Manute Bol

The only time anyones ever proven taller then Manute


Manute Bol will go down as one of the greatest misunderstood players to play in the NBA all these years. A giant who had the misfortune of being 7'7 he was a source of fascination for the public who were bewildered how a man so tall could take as many 3's as he did. During his tenure with Golden State he attempted 91 and made 20 which perfectly sums up the Run TMC years a group that absolutely loved to shoot with very little inside production which explains the bizarness of Bol. At the same time Yao was selcted in 2002 Bol was trying to get a life together in Conneticut fighting against a Sudanese Goverment he believed had destroyed the nation. He has gone back numerous times to Sudan and to Sudanese refugee camps which proves the notion that not All Athletes are spoiled brats.



To consider Bol's legacy lets see how he first started playing Basketball. He was a Dinka tribesmen who had absolutely no notion on what sports were never mind Basketbal was told by his little brother he should give the sport a try. Sports and Sudan didn't have much in common and ironically Bol's first attempt at a Dunk he chipped his teeth. However he was talented enough to win a 1 year scholarship deal at the University of Bridgeport where even college coaches could see he had the ability to make a decent living in the NBA. In fact his College coach Bruce Webster claimed " He has the longest arms in the world". Quite an accomplishment when you consider Phil Jackson had the capability of outstreching both arms to open up a car door.

Bol's NBA career itaelf started in Washington. Despite his offensive limitations defensively he really did excel averaging 5 blocks game 397 overall for the year. He may not have been the rebounder the Bullets (now the Wizards) would have liked but he held the Rookie record for most blocked shots in a year and 4 consecutive blocked shots in one poccession against Orlando. There is a humerous photo somewhere of him and Bugsy Malone in fact here it is.



Bol went to Golden State and then we saw some of the offense he was capable off. He made 20 3 pointers in one season and fitted in the run TMC perfectly for two seasons and him and Chris Mullin developed a nice friendship. It's not saying much but his first season with the Warriors was his most productive PPG wise so maybe his 3 point shooting was worth it. After his Oakland stay Bol went to Philly but now the novelty was quickly wearing off. He was extremely durable playing in all 82 games his first season but two seasons later he played in just 58. His finest career achievment to date was hitting 6 for 12 3 pointers in a losing effort to the suns. Even Philly's normal hostile fans enjoyed his lack of reluctance to shoot. Bol went to Miami where he enjoyed one FG but the Center had too much pride left to retire.

flywoniu23

Bol had one last encore stay in Golden State and what an encore he provided. In a game against Minnesota he made three 3 pointers that were remminsment of his old days. Later on he suffered a career ending injury a shamful way for a classy guys career to end. To be fair unlike many NBA players who decide to do nothing Bol was extremely active in his off the court career. He was vigrously active for Sudan politics perhaps too much giving $3.5 million to the rebels trying to overthrow Sudans dictatorship. He was also named Minister of Sudanese Sports and Culture but this caused financial problems. In fact Bol wasn't allowed to return to the States for a while because members of the Sudanese government accussed him of supporting the Dinka-led Christian rebels. He conntinued his desire to raise money for Sudanese reguess by appearing in celebrity boxing matches, Ice Hockey games and being a Horse racing Jock albeit briefly. In a typical NBA players life it is dominated by the luerious poccessions that come with being a Superstar Athlete. However when their career ends they could do well to remember the case of Manute Bol and make sure they don't go down the same path.

seanmadd

Golden State: 113 Houston:94

Wow 5 straight W's. Not only is this Warrior team surpising people after an 0-6 start they have totally impressed on the Defensive end surrending 100 PPG with Jackson compared to 116 PPG without him. He makes that much of a difference and he really is ice cold.

Boxscore

First off the major player on our d tonight was Al Harrington. He lost a ton of minutes in Nelsons rotation yet tonight he came back with a monster performance against Yao Ming. For some reason Harrington always matches up well against Yao and tonight was no exception. He used his quickness to force him into a ridiculous 5 turnovers and never allowed him to find any sort of rythm. I pointed out in my recap this would be one of the bigger matchups tonight and I think it's safe to say Harrington completely won it wih ease. He also chipped in 7-10 FG, 4-5 3FG and his spacing of the floor also meant there was another part of Yao's offense gone because he couln't use the perimeter effectively.

Hoiw did the other matchups go. Well T-mac against Jackson was the main key. Neither shot the ball particulary well but suffice to say with Ming struggling t-Mac couldn't produce the goods to come up with a masterful performance. Jackson limited him to 5-14 11 points taking away both offensive threats. This was masterful performance on D by Golden State basically out-hustling their opponents, they're challenging shots, forcing turnovers. Also props go to monta Ellis who had a career high 10 Rebounds and seemed like he wanted to get everyone he could. Davis V Alston wnever materialized Alston obliged with 6 points on 3-8 shooting while Davis responded with a 27 point peroformance. And lastly whilst you glance at the boxscore don't let it fool you. Beans didn't get a whole lot of points but he didn't get a lot of shots because of Fastbreaks wand shots attepmpted just 6 compared to Yao who needed 12. It was one of those nights where everyone was focused and brought some defense to the table very good to see as even in the West Defense will get you far (just ask the spurs)

Delighted with this win and being in 8th spot, 1 game above 500 and seeing the Knicks almost beat the team low for points in a game. Nice to see all the starters playing well even though our rotation is stillshort It's been a good night and I'll leave you with Barkely's constant jibing at the Warriors revived.

Charles Barkley: I still don't believe they making the playoffs.

EJ and Kenny Smith: WHAT?!

Charles Barkley: Yup. Don't ask, don't ask

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Golden State V Houston preview

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Coming off a very emotional win in Sacramento tonight the Warriors head back to the Oracle to take on the Houston Rockets who much like last nights opponents the Kings came off a terrific win against the Phoenix suns last night. This is a real test to keep our 5 game winning sreak alive. When you think of the Rockets even though their record doesn't indicate it Mcgrady and Yao have the potential to be one of the feared duel in the League they've just never shown it. Despite T-Macs greatness (why did the warriors pass on him) it;s worth noting that in his distinguished soon to be 11 seasons in the League he;s never been past the 1st round of the playoffs. Such a waste of talent. As for the rest of the team they have a buunch of solid role players Shane Battier, Rafer Alston etc. Despite their 9-7 record they have the pieces to contend in the West this year.

Boom Dizzle v Alston
Regarded by many as the greatest Streetball player ever Alston hasn't quite brought that success to the NBA court yet but this has the potential to be an interesting matchup depending on what Nellie wants to use. the rockets are deep at PG whenever Alston is out they can just go to Stevie Franchise as backup so it's not like he's going to have an entire easy day.

S-Jackson V Tracy Mc Grady Can;t wait to see T-mac against Jackson. Jacksons coming off two huge performances against the Suns and Kings and despite shooting the ball mediorcre against the Kings he still made two huge shots and had the crunch D on Artest even with Artests overuse of the elbows. It's not a stretch to say that this matchup will decide the game.

Yao V Al
In the last Rockets Warriors game Al surprisingly dominated Yao in the paint the warriors just kept fronting him the rockets kept throwing him the ball in the paint because he was their only offensive option. Tonight should be different because now with T-Mac Rockets can spread it around on Offense. Yao has earned critisicm in the past for being a Sabonis type of center occassionally a person who should use his height much better. Tonight we'll see if we can do this. Yao put up 33 and 13 against the suns last night so there's always the danger he can repeat it.




Oh and lastly one last bit of information . Over the next two nights we'll be facing two oppossing coaches who coached the Warriors during that horrific playoff drought Adelman of the Rockets and PJ Carelismo of the Sonicis (More about him later). Adelamn when he coached Golden State will be remembered for several harsh moves particulary trading Tim Hardwaway Chris Gatling to Miami for Kevin Willis and Bimbo Cole. Needless to say not only did this not workout but Adelman compilled a 66-98 record in two seasons a prime dissapointment for a coach coming off two NBA finals appearances with Portland and a Western Conference final

- This always get me pumped fredch19

Perdictions:
Davis goes for 23 and 10
Al does a stellar job on Yao
Jackson holds T-Mac to only 18
Warriors win by 5

Golden State:103 Sacramento:96

This was one of these trip up games where any loss coming off that Suns victory would be ruled as a dissapointment. Tonight the Warriors almost had it coming to them because they were forced to play the Kings style rather thenRun and Gun. Credit some of that to Reggie Theus if you will?

Boxscore

What a defensive effort. Seriously you can blame the Kings shooting 2 for 20 in the 4th on their own inpeptness or some great Warriors D. I'm going with the latter. Every time Artest or Martin took a shot it seemed Jackson or Matt Barnes was in their face. What an effort by our Barnes hustling and chasing for every loose ball. Don't let his 6 points in the boxscore full you tonight Barnes came to play and he was really the main cause for our Defense. And free throws well this is the only game out of 14 so far I can remember we shot the ball stellar 21-26 from the line. It seemed our two weaknesses were worked upon and improved which has to be encouraging as we now lie in 8th place.

Stephen Jackson well there's not much more I can say. Even on a night where the team were shooting poorly overall he makes two huge 3 point shots right at the end to give us the W and before all this he receives a technical. The Jackson of the Auburn Hills brawl would have lost it and probably been suspended but Jackson just ignored and never lost his cool. Is it really true appointing him as team captain has matured him a little. It would be nice to think so. Also props to Andris whose long arms proved a nuance for the Kings on the boards. He came to play tonight posting up a solid 13 and 13 and seems to have a knack for grabbing the more solid boards.

A more then solid win and after an 0-6 start ther's no way I'd thought we'd be 7-7. However we now welcome the Rockets in a few days and based upon we're playing this team won't be scarred of anyone.

Update video highlights from around the web
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Golden State V Sacramento Preview Northern California Bragging rights

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It isn't often I have a mixed feelings about a game but with both teams coming off huge wins see the Phoenix game and for Sacramento a terrific win against the current Champions the San Antonio Spurs but it's dificult to look past a Golden state victory tonight. For the first time in a long tim there were actual reports that Golden State in the encounter between these two at the Arco actually outnumbered Kings fans. Interest in this team is starting to wane and it will be interesting to see whether Artest or Bibby will be shipped off to Oakland or cleveland respectively which seems to be the rumour around NBA circles.

From a warriors perpective tonight should be the night where we pick up a W. On paper we're much better. However as evident by last year Golden State lost some silly home games see the Milwaukee Bucks and the Memphis Grizzlies where a staggering 140 points was conceded so with these stupid losses in mind there's always the chance the Kings could repeat. The big question tonight and this will probably sound silly is should the Warriors start small. Every figure says they should but Nellie and his eccentricty means no one will know

Babac19 If tonights game goes anything like this then I'll be over the moon
Update: Can't believe I forgot to post my pregame perdictions

Perdictions
The Kings play man to man and place Artest on Jackson and Miller on Al meaning monta and Baron take it to the middle.
Warriors get a 16 point lead but this quickly backfires.
Kelenna has a ton of steals as dooes Jackson
Warriors win by 5

Latest Rumour

The latest rumour coming out of Warrior nation is that the Dubs would be prpared to exchange Patrick O Bryant to Hakeem warrick from the Memphis Grizzlies. According to ESPN Magazine.

To get Andris Biedrins help inside, the Warriors have looked into stealing Hakim Warrick from Memphis for struggling center Patrick O'Bryant. Good luck with that

I still feel to this day Warricks roots should have started in Oakland come the 2005 NBA Draft but the scouts felt Ike Diagou was a better option despite being a bust for both Montgomery and Nelson. I'm all for this trade the amount of options Warrick gives us on D because of his shotblocking talent is numerous. Yes if you google his stats it will show you to date it's only been 0.3 BPG. However in a Fastbreak Offense perhaps there could be more opportunites. He's also apparantly had a fallout with their Headcoach Marc Ivaroni according to this article

BaskDunk

So would Warrick be a good fit for the Dubs?. What do you think

Golden State: 129 Phoenix:114 Wow

What a game. It was hard even for the most Defensive mined coach in the League not to appreciate the Offensive swagger displayed by both sides. Seriously if and it's a big one there is a Golden State-Phoenix playoff series I can almost see the ratings been big as the Finals.

Boxscore

What a game by Monta. Seriously being tentative is an unwanted part of his game but tonight he showed he's not afraid to shoot. He was the type of guard who would always drive rather then pull up for a Jumper. Tonight it seemed most of his attempts were pullups rather then drives. He made his first 5 shots of the quarter. Not only was Monta Davis proved he should be going to the All Star Game with a 28 point dominating his matchup with Nash. His quickness and ability to just drive to the basket was just fun to watch. I'm a little worried about his streakiness he'll shoot badly against the Celtics but other then that he;s playing great. He easily won the matchup against Nash pouring 28 points 0 assists, 6 boards, and 2 steal while Nash finished with 13 assists but contributed a dispiriting 8 turnovers. That mainly contributed to the Suns loss.



Of course one word for Jackson wow. His first home game matchup against the matrix he dominated 32 points on a pretty 13-21 (62%) shooting night. In contrast even though Marrion was a big reason the Suns were even close in this game he had a limited points on a very poor shooting night (5-14, 36%) and 14 rebounds. Jackson always had a reputation as being more then being able to guard the teams offensive threat and I can't wait to see how he does against a McGrady, kobe etc. Aside from that Matt Barnes especially after his Moms death played very solid. When 3 of your main offensive threats combine for almost 90 points Baron, Jackson and Monta then almost nobody will take a second glance at the rest of the lineup but Barnes has a ton of activeness on Offense and Defense. I loved his 8 points 3-5 shooting, 2-2 from 3 pointers), 7 boards, 7 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks as much as I did about Monta's 31 Points I'm afraid to say.

And lastly Stoudemire and Biedrins never existed as a matchup a smart thing to do by Nellie. Deciding to swarm Stoudemire each time with the ball he introduced Harrington as a low post player and he played solid. Amare was plagued with Foul Trouble during most of the game limited which means the Rebounding Difference wasn't much but it was still fun to see one of the best low post players in the game at it.

So to conclude what a win. it appears the panic after a 0-6 start has evaporated into thin air helped by our 45 first quarter points. It really was the Run and Gun game I expected and anticipated and even more to see that Baron isn't carrying the Offense like he had too in the first 6 games helped by Jackson who you would never have known he was out for that period of time and Monta who had the greatest and I'm not exaggerating game in a Warriors uniform I've seen in a while. Just outstanding and 6 out of 7 wins is a perfect way to prepare for the visit of the Houston Rockets another legitimate Western Conference threat.

Update: Video highlights from around the web. Sadly nothing is available from youtube

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Golden State V Phoenix Preview

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A game between two of the highest scoring teams in the League Suns averaging 108.5PPG Warriors 107.0 PPG respectively. Hardly seems like the best way to come back after a sluggish 5 road trip but thats the way the NBA schedule works. The suns have started red hot (Excuse the pun) 11-2 and their Offense has come a long way since the embarassing drubbing they received at home to the LA Lakers. Going back to the Run TMC days they staggeringly dropped 80 points in a quarter against the Kings. I'm pretty sure they won't do that tonight but with our charming soft Defense there's every chance.

On the other hand Matt Barnes is coming back so our D will hopefully step it up a bunch. Barnes after a breakout year last season has yet to truly his stride but tonight I hope he does get some serious PT. He's the scrappy unheard of player that many fans can identify with. It won;t be easy Nash, Stodemire and Marrion are All Star gurantee. Speaking of which I'm looking forward to Nash against Davis. You have two of the best PG's in the West going at each other and it's only a matter of time before Davis gets voted to New Orleans. People talk about Nash's awful D and while I agree its nowhere near the level of Kidds Davis might not have the breakout scoring game thats easy to perdict.




I'm also looking forward to Jacksons home debut and immediately he's already got a challenge the Matrix. His Defense was a major contributor to our 4 and 1 road trip but Marion plays a very active role in how the Suns function e.g. get the boards, block shots and hit the open 3's. Despite his feeling that he's the most underappreciated member of the Phoenix Suns I've a feeling sooner rather then later he will get a starters position at the All Star game. Of course once Marrion goes off Hill comes on and despite reservations from many fans over his ability to fit into the Suns Offense after a long history with injuries Hill has proven a valuable contributor averaging 15.2 PPG. This is jacksons first real test and I'm looking forward to seeing how he does.

Biedrins and Stoudemire the last matchup. I have serious reservations about this one. Biedrins though Rebounding more then he has hasn't domianted Centers as much as I would have liked. The Philly game is a prime example Dalember blocked and got a ton of Offensive Boards. With those long arms and 6-11 height Beans should be getting them . Expect more of the same against Amare tonight because he could go off.

Lastly Warrior and suns games are always close as Basketball reference shows.
L 113-110
L 105-101
L 128-105
W 124-119

See a trend developing. Apart fron one blowout they were all close. I'm just thankful we don't have the DunMurphy sisters to guard Amare and Marrion. Could you imagine how ugly it would get. Without further addo before I make my perdictions here are some moments from last season to get readers of this blog pumped up.

nbalive2k707

nes1us

Perdictions:
Stoudemire has a 30 and 10 day
Davis posterizes Nash
Jackson and Marrion decides the game
Warriors win a shootout by 6

New York No way says Mullin

once a Warrior always a Warrior

Earlier I wrote out a post claiming Mullin was in chance for the Knicks GM according to the NY post. Now it appears these rumours havw been squashed. According to Mullin and the SF Gate he calmy laughes at these rumours.

Vice president Chris Mullin dismissed a New York Post story that had him in line for the Knicks GM job. "The Bible?" Mullin said of the tabloid. "I did get a good laugh."

Really I very much doubt Mullin would be misleading the fans so it appears a misleading New York tabloid has misled it's readers

Golden State:100 Philadelphia:98 OT

Call us lucky or call it a ugly perforamnce but there's no denying the Warriors after tonight for the first time since 1973 are now 4-1 on this East Coast road trip. It came after a dissapointing performance in which Dalembert seemed to have his way with Biedrins Nelson used his coaching experience to give the team a lift hence the victory.

Boxscore


Sweetest shot of his life in this dead arena

First off it was slightly hard to believe after the first half performance how we got away with a victory. Sixers seemed to have any type of answer for any shot we made and Dalembert destroyed us on the Offensive boards something Biedrins has a lot to learn from yet box out. It also didn't help every time the Warriors made a 3 the Sixers always seemed to have an aswer either from Igodula or Dalembert. The Sixers fell by 13 points and warrior fans were left to be thinking that a game deemed winnable would suddenly turn into a respectable 3-2 road trip.



Then Monta took over. Put it simply he gave us a reminder it's not too late to become the next agent zero. He had a game high 31 points 11 of them in the 3rd quarter and just blew by any sixers guards that was thrown at him. Of course monta wasn't the only thing going right for the Warriors. Aside from the usual contributions from Davis and Jackson despite shooting a horrific shooting night 6-18 I want to give props to Kelenna. How many kids would shoot 3-10 and still take the last shot on the end. It is a sign that even though he doesn't have the J-rich stats from last night he shoots a better percentage and has more upside. Plus in that critical situation he wasn't afraid to shoot. Gotta love Nellieball. Even with the Shooting problems the Dubs still tried to keep looking for the best possible shooting situations even with Dalembert inside. There were a ton of open 3's but time after time we looked for the ball inside perhaps an obvious change of policy. I think from last season this would have been the type of game we would have been blown out. However disclipine won out and yet despite the win our Defense remains horrific. The Sixers got every offensive board in existence and dominated inside something the Suns will take advantage off unless we improve

Can I also give the most unheralded player on the team credit?. DJ Mbenga. He played a paltry 3 minutes but even without touching the ball he showed he can make a minor contribution on Defense boxing out and getting in Shooters face. I still don't know why Nellie thinks he;s more of a contribution then POB but thats another blog post for another day.


Overall I'm delightfully pleased with the win. It was scrappy but even the great teams get lucky once in a while see the Celtics victory over the Bobcats. On Monday it's the Phoenix Suns and there's no gurantee this team will be fresh after one days rest last time these two played Nellie made the succesful decision of making Nash irrelevant with halfcourt traps and constant posterizing. Should the Warriors repeat this strategy. We shall see.

Sportsactionz

Golden State V Philadelphia preview

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The toughest time of any 5 game road trip is back to back games. We've already found out against Boston just how tough but thankfully tonights opponents the 76ers are a step down from the Celtics. The Sixers are statisically the 4th worst team in the League tonight so I would expect our Defense for the second straight game to ship less then 100 points but the words surely and the Warriors never go together that often. Even after a dismal 0-6 start am i starting to feel much more confident. It's become plainly more obvious how important Stephen Jackson really is to this team. Everyone seems to goes back to their natural position and natural minute rotations making the offensive rum more smoothly. It also helped he's completely brought into Nellie's offensive philosophy even though he won a ring with the Spurs a system which allows anyone at anytime to become a floor leader.

Even though it won't be easy right after the Wizards slugfest last night all fingers point to a win. Right?

Perdictions
After last night Harrington has a 20 point game
David one again leads all scorers
POB and Wright get a faair amount of PT
Warriors win by 10

My Fandom of the Warriors

For those regular readers of this blog you're probably wondering where my support started for the Dubs. It is indeed perculiar how there can be a Warriors fan in a country that has traditionally always jumped on the brandwagon e.g. the number of Manchester United fans would outnumber the Galway United fans (local soccer team) fans 6-1. Thats not meant to be any jibe it's just the way Soccer is spread out in fan support but thats another story. Basketball here is equivalent to Soccer in America it has the popularity along the youth but as people get older they start to revert back to the homegrown sports GAA,Soccer or Rugby.

I guess my fan support started around 2002. Back then American Sports was totally off my radar Soccer being the prime pastime. However being a owner of the original Playstation and with my brothers purchase of NBA live 01 my interest started going up. It seemed like a much more fast paced, better athletiscm and individualistic sport then Soccer. It seemed like I got a better kick of watching a Kobe to Shaq alleyoop then watching a meaningless Arsenal League cup Game. That isn't to say my soccer support has deceased completely. It remains but not to the same extent. Of course at this time the Lakers were making their run for a 3 peat title but I didn't feel like going for a team that continously won. I felt like rooting for Baseballs version of the loveable losers a team that year in year out never challenged because of poor drafting or just awful players. It also had to be in a desirable location and because I had relatives living in the bay area the choice was made I would become a Warriors fan.> My All Time favourite NBA live Game


In a house full of Lakers fans and because we're based in the Pacific Division it would become a tough couple of years. 2002-2003 for me was a positive. Eric Musselman came in as Head Coach and seemed to have the coaching principles down much more so then Brian winters. Our win total doubled, Murphy was averaging a double double per game and combined with Jamison leading the team in scoring I started believing we would finally end our long playoff streak. After the Lakers were to clinch their 3rd championship in a row I had to believe I made the right choice right.

2003-20004 was as far I'm concerned the worst year I've expereinced. I don't get how any coach could progress a team so fast and regress just as quickly. Yes the constant injuries and Musselmans frequent disputes with management were a let down but when you go a fantastic 27-14 at home you really should do better on the road a miseerable 10-31. Musselman turned out to be one of the better coaches in the dirty dozen era despite a hopeless tenure with the Kings.



Like far too many Franchises the mistake of briniging in succesful College Coach hampered the team Mike montgomery the latest victim. He didn't seem to have any clue how to adapt to the NBA game. It wasn't all doom and gloom however. Despite the constant Warriors suck jokes being made around me Golden state finished 2004-2005 14-4 record and I started thinking Golden state would do it. I was typically caught up on the hype. But you couldn't really blame me when it seemed every San Francisco or bay area media source was caught up on the hype. Duds like Speedy Claxton and Dale Davis were exported to New Orleans and the gone Fishing cards which TNT used as a reference to the Warriors would be gone. I had to wait a full two years but as they say the rest was history.

Golden State:123 Washington:115

Even without Agent Zero the Wizards made life slightly difficult before Golden State notched up their 3rd win on the road to go 3-1 on this 5 game road trip thanks to one of the best performances I've seen Baron play in a while. The Wizards won 6 in a row previously before last night. Not only did he have a triple double but bizarelly he had more Rebounds then Biedrins or Jackson. Davis also outdid Caron Bulter who had 26 Points, 11 Rebounds and 10 assists.

Boxscore

The Warriors are now 3-1 on this 5 game road trip even with some of their games coming against the worst in the East. Some of the Wizards players stepped up big time Antwan Jamison, Caron Bulter and Blatche putting our front court under pressure. Biedrins could do nothing about it and it was the source of fustration for warrior fans fans everywhere when we learned our PG had more rebounds then anyone else on the team. The rebounding difference wasn't huge and yet the Wizards had much more second chance points then the Warriors had 30-12. Nobpdy blocked out Jamison who has the knack of always being in the right position seemingly also helped by Caron Butler who shot 12-21 and never seemed to miss. The lack of any backup for Baron Davis has also showed wouldn't it have been nice if Caron Butler in that 2002 draft was drafted ahead of Dunleavy. Having a B-Diddy backup allows up to counteract any scoring threat something we haven#t been able to do this season hence our record

Getting away from the negativity lets check out apart from Baron Davis who else made a difference. Brandon Wright. Washingtons 11 point lead was cut to a tie when wright was in he made that much of a difference. He was active,defended greatly. He's working his way into the rotation and I hope later on he'll get solid PT. Besides he's a better alternative then DJ Mbenga right. jackson also had a nice game as well but I've had to meet any fan who doesn't appreciate the physco effect he has on our team. It was also nice to see the rest of the offensive contribitions 7 of our players scored in double figures. They also shot a more then stellar 50 percent 16 three-pointers, including eight of their first 12 in sharp contrast to the lousy shooting in Boston.


Lastly the real fun in watching this team is watching them close out road games something they weren't able to do last season see Mavericks game 5. So can they come back to Oakland after the Philly game 4-1 well in 24 hours we can only see

Mullin becoming the new Knicks GM?

Me the new Knicks GM no way

It could be typical New York Tabloids rumour but is there any sort of validity in what the new York post claimed today about Mullin ready to become the Knicks GM as soon as Isiah Thomas leaves.

November 23, 2007 -- Golden State GM Chris Mullin is expected to emerge as a top candidate for the Knicks GM job if Isiah Thomas eventually is fired from his dual role as coach and president, The Post has learned.

Now while this is the same sort of paper that started all the A-Rod rumours but anyway first off even the most diehard Mullin fan cannot deny the ineptness he has displayed as Warriors GM. Bust Picks such as Ike diagou, Chris Taft, Stephane Lasme, Zarko Caparkapa (spelling) would be frowned upon harshly by the New York media never mind Knicks fans. Added to the fact he signed DunMuprhy and Foyle to ridiculous contract extension and say if thid happenned in New York the media would go wild never mind the Knicks fans. The spotlight on this team compared to the bay Area where we're a little more relaxed about our sports means I seriously can't Mullin taking this job.The contrast of pressures would be too much.

And seriously the Knicks themselves wouldn't be interested. Mullin has one year left on his contract and despite Cohan and his tax difficulties i can't imagine the worst owner in Sports suddenly wanting an GM to suddenly bolt away to the big apple. Then again the Knicks owner Jim Dolan isn't the sharpest tool in the box so maybe this rumour does have truth to it.

Check out the Irish Warriors Archive on Chris Mullin both as a GM and player
Irish Warriors Hall of Fame: Chris Mullin
The Mullin era

Golden State V Washington preview

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It's funny but coming off a 23 point loss to the Boston three party the Warriors now return to the scene of the worst officiating decision I can remember in a while. Agent Zero took a buzzer beating shot but the ball was still in his hands when the Red light was on yet the officating crew deemed he was fouled by J-Rich. Not only was a technical given on Nellie when the game was over Arenas nailed them both sealing a tough loss for Golden State fans everywhere despite the playoffs more then making up for it.


You be the judge

Now of course after a 6-5 start the Wizards plans have taken a backward step with the news Agent Zero will be out for 3 months because of damages to his left Knee. This is mixed news because in the playoffs last season the Wizards were brushed aside by a Cavs team without Arenas. On the other hand their Front Court is strong enough Antwan Jamison, Caron Butler and Andray Blatche are proving a trio to watch. Blatche himself because of Arenas was limited in his PT but is coming along nicely. Of course the Wizards problems have mainly been defense ranking just below the Warriors and even with their frontcourt trio you can't disguise the Arenas absence and how hard it will be to make a push for a decent Eastern Conference seed.

The Dubs are still without Matt Barnes recovering from his Moms death *Best Wishes*. Hopefully POB will get some playing time as well I really don't uunderstand why hes a bench player. After the glorious display with the clippers knocking down 10 points and 8 Rebounds before fouling out he has seen the grand total 11 minutes in the past 3 games. It's difficult to see why DJ Mbenga is getting his minutes I mean is he really that much better?. The only logical way is to reduce the value of his contract as many teams won't be looking for a Center who's value is worth 3 4 million a year. The front Office knows this hence the DJ signing to make POB's minutes go down. It makes no sense but then again the history of our Front Office unfortunately show very few things do.


Perdictions:
Jamison tries to step it up without Arenas and succeeds getting a 51 point game
Kelenna hits 4 3's making up for his ineptness in Boston in the nations capital
Warriors win by 5

Happy thanksgiving

Happy thanskgiving to all the loyal readers of Irish Warriors. The sad fact is as an american living abroad in Ireland I can't celebrate with the same passion and interest Americans do of a terrifc holiday. However watching America's main passion the NFL and Brett Favre has cheered me up away from all the festivities. In all seiousness if you had found an NFL fan who would have told me just 3 years ago after he passed for 29 INT and had the 31st worst passer rating of all the QB'S in the League that he would eventually be leading the Packers to a 10-1 record, breaking Marinos TD record and passing for a stellar 19 TD's 8 int I would have assumed you were on drugs. Yet after watching the Packers convincingly defeat a Lions team struggling to meet Kitnas 10 win perdiction I am convinced they are NFC Contenders . The lack of any Running game may hurt them however.

Favre after his upteenth TD pass

I'm also watching the Cowboys game and even though they are playing an awful Jets team comfortably leading 21-3 in the process I've very much still been impressed with the way Romo has played. Granted the NFC as we all know is significantly weaker then the AFC but based on these two displays there's evidence both the Packers and Cowboys can challenge for the Superbowl.


This really would look good with some Cranberry sauce

Golden State:82 Boston: 105

Tonight was plain ugly. How else do you expect to explain how several players such as Baron Davis shooting an abysmal 3-13. Stats like that from your PG are never going to help you win. Much more then B-Diddy was the problem however and I'll get to that in a sec

Boxscore

Positives Like Brandon Wright. Getting his first real does of PT he excelled on the boards grabbing 10 and getting 7.Wright is always on the ball. Grabbing nice rebounds, defending shots, and getting inside points. He never stops hustling. He is exactlky the Forward you want on your team and I hope without an Arenas less Washinton he gets more playing time in that one. In complete contrast to what happenned in Maddisson Square Monta had a breakout game 21 points and even had a couple of steals bu the Celtics were too good not to allow the Warriors have scoring opportunities.

Negatives: The shooting was all wrong. Warriors hitting 29 out of 87 total shots; or a mere third. To put it in perspective, the Celts hit that exact same percentage just from beyond the arc. Major shot problems included Kabuki at 1 for 7, Boom at 3 for 13, The Cap'n at 4 for 15, and (sad to say), Marco hit 1 for 9 and logged some serious minutes tonight but sadly didn't dispel the notion he's a huge work in progress. They also found no rythm and against Garnet, Allen and Pierce you've virtually lost the game. The Cetics have met the hype now can they achieve it?

Golden State V Boston Preview

Versus


A tougher task lies ahead. It seems just days ago the celtics were desparing about the fact they missed out on Oden until Mchale lent them a helping hand So far on this road trip the Warriors have beaten a Raptors team that shot 2-20 in the 4th quarter and a Knicks team that were so bad you had to feel soory for their diehard fans. Tonight Golden State faces their toughest game on the road against a Celtics team that only a few days ago suffered their first loss of the season. So can the Dubs pull this out?. Well Boston will be their toughest opponents on the road trip and the warriors will have to execute on all cylinders to pull out an unlikely victory. Beans will be challenged on the boards by K.G and has to do a good job otherwhise the celtics could start running away with this game. It could be tough guarding the Celtics front 3 Jackson can't do it all by himself. On the other hand the Warriors haven proven they are able to finish teams off see Toronto. What the warriors need to do to tonight.

Rebound The Knicks outrebounded us as expected. Tonight however the Celtics will be completely different. Should the warriors stand any chance of preserving their unbeaten road trip record Beans has to get more then a few.

Free Throws It didn't matter against New York the Warriors shot 63% and still blew them out but against the celtics every FT is crucial since the Celtics are giving up the second least PPG.

Tiredness Back to back games are always rough both mentally and physically especially when you're playing an 8-1 team. Should the warriors adopt neellieball or should they play a Halfcourt game. On the other hand transition, up-tempo team like the Warriors will tire the Celtics' starters. The the Celtics don't exactly have depth to make up for that. However we will be missing Al Harrington and Matt Barnes Al for personal so it doesn't look good

Perdictions:
K.G explodes for 25-10
Davis puts up 23 points 11 assists
Ray Allen has six 3 pointers
Warriors by 5

Golden State 108: New york 82

Like it or not this win is probably the easiest we'll get on our road trip yes the Knicks are just that bad. The Warriors were dominant from start to finish and it cobined with a beautiful performanc from Baron Davis 31 points who dominated starburry and just made the boos even louder.

Boxscore

First off i can sympathise with the Knicks crowd after they endlessy booed the Knicks. They were pathetic. Despite having a 52-36 rebounding edge they committed a horrifying 29 tunrovers and at large stages it was easy to see how they've lost 8 in a row. On the other hand maybe it was the team defense. I'd never thought I'd say this but Pietrus actually did a terrific job at the 4 spot/ Despite giving up a ton of pounds to Randolph both the out of shape and selfish player every Basketball team would hate 4 steals succesfully. Also check out the rest of Defensive stats steals). Stephen Jackson (3 picks and 2 blocks), Baron Davis (2 steals and 1 block), Kelenna Azubuike (2 steals and 1 big swat), Andris Biedrins (3 picks), Monta Ellis (2 steals and 1 block), and Al Harrington (1 steal. I'd never thought it was possible but we held a team to under 100 points. The main achievment of this win no doubt.

Al Harrington and Biedrins both had horrible games but i can live with that because it means people like Jackson stepped up even more and delivered us the W a prequisite for a playoff contender. It will be even interesting tonight to see how they figure against the one and only K.G. As i expected tonight the Knicks killed us on the boards and our Free throw 63% percentage was mediocre but to get a W out of this is pretty good. And also my pregame perdiction in which I said the Knicks would outscore us by a lot in the pain looks even more silly when you consider the Kicks only did marginally better then the Dun-Murphy show in Indiana. Randolph had a big gme but seriously the selfishness and the out of shape Eddy Curry really means this is the prime reason for the Knicks struggles. The last thing to point out new Warrior DJ Mbenga unfairly got more playing time then Lasme and despite missing an open dunk ala Adonal Foyle he did get his first Layup on a fast break. He looked out of shape and hardly a valuable addition.


Nelson not only outcoached his former team he put even more pressure on Isiah

Overall a delightful win slightly marred by Brandon Wright not playing and a perfect way to preapre for tonights game against Boston.

Update: Thanks to Bogleg for posting these highlights on youtube.

Golden State Warriors V New York Knicks preview

Versus

After a ugly win in Torronto the Warriors now start their second game of a 5 game road trip against a Knicks side that believe it have a few things in common with Golden State. Don Nelson served a respectable 34-25 campaign in New York in 995-1996 and even tried to create his brand of ball which didn't go down well with the Franchise far too used to Rileys duller style of play. There was also an interesting sports article written by ESPN's Boston nut Bill Simmons basically pointing out that the Knicks and Warriors have the only two old school fans in the League. The comparrassion ends there however. The Knicks have been blighted by some early problems see the Marburry case but if we're going by Isiah Thomas's coaching decisions it appears the knicks are starting a front Court Of David Lee, Randolph and Eddy Curry. I defientely couldn't see Golden State winning the boards for the 3rd strasight game but none of these big man play Defense well so it balances itself out.

Maybe what the Warriors could do to counter this is play Wright 10-15 minutes/ He's much quicker then the Knicks two post players combined both Curry and randolph and is the only kid I've seen who's certainly looks under 200 pounds (he's listed as 210). He would abuse those two on offense we're talking at least a 14 point 10 rebound game. The Warriors also have to force the Knicks to play the up and down frenetic style of play they like to play. And lastly to conclude Biedrins he played great going up against Andrea and Kaman against the Raps and Clippers respectively. Tonight he'll be going up against a big Knicks frontline that will kill us on the boards once again but Beans should have his way inside as well. should be an interesting game. Apart from the Knicks Frontine we could also do well and avoid the 3 something which Jamal Craford and Nate robinso are good at. Barring the Knicks avoid playing their phyiscal game this more then liley should be a Golden State win

Perdictions:
Biedrins posts up his 3rd double double
Starburry even with his troubles has a big day
Wrights athletiscm will outweigh his inexpereince. Today only
Warriors win by 10+

Kosta Perovic now in the D-League

The Dubs continued their annual tradition of sending Centers over to the d-League for the second year in a row when Kosta Perovic became part of the Bakersfield Jam team. According to Inside Bay area it goes on to say

Rookie center Kosta Perovic was sent down to the Bakersfield Jam, the Warriors' affiliate in the NBA Development League. The move had been talked about for weeks as the 22-year-old, inactive for five of the Warriors' seven regular-season games, was clearly not ready. "He's going to go down there and play some minutes," Mullin said. "I thought he was making pretty good progress

Once again fustraingly the Warriors have done this again. The only positve thing going for kosta is it's height but other then that he's a slow footed Center who belongs nowhere near Nellieball. It also doesn't make any sense why the Warriors committed to a Kosta contract last summer yet decided not to exerise the 3rd year on POB's contract. Whats even worse when you look at the number of people picked after Kost they stand out like Paul millsap or Boobie Gibson both who would have made better contributions then this dud.

Golden State 106: Torronto 100 Welcome back S-Jax

It didnt matter how ugly the win was or how badly Baron played the Warriors have their second win on the trot to begin a long East Coast road trip. Not returning until the 25th of November just missing thanksgiving it was literally essential Golden State got a victory tonight which they duly did. One stat to throw at youWarriors dominated the points in the paint this morning (54 to the Raps' 36), but were dominated in transition with only 6 fast break points to the Raptors' 13. The complete oppossite of what we do offensively but still a win

Boxscore

It wasn't a pretty game and I better get some slight fustrations off my chest. First off TJ Ford. I doubt there's a single team in the NBA that allows him to go off like he did today mostly because of Baron Davis. Davis was strangly subdued his shot seemed lazy and his defense best be unsaid. Ford got a 29 point game because of this and I think it's fair to say in the Knicks game he will be a lot more pumped up when facing Marburry. He had a respetable 16 points and 8 rebounds but we've seen better days from our future all Star PG.

And what about Biedrins. No one on the Raptors team put a single body on him and he punnished Kapono with a 15 and 14 game. Second decent performance from Beans he's rebounding slightly better a big reason why we won the battle of the boards for the 2nd straight game. he domianted in the 1st quarter putting up hooks and dunking looking like the legitmate Center we hoped to be. Hard to believe but back in the 2004 draft there were a section of fans who were against this pick and even last year there were one or two fans who were calling for his head. Wonder where they are now?.

Of course I can;t go by without mentioning the Italiam battle between Marco and Bargnani. Just like the Yi-Yao battle earlier on this season Andrea easily won the battle 12 points 3 rebounds in 19 minutes while Marcos' stats were a depressing 0 points (0 -2 FG), 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, and 0 blocks in a shade under 4 minutes of play. Sadly one meaningless summer league 37 point performance is the only highlight so far of his career. Hopefully in this long season Nellie can find a future role for him. Because right now it just ain;t happenning. In complete contrast lot of the credit for this victory goes to Jackson. You wouldn't know he hadn't played since the Preseason such was the fact he seemed to be in good shape. He did a great job on Chris Bosh limiting him to 4-11 from the field and looking every inch the leader he was in last years playoffs. It was good to see him back. Props go to Kelenna for making that big 3 with five minutes left in the 4th and getting a tidy 16 points . I honestly think he's the type of kid that can be a just as good if not better replacement then J-Rich. He's only been killed defensively in one game but apart from that he looks every inch J-Rich the second coming. I certianly hope that from an Irish perspective the young Brit excels in the way his fellow countryman Luol Deng has. One last stat worth mentioning the raptors were 2-20 in the 4th quarter from long distance. It was a complete metdow by the Raps but who's complaining


Anyhoo with the late hour and trying to get away from watching the Niners sink to an extremely depressing loss to the Rams notshwoing the Football toughness the Warriors had I'd though g I'd play the one and only extremely old school song used to celebrate a victory. Heck with the Niners going to lose and the Raiders losing to the Vikes the bay area needs some uplifing moments now and then. So here we go

dijssel5

Golden State V Toronto preview

Versus






Golden State starts their 5 game road trip today in the beautiful City of Toronto to take on a Raptors team that just like last year have started slowly. They can be encouraged by the fact Golden State hasn't won a game away from home yet. Despite loving my Warriors I'm conflicted whether to watch Week 11 in the NFL or watch Stephen Jackson make his return. Hopefully he can play 48 minutes or at least long periods of the game because he is the most rested and prepared player on our team. The average number of points we're giving up is 118.2. At a estimate when he comes back the average number of points we'd give up would be 106.5. He makes a bigger difference on the defensive end. The SF Gate recently did a piece on the Warriors needing Captain jack and I couldn't agree with it more.

Our Defense and I hope they do this it would be nice if the Raptors were held to under 100 points. It's not out of the equation with Jackson back that the warriors can tighten up defensively specially on NFL day where toughness is required to survive. Lets hope the Dubs show some of that this evening. And lastly lets get a W. I would be delighted going 4-1, pleased with 3-2, not too bad 2-3, while 1-4 or the dreaded 0-5 don't bear thinking about.

Perdictions:
Warriors win by 5
Biedrins with a double double
Kapono gets 18
Chris Bosh gets 18 and 10

Here is what the Raptors view of todays game is

They are blessed with awesome talent. They don't play D and get punished for it. I've seen a couple of their games this year and they run, run and run. If we don't get back after EVERY shot... both missed and made... they'll run us out of the building. Davis will look to post up TJ when they are forced to set up more that most other PGs will. Force him to shoot from outside... only 24% from 3 so far. Harrington is a great scorer, Ellis looks to drive every time, Azubuike is a great surprise for them at 17 ppg and 13 ppg from Beidrins is nuts. Everyone had boners for Belinelli this summer... except for Nellie. He hasn't gotten much playing time yet. Don't let their 1 - 6 record fool you... had we played those same teams... we'd likely be the same. If we don't shoot well they'll kill us. Much better than people think they are. If we were away, I'd say loss. Because the Raps are at home, it'll be close. If I were to bet... loss this time. Prove me wrong Raps!!!!!

Raptors Blog

Lets prove these guys right and just win baby.

Update: Barnes won't be able to make the trip according to this article because of his mom suffering cancer. Best wishes from this blog go to her in her survival bid. On ther other hand it seems we'll never have a full roster together

Warriors waive Lasme sign Mbenga

Here's DJ


There are some news that make you puzzled or just don't make any sense. Todays news fit into the category with the latest being Golden State have decided to release Stephen Lasme the second round pick of last years draft and sign Mbenga a 6*8 Center as a replacement. Mbenga spent three seasons with the Dallas Mavericks and even though he's a very limited Offensive player the only logic I can use for the pickup is he adds height to get the Boards. He has hardly played the last couple of seasons so really Nellie and our coahing staff must have thought Lasme played terrible to merit a Rosster Spot otherwhise going by Preason he certainly had the Blocking Abilities, Rebounding threat and athletiscm to make the team. Of course he had downsides he was limited offensively and was old for a 2nd round pick (25) but surely he has more potential then Mbenga. I for one hope he doesn't turn into another Chris Taft

Now for our latest pickup the numbers really are lows. He's had 1.3 PPG and .9 RPG and shooting a low 47.8% for a Center. With POB as a backup Center and Lasme was primarly a Forward why the Dubs felt the need to take him on is puzzling and even more weird now is the whole Kosta situation. The Contract extension we gave to him in the offseason appears to be meaningless. Another puzzling move by a Front Office that never ceases to amaze

Golden State:122 LA Clippers:105 our first W

The two stars of the game

It's been September since the bay area has seen a first W (Not couning the Sharks) but last night they encontered something beautiful. Witnessing a team that blew a 22 point lead to Detroit there was certanly something motivational in the air as we put up our first W.

Boxscore

There were a lot of positives to take in tonight. Mainly Biedrins. Apart from one solid game he's been slow to adjust to this season but against a Center that made him look inept the last time they played Biedrins posted up a 23 and 18 and an outstanding 5 for 6 from the line. Even when he got in foul trouble POB looked every inch the backup Center he's suppossed to be posting up a very timely 10 points 4 Rebounds and 1 block. It is typical of our management that they didn't give him much more then 2.5 million but thats another blog post for another day. He pumped up the crowd and basically put the game to rest even when the Clippers made a surge to close the game within 2 he made it 9 with his inspired pla It was also good to Al Harrington have another big career day 27 points and looking very good along that Clippers front line of Corey Maguette and Tim Thomas. Without trying to be blunt going 0-7 without Stephen Jackson would have been a prime emabarassment espcially with a road trip coming out. Nelson summarized the Kaman Biedrins rivalry beautifully.

"When I saw [Biedrins] at shootaround, I asked him if Kaman sent a limousine for him," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "He didn't get it at first. I had to repeat it three times."

The Warriors also controlled the boards having a 9+ Rebounding edge. and shot 78% from the line. Our two weaknessess weren't as bad tonight interestingly perhaps when controlling a game like we did they become better. Also a shoutout to Boom-Dizzle who controlled the game at PG despite playing far too many minutes yet again 40. His Dribble penetration always causes the oppossing PG problems. Monta also had a solid role as a backup PG he never tried to do too much. I thought when Troy Hudson was signed this would be his role but it appears Monta is putting in a legitmate offer to be it. Keleena's hot start has cooled off he was getting killed Defensively but I still think at the moment he is THE replacment for J-rich and is an ideal option off the bench when Jackson comes back. .For all you Dubs fans out there who want to see Baron Davis making an 1st All Star appearance you can vote here. Because goodness knows with all due respect to Steve Nash he deserves it. Make sure to vote J-Rich as well.

With a big East coast Road trip I don't think it;s a stretch to say this is a crucial part of the season. Tradtionally we're mixed when it comes to road trips but with Stephen Jackson coming back I expect the Warriors to make a push. If we play like we did I think we can honestly go 4-1. Nelson just has to stop these silly line up changes. Putting Pietrus at PF isn't going to do much good when you're getting outrebounded but giving Biedrins more minutes is.

Update: Youtube now has highlights of the game.

Bogleg

Golden state V LA Clippers Preview

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Coming off a very disappointing loss to the Pistons Golden State now has to try and rebound against a Clippers team that pummelled them inside when these two last met in the Staples Center. Kaman posted a Shaq like 26 and 18 and the early W many fans pointed out in this game was quicly gone. These two now met tonight in the roaracle. Since these two last played the Clippers can lay a claim to being the best team in LA at the moment going to a fast 5-2 start. So are the Warriors capable of registering theeir first W to avoid their 2nd worst start since 0-9 back in 1997-1998 season. Despite the missed FT's once gain plagging us and the inability to adjust to Detroits Zone I'm confident the Warriors can pull out a first victory. As seeen in the Detroit game the Pistons were made to look like a Middle School team as Golden State looked like the 16-5 end of season team from last year. The clippers are no where near the Pistons level.

On the other hand this team has created a lower expectation along themselves. Part of Nelsons problem is he may be the second most winningest coach in NBA history and he is responsible for putting the Dallas Mavericks back on the map but his stuborness is costing us a few games. Wright actually didn't look so bad against Detroit 4 Rebounds and a putback Dunk all in 4 minutes yet Nelson didn't give him more PT. In the 4th quarter in that Detroit game with the entire starting Lineup hitting bricks Nelson still seemed to have the belief things would come together when rather this should have been the time to install some new legs especially Marco. How are you suppossed to find how good these Rookies are if you don't play them. His overuse of Baron Davis e.g. the 45 minutes he played against the Pistons means going by B-Diddy's injury record something severe *touch wood* is waiting to happen.

Now that my rant is over my perdictions for tonights game
Perdictions:
Biedrins in revenge for Kaman's dismantling of him posts up a 20 and 12 game
Davis plays 25 minutes tonight
Kelenna gets a 20 point game
Warriors come out motivated because of the hurt in the team. They win by 12

Golden State:104 Detroit:111 Another one bites the dust

There's not much you can say when you blow a 22 point lead at home. From the get go the Warriors decided to play classic Nllie ball yet it all blew in their face in 3rd quarter when Prince and Hamilton proved too much

Boxscore

Grabbing a 22 point lead the guys looked good out there doubling the advantage of everything. Around the 1st period it was 28-13 and 12-6 in points in the paint. However they collapsed. Detroit went into that Zone Defense which made the Warriors Offense go completely slower. The three point shots weren't being made in fact the Warriors were 13-34 overall from 3 good for 38%. The lack of any improvistation right after detroit changed Defense was obvious. Sadly after this loss and with Minnesota and seattle winning the Warriors are now the worst team in the NBA. Not good.

The free throw line has also been our ultra nemisis. Shooting an avergae 62% even when Biedrins went 6 for 6 it is clear that this has been one of our main problems of this season. The usla culprits Monta, Baron and Wright were the problem. I actually thought the way Brandon Wright played was much more active then recent games. He had 4 Rebounds and earned his first FG dunk. He caused matchup for the Pistons. Biedrins also played well it seems the ability he lacks to create his own shot is improving and posted up a solid 11 and 11. Keep this up and that Contract extension he craves will be a done thing. Even one of the few posisitve things of last night was the fact we looked like the warriors of the 16-5 run. Running up and down the court, creating open shots against a defensive minded team like detroit it caused chaos. Good to see. Despite these positives we are the worst team in the NBA right now giving up 118 points per game and letting the opposing team shoot better than 50% from the field, by far the worst in the league
is horrible.

It is also time for Warrior fans to seriously start thinking of whether Nelson is really the right coach for golden State or start thinking off making a blockbuster trade. One of the common misconceptions along Dubs fans is Nelson led us to the Playoffs. He didn't. We just started to get really hot hence the 16-5 run and the Dallas shocker. The lack of disclipine e.g. the silly 3's and the lack of any improvisation when Detroit went into a zone means we really need to stop worshipping and start thinking off the future direction of Golden State. Siging T-Hud and Perovic both getting limited Playing time isn't going to cut it. Sadly Mullins plan of doing nothing in the Offseason has come back to haunt him.

An 0-6 start is embarrasisng especially now that we're the only team in the League that hasn't won a single game and after the Clippers game this Friday with an East coast road trip lying ahead this could get worse before it gets better

Golden State V Detroit Pistons our first win?

Versus






After an 0-5 start and a long enough break the warriors return to action tonight against the Pistons who have started out strong to a 5-2 record. If anything going by the past and last season the warriors not only swept the Pistons but had two easy wins the first in the Dunleavy era and win no 2 was in March where we started to make our famous playoff push. Now of course things are different but without wishing to jinx I'm strangely confident we can pick up our first victory tonight. The Rebound difference like the previous few games will be mimimal with the Pistons only avergaing 2+ boards over their last few opponenets . The Warriors come nto this game well rested having not played Dallas since Thursday while the Pistons play Portland tommorow on a 5 game back to back West Coast trip. One thing the Warriors have to do tonight to even stand a chance of winning is knock down supposedly the easiest shot in Basketball a Free Throw. We rank fourth-worst in the league in foul shooting at 67 and in the Dallas Game we missed a pathetic 16 for 30. It appears Sidney Moncrief our new shooting coach hasn't done a lot to change the FT's from last year

Another reason I think we get our first W is I gurantee you when Ben Wallace was around literallly any time the Pistons played the warriors any play under the basket was limited because of his shotblocking ability. Now thats he's in Chicago the responsibilites of center fall to Rasheed Wallace but with his age there will be an easier time to penetrate meaning Monta or kelenna should pick up a few early baskets. Inside Biedrins like he did against the Clippers and Jazz will find it a tougher time guarding Maxwell or Mcdyess even though e has more inches on them but our high paced offense will prove too much for the Motown boys.

Perdictions:
Warriors win by 10+
Davis explodes for 25 and 10
Oakland rocks the house like the last Dallas game
Biedrins posts up a double double

More of this which happenned last season would be nice


thecardkid01