Theoretically it could be, but I wouldn't bet on the Warriors to beat anyone right now. They can absolutely be blown out by any team in the NBA. Plus who knows what lineups Nelson will use?
I missed the game. But apparently Jamal Crawford had 50 points, Wrights started (though he played few mintues), and the team won.
i definitely thought they were gonna blow it when it got down to 6 points with a couple minutes left it's nice to see jamal get in a rythym after such a shitty shooting night last night...it's crazy how many players we have that can follow a disgusting game with an amazing one...and vice versa. it's nice when the three's are falling, but we can't count on it...the cats were guarding the paint very well, which gave us better outside looks than normal, so i guess it wasn't like usual where they're chucking up bullshit 3's with 18 left on the shot clock....seems like it's been forever since we won a game hahaha
Yeah, Jamal had a great game but he resorted to a lot of perimeter shots in the 2nd half when he should have been driving to the lane (he has the ability). Wright got 3 fouls in the 1st quarter and was reinserted in the 2nd half (started) but never found his rhythm. I don't think we can blame Nellie for his PT last night. Biedrins was solid. Azubuike was a monster on the boards. Marco again played a very well balanced floor game. Everyone seemed genuinely happy for Crawford...lots of smiles and congratulations. I think we're hearing all these front office rumors etc because we've been losing. Winning cures all. Hopefully we can do more.
BTW, I thought the play of the night was Randolph's pass to the cutting Marco and then Marco pumped faked, got the defender up, and passed it underneath to a wide open Biedrins for the dunk. I didn't see this play on any of the highlights and surprisingly Jim and Bob didn't really seem too excited about it. I thought the pass from Randolph was good until Marco made the second play.
Yeah, that was a sweet play. It was sweeter for me because it showed two of the younger guys (Marco and Randolph) playing good "team" ball together, unselfish and intelligent ball, and then the big brother Biedrins to finish it off for them. I think Biedrins has just been dying to play with guys like Marco, Morrow, Wright and Randolph -- guys who try to contribute as part of a team on both ends of the court. Guys who hustle REGARDLESS of which play is being run, where the ball is, or which call was right or wrong. Can't say that for Jax, Mags or even Crawford, either. Sure, Crawford had 50, and that was great to see as a Warrior fan (and encouraging from the perspective of the Harrington trade). But Crawford still doesn't hustle on defense or always try to play team ball. He often falls down on threes trying to get the foul call, only to allow a 5-on-4 on the other end. ANd, half his jumpers are "heat checks" when he should be looking to get others involved. This is what Gerald Wallace said about Crawford after the game: Marco, Wright, Turiaf, Morrow and Randolph -- those are guys I'd want to play with if I were Biedrins. Guys like me. Guys who go all out for the team. Guys who hustle because that IS WHO THEY ARE. Sure Marco isn't a very good defender, but you can tell that his 6 years in Italy provided him with a solid understanding of what makes a good teammate. Randolph misses a wide open dunk on one end. Does he stand around and pout like Jax would do? No, he runs back and blocks a fast break lay-up on the other end. You know, It was a fun game to watch tonight, with Morrow, Belly and others playing team ball. The 50 by Crawford wasn't really the highlight for me.
I forgot to mention how awesome it was that Nellie played Turiaf alongside Biedrins, Wright alongside Biedrins, and Kurz alongside Biedrins. Finally we saw a true PF play alongside Beans, and it made his life a lot easier. Turiaf + Biedrins looked REALLY good to me. And Kurz alongside Beans also looked pretty good, because Kurz can stretch with the three but also bangs for rebounds.
Kind of a fun game but its a testament to how crappy of a team we are right now. Crawford scores 50, we outrebound them, we shoot 10-18 from 3 (thats 56%), out FT shoot them by 13 attempts and shoot 83% on FTs and we still only beat them by 7. And they're the fuggin Bobcats. Nice games from Craw, Azu, Beans, Turiaf. How about Belinelli? This guy is just solid. Averaging nearly 19 ppg in his last 5 to go along with 4 apg, 54% FGs and 45% 3 pt FGs. For the whole month of December its 14.7 ppg. Hes playing a great floor game and contributing more than whats on the stat sheet be keeping the ball moving and playing solid defense. He really is shaping up to be a nice compliment to Mont in the backcourt.
The thing about Randolph, although he does hustle and plays hard, is that he can be a selfish player on offense. He takes horrible shots. Sometimes he tries to do too much on the dribble rather than passing it up the court, which is faster. Wright seems to be lackadaisical out there. He lacks the fire of Randolph. He reminds me a little of POB, except with more talent. He needs to bulk up more, otherwise I don't think he will ever be a great PF. Agree with AlleyOop here. That Biedrins and Turiaf combo was the most effective to me also. Agree about Marco, Morrow, and Turiaf, especially they unselfishness.
Agree with you on Randolph. Its obvious to me why hes not in the rotation- he can be a ball stopper, TO machine, and he shoots a crappy FG%. Oh and his on-ball defense is crappy (to be expected from a 19 year old though). Sometimes he does do well when hes active defensively, rebounding, not forcing it on offense. Sometimes he looks like he wants to lob the ball up every time he touches it and it leads to TOs and poor ball movement. People seem discouraged by Nellie not playing him much but hes played in 19 of our 28 games- not bad at all for the youngest player in the entire league, especially compared to Wright and Beli last year. For some added perspective, Beli and Morrow have played in 20 games thus far this season. Obviously we all want to see him play since the team sucks balls but I can't disagree with Nellie's strategy. He doesn't subscribe to the philosophy that if the team is going to lose he should just throw guys out there and let them do whatever the hell they want- thats a losing attitude. Nellie is making the young guys learn to play the right way. He doesn't want them to develop bad habits and hes coaching to win every single night no matter how crappy his roster is so the players need to play accordingly. As for Wright, I don't think his demeanor is too much of a problem. Hes definitely not as intense as Randolph but its not necessarily a bad thing to be cool and calm and not get too up or too down. His on court demeanor is a little bit like POB but I wouldn't go comparing the two. POB had work ethic issues (which is why Nellie hated him), the only thing I've ever heard about Wright behind the scenes is that hes a very hard worker and very humble. He does definitely need to bulk up though. What the hell happened to Balco?
OK...so how do you explain the automatic starts and big minutes for Jackson, Maggette, and Crawford? They are certainly guilty of "doing whatever the hell they want" — much moreso than Wright in my opinion — and yet they are allowed time and time again to dig this team into an inescapable pit with their selfishness and crappy shot selection. Of course he should let them know when they are making mistakes, and bench them if they are ignoring the coaching and freelancing it streetball-style. But I don't get the impression Wright is doing that at all, nor Belinelli. They are simply making young player mistakes, and I think they best way to make them learn is to let them make those mistakes in real NBA game situations — again, letting them know about it when they do. I agree, and in fact I think Randolph's attitude could become a problem. I like to see passions, but he has a fair bit of that Vernon Davis syndrome — puffing themselves up after some minor play when they haven't proved a damned thing in this league yet. I actually appreciated Yao facializing Randolph after Randolph dunked on him and gave him the gansta glare...stupid kid. He woke the sleeping giant and the whole team paid the price for his antics. Well, hopefully that's just youth and he'll mature.
Like I said in another thread, I'd rather watch the Ws play the young guys, the future, than see Crawford go for 50 and they barely beat the Bobcats.
I think the only explanation to why Nellie has played and given freedom to Sjax, Maggette, and Crawford is simply because they've been around the league and they are our "vets." Flawed reasoning, but I think he had a hard job of trying to win games vs. developing young players the right way (with the help of his "vets"). It's still early and we're seeing that the Warriors are much more fluid offensively without Sjax, Maggette, and Crawford. I'd even throw into the mix CJ Watson and Azubuike, but they're bench players and they have specific roles...at least they should.
