Another good game by the Dubs. Only caught the last half of the 4th quarter but they seemed to have everything clicking after the first quarter. Steph with an efficient game, Udoh again got more playing time than Beans and did a nice job on the glass (7 reb; 5 def, 2 off). Unexpected contributions from Bell and Lin and the whole bench played very well. I think if the bench gives contributions from top to bottom this may actually be a pretty decent team, at least at home. lol @ this tweet by Geoff Lepper: "Smart gave #GSW scouting DVDs to watch tonight. Several minutes in, the DVD read, "When you see this, call me." First guy to call was Udoh." http://twitter.com/#!/geofflepper/status/37757498505170944 Wish we knew the order of who called lol but gotta love Udoh. Guy really has an impact. We can only hope he becomes the Battier of big men like Fitz implied the other night. Thats quite a stretch really but bigs often have a much larger impact than their stats suggest. Look at Kendrick Perkins' numbers or Chuck Hayes' numbers. Pretty unimpressive but they clearly have a high impact on their team's success. If we're lucky, with Udoh's work ethic he could develop a pretty nice offensive game and be a good two way player. I think hes a natural 4 unless he adds 15 lbs of muscle and maintains athleticism though.
I was listening to the game, and the Warriors were doing great with Udoh in along with the starters, which allowed the Warriors to play the end of the bench for a good part of the fourth. Udoh still makes some rookie mistakes, and he doesn't put up a lot of numbers, but the Warriors generally play a lot better when he's in the game, which is what counts in the end.
When you listen to the game on the radio you know when Udoh is in the game because his name is called out a lot. I would say more than any other player's name. But maybe it only seems that way because his name is so unique? Either way he is involved in a lot of plays. Perhaps more than anyother player per minute. Also he has already shown that he is a great defensive player. This is probably why this team has been winning against these good teams. He has done a good job against the Jazz bigs, Boozer (? Didn't see much of this game), West twice, OKC's bigs, etc. At last we now have Udoh getting more minutes in the post than Vlad! Finally the weaknesses of rebounding and defense have faded away much more since, minus the games vs the Suns. Also I like seeing this team have a backup PG in the rotation. Perhaps Smart found something with the Bell/Lin back court. Hopefully that is something the team can depend on consistently, or regularly.
Last night backup up the Thunder game and I really get the sense that the Warriors are playing better team D. Udoh does help on the pick and roll and the rotations are getting tighter so that Udoh's man is being picked up by a weakside defender when Udoh "shows" on the screen. Maybe Smart can make a difference. The 2nd team of Lin/Bell/Udoh/Radmanovic really changed the game (of course I think Paul and West were out). Their defensive aggressiveness really turned the tide because the Hornets had just finished the 1st Q with 32 pts. Vlad shooting 5 of 6 really helped. Bell is a decent defender but he's got no offensive game and Lin is just too young right now (he's unsure of when to shoot.) The only starter who stayed in was Dorell and he became the main focus and he scored. I doubt Lin/Bell will do anything long term (although I'd love to be wrong.) Curry is really looking like the stud most anticipated. Absolutely no way you trade him, not even for LeBron or 'Melo (okay maybe Dwight). He's on a rookie contract, getting older (still growing according to Chron), and can only get better.
lol I love Steph, but you wouldn't trade him for Lebron?? Come on. And MAYBE Dwight? I would be beyond elated if we traded Steph for either of those players. Again, I love Steph, and I think he's gonna be a top 5 PG in a couple years, but those are proven franchise players right there.
Word. I agree that hes virtually untouchable but that doesn't apply when talking about LeBron, Dwight, etc. Kid is really good and it seems the last several games there's been a change in his aggressiveness and the ball is in his hands much more. Dunno if it was Smart telling the team to let Curry run everything or just telling Curry to stop deferring and run the offense AGGRESSIVELY but its been working beautifully. Monta is still getting his shots but hes not dominating the ball and turning it into Monta-on-5. As great a scorer as Monta is I prefer him to be mostly off the ball. He'll still get plenty of iso's on mismatches and if the offense breaks down and theres 6 seconds left on the clock but otherwise I think its better for the team and makes Monta even more efficient if Curry dominates the ball. Curry's scoring efficiency is great, we know he makes teammates better and the past few games hes had the turnovers way down, assists up, and he just has an extremely aggressive swagger to him on the floor. Defense has been better too and this is all against Paul, Westbrook, Deron, Rose, Lawson, Jennings. Keep in mind that hes still only 22 too. Go back and look at Steve Nash and Chauncey Billups' production at age 22. Hes still extremely young and already showing signs of taking over games, making teammates much better, scoring at a tremendously efficient rate. Thats the kind of player that plays on winning teams. Its hard to be patient but hes so good at such a young age, just imagine how much better he'll get as he learns the position and all the nuances of the league.
I'm not thinking like the instant gratification fan; I'm thinking like someone with a long term vision; inevitably, by this time a superstar is who he is, he's peaked. LeBron, he's peaked. He's phenomenal but he's getting paid huge $$ now. Compare that to a guy like Curry on his rookie deal who is just starting to get better. You always go with the cheap stock, not the Google that's already peaked. 3-5 years from now, you want Curry.
With Lebron you know you've got a guy who's a top 3 player in the league right now though. Hes a guy who can carry a contending team. Get a few other stars around him (I know, easier said than done) and you're a guaranteed contender. Curry is great but we don't know that he can be that guy who is the man on a top 3 team in the league. I'm confident that he can be a great piece, a core player on a very good team, dunno if he can be a Steve Nash or Deron Williams though. Don't get me wrong, I love having him and I love his potential, but LeBron is a once in a generation type of player. Curry's got great potential and already good but there's a clear difference between the talent of him and a guy like LeBron, Kobe, Dwight, Duncan, etc.
Here's a name I'd never have thought I'd praise: Charlie Bell. The guy came in and played good minutes. I suddenly saw the tough defender I had heard about. Fiesty, up in the grill, causing turnovers. At one point, Chris Paul tried to get a little chippy with Bell, so at mid-court, he just upped and intentionally fouled Paul, just to foul him. To make a statement that he was going to play tough. It was awesome. I never realized that it could be a good thing to foul on purpose. It was just to affect the vibe of the game. Like "yeah, I'm going to be up in you, and you're not going to like it, and if you try to start shoving off me, or getting chippy, I'm going to hammer you." Plus, Bell knows he doesn't need to save his fouls. It was toughness and attitude and it set a tone. Awesome, Also, Bad Vald was friggin fantastic in the 2nd quarter. He scored like 13 points in the second quarter to bring the team from down 15 to up 3 or 4 at the half. Again, toughness, defense, and some nice shooting too. If this team can start developing that as their identity -- toughness and defense -- well man, then playoffs = certainly lol. Because we all know they can score...
