anymore passion for the game or is least the bit apathetic about coaching this team has no idea what they're talking about. These guys will fight for Nellie. Nellie will fight for these guys. Hopefully the new owner (Mr. Ellison please!) doesn't screw up a good thing.
- When Hunter was limping up and down the court he managed to reject Jeff Pendergraph's shot near the rim. I can dig the heart, but Pendergraph- you got blocked by a guy who was too injured to play?
- The best big man on the court tonight? Anthony Tolliver with 19 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal. Let's just say he isn't making the mid-level exception. He's worth every penny. Hopefully Ant Tolly gets paid this summer.
- The Blazers didn't need to win this game for playoff positioning, but just like the Oklahoma Thunder this past Sunday (see RECAP: Golden State Warriors 120, Oklahoma City Thunder 117 - Big Three of Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, and Reggie Williams combine for 62 points), they should be absolutely embarrassed they lost to this banged up Warriors squad with 60% of is starting lineup coming from the NBA D-League. Heart, it's something Nellie's Dubs got, but these guys didn't have.
- Sure the Warriors slipped behind the Sacramento Kings in the lottery odds, but do you really want to be the one rooting for these guys to lose tonight? Do you really have the heart to tell them to quit? They earned this win. This was their playoffs. Good for them. Can't knock the hustle.
I'd like to split the final Warrior Wonder of the 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors and hand it out to two extremely deserving candidates. Hopefully the 2009-2010 Rookie of the Year voters do a split between Stephen Curry and Tyreke Evans as well.
Anyhow I'd like to give 1/2 of tonight's award to the NBA D-League. The NBADL is real folks. Props to the Warriors for knowing how to take advantage of it- particularly Nellie and Larry Riley.
Also I'd like to show some love and give the other half of tonight's award to our brother blog Ridiculous Upside. All season long they've armed us with NBADL insights about all 5 players the Warriors called up this season. Don't forget to thank my man Scott for the Reggie Williams tip as well.
Don't sleep!
5 Years High and Rising
In closing I just wanted to say thank you, thank you, thank you.
Believe it or not but we're closing in on 5 years on this project dating back to our Golden State Warriors BLOG days. It's been a pleasure. I remain impressed with my co-writers' work on this site and I'm forever in awe of how fabulous this community has grown. Thank you for making this place undeniably...
UNSTOPPABLE BABY!
2009-2010 Golden State Warriors Yearbook
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Keep it locked on GSoM all offseason long for our annual coverage of the NBA Playoffs, the NBA Draft Lottery, the NBA Draft, the summer leagues, and free agency/ trades!