GS up 16 at the half. Monta with 15 pts, 8 ast, 1 TO at the half. Lee with 16 pts 10 reb on 8/9 shooting. Vlad 3/3 on 3's with 11 points, he looks so much better at SF and when all he has to do is catch and shoot or catch and pump fake and step in.
After stretching it to 20 the lead is now 11 at the start of the 4th. Mo Williams clubbed Curry and he landed on his hip and hasn't returned. Only got a flagrant 1 somehow...
Lol nice to see someone get vengeance. Lee shoved Mo Williams on the fast break for a flagrant of his own. To his credit, Mo WIlliams popped right up and he and Lee shook hands. He knew he had it coming I guess and was probably thankful Lee didn't completely lay him out.
He's back now. I think Vlad has played himself into a decent trade piece. People kept knocking Smart for playing him, but it may have worked out pretty well.
He looked good tonight but lets see if he can string a few together. Just the last game against the Hornets he had two completely random fouls in the last couple minutes. Things like that are the problem. Great players do things that don't show up on the stat sheet, Vlad is kind of the opposite where his stats don't do justice to how bad he can be at times. His shooting %'s are quite good and he looked good tonight because it all stemmed from him playing the role of spot up shooter. Then after he hit a few outside shots he faked and drove. Then he started doing better defensively, rebounding, etc. His whole situation reminds me of Pietrus' time here. Looked brilliant tonight but do I really expect him to do that all the time? Not at all. Like Pietrus, he seems mentally weak and just make plays that are unbelievably dumb. Speaking of things that don't show up on the stat sheet, Amundson was quite active and hes starting to string together good efforts. His stats are miniscule but he was extremely active and drew several fouls down low going after offensive rebounds. His 12 rebounds in NO have been overlooked as well. Starting to see why they liked him so much in PHX. Lee had a great game. Hopefully we start seeing more of them. Beans was up and down, got us a couple of extra possessions and for a while there was blocking shots like it was 2006 again. Perhaps hes getting healthy, perhaps he feels Udoh breathing down his neck. Either way he had a very nice stretch tonight but he was kind of non existant at the beginning of the game. Also I'm starting to like Law more. Seems like he gets a few driving layups each game and his defense is solid. Udoh didn't do much and was given no offensive opportunities. And as Barnett said we've quietly won 6 of our last 9 games. Good time to get healthy. They'll have to break off a hell of a streak to get back in the PO conversation. We're 4 and a half games back of the 8th seed but that seems misleadingly close as we're 6 games under .500 and the 8th seeded team, Portland, is 3 games over .500. Lol at least we're in second place in our division!
Monta also looked pretty impressive on several dishes, including one zinger from the top of the key into Lee for a dunk. I don't think there is anything Monta can't do, if he just works on it. I mean, he's suddenly shooting nearly 40% from three. So now, it might be that the coaching staff is now making this -- smart decision making and passing -- his new thing to improve on. He seems to be getting better there, but there's still room for improvement, especially to make an All-Star push... P.S. Dorell Wright has some of the weakest finishes on the planet. Like Fitz said, he goes away from the basket. He could have a clear path layup, and if there's even a hint of contact, he'll try some fade away double pump reverse layup prayer that has no chance. Why doesn't he just go up strong?
Agreed. But his numbers will be attractive to teams looking to take on an expiring yet still get "production" from him. I think Gadz already proved his worth to a team looking to do the same thing. I really hope they can pull something off at the trade deadline.
I agree, both trade chips are no longer purely expiring deals. They are now legit bench players, and for the right team, could be the missing piece. A double-whammy. Help you this year, come off the books next year. As much as I hate to say it, Rad-Man the Martian could actually help a playoff push for some teams, if all he needs to do is come off the bench, play no defense, and hit threes...
Agree and although we've all ridden him all year long (and even long before) one thing about Monta that has always impressed me has been that he seems to always add something to his game. I remember after his rookie season how much better his left hand looked when finishing and dribbling/driving. And how that mid-range game kind of came out of nowhere and was really lethal once Nellie took over. His initial adjustment to being a team leader and alpha dog was quite rocky but look at him now- seems like every time anyone on the team is asked they always say Monta is the leader. Hes adjusted his game to being the main guy too, obviously getting back to 53% FGs as the #1 option is unreasonable but hes quite efficient for a guy who takes so many shots. Obviously the PG experiment was a complete failure but I'm not sure that was ever Monta's fault to begin with. Last season when we had no perimeter defenders Monta was the guy who took on the oppositions toughest assignment even despite the fact that he lead the league in mpg (I think) and was relied upon to score AND, like the PG experiment, he wasn't really equipped physically to do so. Then we all chastise him for being a black hole and not being a great player because hes not making his teammates better, lately hes been moving the ball better and getting others more involved. Like you said, the 3 point shooting exploded this season but, honest to god, almost every time I go to games (a few times a year) over the past several years hes out there taking 3 point shots before warm ups. Nice to see all that work pay off because its one aspect of his game that didn't come easy. I still wouldn't mind moving him and replacing him with an Iggy or someone because the Curry/Monta back court is doomed defensively and IMO the ball should be in Curry's hands more. That being said, Monta is still making adjustments and improving and making it less and less of a concern that he is taking those touches away from Steph. If Monta does continue to make the right plays then it would probably even benefit Steph who is an ace in the 4th quarter (save his energy for crunch time) and who many analysts are saying should spend more time as an off ball guard where he can be quite lethal. Monta isn't perfect and a lot of those mental adjustments have taken him a while to come around on but right now he seems to be putting it together. Hes become a leader, an elite scorer, perhaps hes going to take the next step and be a true star player who makes his teammates better. For now I'm ok with him on the team and I'll be patient and continue to watch and see how he develops but if hes going to be on the team long term he needs to continue to make the right pass and we need to get a supporting cast that can really defend with that back court. Wouldn't hurt it Steph improved his defense too though lol. And yeah Dorell drives me nuts sometimes. Lately hes been much better but man its the NBA bro, just jump into the defender and they'll give you the freakin FTs! Still not holding out hope that he puts it all together and becomes McGrady but hes certainly capable of having some nights where he can really explode offensively. If Vlad reminds me of Pietrus then DW reminds me of Dunleavy- don't get me wrong though, hes lightyears ahead of Dunny, sometimes hes just too smart/fancy/overthinking for his own good and it ends up making him actually look dumber.
Nice analogy. But yeah, the way our starters play, I think it's no coincidence that Golden State is dead last in FT attempts per game, ranked 30th out of 30 teams, at 21.1 attempts per game. The top 5 teams in FT attempts per game? Denver, OKC, Miami, Houston, and.... the Clippers! But even Monta, who goes to the rack constantly, he doesn't always seek contact, but even when he does, he's so acrobatic, there's usually not a lot of hard "impact" contact that gets the whistle (even though he gets fouled all the freakin time). Like, when Baron and Jax were here, they would go to the hoop just looking for that "impact" contact that wins over the official (or they would scream and complain and whine if they didn't get the call). Now, Monta does go right straight into the defender, which he is so good at. But just the way he's built, and the way he is, other times he finds ways around guys, ways to contort, too, and the officials give him no love. Whereas Dorell Wright goes away from the defender like he's scared of contact. It's kind of embarrassing, really, as a fan to watch... which is why the Dunny analogy is so good, because I remember feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed to watch Dun flop around like a rag doll, his hair all over the place, lanky and awkward and weak. And it felt like the other team was kind of laughing at him from the bench, too. The difference is that the rest of the league really respects Dorell Wright. I'm not sure what it is, but he really has that unspoken respect from other players. It does seem like he's a very good guy, which helps. And he plays defense, which will earn respect. And now he's torching the three. Even though he is a horrible finisher, he's still a very great value and player for GS.
For sure. Hes much more positive than negative at this point. We basically got him for the same price as NJ got Morrow and Chicago got CJ Watson. Putting up 16/6 and has the most made 3's of anyone in the league. We're the best 3 pt shooting team thanks to him (who would have thought that after shipping off Morrow and CJ?).
The player that is most important to the Warriors is David Lee. I am looking at his game log http://www.nba.com/playerfile/david_lee/game_by_game_stats.html It seems like when he's going and doing good (such as gets a double-double) it appears that the team does well. The team is 4-2 when he scores 20 or more. I believe I counted 10-4 record when he gets a double double. They are 14-13 when he plays. If you count out that brutal two week stretch where they lost 7 straight, of course it would be better. But that may be something to point out. His best games are typically against the lesser of teams. For example the teams he scored 20 points against are Cavs, Sixers, Blazers, Dallas, Suns, and Knicks. I suppose what makes him crucial is the rebounding. Perhaps, though these are small sample sizes, the record when Lee has a double-double is so good, even better when Lee scores 20 points or more. I also like the assist numbers Lee has been getting this season. 3.4 assists to 2.7 turnovers per game. Hopefully the ratio can get better but not excessively bad.
D. Wright is also averaging in the top 5, or was a week or so ago, in minutes per game. He's a valuable player. It's good to see him doing well.
