Yeah, that was an interesting game. The first half was a bit of a struggle for the Warriors, but they stuck in it. The second half started with good play by the Warriors and then a shut down in the fourth period. I don't know how much to expect without having 3 of the most productive players active for the game. In a game that was this close the Warriors need to pull it off at the end, when they are playing at home. But all in all, it wasn't the prettiest game, on either side of the ball for all three teams, the Grizzlies, Warriors, or the officiating team. Pietrus played terribly. I have never seen him play this bad, ever. He had 5 turnovers, his shot wasn't going, and of course the foul there. He was definitley the weak link in tonight's game. Everyone else on the Warriors played decently. I agree from another thread, that the Warriors must improve their fast break, and perfect the fast break much better than they do. Also I think the Warriors need to focus on setting plays up quicker. There were a few times where the PG will try to set something up, but it will be 12 seconds on the shot clock before the PG is satisfied or just decides to just make something happen anyway.
I can't believe Pietrus didn't even realize what he had done after he wrapped up Atkins for the intentional foul. That just goes to show you how incompetent he is. All this athletic talent and quickness and he's just so ignorant as to why Fisher is wide eyed, hands on his head, and struck with disbelief. It wasn't any rawness, it was just pure dumbness. Memphis is probably laughing all the way back to the plane how one guy lowballed his own team out of sheer stupidity. All year we've watched not so smart basketball, but this took the cake. I can't get over this. It's a damn catch 22 with this team. If Dunleavy and Pietrus were one player we'd be fine, but no they're two separate players with serious flaws as starters. ugg...
There's a reason I've been saying that Pietrus is just not that bright. He flousrishes in a run-n-gun offense but he's been in the league 3 years and still has to be told where to be on offense. People got on me when I said that the other day. I had awesome seats to the game. I yelled at Monty to take Fisher out at the beginning of the 4th, dribble dribble dribble.. he had 3 or 4 chances to push the ball up to a wide open Ellis or Dunleavy but he dribbled it up. And we settled for chucking up outside shots. Trade him and Foyle away at any cost. I'm sick of them. Pietrus' trade value is high right now. Package something. I can't take this anymore. Stick a fork in them guys, they're done. The Clipps are gonna wipe their ---es with us on Wednesday night. 12 years and counting....
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting CohanHater:</div><div class="quote_post">People got on me when I said that the other day. I had awesome seats to the game. I yelled at Monty to take Fisher out at the beginning of the 4th, dribble dribble dribble.. he had 3 or 4 chances to push the ball up to a wide open Ellis or Dunleavy but he dribbled it up. And we settled for chucking up outside shots. Trade him and Foyle away at any cost. I'm sick of them. Pietrus' trade value is high right now. Package something. I can't take this anymore. Stick a fork in them guys, they're done. The Clipps are gonna wipe their ---es with us on Wednesday night. 12 years and counting....</div> Who got on you, CH? You mean at the arena? Well those guys are probably ignorant regular fans who don't know jack outside of watching dunks and alley oops. It's probably the same crowd that's all, "Fire Monty, play Pietrus more, and Dunleavy is a bad player." Of course, I've been for the Pietrus starting over Dunleavy thing to balance out the roster's chemistry, but by no means would I want low-basketball I.Q. player finishing the game for us. Especially since the first three quarters Pietrus was doing tons of stupid stuff and turning over the ball while Dunleavy was actually running the point forward pretty well (since we don't have a natural point guard right now he was much needed). He was also playing more efficiently and providing scoring punch and leadership. A pure point guard doesn't have to get direct assists on the stat sheet, but they have to be vocal, guide the offense, and run the play the coaches want. He was doing that because nobody else was. Despite playing ugly, we played as a team, and then Pietrus for some unknown reason ruins the game when we had a chance to seal it. At least Dunleavy would never do that and that's why we need more athletes with his thinking skills. He'll airball a free throw maybe, but never intentionally foul when over the limit in a tie game. And yeah I know I've been scapegoating Dunleavy for years out of frustration for his lackluster play, but his strategy to basketball is right on. We need guys who know the game like Jim Barnett, Coach Montgomery, and Mike Dunleavy Jr. do, but we also need the raw athletic talent, the aggressiveness, and skill. We need those guys to lead by example. But for unfortunately for this franchise it's been a catch 22 with who we get in terms of talent.
Pietrus would fit in very well next to Iverson or under Don Nelson, next to Steve Nash. Unless we plan on getting eMuss back, he's going to have games like this every so often. It just kills me that this team's is pieced together so poorly. And I don't see any trades going down.
We ought to know by now,every guy on this team has flaws and has his bad days/nights. This was Air France's crash landing. His best move was turning into a charge and he pushed his luck on a few defensive plays...losing almost every gamble. Another night,a differnt defender,different refs and that stuff works. Pietrus did not grow up in Chicago on the playgrounds,did not play 4 years in the ACC,did not start until very recently. He's improved overall,but in terms of his development,is not a finished product. Memphis was denying penetration moves. J Rich and MP are not able to dribble through heavy traffic with alert defenders stepping into the path. Fish could penetrate,though he does not have the hops to finish on big men consistantly. Monta might have been a drive threat,but that really wasn't tried much. As a result,we had limited options on offense. we needed Murph as a big guy who can score. Ike got doubled,had trouble getting a FG,but was getting to the line. That didn't become something we pressed however.
im starting to lose faith in pietrus... he couldnt do anything right today. and this game showed exactly why richardson is not in the allstar squad, he doesnt have the killer instinct to take over games like the kobes and the tmacs and allens of the league. the only bright side that showed was the warriors played their hearts out, that doesnt mean they necessarily wouldve won with troy and baron, but the wouldve had a way better chance. but for some reason they dont play with this much passion every night. hopefully they wake up and start noticing that if they dont win from here on out barons guarantee of the playoffs will be a
I can't make excuses for how Pietrus played last night. I have already said it was bad. Who knows, maybe he saw the scoreboard and thought that the Warriors were the team with a foul to give and not Memphis, or maybe he just was not into the game and just assumed that we were down. What was done, was done though, there is no way around it. It was a dumb play. Maybe it was the play that beat the Warriors, but who is to say that the Grizzlies wouldn't have scored on that possession like they had in the last possession of the game? There is a lot of finger pointing on certain plays, especially in the last minute of the game, that can be done. But for this game, Pietrus definitley looked out of it, and not focused on intuned with things that were going around him, with all the charges he got and turnovers. Unfortunately this was a bad night to play that way with Baron(the Boss) out and also with Murphy, Biedrins, and Taft injured too. I see a lot of people are choosing to run out of faith in Pietrus. But there are still a lot of good things Pietrus brings to the team. He has historically been very clutch for the Warriors, his perimeter defense is much needed, and also his athleticism and enthusiasm is contageous and good for the squad. Pietrus made an unexcuseable mental error in this game. But I just think Pietrus is too big of a player on this team to lose total confidence in him. He has done a lot to help this team in the past, and has been a very clutch player. What Pietrus was thinking last night? I don't know. But I hope it turns around on Wednesday.
If it were isolated to this game I'd say yes. Next time Baron is on the floor with Pietrus, count how many times he has to tell him when and where to move. Pietrus just doesn't get it. He's been in the league long enough to where this is no longer an excuse. I have the same gripe with Fisher and his love for dribbling. And Murphy's lack of passing or driving at the beggining of the season, Davis' blinders once his emotions get the better of him, Jason's inability to dribble through traffic, Dunleavy's inability to hit the open shot, Foyle's inability to catch a pass or set a screen. The only difference is that Pietrus lapses are due to being unprepared. Fisher and Davis are emotional lapses, the rest are holes in players games.
I was starting to believe that Pietrus was becoming better at getting into the offense and being in the right spots. He was recently being very good in doing back-door cuts to get easy buckets when people were penetrating the defense, and I haven't noticed so much of a problem, like you say, but not that I would say that they are nonexistant these accusations that you have made. I will try to look at this in the future games. But I saw something like what you said in last game though, I don't know if it was directed toward Pietrus, well I think it was said to be Zarko, in that Mike was trying to call a play but it wasn't being set up correctly, and the shot clock was already down to 12 seconds before things were rushed by Dunleavy and the team and it was just a very bad offensive possession. Getting set up in plays quickly and running sets more efficiently is definitley a thing I think this whole team could do better, from the coaches to the players. But I will look to see about what you pointed out in future games. I think you acknowledged that you have attended these games in person, so I'd think you'd have the better perspective and view, so I'll take your word.
I do think people need to be easy on Pietrus. Certainly, it was an unexcusable mistake, but at the end, all it did was to shed about 4 seconds for Grilz to make a last shot, since they would have taken last shot regardless of Pietrus' foul. In last 10 games he started... 31.9 mins / 46.3% FG / 37.8 3 fg% / 73% FT / 1.2 stl / 0.3 blk / 5 reb / 1.6 ast / 14.6 pts Pietrus is raw player, and we would like to see him to improve like Richardson. But, he did pretty good job as a starter despite his limited skills and basketball IQ, and he should improve as he finally got a starting job in his career. If Pietrus still plays like this after long period of time as a starter, sure there is more fundamental problem with Pietrus. But, it was one of rare occassion when he played closing minutes. People still gave Dunleavy a break after 2+ years of starting gig, so I am not planning to lebel Pietrus as a hopeless just after 10 game of starting gig. And, as much as we would like to see young guys especially at the end, young players are prone to make these type of plays, which may cost the game, like even Monta's jump ball play, which could have provided valuable break away dunk at that point. We want to see young players at the end, and last night, they didn't exactly helped us win at the end. For now, I will chalk it as a growing pain...
This game Davis kept yelling at Peitrus over and over and over from the bench. I like Pietrus' energy and skill. Don't get me wrong. This game was a terrible game for him, and everyone has 1 or 2 of them, but it just gets frustrating having to see that. That one play with Zarko was right in front of us. Dunleavy was getting real frustrated. I just wish that the team would adjust to the personell on the floor. When you have Montay, JRich, Pietrus, Zarko and Foyle on the floor, and Fisher grabs the board, you should push the ball. It's tough because the lineup was so depleted... maybe Monty was telling them to save their legs, who knows. I just want to see the right combo of players.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AnimeFANatic:</div><div class="quote_post">I'd give Pietrus some slack. Big mistake, but this game was full of them. It hurt to watch.</div> I second that, he'll never learn if he never makes the mistake. Hopefully, he'll be more aware from now on.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AnimeFANatic:</div><div class="quote_post">Big mistake, but this game was full of them. It hurt to watch.</div> It was the worst game i've ever seen involving the Grizzlies, and we had quite a few of them when back in Vancouver with Big Country in the middle.
Yeah even the officiating wasn't so great. I didn't understand what was happening at the end of the first half. Well I understood what happened and why it happened. But I never knew such a thing was possible. The Warriors in the end kind of had two technical free throws because after the foul on Dunleavy the Warriors of course retained possession, and then I think there was a timeout or out of bounds thing going on about five minutes later, and then to go back then and give the Warriors two free throws and then still have the ball. It all kind of seemed strange. As a Warrior fan I had no problem with it, but it was strange. Nice catch by Bob Fitzgerald I guess, hehe... I don't know if it's possible for coaches to protest a game, but that was one of those plays that I'd think would have asked for a protest. I'd really like to know what the rule book says about such a situation or what the league would say about such a situation.
Cohan Hater, I was right there with you, a few rows off the floor at the Grizzlies end at the end of the game (across from the Warriors). Pietrus just does not know how to play the game. Its not just the intentional foul at the end, one of the most ridiculous plays I have ever seen, but he had at least 3 offensive charges of the 5 turnovers, and they were not questionable calls, they were dead on, "I'm going to run you over charges" where he's totally out of control, does not have any sense as to where the defensive player is. Couple that with his begging, absolutely begging, for 3s with his arm out, and he shoots 2 airballs from 3 land and goes 0-4 without not one even close. Ugh. That was an awful game. Warriors in a nutshell, played well in spots when the defensive intensity was there and then the failure to secure defensive rebounds. Worst part, the Warriors were outhustled to loose balls, no desire. Will admit, when Dunleavy misses, they are ugly misses, not just in and out, or short, but off the side of the rim, side of backboard misses. When they go in, they are sweet. He makes nice moves to get shot off and then....awful miss. Hard to fathom.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Will admit, when Dunleavy misses, they are ugly misses, not just in and out, or short, but off the side of the rim, side of backboard misses. When they go in, they are sweet. He makes nice moves to get shot off and then....awful miss. Hard to fathom.</div> I agree wholeheartedly. What's crazy is that Dunleavy's game has finally developed to the point that if he could hit the open shot with consistently he'd be a guy that should touch the ball every trip up the court. He should work on his shot and his shot only this off-season. This season he should focus on defensive energy and doing the little things on offense.
Let's hope the Clip game will be better. I wrote a small essay I posted on ESPN forum. The outline is that we have a collection of really good talents, but no real team chemistry or identity since our players have different approaches to the game of basketball and so do the coaches and general management. Do we have talent that fits? I don't know... But one thing is for certain, the Warriors do not play good team ball at times and to make things hurt even more, we can't run because we can't rebound, and we don't have very many secondary guys that can make breaks successful. If you look at the Nets, they at least had guys like RJ, Kmart, Kittles that could execute a a 3 on 1 or 2 on 1. If you look at the Suns, they have guys that can execute outside of Steve Nash. Same thing with the Pistons. And the same thing goes with doing the basic like setting screens or running a simple backdoor play or 2 man game. Floor spacing! We just simply suck. No basketball I.Q. and the guys that have it, suck. Baron Davis also needs to understand what is best for this team. We cannot win unless we share the ball. The longer the team holds onto a ball or stands around, means more forced, low percentage shots away from the paint. Also do we have anyone that can stay in front of their man on defense?
Okay maybe we don't suck suck, but our teamplay says otherwise. Plus our free throw shooting... ugg We happen to shoot above 80% for once, play solid D and still lose, we suck. We should be a kickass offensive team even without Baron or Murphy. Maybe that's overstating it, but we've got talent to win if they play the high% game, which they often don't. And yeah our decision-making is pretty bad in the backcourt outside of Baron. We just have nothing but scorer's mentality rather than setup players or floor leaders. I like the way Dunleavy was running point in the Grizz game, but he should have taken more opportunities to post up. Without that accurate shot or post game, being 6'10 is kind of useless. Also have to complement Eddie Jones on that defense against Jrich. He totally shut him down along with Shane Battier on Pietrus.
