GAME THREAD: Warriors @ Heat (12/23, 4:30pm PST)

<div class="quote_poster">Gohn Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">The game was a blowout by the third quarter. Also Nellie rested Baron for a good part of the second quarter.</div>

I'm hoping the reason is as innocuous as that..i'm only concerned because nel's history is to ride his horses as hard as he can.

 

I look oin the bright side... we have played .500 ball all season with key starters injured. WE have yet to have a full squad, whether you like Murph, J-rich or whomever.... not at full strength is what it is.

Murph - nose and achilles out
biedrins - back
pietrus - ankle, nose
j-rich knee knee knee
baron misssed a few games i forget why
ellis - ankle now shoulder?
roberson - twisted ankle tonight
carbarkapa - out back

who has been healthy barnes, foyle?

Injuries are part of the game i know... but we are not just getting bitten but swarmed by the injury bug.

last night biedrins and Mp, tonight ellis and roberson

I dont get down too much on this team with all the injuries, and i think once J-rich gets things going we will be that much better for it.

It is apparent that Murph is a lame duck on this team now and it is just a matter of time before he is moved.

Yeah tonights game was tough.... i though because j-rich played so limited minutes last night he was fresh and might carry us tonight a bit ...especially with baron off his game, but the second nelson went away from it.

The funniest thing i heard was the moron announcers for Miami point out after Nelson called a time out when Ike walked and yelled at him on the side lines that what a great coach Nelson is because despite being pissed at him he left him in the game. At this point it was a 20 point game. WE had baron and j-rich as the only healthy bodies left on the bench and a somewhat healthy AB. I mean who was Nelson going to bench Ike for? Believe me, if watching Nelson's handling of Ike since his return, Nelson would have benched him in a heartbeat if he had an option.

I think Ike , played well, though he did get back on D a few times very slowly, he got to the line a lot in the post.

I just hope Monta is dealing with a bruise and not a Separation. Remember when WEbber did it on his first visit back to the bay area as a Bullet on the coliseum floor? I think that separation haunted him for a long time as it was a reaccuring injury for him.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Diogu was once again underutilized, especially with Biedrins clearly hurting and unable to play fully. I keep hearing maybe Diogu is not so great defensively, but tell me who on the Warriors is? Personally I don't think he's that bad, but don't the Warriors give up over 100 every single game anyway? Why not get some scoring, rebounding, and freethrow shooting with the reliable foul magnet that is Ike?</div>
Let's face it, Nellie does not like Ike for some reason. I would have liked to see Ike in the second quarter also, because they needed offense and he could have given it to them. His offense may have kept the game closer. He was also well rested.

What is up with his travels though? Third straight game with a travel violation.

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Well, yes, back-to-backs are difficult, but the good teams work through that. It was a lacklustre effort both physically and mentally and I don't think Nellie "performed" very well as a coach, either. Uncreative offensively and too late making adjustments. Another no-name career benchwarmer torching us. I bet he never cracks 20 again for the rest of the season. One can make all kinds of excuses for the loss, but it seems like there's always an excuse, and no buildup of momentum that leads to an extended winning streak. One night this team looks great, the next they just don't even show up.</div>
The way I see it the warriors are not a contender. They are good enough to battle for the eighth seed. They are doing fine so far.

The ideal way for the season to go is for the W's to hang around .500 and then finish the season strong to make the playoffs.

I'm worried about the injury situation. That is the thing that has hindered them so far. They lose Davis and it's time to tank.

This year I don't think Nellie will lose the players like Monty did last year, so I don't see a repeat of last year. The team is playing a lot better than last year, judging by what Nellie has gotten out of his players and the tougher schedule.

Last year at this time they were 15-14. This year 14-15. The last time they were at .500 last year was 19-19, somewhere in early January. After that it was all downhill. Also it should be noted that they had a really tough January. This season they have a slightly easier January.

This is going to be an interesting stretch. We should see if this team is has a chance or not.

But again, I'm not worried about this loss.

Bring on Philadelphia. The W's should beat them. But they should have renewed energy after the trade. Plus may not have Monta. And Pietrus will be wearing a mask, which may bother him.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm hoping the reason is as innocuous as that..i'm only concerned because nel's history is to ride his horses as hard as he can.</div>
I would not be worried. Nellie has already said that he does not want to play Baron as much as he does (40+ minutes a night). But that is the only way they can win. I think he is aware of Baron's injury history. No point in injuring him in meaningless game. They had lost by mid third quarter and it didn't feel like they could make a comeback.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Gohn Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Let's face it, Nellie does not like Ike for some reason. I would have liked to see Ike in the second quarter also, because they needed offense and he could have given it to them. His offense may have kept the game closer. He was also well rested.

What is up with his travels though? Third straight game with a travel violation.
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I think Ike and Don Nelson are going to have to meet half way to make the most out of this working relationship. For Ike to be better fitted for Nelson's game plan he's going to need to become much quicker, a more reliable rebounder, and he's going to have to be able to work in the offensive and defensive systems that Don Nelson likes to use. On the other end Nelson needs to realize Ike's abilities and how they can really help the team, especially when they are chucking bad shot after bad shot. A guess of mine could be that Nelson is trying his best to set up one system right now. Maybe if he tried to add different components at this point it may just backfire and then cause some chaos. So first if Ike can get into Don Nelson and the Warriors system then maybe Don Nelson will build more offense for Ike. Agh, well that's a guess, I have no idea how much validity it has though. But yeah, let's feed the beast! Also that rotating defense does not work with two bigs like POB and Ike in there. I think Nelson should have gone to something maybe more conventional.

As far as that play on Monta where he got injured: I think Jim Barnett called it right on. He called it "unneccesary". Seriously, when someone is driving and is in the air, you don't just plant yourself under the person. I seriously HATE how the NBA is officiated. This trickles down to all basketball I suppose, which I noticed after watching a high school game today as well. The main play in defense today is the charge/flop play. I am not sure which one to blame or how to change it. On one hand you can't blame the players because most other forms of defense lead to fouls at some point or another at certain levels. There will always be a Wade or Kobe there to "draw a foul". I mean Dwayne Wade is driving to the hoop, he jumps with his hips trying to draw contact from Andris (he was intiating the contact) Andris goes straight up and even away from Dwayne Wade, and after some contact (initiated by the offensive player) Wade makes the bucket and gets a free throw. It's so rediculous, so why not just go for the flop? Then maybe we blame the players for not knowing how to play proper defense and need to in some form at some levels maybe cheat to get any advantage on defense. I have a memory of hearing about a week ago that the league was reviewing the block/charge situation and how it was causing injuries and how the rule might change a little because of the danger that taking charges/flopping has caused for the players in the league. I guess we will see what the league decides.