Damn it! L to Dallas. I suck at predictions. I quit! I'm with CR...Warriors will NOT make the playoffs!!!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kensaku @ Apr 3 2008, 10:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Damn it! L to Dallas. I suck at predictions. I quit! I'm with CR...Warriors will NOT make the playoffs!!!</div> I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet even though I thought our best chance was to pass up the Mavs. The loss last night was a heartbreaker!!! We still can pass up the Mavs as they aren't as hot as Denver and they still have a tough schedule left. Denver has a creampuff schedule. We need to win two tough games and of course beat the teams that we are supposed to beat. That will put us at 51 - 31 to end the season. BATTLE FOR REMAINING TWO PLAYOFF SPOTS 7. Dallas 5.5 8. Denver 6.5 9. Golden State 7.5 WARRIORS at Mem - W at NO - W on road versus hot team vs Sac - W vs Den - MUST WIN vs competition vs LA Clips - W at Pho - L vs Sea - W DALLAS at LA Lakers - L at Pho - L vs Sea - W vs Uta - L at Por - W at Sea - W vs NO - L DENVER vs Sac - W at Sea - W at LA Clips - W at GS - L in battle for playoff spot at Uta - L vs Hou - W vs Mem - W
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kensaku @ Apr 3 2008, 10:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Damn it! L to Dallas. I suck at predictions. I quit! I'm with CR...Warriors will NOT make the playoffs!!!</div> For anyone who has played or watched sports, the jinx and superstition is real! The warriors will not make the playoffs! Book it!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ Apr 3 2008, 04:50 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I posted this in the West playoff picture thread in NBA General <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>In the battle for 7 & 8 it is worth noting that Dallas has the tie breaker on Golden State and Denver has the tie breaker on Dallas. Golden State still has the chance to pull even with Denver which would allow them to go to the next tie breaker of Conference record. For both Golden State and Denver, all of their remaining games are Conference games. Golden State: 25-20 w/ 7 remaining Denver: 27-18 w/ 7 remaining This means Golden State is not only 1 game down in the standings to Denver, but they are 2 games down in the Conference record tie breaker. Therefore, if Golden State and Denver end the season tied, Denver would have the tie breaker as they will have a better Conference record. Net result: Denver has a tie breaker advantage over both Dallas and Golden State and Golden State would lose a tie breaker to either Denver or Dallas. Golden State has to finish with a better record than at least one of Dallas and Denver or they will be out of the playoffs.</div> </div> Thanks for that! This will be a situation where every game is important. I'm not sure the Warriors can do this with a loaded West conference and no Jrich. I'm feeling like Jrich is the edge in the frontcourt that we needed right about now...
Well, I'm 4-1 on my predictions. I hope the rest of my predictions come true...that might put us in a good place.
Even if we don't make the playoffs, this season was still a success IMO (as far as small ball goes). Unfortunately, I'm just not a fan of this style because it just doesn't get things done defensively. Size for quickness is trading defense for offense. To me, balance is everything, or we get burned by the team that can neutralize anything we do in transition. Then we'll have problems in a slow-it-down game. The plus side is we know that Harrington will probably be gone. They've changed the lineups so many times to see where he fits and he's proven one thing. He's a bad tweener and a pretty one-dimensional player in terms of impact on this team. If we have a guy that can rebound better and score inside and run the floor, we don't need Harrington as much. We can insert Croshere or Pat Garrity if we need a guy who can space the floor, drive a guy, or make a play. We can also pick up any one of college's guard-turned-forwards to shoot the three at the power forward position. Can we give Rick Rickert a call? Maybe if we want more variety to the basketball skillset, we get Donyell Marshall back again.
I'm hopeful that the Warriors buckle down tomorrow night and drill the Nuggets. I hope Carmelo whines so much that he's caught in the backcourt while SJax scores 10 uncontested the other way. But if not, no big deal, the sun will come up and my kids will still love me. Even so, the Warriors have built a foundation for the future, which surely looks better than Dun/Murphy/JRich/Ike. Monta/Andris/Marco/Wright/POB (hopefully). Thanks Nellie, Mully and Oh yeah, Larry Bird.
At least we got a taste of the playoffs last year, made history, and we competed this year in a strange western conference that showcased several teams well above 500. That's all that mattered to me. For once our lineups were known for doing something competitive (transition scoring). I liked POB's potential (especially his passing and his hookshot), but if we lose out on him and wind up in the last pick in the lottery, there's some interesting big men prospects and shooting guard prospects. My guess is all the high potential big men will go first regardless of how ready they are (JaVale McGee, DeAndre Jordan). Any of those two guys look great for all-around defensive prospects who can grow offense later, provided they have the potential for growing skills. DeAndre Jordan has a big body like Amare/Dwight Howard, but has very little nba skillset. JaVale McGee comes from a basketball family, is very quick and athletic, has a tremendous wingspan like POB/Wright and shows some decent, but basic offensive skill. If they got great hands and attitude, they should be gobbled up quickly. But those guys may be far from ready and they could be doing nothing for the first 3 years. If we're not worried about weakside defense, but like a post player who can rebound, pass, score inside/out, I really like the way Kevin Love plays. He looks the most nba ready in post offense and rebounding. But I'm sure it'd be a wasted pick under Don Nelson considering he likes jumping jacks that can run the floor and guard the hoop. A guy like JaVale McGee, DeAndre Jordan, and Robin Lopez look like the quickest prospects for a center, but you have to like Kevin Love's skillset as an overstrengthed PF, his advanced understanding of the team game, and his underrated leaping ability as a PF/C. This might be a nice addition if teams think Love is too limited and has a lower ceiling than most nba big man prospects. I say he has a higher floor. Besides, look at what teams did to guys like Carlos Boozer). So what if Love's shotblocking falls off a little? He might add some intangibles that we don't have like presence on the glass, a guy who can whip out the passes from inside, and a guy who can make his free throws. Another guy to look at is Darrell Arthur. Very athletic, very long, very quick and coordinated and has a decent skill set for a power forward with ability to play a little inside and out (very foul prone and underweight). Another guy that has a good body, skillset, quickness, and athleticism is Jason Thompson, but his intrigue may be limited by the fact he doesn't play in a good conference with the sort of matchups that could push his limits. He's got nice numbers, but nothing to show real weakness or potential to dominate (let's treat him like an international prospect). Roy Hibbert got a lot of hype in last year's draft, and he sees good and all for a 7'2 defensive monster, but he's incredibly slow and uncoordinated at times. Pass. All in all, if we want a safe big man that can pound it inside, we go Kevin Love if he's available. If we want a guy who can simply fit in to what we already have, we got anyone of the 7'0 quick footed, jumping jacks who show some promise in developing more skills. Or we get one of the 6'9-6'10 power forwards who can mix it up a little (not sure if any one of them is a defensive monster potential or tough inside scorer, but they might fit in very well running the floor or rebounding. If for some reason all the bigs are gone or we aren't looking for bigs, hopefully guys like Nicolas Batum are still available. If we want skilled, athletic swingmen leaning closer to the small forward position, I think he's our guy. In fact, he could probably be one of the best players in this draft, given the hype he's been given in the last 2 years in the younger leagues. He's got stuff you can't teach, some stuff that will need to be learned through experience, but he's not in the position of need right now (We got Sjax who pretty much does everything we need at a fair price, with vet/playoff experience, but we just need a stronger supporting cast around him. If we're looking for a swingman shooting guard, Tyler Smith can do a bit of everything. Earl Clark looks like he might be a nice utility guy at SF. Oh, and if Baron Davis gets dealt for a higher pick, get Darren Collison. If there's somebody that can provide good backup minutes or potentially start, it's him. He might be a nice ball thief with a decent all-around game. Here's guys who look great, but their free throw %'s really suck for their positions: Earl Clark (can get better, but looks streaky, perfect some times, had 1 really bad game 5 of 9) De Andre Jordan (constantly bad, but with a minimum of 2 or 3 attempts per game he can go perfect sort of like Biedrins) JaVale McGee (same problem, any more attempts than 4 attempts you see a pattern) Nicolas Batum (most likely to hit 2 out of 3 attempts per game which isn't bad. Any more than that, he can probably hit a fair shake, unlike the guys above who constantly miss if given more than 3 attempts per game) Robin Lopez (looks like the same pattern as Earl Clark) Darrell Arthur (guy looks like he'll consistently leave points at the line by splitting the free throws) Jason Thompson (has good potential to stay focussed, but inconsistent going from 10 out of 10 or 8 out of 8, to 5 of 10 or 0 for 3). So, if we're going by most game, fewest weaknesses (at the foul line), I'd go with Kevin Love and Tyler Smith who can hover between 73-76% shooting which is decent or great for forwards and above. It seems like a focussed player who can probably be the most predictable at the foul line. There's probably no excuse for guys going under that mark unless they're consistently getting 3 free throw attempts a game and only making 2 of them at times. In that case, that 1 point a game might not hurt you in most cases. If it's 0 for 3 in the first 3 attempts, then 6 for 9, it's a good sign that they're making up for a lost 3 points at the line... If it's 3 for 3, and then 3 for 9, the next 6 attempts... well... they're just not very good in that game, especially if that's happening consistently where they get tired or come unglued somehow.
