Warriors vs. Mavericks @ Oakland, Jan. 25, 2005 7:30PM FSN

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Warriorsfan:</div><div class="quote_post">Why can't baron davis do that everytime? just drive to the basketball for a layup and if there is a lot of defends just pass out. It works perfectly. Another disappointing loss after a nice lead. Just WoW. No more playoffs, lets just try to get a good pick.</div>
The problem with that is the Warriors need to move as well with Baron Davis because defenders can close out on Baron Davis and play the passing lanes for steals. When Baron gets caught in midair and he's forced to dish, sometimes the other guys aren't even ready, but the defenders are. It's really about executing as a team and controlling the game. Mavericks controlled the game in the last quarter and were one step ahead of the Warriors.

 

With the way the Kobe's doing and Artest in Sac, I think it's safe to say the Warriors have a VERY VERY VERY slim chance of getting the 8th seed unless they obtain another player to jumpstart the team. Or new coach...

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AnimeFANatic:</div><div class="quote_post">With the way the Kobe's doing and Artest in Sac, I think it's safe to say the Warriors have a VERY VERY VERY slim chance of getting the 8th seed unless they obtain another player to jumpstart the team. Or new coach...</div>
Things can change from week to week, especially if injuries or slumps occur. Remember when Smush Parker was LA's second best guy ahead of Lamar Odom? Also, I don't think firing the coach is the answer. I don't think its his game plan to jack up bad shots. Talent wise our best players are smaller guys. I don't like small ball, but not many teams trade away quality big men with experience. Without experience, big men get in to uber foul trouble and cause more problems than they solve, especially with floor spacing. Just look at Foyle and the way he gets out of position, gets silly defensive 3 seconds or sets these screens to far away from where the play is supposed to happen. Just look at how hard Murphy had to work in order to play good defense (by Murphy's standards) or he's not moving out of the way of the ballhandler soon enough. Just look at Biedrins how he bites on numerous pump fakes because he doesn't understand positioning in the post, moves off of screens too soon and gets outmuscled. Ike Diogu is even late on rotating on his assignments on help D. He's having to adjust.

All I'm saying is sometimes high schoolers have more bball smarts than some of our guys and maybe better free throw shooting and rebounding too.

Look at established college coaches like Larry Brown. He can't even save the Knicks by playing David Lee or Channing Frye more or Nate Robinson more. It's up to the team to execute no matter who they have on the floor. Matchups matter of course, but they need the right players they can use in the offense. Right now we're forced to play small because a lot of our big men are still adjusting or just don't have that kind of talent we need inside for high percentage shots, offensive boards, and touch fouls. Knicks are the same way, I believe. They may have Eddy Curry, Channing Frye, but the chemistry needs to be there and so does the consistency. I think the problem with our talent is that our most consistent players have a variety of flaws and the more interesting guys we have don't do enough to earn them bigger minutes.

 

I miss Todd Fuller.

 

Has anyone mentioned that the Warriors missed their 1st 16 shots of the 4th quarter?

Or that they are now 11-12 at home?

Or that after their 12-6 start, they've since gone 7-16?

Or that the Hornets have a better record than the W's?

Or that the Warriors missed 12 free throws, shoting 67% at the line?

Or that Dunleavy came out in the post-game and said that frankly his teammates don't practice freethrow shooting and that the coaches don't teach it?

Just wondering -- I didn't read the first few pages of this thread.

 

This was the first game I was free and able to watch all season. However I only watched the first half, and then fell asleep for most of the second half, hehe, my sleeping habits have been pitiful.

But one thing I noticed in the first half was about the rotations. I believe the lineup used in the second quarter was not very smart. In the first quarter the player making things happen and producing was lead by Troy Murphy. Murphy gets taken out with three seconds left in the first quarter, and the Warriors go small for the second quarter. They go with three guards, Dunleavy at PF, and Foyle I think. The Warriors play comes down a level and they end up giving too many extra possessions off missed chances at defensive rebounds. They keep getting beat on the glass, yet they continue to go small for too log I think. And it's deeper into the second quarter before Murphy even comes back in the court.

Anyway, I am against the lineups with Fisher in and Dunleavy at the PF position. I think the Warriors need to focus on playing Diogu, Biedrins, Taft, or even Zarko at 4 more often, then how much they look at Dunleavy at the 4 position. I have nothing against Dunleavy's game there, I just think it is part of how the team struggles on the glass.

Also the perimeter defense needs to stay focused more. The team can play good possessions on defense. But I think the problem is the lack of concentration. I mean, it seemed as if it was continuously guard vs. Foyle for quite a bit of the game. The perimeter defender was somewhere else, somewhere far away it seemed having no effect on the ball handler at all. I mean even Pietrus got beat, I remember one time, but at least he ended up kind of leading him into where Foyle was so that Foyle could block and contest the shot. Other times its just like, poor Foyle, or take Foyle out for not being a presence down low, but I see the problem more about the perimeter defense.

I agree about Montgomery using players for one minute then taking them out is kind of lame. Biedrins kind of had to be taken out. He had three fouls in seemingly one possession. I guess he didn't come back in the second half. But how did Zarko only get ten seconds? I missed this. That, to me, is very strange.

Now I saw the pregame interview with Montgomery. I don't want to bash him so much anymore. Coaching in the NBA isn't the easiest job, there is a lot of stress, a lot of pressure. As he says, he is really grinding. And ok, maybe there is sympathy to go that direction. But I would still like to see a better overall coaching performance by him.

I wonder if the Warriors' expectations as a whole has just fallen out of them. If they doubt how good they really are. That would not be a good thing. Listening to the announcers, they are logical in ways, I think they share views with many other fans. But I really hope that they aren't shared by the players and coaches.