Boxscore
Stephen Jackson Of course I won't forget to contribute my points about the youngsters contributing to this win but Jackson deserves the blunt of the credit. Playing every single minute in regulation and hitting clutch shots and playing the scrappy defense that wasn't exhibited up until now Jackson was the contributing factor in this one. Yes there was lazy Defense as well but you're never going to get a perfect game from Jackson
Craziness For what was expected to be a garbage game it was actually quite entertaining. Minnesota were the dominant team in the 1st quarter but then the Warriors came back to tie it. At the beginning of the 3rd the Warriors were dominant but Minnesota still came back and took the lead. With about 4 minutes left all their starters went cold and the Warriors went on a crucial 9-0 run to send the game to OT. Nelson for once made proper adjustments on Jefferson to prevent further dominance and it worked. The Warriors eventually closed the game out in this period but it still doesn't disguise the fact that the Warriors have a lot of work to do
Lineup changes Unlike last year where Nelson depended on a Plan A lineup and didn't feel the need to shift to a plan B one unless he was really desperate. This year because of the team changes the heavy dosage of the youngsters can only be seen as a giant step to reality. He'll rely on his gut and if he doesn't like how a certain guy is playing, he'll be quick to pull a guy and try someone else. If someone is playing well, he'll get another shot in the 2nd half. Because the young guys aren't consistent and he's trying to win games, he's going to play whoever is playing well. Could change when Maggette comes back but either way expect to see that a previous good game won't have much of an effect on their playing time in the current game.
Rebounding The Warriors didn't rebound tonight. The Timberwolves got 20 total Offensive Rebounds?. Someone needs to start crashing the glass and boxing out. It's inexcusable to up 20 offensive boards. It's hard to win when the other team gets that many more second chances
Wright He did the Wright thing (apologies). Despite getting pushed around in the post once the Warriors got into gear in the 4th thats when his postup game developed. He hit all four of his hook shots and played solid Defense on Jefferson whilst challenging every shot. He hustled on Defense and despite the lack of blocks challenged every shot thrown up. He may be raw but within time he can be a better Defender I'm sure.
Others Kurz never played but Marco did happen to get in the game for 5 minutes and actually played well knocking down two threes but unless he plays a lot more conistently Morrow the undrafted rookie should be getting those minutes. In the first half he was just much more loose then Marco as he knocked down some nice shots and showed a lot of confidence in his shot. Unfortunately in the second half he didn't deliver the goods and was ignored. DeMarcus Nelson and Marcus Williams don't have to be mentioned
Despite the youngsters pulling this one out we barely beat a bad team. Yes the 9-0 run which sent the game into OT was beautiful to watch but it was a serious fluke such is the lack of any decent PG. CJ Watson missed a ton of open looks, DeMarcus Nelson is being totally underused and Marcus Williams is being ignored. It;s quite a comedown from the Baron Davis scenario last year! Maybe Marcus Williams should get the start from now on. Nelson is probably correct in his intitial assesment that Williams doesn't cut it but he can't be as bad off as Nelson or Watson.
Hendrix is another player who should be given a shot. Long touted as a second round draft sleeper with a player of his stature he could give the Warriors a Craig Smith or Paul millsap type body. At this stage of the season what's there to lose?
No comments:
Post a Comment