Monday, March 31, 2008

Golden State: 114 Dallas: 104

Tonight wasn't about the mexican waves that circuled around the arena or making highlight reel plays (though there were several) it was about grinding out an important win. It was a game that had a playoff like atmosphere to it even without Dirk Nowitzki. For several Warriors highlights plays were made down the stretch inluding Azubuike and several jumpers to Monta's slice and dicing into the paint the Warriors stepped up to the occassion.

Boxscore

Two Premier PG's going at it

Never mind the upteenth poor start this seaosn which led to a 12-0 Dallas run the Warriors main glitch is in the 4th quarter where often memory lapses occur as to what exactly should we do?. The offense becomes stagnant and the NBA TV telecast cut frequently to a frantic Nellie waving his arms saying "Cut Cut" For some reason there's no assertivness something Azubuike has in buckets. With Jackson and Davis standing around Kelenna constantly made his move through the paint and people begin to rotate a bit, which ended up leading to an easy bucket. Shooting 3's will always be the makeup of the offense but unless there's no ball movement where will the easy buckets come from. Tonight was the complete opposite however when cuts by Biedrins or Harrington meant the ball rotated and defenses were cut off balance. Yet there were times when Nellieball was used to the extreme taking 3's and 2's with plenty of time left on the shot clock.There was several painful to watch Stephen Jackson-and-Baron Davis-drain-the-clock-through-excessive-dribbling- leading-to-turnovers. No team can play the perfect offense theoughout 48 minutes but it does become fustrating when it's mixed throoughout 48 minutes.



Monta He played big pouringin 30 points on 50% shooting. In the future I can honestly see valid comparassions with Allen Iverson but one thing in the offseason would be his crossovers. He's developed a nice lefthanded crossover but if he had it for both hands combined with his speed the comparassions would be endless. However it's a different story from the beginning of the season where he only knew to drive to the Basket in a straight line earning a ton of charge calls.

Azubuike: With the lack of depth being a problem all season when Azubuike gets 15 and 7 it's been a producitive night. Hitting a couple of big 4th quarter jumpers down the stretch the Warriors desperately need his help off the bench both in scoring and spelling the starters during this stretch run.

Biedrins: You could tell he's making a more conscintous effort to Rebound or perhaps Croshere may have given him some tips as how to leap properally. Beans got several offensive boards and was probably the only Warrior, at least in the second half, to attack to go to the basket after a missed shot. Even with three Mavs in sight he still rebounded. Yet he was dominated by Brandon Bass an average bench player at best earning 12 Free Throw opportunities and a career high of 21 points. There were times when Bass just took him off the dribble or kissing shots off the glass from 10 feet out. Beans looked like a poor one on one defender although I can put this down to lack of game practice.

This was a very decent win after the Denver win even without Dirk or Warrior killer Jerry Stackhouse. When the Warriors attack the Basket (36 Free Throw attempts) or take a low amount of 3's they put themselves in a better position to win.Lets hope the Warriors have been disciplined enough throughout the season to make smarter decisions on offense especially with two key back to back games against the Spurs and Dallas

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