Warriors vs. Pacers @ Oakland, Jan. 5, 7:30PM TNT

Just watching the Pacers offense yesterday, I liked how they actually passed the ball more than once during any offensive pocession. Especially when they get down big in the first quarter, Baron tries to take over too much and it makes them get down by even more when he forces things. And J-rich, some of those threes he put up were forced, like he thought he could do what he did in the Dallas game every night. That's the thing I like about Dunleavy, at least he passes the ball, and creates some ball movement. Once his shot starts falling again, he'll look better.

I've read all the above posts and am not sure who's fault it is Coach or Player. Lot of good points both ways.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">Doug Collins touched on it a little last night, but maybe all this trade talk is effecting the players. Remember this is a very young team and most of the players don't have the experience of being traded. The Artest rumors have lasted almost a month now (began Dec. 10th) and the Warriors have struggled this past month. Maybe there's some correlation between the two?</div>

I hope you are right, but if the Artest trade does not go down, I wonder if the team will be disappointed. I think they are looking forward to the trade happening. It will be almost like a fresh start. If not, then I am afraid they will continue to play unevenly. I sure hope we make the trade...

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting philsmith75:</div><div class="quote_post">The weak starts are Monty's fault? How easy is it to draw that conclusion? Come on folks, you obviously love the Warriors and are passionate about them, let's look at the hard questions.

Its the players, plain and simple. If nothing else, Monty has been consistent in the starting lineup and given the players a chance to prove themselves. That's usually what players crave, the certainty/comfort level of knowing what their roles are and when they will likely play. Yes there have been some tweaks here and there but its been pretty consistent with the exception of the minor role players, Zarko, Cheaney, etc. You do not see Baron or JRich getting benched "to send a message."

Bad starts? Yes the offense is suffering but what is the real problem? The Warriors are getting absolutely torched! By middling offensive teams. Pacers? Grizzlies? Defense is not about talent or scheme, its about commitment and effort. That's not motivation by the coach, that's about individual pride and its not there. At the beginning of the year, we saw surprising D so Monty can motivate; its the players' fault.

If the players are going to tune out the coach less than halfway into the season, well I'd say its time to tune the players out not the coach.</div>

11/31 Sac 33
12/2 Cha 30
12/7 Pho 33
12/9 Det 25
12/13 Sea 26
12/14 Hou 24
12/16 Tor 28
12/18 NJ 37
12/19 Bos 26
12/21 Phi 35
12/23 Det 27
12/26 Den 44
12/28 Bos 38
12/30 Dal 32
12/31 Hou 18
1/3 Mem 25
1/5 Ind 34

One game, yes. One week, it can happen. But, more than one month span?

In 17 games span, we allowed 20 pts or less once, 21 - 25 pts 3 times, 26 - 30 pts 4 times, 31 - 35 pts 5 times and 35 pts or more 4 times. We allowed 31 pts or more half of times in first quarter 9 games. Are you kidding me?

If everything is players' fault, then, exactly what's the Monty's job out there? Writing the starting line up card? First quarter collapse isn't nothing new to this club, and if we are constantly getting crushed in first quarter, it is coach's job to fix or at least try to minimize the problem and adjust the situation. Also, if players aren't motivated for some reason, isn't it coach's job to motivate players and be ready to play for the game? Isn't babysitting players the most important job for a coach in any pro sports? Coach is there to fix the problem and adjust to the situation. If this team continuously got killed defensively, either players or GMs may be at fault for lack of talents. However, one too many games, we have major collapse in first quarter, and we fought back for the rest of quarters. Currently, there hasn't been any improvement for a month, and at some point, the blame goes to the coach for not making right adjustments.

I am not in "Fire Monty" bandweagon yet. But, this continuous collapse at first quarter is very disturbing...

 

Speaking of Fisher, he certainly had cooled down. For last 9 of 10 games, he failed to shoot above 40%. It's time to reduce his mins a bit...

 

Fisher shooting 40%, Baron shooting 40%, Dunleavy shooting 40%. We're not very efficient on offense and we get no second chance points or successful fastbreaks sometimes.

Do we have one single efficient player on our roster? If there is one it's got to be Jason Richardson. He's got a relatively good fg % and he puts up other numbers across the board. The only gripe is he can't make free throws or handle the ball in traffic, so he's stopped trying to play that type of game that guys like Paul Pierce or Kobe Bryant play.

BTW the effiency forumula is Efficiency Formula: ((PTS + REB + AST + STL + BLK) - ((FGA - FGM) + (FTA - FTM) + TO)) / G

If Jason Richardson go to the line more, he'd probably be less efficient because of the foul line trouble. But like one commentator noted last night on TNT, Jason Richardson tends to shoot more 3-point attempts than free throw attempts. Usually, you'd want to see a more conservative balance between the number of foul shots and the number of foul shots. It looks like Jason Richardson is settling for 3's at times just because he thinks he's feeling it and he can't get to the rim like Pietrus or Baron Davis can. Hopefully, Jrich can develop an explosive first step off the dribble because he seems to be more explosive off the jump.

Anyway, I blame Monty partially, but I notice players not spacing the floor, dumping the ball inside to receive it back on the outside, and I notice guys like Murphy not playing the help D which causes other players to pick up fouls. If we play poor help D everything is going to suck if one of those defenders is not a defender. We need an inside/outside game and we need good defenders as starters. Even if they are lousy defenders, they should at least provide some presence like Zyldrunas Illgauskus or some other shotblocker. Shotblock presence is better than no presence. If we look soft inside, guys will try to dunk on our asses.