Just got a call five minutes ago from a friend who had an extra ticket. So, lets hope I don't drive my ass all the way out there to see them lose to the f'n Pacers. If they can keep the ball moving around like they have lately, I think they should be able to pull it out.
The Warriors have been playing heavy minutes with all the injuries. I could see it catching up to them tonight against this team because of the size Indiana has upfront. The Warriors love shooting the long ball and tired legs mean shots will be left short and lead to transition buckets on the other end by Indiana. Someone other than Ellis needs to be a consistent scoring threat and at some point the Warriors need to manage the rebounding better. The wins against Portland and Dallas were encouraging, but they followed that up with a blowout loss to the Lakers. Hard to say which team shows up tonight.
This definitely should be a win, Indiana has not been playing well lately. But as ihate says, fatigue may be a factor. One thing I don't want to see much of is Mikki Moore, I'd rather see Hunter starting and more Turiaf and Randolph. Randolph is a huge key for this team, he really needs to find his groove again like he had in the second half of last year and in summer league. He seems to have taken a step back this year, playing out of control again on both ends of the floor and using poor shot selection instead of waiting and passing the ball around. He's been too predictable on offense, leading to him getting blocked and having the ball swatted away a lot. Needs to learn how to pump fake, protect the ball with the rim, and use his speed and length to go between defenders instead of bowling them over (offensive fouls). Also, while his ball-handling is impressive for his size, I never want to see him do a coast to coast himself on a fast break if there's a better ballhandler (guard) available. Saw him do that recently when he could have passed off to Curry and he turned the ball over. But, his rebounding is still solid and his freethrow % is phenomenal this year (81%). I still have confidence his talent is in there somewhere, but he needs to calm down and not try to do too much at once.
I bet $68 the final score would end up under 227 points (both teams final scores). It seems like a good bet. What do you guys think?
I know right? I hope the officials call this game tight. If they let them play I don't think they score that much.
Sorry. Unbelievably, Maggette tied for the team high with 6 assists!!! He started off with 3 TOs and zero points but I give him credit, he made a couple of nice passes and after Monta fouled out, he closed the game for the Warriors. Lots of nice things to see last night, Monta just going off and hounding Granger too, Morrow with his sweet shot, Chris Hunter contributing (Okay, no way he should be let go, he's got an NBA body and can finish around the bucket); CJ Watson stroking it confidently. Curry got jerked around again, but maybe because CJ was shooting well. He needs to be more aggressive, he's getting passive. Randolph was looking good then he got hurt. Hopefully not too bad. He needs to know what to do with the ball when he gets it. When he gets the ball, he just does not show any quick, instinctive moves. One time he got it on the right block in good position, one on one with Foster or Murphy and he waited a couple of seconds not knowing what to do. He's got to just go up with a quick move, either a jump hook or spin move, something. Exciting win, nice to see especially after the Warriors started out by giving up around 40 pts on layups in the first half (it was so ridiculous, Earl Watson got an offensive rebound over Watson and Mikki Moore then the put back right back up.)
Can we cut someone and hold on to Hunter please? Dude's leaps and bounds better than Mikki Moore plus hes actually a BIG guy who can hold his own against big players. Nice hands, no trouble finishing, usually in the right place at the right time, rebounds it alright. I'm gonna be pissed if we end up holding onto Moore, Claxton, George, etc. and this guy goes to some other team.
The good: Monta with career night. CJ and Morrow chipping in when needed. Chris Hunter made some big baskets (two And 1's). The bad: Randolph sprained his ankle although it didn't look severe (I predict he'll be out a week). I'm a little disappointed with his performances as of late. He looks lost, he's not rebounding, he's trying to force things too much. Sounds like the staff is working with him a lot though. Here's Smart talking about Monta and then including Randolph in on the conversation: Radmanovic couldn't find his shot but I think he took good shots, so hopefully it'll come around. Mikki Moore is pretty awful but his PT was limited, so that's good (also, they say he's got bone spurs in his heel but he has opted to not have surgery because he doesn't want to let his teammates down...good attitude, but with Beans, Turiaf, and now Chris Hunter, I think he should probably opt to have surgery when everyone's healthy). Stephen Curry had zero impact on the game. This is the first time he's REALLY looked like a rookie. I think he'll bounce back tonight with a solid game though.
This game was really tight. I was there and the atmosphere was great. Good to see some fans in the crowd were skeptical every time Maggette would pull up for a jumper.
