Josh Boone: A Center that Rebounds and Defends he will present problems but to the same magnitude offensively as Jefferson. Will expect Beans to dominate him
Oh dear how wrong I was the ususal trends of Warrior Killer came along tonight and because of that and various other reasons the Warriors dropped fustratingly winnable game to end a silly streak that no other coach has looked like solving. This loss to the Nets was presented on a plate yet New Jersey got the W because of some great play by kidd and Jefferson. At times I found it hard to believe that this is one of the lowest scoring teams in the league such is the offensive skills they poccess.
Boxscore
Tonight many combinations denied the Warriors their first victory since Rick Adelman the stern Houston coach was in charge. The quietest Arena in the League didn't help and there were times when it became embarrassingly obvious that the Brookyln move has to happen. Here are the game notes.
Jackson Jackson has always had a questionable Basketball IQ but tonight fans got to see how bad it was. Pulling up for a 4 with minutes left showed Warriors fans the hero role could not be part of his culture. He couldn't hit a shot as 5-18 will show and tonight was a case of the more vulnerbale side to his game. I've always championed Jacksons game so I won't prove too hard but tonight showed his limitations despite 21 points.
Boone Boone has some talent but I'll never understand why Harrington matches up so well against Yao yet dissapears against Centers of this calliber. Even so Boone has an intense low post game and he dominated Harrington with 19 points and 8 crucial second half boards. Harrington's refusal to box out combined with 0-6 from the arc were a huge factor. My problem with Harrington right now is his Stupid fouls in this game he actually comitted two within seconds of each other. He's also never been a 4th quarter play much like Pippen Fustration arises.
Depth We have the lowest Depth in the League apart from the Clippers. An injury to Davis (god forbid) or Jackson(ditto) means we're effectively done for the year. The summer signings of hudson and Croshere perfectly illustrate this point. Hudson is done and Croshere has been ineffective so far so it remains to be seen just what magic Mullin or Nelson can conjure up. The Center position is the sore point. Kosta is in the D-League, POB is in the doghouse and Mbenga has shown little potential same with Pietrus so if we really are a playoff contender a dramatic roster upgrade is neccessary. Last year it was the injuries that almost continued the drought this year it's the depth painfully exposed last night
Bench This was a sore point. Much like seeing Air France and his usual worthless contribution over 4 minutes. Barnes and Azbuike never showed any scoring threat hard to accept when Davis goes 6-19 and on a night where most of your starting lineup didn't shoot the ball particulary well. For long stretches when the Nets at one stage were up by 15 none of the bench were a scoring threat not acceptable and a problem. Barnes mishandled the ball in crucnh time but he entered the game at not 100% so he deserves a pass. Kelenna on the other hand always provides the scoring threat off the bench so I was puzzled to see his 7 points. Davis attpempted the same 4th quarter heroics like he did succesfully against the Lakers but that won't hapen every night and tonight Kelenna didn't provide the help sgainst a very beatable team. I also wished I could have seen Mbenga more becuase of they physicality of Jefferson this would have been interesting
There isn't much you can say about a loss. Put it down as one of the road games we should have won but didn't have the contributions to. Yes it's been a hard December schedule and in some ways unfair but tonight Goldden State increasingly showed the vulnerabilities to it's game such as poor shot selction. npn existant Defense against no All Star and a strugle to mantain the fundamentals that every good B-Ball player has in their game. Last night really reenforced the evidence that if the Warriors actually want to be taken seriously by the Western elite this was the type of game that had to be won. To make a Christmas anaolgy it's the equivalent of seeing a shiny new Mercedes in your backyard but then finding a Lump of coal in your Stocking.
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