From Charley Rosen at foxsports.com (who I really enjoy reading although it appears no one can every be the perfect player) WARRIORS NEED TO PLAY MORE AS A TEAM by Charley Rosen Charley Rosen is FOXSports.com's NBA analyst and author of 15 books about hoops, the current ones being The First Tip-Off: The Incredible Story of the Birth of the NBA and No Blood, No Foul. Updated: December 6, 2008, 9:04 PM EST 72 comments add this RSS blog email Print Game Time: Rockets 131, Warriors 112 The Warriors' latest debacle was the result of a ridiculous game played by a ridiculous team. Indeed, the Warriors' performance was so absurd that Don Nelson got himself tossed in the third quarter. Here are some of the lowlights: # While Corey Maggette is a quick, powerful and talented scorer — especially when he attacks the hoop — he's also incredibly selfish. Forget about the points he scored (23 on 7-for-14 shooting), the most telling stat is his touches-to-shots ratio. For the game, Maggette had his hands on the ball in the offensive half of the court 29 times, and passed the ball only nine times. The other 20 possessions resulted in his shooting the ball, turning it over or being fouled in the act of shooting. At the other end, Maggette — like most of his teammates — wasn't particularly interested in playing defense. # Stephen Jackson plays defense with his hands, not his feet, and quits playing defense whenever a serious screen confronts him. # Both Jamal Crawford and Jackson have sticky fingers and are reluctant to pass. # C.J. Watson is repeatedly wiped out by screens. # Anthony Randolph has a lively body and talent to spare, but his arrogant glaring in Yao Ming's face after a put-back dunk shows that the youngster (he's only 19) has a lot to learn. Trouble is, none of his teammates are capable of providing the kind of mature leadership that can contribute to Randolph's education. # The Warriors' only real attempt at team defense was to double Yao in the pivot. But they did this at the cost of leaving just about all of the other Rockets unguarded. That's precisely why the home team shot 13-for-21 from downtown. Also, had Houston made half its layups, the Rockets would have scored 150 points. # When Yao was taking a blow, the Warriors' defense seemed to totally relax — permitting Houston's guards to freely drive to the hoop. # Most often, the Warriors idea of defense was to inbound the ball ASAP after the other team scores. # Why in the world did Nellie allow the foul-prone Ronny Turiaf to accumulate five fouls in the first half — and then start him in the second half? Turiaf eventually fouled out at 9:10 of the third quarter. Was Nellie trying to teach Turiaf some kind of a lesson? If he wants to stay on the court, Turiaf has to learn to avoid egregious fouling? But Turiaf is strictly an energy guy, who can only be given short rotations. Trying to make him into something that he's not just won't work. Here are some other statistics that indicate just how undisciplined this team is: # For the game, there were only 14 offensive possessions where they made three or more passes (once the ball crossed the time line) before shooting, getting fouled or turning the ball over. # Two-pass possessions were 24. # One-pass possessions were 39. # And on 29 possessions, the player who dribbled the ball into the front-court either shot it, was fouled or committed a turnover. Not only ridiculous basketball, but ugly-to-the-bone basketball. The Warriors, of course, are a collection of highly paid professional athletes, so they do have some redeeming features. # Turiaf and Andris Biedrins play all-out on both ends of the court and rarely force shots. If Turiaf isn't much of a finisher in a crowd, he's a dead-eye mid-range shooter. # Biedrins moves well without the ball and does a good job of slipping screens and making himself available as he cuts hard to the rim. # Crawford is a deluxe scorer who can find the basket from anywhere at any time. # Jackson is a streaky shooter who's at his best when his feet are set. When he's hot, he's sizzling. When he's cold, he's liable to shoot back-to-back-to-back air balls. Given how poorly coached this team is, the only logical conclusion to be gleaned from their many pitiful performances so far this season is that Nellie is in it only for the money. AMEN
Damn, nice analysis. I was wondering if it was that obvious to an outside observer...I guess it is. I'd love to find out where you can get game stats like that: touches, 3-pass possessions, etc.
Pretty much nails the Warriors. Maggette keeps the ball 67% of the time!!! Startling. Nice job Nellie, way to show the youngsters how to play team basketball. Isn't it amazing to watch how the Jazz pass the ball so that they can get Millsap a backdoor layup or Ronnie Brewer a jumper or Harpring a jumper at the free throw line but the Warriors settle for the 20 foot contested jumper with 15 secs left in the shot clock? Sad.
good read...but very depressing. on an optimistic note, it doesn't seem like these problems would be that hard to address... nelson has told the players that they have a green light to take any shot where they're not triple teamed, and it's gonna take him eating his words, and telling them to quit hoisting up bullshit all the time...if he can do that, i think that we can start being a respectable team again.
Thanks Phil. This is exactly what I see too. Lack of team fundamentals, poorly coached basketball that does not cater to giving the Warriors a more balanced offense/defense. I definitely see the redeeming qualities of the team, but they are just not being used. That's why I get upset. My expectations are a bit higher.
