GAME THREAD: Magic @ Warriors (01/10, 7:30pm PST, FSN+, KNBR 680)

This could be a tough one. But I think we could win this one. I don't think the Magic are that good of a road team, but we shall see.

 

Dwight Howard is a future Hall-Of-Famer, IMO.

He's what you get when you combine Amare Stoudamire with David Robinson. Once he learns footwork and passing, like Duncan, he'll make himself into one of the best centers ever to play the game.

Plus he has the biggest shoulders in the history of the NBA.

Anyhoo -- uh yeah, this will be a tough one. Hopefully Ike sees more PT -- if Nellie goes with Murphy/Dunleavy on the floor at the same time, I'm going to throw my shoe at the TV.

 

<div class="quote_poster">AlleyOop Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Dwight Howard is a future Hall-Of-Famer, IMO.

He's what you get when you combine Amare Stoudamire with David Robinson. Once he learns footwork and passing, like Duncan, he'll make himself into one of the best centers ever to play the game.

Plus he has the biggest shoulders in the history of the NBA.

Anyhoo -- uh yeah, this will be a tough one. Hopefully Ike sees more PT -- if Nellie goes with Murphy/Dunleavy on the floor at the same time, I'm going to throw my shoe at the TV.</div>

I agree that Dwight will be great, barring any injuries that affect his athleticism. A lot of the things he does like scoring and rebounding are a result of his god like athleticism. If he ever gets a knee injury like Webber, he better learn the skills to be effective without his hops. But yeah, Ike needs to play and get Howard in foul trouble.

 

I AM SICK of this 1 pass and shoot offense! MOVE THE DAMN BALL!

 

I can't watch it =( I tried to go to my cousin's house to watch it and he didn't have it either..Now i have to sit and wait! By the looks at the boxscore Ike is getting some PT while Murphy and Dunleavy doesn't seem to be doing anything at all

 

There is apsolutely no offense. It is dribble up court and launch a jumpshot or dribble up court make 1 pass and shoot a jump shot. We need to go back to HS rules 3 passes minimum!

 

Why did he just take Azubuike out, he is the only bright spot right now.

 

That's the thing, I don't think there's anywhere to move the ball if nobody is cutting inside or we have no inside presence, or the opposing defense has found some way to shut down the passing lanes. Also, it doesn't help that our most promising rookies tend to be turnover prone (Beans, Ellis).

What can we do...? Oh and Orlando must be a good road team, I saw that they have the odds in their favor on betting websites. We're usually favored at home if I'm mistaken.

 

Damn Dwight is a one man wrecking crew. From the stats it looks like he's the only one that is killing us. 20 boards! with 28 points...

 

30 and 25 for Dwight. Magic are now currently 5-1 out West(4-1 on a previous trip). We are a decent road team, nothing to write home about though.

 

Dwight is good, but it's not like we have anybody that can match him physically in the post. Maybe if we had a bigger guy that wasn't a stiff, we could limit that production.

We just don't have much control or variety over tempo. We play fast, and there's just ways to shut that down and force our teams to be impatient. We just aren't that kind of team to adjust to what the other team is throwing at us because we don't have the pieces, I think. Part of it is matchups, part of it is the way this team was constructed to fit together, and part of it is just plain coaching. Don Nelson's way won't work that well IMO unless he's got some star players like he did on his previous teams. Guys who you could bet the game on. It's hard to tell who is a true star player outside of Baron Davis. I don't think Pietrus is. Ellis is maybe, but then again he's still kind of working on his game. Biedrins is solid, but he's not dominating or anything. Barnes... ehhh... he's good, but I think that's just because we've had Dunleavy/Pietrus playing the SF/PF for so long, we'll take somebody who can do a little bit of everything and won't be a liability. It's like... I think peanutbutter sandwhiches are the greatest food in the world if I hadn't eaten in a week. It's all relative, you know?

Everything is relative. Now if we can be better relative to most nba teams in the West, then I can be so confident of this franchise. I'm not talking better "team wise", but the guys running this organization. There's a pattern here for why some of us (like me) have gotten cynical and it starts at the top. Just as they appear to change the corner, they do something stupid to undo all of it. I thought salary dump and getting what we got back in 2003 was a good move, and then came 2004... uggg..

One step forward, two steps back seems to recurr quite a bit. One doesn't have a large basketball market and play it like it's a small market team or an expansion team. I just feel like this organization has been run that way. The management blames guys like Muss, they focus on halftime entertainment and clean bathrooms than they actually do winning basketball games by putting the guys in there who have had experience putting together winning teams. I just wish we could have gotten somebody from San Antonio or Detroit Pistons. Somebody that knows what a winning franchise looks like and has experience with that. At least we'd be a really balanced team or have somebody to set the table before getting a true difference maker like a Tim Duncan.

So that's why I get scared of the Warriors' leadership. I don't trust them.

 

Howard is the man. I cant wait to see what he can do in 2-3 years...

 

<div class="quote_poster">Warriorfansnc93 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Howard is the man. I cant wait to see what he can do in 2-3 years...</div>

Co-sign.

 

<div class="quote_poster">GatorsowntheNCAA Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">We are a decent road team, nothing to write home about though.</div>

That's what I figured.

I respect the Magic (they are certainly better on the road than us), and I respect them a lot more now that I saw the odds were in their favor against the Warriors at home. Number crunching is right more times than its wrong, so I can't be that surprised of the outcome. Guys who make a living off this better be right. Heh.

BTW Dwight Howard is awesome. Definitely worth the #1 risk over Okafor.

 

Wow -- the Magic are an awesome defensive team. This game was so ugly to watch if you're a Warriors fan. It was a root canal without novicaine. The Warriors had like 500 turnovers in the first quarter. the Magic just hassle the ball and hound the ball and the hedge so well on the pick-n-roll. This is perhaps one of the best defensive teams in the league, if not THE best -- from what I've seen.

Oh, and the Warriors sucked tonight, too. Blah. Seems like most Warrior fans here didn't even watch the game tonight -- and they didn't miss anything at all, trust me.

 

It became unwatchable after a while. I ended up watching a Superman show and posting on other threads .

 

Yeah as the game started falling apart I just started surfing the net while listening to it in the background because it was UNWATCHABLE. It was worse than streetball. No teamwork whatsoever...

Has anyone noticed how some of the new guys dont pass to eachother. Like the dunk by Barnes, when he could have passes ahead to AZ! Or Diogu in general to AZ? I think these guys are almost chasing stats...

 

Some of it could be chemistry, being new to the system, some of it could be trying to earn playing time or getting a sweet contract in the offseason.

It's nothing new, especially with the guys we intended to go into this season with. Dun and Murphy were supposed to be starting PF and C. LOL. I knew this day would come when Murphy and Dun would fall out of favor. I think a lot of fans did. It was pretty obvious where the talent was on this team and how those two guys didn't fit at all (along with Foyle). Baron + Jrich need better running mates. And if not Jrich, then just Baron because he's the only real guy defenses try to stop because he's so strong and quick + fluid, smart with the ball.

So mentioning that, I can understand where Barnes and AZ might not be as comfortable with the Nelly ball just yet. They're not stars, they're not going to rebound or provide physical intimidation/enforcer type body in the paint. They're not playmakers. They're having to do things that might be outside of their range that Murphy, Dun were supposed to handle, but couldn't do because of the same reason. So what can you do?

 

<div class="quote_poster">GatorsowntheNCAA Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">30 and 25 for Dwight. Magic are now currently 5-1 out West(4-1 on a previous trip). We are a decent road team, nothing to write home about though.</div>

Maybe it wasn't Superman I was watching. It was Dwight Howard. Drool. He had a career high 30 pts. Interesting 25 rebounds isn't his career high, but just season high.

 

Yeah, the Warriors got bullied by Howard and Milicic.

My optimism for Ike Diogu is diminishing. He forgets to inbound the ball, which obviously seems to be his role. Everytime he comes in the team is waiting for Ike to inbound the ball. If he can't remember that role, then what can he remember? I can see how getting him to follow plays and such could be difficult for Nelson. Otherwise Ike's shortness was very evident tonight. I was waiting for Murphy to get his offense going, but that never happened. I was waiting for Murphy to box out on boards too, but that didn't happen either. Dunleavy passed to his imaginary friend a couple of times for turnovers. And it seemed like in the first half that the Warriors really had some trouble with the new leather balls with a lot of turnovers. Maybe the Warriors should ask to play with the nerf balls or whatever they are made of for the rest of the season for their own benefit. Maybe that will help them out. Basically nobody stepped up and nothing was clicking. It happens, but in such an intense race for the playoffs it is kind of devastating. Foyle played well tonight however, with some big plays. But otherwise you have to give it up for the Magic tonight who had the Warriors' number, and were extremely determined to not let Baron beat them again, like earlier in the season.

Next up is the Heat on Friday. Gotta come up with a win there. This is not the time to lose momentum with big games against the Clippers and other teams that we are trying to beat out for the playoffs.