It was a tough road trip, and an even tougher loss to the Miami Heat in overtime at Oracle on Monday night. Things did not get easier for the Golden State Warriors. Friday night, the Warriors traveled to Houston to face Yao Ming and his Houston Rockets. Tracy McGrady did not play in the game due to injury, but other players such as Ron Artest stepped up and filled McGrady's spot. Yao scored 33 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Over half of his points came in the fourth quarter. Artest had 28 points. Von Wafer came off of the bench to score 18 points. The Rockets shot 62 percent from beyond the arc connecting on 13 of 21 attempts. Both Andris Biedrins and Ronny Turiaf fouled out of the game. Don Nelson and Stephen Jackson were both ejected from the game for multiple technical fouls. Jackson scored 26 points. Corey Maggette scored 23, and Jamal Crawford scored 22. Rookie Anthony Randolph came off the bench to score 12 points on 6-8 shooting. Brandan Wright did not even tough the floor until Nelson was ejected. Assistant coach Keith Smart took over and played Wright for eight minutes in which he score 6 points. The Warriors are still win less since the Al Harrington/Crawford trade. They will travel to San Antonio Saturday night to face Tim Duncan and the Spurs. Notes: * Warriors have now lost 8 games in a row * They are 0-6 with Jamal Crawford in the lineup * Marco Belinelli supposedly wants out of Golden State "I can't trust Nelson. He is an experienced coach who has won so much (as a player) but what he told me in the summer, of giving me more playing time, has not happened. * Nelson was ejected in the third quarter, Jackson was ejected in the fourth
I don't get it with Yao, he travels ALL THE FREAKIN' TIME and hardly ever gets called for it. And unlike faster players, it's completely obvious when he does it. I mean my grandmother could see that from the upper deck. But anyway, yeah, the team is still a mess, now back to your regularly scheduled program...
It looked like Nellie wanted to get ejected last night. The only problem I have with this is that is set the example for Jax. I really liked the rotations that Samrt used. He kept 2 bigs on the floor (even if one of them is Randolph who I don't really consider a "big") and the D seemed much more active with Wright and Randolph out there together. Nellie did a good job getting Johnson prepared to be a head coach. Hopefully we see him hand the reins over to Smart more often. Nellie's about due for a medical leave or mid-season vacation to his home in Hawaii, right?
It seems as if one game Nelson decides to go with Wright while keeping Randolph on the bench, then the next game will go with Randolph and leave Wright on the bench. In the previous game Wright got 31 minutes while Randolph only got 7 minutes of PT. In the game before that Randolph got 11 minutes, Wright 6 minutes. The game before that vs. Cleveland they actually got similar minutes. The game before that against Boston though, Wright got about 13 minutes and Randolph just 1 minute. This game it was Randolph 26 minutes, Wright 12 minutes. I guess Nelson is stuck with keeping Crawford, Jackson, and Maggette on the court as much as possible which leaves open only so many minutes for Randolph and Wright at the PF position, which is also shared with Turiaf at times, if he's not filling in for Biedrins. What about Andris Biedrins though? His production has dropped a bit. It may be from the other team knowing all they need to do to get an offensive rebound is pull Biedrins away from the hoop in any shape or form. The Warriors haven't won a game where he hasn't had double digit rebounds. He really needs to get more active on the defensive glass some how (along with the rest of the team). Looking at his game log, defensive rebounds have really dropped quite a bit, hitting a low of 1 defensive board vs. the Knicks (which may have had more to do with the defensive scheme and the Knicks execution on offense to get Biedrins out of the way defensively and for rebounding - oh and while the other bigs on the Knicks were just sitting hungry waiting for the rebound under the hoop the whole game since no one on the Warriors cared to box them out). He is still getting a decent amount of offensive boards, but as we know it's the defensive boards that have been killing this team. The downside to Biedrins not getting the defensive glass is that Wright and Turiaf have been inadequate at securing the glass. Maybe they are too busy trying to block every shot. Anthony Randolph is superior to both in the rebounds/game (and PT) category, even though that superiority is very minor. Al Harrington is just as good if not a better rebounder than these three. That is not good news. I think that is why we are not seeing Nelson loving Wright, Turiaf, or Randolph. Their job is to secure the glass, and they are doing a poor job of that.
This might be over-analyzing the situation but isn't it weird that once Nellie was ejected we saw Wright in the lineup? Albeit, Turiaf and Biedrins both fouled out so we didn't really have a choice, but I didn't get the Rob Kurz sub instead of Wright by Nellie. Again, WTF. I think all Warriors fan actually breathed a sigh of relief when Nellie was ejected because I think we all knew what as going to happen. And it happened. He put in Wright. Not only that, he put in Wright AND Randolph...in the 4th quarter! OMGOMGOMG! I bet Nellie was having a stroke when he saw that. Seriously, maybe this will wake Nellie up a little. Maybe, uhh, listen to your assistant coaches. Nellie reminds me of my boss. Everyone knows he's real smart, eccentric, and stubborn...yet everyone is too scared to do anything about it. I hope the coaching staff doesn't feel that way about Nellie. I wonder how many disagreements they have behind closed doors. I disagree with my boss all the time but I better have a good reason to. When I have a good reason, he listens. Sometimes he does something about it, sometimes he doesn't, but at least he respects my candor. I think it's time to bring Maggette off the bench. While I thought the Beans/Turiaf combo was good, wasn't Turiaf signed exclusively to be Beans' backup? Look what happened when we overplayed them both when they were in foul trouble. On a side note, Nellie's stubbornness really shows when he NEVER yanks a player when they get in foul trouble. What is that? Seriously. Is that just a dare to the refs to call the next foul?
I wouldn't mind seeing Maggette come off the bench. Maybe it will bring something new to the team/game. Isn't that kind of what the Spurs did with Manu? I am also supposing, since I only saw about a couple minutes of the 1st quarter all the way to half-time, that Nelson wanted Turiaf and Biedrins in there as much as possible to defend Yao, and no one else on the team could do as good of a job on Yao. Maybe that was the case since Yao did have a lot of points in the 4th quarter, but I can't say who that was against since I wasn't able to watch that much of the game. The Kurz addition to the game, was a bit strange, with Wright on the bench still not seeing any PT. But if I am recalling that substitution properly, I believe it was in the final couple minutes of the second quarter. Did he get to play later in the game? because I didn't think it was the 4:35 he got to play in the second quarter. I think what it comes down to is that Nelson is having a very, very difficult time coming up with lineups with this roster. I guess he likes how Kurz is in the "right place" all the time - I think this is what Bob or Jim were talking about Kurz and why Nelson likes him. I don't think that really worked out so well though in the end. It seems like he has been trying to find one more rebounder to help Biedrins, but he hasn't been able to find one as Turiaf, Wright, or Randolph hasn't stepped up majorly in that department (though it seems as if Randolph has actually done best from the 3 and Turiaf the worst - looking at the stats, I think Wright deserves more of Turiaf's PT, though he has great number of blocks per game). Maybe it's time to look at Hendrix again? I wouldn't mind sending down Kurz to Bakersfield and bringing up Hendrix.
One thing that's really disturbing is that we may now be one of the worst fast break teams in the NBA, maybe one of the worst I've seen, after having been the example for the last few years. Part of that is obviously Baron and Monta. First of all no one is looking to push the ball on the break, they let the defenders catch up, and when they do run, no one seems to know what to do. Even simple 2 on 1 breaks, the kind of stuff most schoolkids do drills on, this team can't handle. They don't know when to make the pass, who to pass to, or how to pass. Either they throw the ball to a defender, dribble it off their own foot, throw it out of bounds, try to take it in themselves without the pass and can't finish, travel, offensive foul, or settle for a low % outside shot instead (thereby defeating the entire advantage of the fast break). I've never seen so many botched breaks in my life. Perfect example in last night's game, they had a freakin' 3-on-1 and they end up jacking a 3-pointer. Are you kidding me? If I was the coach I would bench your ass right there on the spot. Instead of doing what 31 out of the other 31 teams would do: pass the ball and get an easy layup or at least a foul. It's so frustrating, I mean these aren't exactly advanced concepts, these are seriously basic things you learn in high-school JV ball if not earlier.
Great point HiRez. It's funny how quickly a team's identity can change. They can call GS run-n-gun all they want, but this team is about the farthest thing from a fast-break team that I can think of. Sure, they shoot quickly, without passing the ball, lol... but is that run-n-gun? No, that's just "gun" GS is a gunning team, because everyone on the team shoots as soon as they touch the ball, but that's not going to win anything. As far as the run part... c'mon, Nellie, gimme a break. This is a laugher. The only rotation guy on the team who resembles a point guard -- CJ Watson -- is HORRIBLE on the fast break. Dude doesn't even know basic highschool fast-break stuff like spacing for 2-on-1, 3-on-1, jumpstop at the FT line, and filling the lanes. How is this possible? I have no f***ing clue. Mags on the fast break? He'll run down on the break, get the ball on the wing, and stop running, wait for every one to catch up, waive off his teammates, clear out a side, and then go 1-on-5. Jax on the fast break? Run down, ignore his teammates, pull up and shoot a lazy fade away three from 40 feet. Crawford on the fast break? It's and-1 time, regardless of who's running with him. Straight to the hoop without a thought to pass. Watson on the fast break? See Crawford. Azibuike on the fast break? See Crawford and Watson. Wright on the fast break? Awesome! Beans on thef ast break? Awesome! Problem is, there's no one to get those guys the ball. And Wright doesn't even play anymore. This team sucks on the fast break. They suck in the half-court set, too. They also suck on defense. ANd they've lost 8 straight. Maybe it's time to try something different, eh Nellie?
The thing is, Nellie SHOULDN'T have a hard time with this lineup. It's pretty simple for outsiders to analyze the situation, I don't know why it's so hard for him.
Well I think for the style of play that Nelson likes, I think he's having difficulties with this roster. He has slowly been adjusting, perhaps too slow for many. For example his defense was a complete disaster for this squad. Now he can't find a PF to grab a rebound, his perimeter shooters (at least in recent year stats) can't make a 3 to save their lives, etc.. Nelson is also having nightmares on the road without his good friend Riley around. Must be tough for Nelson. Now he's getting ejected from games... At least he got his contract extension. Good job security for him now. On a side note, did you know that Don Nelson and Willie Nelson have their own business in real-estate in Maui? The things you learn listening to the other team's broadcasters... I bet they've drank a large share of cold ones together and smoked quite a few cigars.
Yeah Smart played Wright but did you notice that after Biedrins fouled out, who came in? Brandon? No. Sit yourself down. Randolph!!! Beautiful, Randolph and Maggette on the front line. Jeez this is killing me. You know what Brandon is saying? Man I hope they cut me in two years then I'm going to San Antonio or Boston where they know how to develop young players (See Glen Davis/Leon Powe; Bonner/Oberto) and I'm going to be a star. Just another wasted pick.
Well there is the Thunder tonight. But something tells me that Brooks is going to get his team to scrap and hustle. Watch, Westbrook and Watson are going to go for career highs tonight. Wilcox will dominate underneath and the W's A/TO ratio is going to be 1. Awful.
Good thing we were wrong. Nelson even played Wright and Turiaf impact minutes by the looks of it and he involved them in plays (4 and 5 assists for Turiaf and Beans). Wright was almost batting 1.000. Maybe Nelson is learning if we play the bigs, the defense gets better and we utilize other parts of the game we haven't been using to our advantage (Like the fact the Thunder have no center and haven't had one since the last few drafts. Sene, Petro, and Swift looked like busts). Only their PF's look decent (Wilcox/Collison). Also, the Thunder starting point guard is more turnover prone than Ellis ever was.
