Golden State: 105 Seattle:99

They did just enough to rack up this W. But maybe I'm just not with the times. It took years for us to get 34 wins during the drought but right now we're at 34 wins. Save the credit for monta later the real star was Austin Croshere Boxing out, fighting for loose balls, making lay-ups, throwing his body into opponents don't make you All Star calliber but they do change a game that was slowly going in Seattle's favour.

Boxscore



This wasn't Brandon Wrights best night by far. Even though he didn't have much of a shot Nellie decided that in just a five minute span he hadn't done enough to warrant more PT. On the bright side I didn't think after all the DNP's he collected he did enough to warrant Nelsons attention but apparently Nelson sees something in him. He did grab 3 rebounds and a nice dunk and was slightly more effective then Webber. I alo liked the fact he closed down on jump shooters something which our post players are prone to not doing. Webber was ineffective mostly proving that when it comes to the wild and srambling ways of Golden State he can't keep up.

But seriously I knew Croshere could be solid but damm 6-6 from the field? 5 offensive rebounds. Nelson must have been delighted because this must have been the way he pictured Croshere a hustler for loose balls and doing the dirty work. He bought energy to a dull game as did the bench. Barnes got some Rebounds and Pietrus hit some shots. If Pietrus contributes like this down the stretch what a benfit this will be for the short challenged Warriors.

Even though Harrington had another poor night 1-8 from the floor I don't think there's any real reason to be worried. Hopefully agianst Philly this Friday the slump can be broken out off. On the other hand even though Baron had a miserable 8-24 shooting night with 20 points, 7 steals and 8 assists it's becoming clearer by the day why Nelson gives him ungodly minutes. He attacked the rim, getting some easy baskets and creating looks for others. Jackson won't want to remember this game in a hurry but at least when he's out there there's much more assertivness in the offense especially on the offense where he grabbed 7 rebounds.Sopme nights he can be the star other nights he can just be a role player. Even though it was all about the latter at least his deamounour cannot be underestimated.




And finally give a shoutout to the Defense. Don't let the Sonics shooting 50% fool you Golden State caused 14 steals and a horrendous 24 Sonic turnovers. They pressurised the young Seattle team into mistakes. As stellar as the Defense was it would be foolish to ignore the development of a young Monta Ellis 26 points on 61% shooting. His february streak has been nothing short of spectacular. Ignoring the PPG he has accumulated a total of 4.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists, with 1.3 steals and is shooting 70%, 91.7%, 80%, 50%, 66.7%, 53.9%, 42.9%, 50%, and 64% the last couple of games. His defense is where he needs improvement the most but he's taking another giant leap in his development and it's been damn fun to watch