Speedy shifts for Warriors <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> One of the most consistent aspects of the Warriors' season is that inconsistency has ruled. And that will be the case over the final six games of the season. Point guard Speedy Claxton, who has missed the past 20 games because of a fractured finger in his right (shooting) hand, will play tonight when the Warriors take on the Houston Rockets at the Arena. Avery Johnson, another of the team's point guards, likely won't play because of a strained right groin. A week ago, Warriors coach Eric Musselman was asked how Claxton's impending return would impact rookie swingman Mickael Pietrus, who has been starting and matching up with the opposing teams' point guards. At the time, Musselman said he hadn't given it much thought. </div> http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctime...ors/8365840.htm
It will be interesting to see what Musselman does with Pietrus tonight now that Claxton is back in the line up. Hopefully he can make it work. The Warriors are going to have a tough time guarding Yao with Dampier out for the season. Foyle will be undersized and out matched. Dampier did a great job on him earlier in the season. I still think this will be a good game with the Warriors playing good basketball as of late.
Like you said, the Warriors are going to have a tough time guarding Yao, but you can always hope that Steve Francis plays like he normally does and doesn't give him the ball enough. The return of Speedy makes a big change in the starting lineup; hopefully it doesn't mess up the good chemistry that's been created in his absence. We need Pietrus to shut Mobley down as he's capable of having big games and hurting the Warriors. I say Warriors win by 6.
Now it's time to play small ball. Get your best perimeter defenders out on the floor and look to run. Double team Yao in the low post and pressure the point guard and make the game a running game. Speedy on Francis, Jrich on Mobley, Pietrus on Jim Jackson, Cliff and Foyle on Yao. Watch out for the perimeter shooting power forwards. Look to drive against Yao. One more thing, Yao is too tall of a guy to be putting the ball on the floor with so many players lurking that can strip the ball. He generally grabs the position right under the basket at point blank range if he's the quickest to get there, backs down by putting the ball on the floor once with two hands, then uses his backside like Tim Duncan/Shaq to gain separation from the defender and then leans his back into the defender to push him off balance and then he either dips his shoulder into the defender for a hookshot or just shoots right over the top of their heads. Most of the time he's so tall he just chooses the latter. He's only getting comfortable with physical contact this season. So Foyle needs to establish position first and play Yao physically so he doesn't get too comfortable.
Houston @ Warriors Good game so far. Musselman is putting in good matchups. Good pressure from the backcourt defenders.
The Warriors win! Wow, this team is hot. Claxton played great in his return scoring 16 points, 8 from the free throw line in 20 minutes. Murphy also hit some big shots late in this one. Box Score- http://www.nba.com/games/20040406/HOUGSW/boxscore.html
Wow, does this team really have the knack of making life difficult for playoff contenders... after months of security at no 7 the Rockets are looking over their shoulders cuz this loss means they're just 1.5 game ahead of the #8 spot. But Warriors are playing some great defense, nice win! Just don't keep spoiling
The Warriors have some loyal fans, maybe the best fans in that aspect. Despite being out of the playoff race for a few weeks, we still continue to sell out the Arena. Last night we had a sellout crowd of 19,596. This is what keeps the Warriors going. NOTE: We need to finish the season 3-2 in order to match last year's record of 38-44. Wouldn't it be amazing if we surpassed that record after all the injuries and talk of losing our "star" players?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rudeezy:</div><div class="quote_post">The Warriors have some loyal fans, maybe the best fans in that aspect. Despite being out of the playoff race for a few weeks, we still continue to sell out the Arena. Last night we had a sellout crowd of 19,596. This is what keeps the Warriors going. NOTE: We need to finish the season 3-2 in order to match last year's record of 38-44. Wouldn't it be amazing if we surpassed that record after all the injuries and talk of losing our "star" players?</div> Matching last years wins would be impressive. Its sad to think about how good they could have been with a full roster this year, however there are some positives that have come out of all the injuries. We have been able to see Dunleavy unleash some of that talent that he had been hiding and he really stepped it up when he was put in the point guard position. Would we have even seen Pietrus play more than a few minutes a game if it were not for the injuries?, I think we would have seen about as much of him as we saw from Welch last year. We also got to see how talented Speedy is, I love Van Exel, but lets face it, early in the year he was logging some major minutes when they should have been going to Speedy. Dampier really improved as well with more minutes since Foyle was hurt, this may be a bad thing though since his stock is now sky high and he is probably leaving the club. This offseason will be interesting
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PupMelo:</div><div class="quote_post">Wow, does this team really have the knack of making life difficult for playoff contenders... after months of security at no 7 the Rockets are looking over their shoulders cuz this loss means they're just 1.5 game ahead of the #8 spot. But Warriors are playing some great defense, nice win! Just don't keep spoiling </div> At this point they'll do whatever it takes to prove they are a good team with proud professionals that respect the game. They just had some really chitty luck all year and some moves made by management that weren't guaranteeing the playoffs this year anyway. The average warrior fan that knew what was going on in the offseason knew the warriors were starting over. So its pretty good they kept a good record despite the injuries. But Rowell can't complain that the warriors lacked effort and were underachievers. I think his comment helped fuel the warriors effort to play hard no matter what because someone who strives to achieve will do that.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting cburson:</div><div class="quote_post">Matching last years wins would be impressive. Its sad to think about how good they could have been with a full roster this year, however there are some positives that have come out of all the injuries. We have been able to see Dunleavy unleash some of that talent that he had been hiding and he really stepped it up when he was put in the point guard position. Would we have even seen Pietrus play more than a few minutes a game if it were not for the injuries?, I think we would have seen about as much of him as we saw from Welch last year. We also got to see how talented Speedy is, I love Van Exel, but lets face it, early in the year he was logging some major minutes when they should have been going to Speedy. Dampier really improved as well with more minutes since Foyle was hurt, this may be a bad thing though since his stock is now sky high and he is probably leaving the club. This offseason will be interesting</div> Dampier could very well surprise people by staying, but I think he's going to go like the majority speculate. Oh well, we could try our hand at drafting one of those 7 foot giants this year and get a 2nd round center or backup small forward. Speedy is talented and it was costly having him out of the game for a while, but at the same time it helped make Dunleavy more assertive and aggressive at the point and it made Jrich learn to be confident and under control with the ball since the team had no true point guard. And Pietrus is just a stud when it comes to defense. He's only going to get better with muscle and understanding of the game.
