I love Baron. Its hard to argue 35 and 9 assists. <font color=""Blue"">4-14 (3pt).</font> That tells me he is just not a good 3 pt shooter, and will not be without some improvement. 7 for 12 otherwise. I'm thinking maybe more 2s and less 3s. Its been the same the whole year. You would think a 2 time All-Star would figure that out. Other examples from the team?
He shoots the bulk of his 3's in desperate times, as does the rest of the team. Which is the time you don't really want to shoot a 3. Funny how fans are your harshest critics.
I love Baron Davis as well, he adds credibility to the franchise, but I think he deviates from the game plan too much, gambles for steals rather than play honestly, goes for too much one-on-one crap with the overdribbling only to jack up long shots with no chance to go in. The best plays the Warriors have done this year have all been out of bounds plays. Just imagine if the Warriors could run this type of offense down the stretch when they need consistent scoring in a quarter. We'd be so money. But instead the warriors would rather average more three point attempts than free throw attempts, Baron calls his own plays or doesn't call plays... the players would rather stand around waiting for Baron Davis to do something rather than actively move without the ball... and the Warriors just don't have all the nuances of the team game down like the proper way to set screens, boxing out, things you need to run a halfcourt, fundamentally sound game. Also defense... ech we just suck. We don't know where to be defensively positioned on team defense and I think we just lack quickness in the starting lineup, etc. That and we just lack big men talent that knows how to play all around ball. I totally dog on Jim Barnett when it comes to his boy Dunleavy, but I have always admired his knowledge of the game. He's a smart analyst and he was actually an nba player. If you listen to Barnett's comments about the team, they are true (although he won't go into so much criticism that it makes the Warriors look like a bad product to watch).
Also, forgot to add that anybody who shoots 40% for their career must not be finding it easy to put the ball into the bucket... I think maybe the Warriors have to work that hard just to score and play defense. We don't have any Shaq's, Kobes, or Vinsanitys that can play half assed and still score 20 points a night. We miss our 20ppg guy the only team we can beat is the Blazers. I think we can create a 20 ppg guy, high % shooter just by playing smarter. If you look at a guy like Matt Harpring, set up plays where he can hit the midranger all day, he'll hit 50%. We need those type of guys, with Jerry Sloan type offense, in addition to the high flyers that can do what very few in the nba can do which is jump over a 7 footer and dunk one on his ass and finish an 'oop in transition.
Baron does shoot too many threes -- but he's given the outside shot every time. Defenses just sag and clog the middle because frankly he and Dwane Wade are the two best drive-and-score players in the game. The defense dares Baron to shoot the 3 because they know he'll beat them inside and they know he's not a good outside shooter. This is the problem, because Baron never backs down from a challenge. He's so stubborn and wants to win so bad that if a team sags off him and dares him to shoot the 3 he'll keep shooting, even like tonight when he was 2-for-10 in the 3rd quarter from three. But the real problem is that if the defense is going to sag and clog the middle to prevent Baron from driving, then someone is going to have to hit the outside shot. Who is it going to be?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AlleyOop:</div><div class="quote_post"> But the real problem is that if the defense is going to sag and clog the middle to prevent Baron from driving, then someone is going to have to hit the outside shot. Who is it going to be?</div> Not Dunleavy, thats for sure. And what you said about Baron, it's true. He is a stubborn guy that wants to win. He has the right intentions, but can go about it in a way that can be done better in certain situations. But if we had consistent players that he can trust taking a shot, he wouldn't be putting so much on himself. He has big shoulders, but they can carry only so much. The rest of the team needs to carry their own weight.
If the defense is going to sag, then shoot the 18 footer, not the 24 footer. Yeah, Baron shoots some desperation 3s but not 14 of them. Yes 33% from 3 is the same as 50% from 2 but if you shoot less than 33%? You should not be shooting them.
Yesterday's game, along with the Clippers and Mavs games from a week or so ago, just show the glaring lack of fundamentals the Warriors suffer from. Not to put the blame on Murphy, but a good example was his drive to the lane where he got blocked going for the dunk early in the 3rd quarter. The ensuing 4 possessions consisted of Murph fighting for position in the block, getting the ball, and subsequently throwing up an off-balance 18-footer. Bad possession x 4 = Baron getting sick of it and jacking up a 3. Bottom line in my opinion is that Monty needs to recognize when the team is stagnant, call a timeout and get some subs in. He didnt' call a Time Out until there was only 2:52 left in the quarter. They played 10 minutes of disorganized offense that lead to the complete meltdown of the game. Its frustrating as a fan to just watch and weep as bad shot after bad shot is attempted. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting philsmith75:</div><div class="quote_post">If the defense is going to sag, then shoot the 18 footer, not the 24 footer. </div> AMEN!
The W's need to get the ball upcourt FAST,even on a made shot. We were doing that last spring..but not lately. We were also winning last Spring,and not lately.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting REREM:</div><div class="quote_post">The W's need to get the ball upcourt FAST,even on a made shot. We were doing that last spring..but not lately. We were also winning last Spring,and not lately.</div> So true REREM, but the energy just seems to be lacking. I don't really know what's missing, and it can't be the presence of Rodney White and Skita. Things seemed to just be flowing, even if the teams that the W's played toward the end didn't really care about the games. The wins against the Suns & Rockets were quality wins against playoff teams. Were all those teams not playing hard, or were the W's just playing that well? Unfortunately the answer to those questions doesn't matter. The W's are playing very inconsistently and need to find some way to stay focused, and there just isn't a way to make that easily happen.
I don't know about this lacking fundamentals. I think as a team these players are quite capable of passing, dribbling, shooting, rebounding, etc. What this team lacks is a smart coach and this team doesn't have the smart players like the Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, or the Piston bunch. And subsequently this team doesn't play very smart basketball all the time, which I think is what people are saying in this thread. It's not about fundamentals, its about decision making and cohesiveness as a team. At the half way point of the season, the Warriors should be adjusted to Baron Davis' flaws, and everybody elses' flaws on this team. Yes, Baron Davis has a slight flaw that he will put too much in his own hands, lose faith in his teammates and he will jack up a lot of threes at times. This is nothing new. The problem, yes the problem, that is showing is that the rest of the team has chosen to follow suit with Baron's flaw. Now instead of their just being Baron jacking up a ton of threes, we will see Murphy doing so, Pietrus doing so, Fisher doing so, and maybe in some cases Jason Richardson doing so as well. That is the problem with the team. In a better situation, a better coached situation, Mike Montgomery could take out Baron Davis like he did in the first half because of shooting too many bad attempts, and bring in someone off the bench who will get the team out of this mind set and have them work to get better shots. Basically the Warriors don't have enough systems offensively to make adjustments during games to stop the bleeding or to counter opponent defense's adjustments. Also the team doesn't have the defensive systems either to make these adjustments. And rebounding is also a problem, which I think could lie within rotations and also a little bit in personnale. The fact that they like to back down and weaken out often with the big men on the boards and defensively...
Baron shoots too much, if their winnig it's okay but, you got to give other guys more shots to win more games. Baron needs some guys knocking down shots for him, in order for them to win.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dtpxcore:</div><div class="quote_post">Baron shoots too much</div> This coming from a Kobe fan?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting philsmith75:</div><div class="quote_post">If the defense is going to sag, then shoot the 18 footer, not the 24 footer. </div> If we had a real 5 and played Ike at 4 more we'd be taking more 5-10 footers instead. Which would be awesome. And yeah, can't believe the other guy said Baron shoots too much. Kobe has had so many 30+ shot games a night.
Well, the way Kobe is playing I wouldn't mind him taking as many shots as he does. He's the best chance for the Lakers to win. If Baron were scoring at the same rate I doubt, we would be complaining about how many threes he shoots or bad shoots he takes. Baron taking 14 ill advised threes, when he is a terrible shooter is not the best chance for the warriors to win.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Gohn:</div><div class="quote_post">Baron taking 14 ill advised threes, when he is a terrible shooter is not the best chance for the warriors to win.</div> I'd say out of those 14 probably only half were ill-advised... that's still 7 too many ill advised threes, but...
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> I'd say out of those 14 probably only half were ill-advised... that's still 7 too many ill advised threes, but...</div> Yeah, good point. I have a tendency to exaggerate.
