Golden State Of Mind

Bow to the Jeremy Lin Movement (b-o-w = Based On What?)

2009-12-15T23:34:49Z

More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

5 days ago: Harvard's Jeremy Lin (4) drives by Boston College's Biko Paris, left, during the first half of an NCAA basketball game in Boston, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Browse more photos »

Here on GSoM we have had The Yi Movement, The Singh Movement, The MingMing Movement, and The Sun Yue Movement.

There is nothing wrong with rooting for someone of your own ethnicity, especially when there aren't many of them playing in the top league of the game you love, and when we live in arguably the most diverse region on the planet here in the Bay Area.

However, up until this point there really has not been a plethora of highlights with the appropriate context to base these movements on. YouTube had highlights of Yi Jianlian playing in China and ESPN had video of his pre-draft workout, albeit with no one else but a trainer on the floor. That's a lot more than we had for Singh, Ming Ming, and Sun combined!

This time we have someone legit. Someone who is performing at the NCAA Division-I level. Someone who is consistently dropping impressive numbers and highlights on ranked, big-time college programs such as UConn and Boston College. And like so many of you, his parents are immigrants and he grew up here in the Bay Area. His name is Jeremy Lin and with that, I present to you...

The Jeremy Lin Movement!

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Jeremy Lin is a bonafide First Round NBA draft pick. Detractors will dismiss him without providing evidence to the contrary. For example, "He'll be a good player in the top division in Italy", or "Well, let's wait and see", or "He plays in the Ivy League, so he doesn't have what it takes." The detractors will either be discounting him because he is Asian and they have never seen an Asian as good as him, because they haven't seen him play, and because of the most basic human element: fear of the unknown. That is why, when someone talks to you about Jeremy Lin, it is very important that you respond with the following:

"Based On What?"

I've been following Jeremy Lin's progress since the beginning of last season when he was a junior at Harvard, and the four eye-popping stats I'm about to tell you have not been written about by any other observer, ever. If you know the story of how Jeremy led Palo Alto to California's high school state championship, then you know that Jeremy has that je ne sais quois. I will now reveal what makes him the special player that he is...

Eye-popping stat #4: He is among the nation's leaders in dunks

I wrote about this before, but it was buried in my preview of the UConn game, which I dubbed David vs Goliath II, in his head-to-head matchup with UConn's star guard and projected NBA 2nd-round pick, Jerome Dyson. Jeremy is amongst the nation's leaders in dunks for guards.

Here is a preliminary sampling of comparables, through 12/14/2009:

Cal's Patrick Christopher: 7 dunks in 9 games played.
Ohio State's Evan Turner, who could be considered a small forward and who is now out for 8 weeks with an injury: 5 dunks in 8 games played.
Willie Warren of Oklahoma State, who is also a combo guard considered the next-best point guard NBA draft pick (a definite lottery pick): 1 dunk in 9 games played.
John Wall of Kentucky, the consensus #1 NBA Draft pick for 2010: a super-human 14 dunks in 9 games played.
Xavier Henry of Kansas, a tall shooting guard on the #1-ranked team in the NCAA: 8 dunks in 9 games played.
UConn's Jerome Dyson, who is projected to be picked in the 2nd round: 5 dunks in 8 games played.

Jeremy Lin has 7 dunks in 9 games played! I have been one of the privileged few to witness an Asian man be the most athletic player on an NCAA Division-I basketball court. Here's his second dunk in the game against 13th-ranked UConn...

In the first game of the season against Holy Cross (unfortunately, not televised nor streamed on the Internet), Jeremy had a game-changing two-handed dunk in traffic which was described as...

"Yeah I was in the first row behind the harvard bench. Best dunk i've seen live." -- YouTube user etizzle1

"Up fake, Jab fake left, two dribbles middle, two hand flush in traffic, unreal.. the whole crowd just went WHAT!?" -- Twitter user CoachNags

In last week's victory at Boston College, he had a soaring one-handed dunk attempt in traffic that clanged off back-rim. Facebook user V.Cheah described it as follows...

Oh man! We sat fairly far because the seats were donated to me and the kids I coach. But in the Conte Forum, there honestly isn't a bad seat in the house, the view was excellent.

Anyways it was a transition play where I believe Lin caught the outlet right before half court. He got a second shift in gears when he got inside the 3 point line and started to glide for what looked like a Jordan logo layup. Instead, he just kept on rising haha and he definitely cleared the rim, but I believe the angle was slightly awkward where his wrist couldn't get the ball in. He had like one guy beneath him and one on his back. It would've made top 10 on espn easily if he made it.

Thankfully the UConn game was televised, otherwise 100% of his dunking exploits would still be of legend.

Eye-popping stat #3: He is 4-for-8 in buzzer beaters thus far this season

4-for-8 would be a pretty good stat in the NBA for buzzer-beaters, but remember, the college game only has two halves and, therefore, only two opportunities to perform a buzzer-beater, which makes Jeremy's stats in this category even more impressive. Here they are, one-by-one:

Floater in the lane at the first half buzzer against Boston College (12/9/2009)
Three-pointer at the first half buzzer against New Hampshire (11/25/2009)
Missed three-point attempt at first half buzzer against Army (11/23/2009)
Three-pointer at the first half buzzer against Bryant (11/20/2009)
1-for-3 in buzzer beaters of the famous triple-overtime walk-off vs William & Mary (11/15/2009)
Missed three-pointer at the first half buzzer against Holy Cross (11/13/2009)

Here is the famous buzzer-beater against William & Mary in its Top Plays Of The Week #3 form on ESPN SportsCenter (#4 was Dwyane Wade!)...

Eye-popping stat #2: In "important" games, he is averaging 14.3 points per 2nd half

I have already written that Mr. Crunch-Time averaged 11.2 points per 2nd half last season. This season, he has actually increased it to 11.4!

I also noticed that his worst 2nd-half outputs have occurred during blowouts, except for one game, in which Army held him to only 6 points total. It came as no surprise to me that the Army coach was an assistant for perennial Ivy League champion Cornell last year. Jeremy had his worst game against Cornell last year. Also, Harvard committed 30 turnovers (8 of them committed by Jeremy), 20 of them by the end of the first half, against Army and Jeremy missed 7 free throws that game.

The following is a list of games and scoring outputs (first half + second half = total points for that game) this year, with the blowout wins crossed out:

5+19 = 24, won 87-77 at Holy Cross
8+11 = 19, won 87-85 vs William & Mary
~~8+4 = 12, won 77-51 vs Bryant~~
4+2 = 6, lost 53-56 at Army
~~11+7 = 18, won 78-60 vs New Hampshire~~
3+16 = 19, won 78-70 at Boston University
~~8+6 = 14, won 85-64 vs Rice~~
8+22 = 30, lost 73-79 at UConn
9+16 = 25, won 74-67 at Boston College

I wish someone could tell me how many points Stephen Curry averaged for Davidson in 2nd halves last season!

Gottlieb wrote in a follow-up article (ESPN Insider account required):

In preparing for my television call of Connecticut's home game against Harvard on Sunday, I asked Penn guard Zack Rosen about the Crimson. His response? "Jeremy Lin, he is their whole team. They have some good young guys inside and all, but Lin takes over games in the second half."

If you watch the following highlight, you'll notice that Jeremy tallied 21 of his 30 total points at UConn with 1:37 remaining. He scored 9 points in 1:37 against #13 UConn (well, actually 11 in the final 1:38!).

As I have written before, the better the competition, the better his teammates, the better he plays, as evidenced most recently by...

25 points, including 10-for-12 from the line against Boston College of the mighty ACC, and 17 for his last 20 dating back to the UConn game,
30 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks against 13th-ranked UConn,
27 points, 8 assists, and 6 steals (six!) last year 1/7/2009 against a 17th-ranked Boston College team that had just upset #1 and eventual national champion North Carolina.

It goes without saying that in the NBA, he'll have better competition and better teammates. I saw him in a closed summer scrimmage playing against other high-caliber players (that's all I can say at this point, but details will be revealed sometime next year); Jeremy Lin delivers the ball and is a playmaker. He only scores when he absolutely has to.

Eye-popping stat #1: He is averaging 1.2 blocked shots per (and is a leader in steals)

Again, for guards only, and by the way, it's 1.22 to be exact. Do you even realize how sick 1.22 blocked shots per game for a guard is? Maybe if you look at Dwyane Wade's stats, you'll understand:

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
2009 - Dwyane Wade	22	38.3	8.9	20.7	42.8	0.9	3.6	24.1	8.4	11.0	76.4	1.3	4.1	5.4	5.9	3.2	1.7	1.2	2.4	27.0

That's right, D-Wade is currently at 1.23 blocked shots per game. That's the most for any guard in the NBA. Okay, Wade has already played in 22 games, but then if you are going to discount me on that, then I must ask for it back because an NBA game is 48 minutes compared to the NCAA's 40. Relatively speaking, it wouldn't be a far stretch to say that Jeremy Lin is the Dwyane Wade of the NCAA right now as far as defense is concerned.

It would be a far stretch if I had pulled that out of thin air, right? So, "Based On What?" Based on actual stats and comparison, sir.

Am I really going out on a limb to say that Jeremy is probably the nation's leader in blocked shots for guards, although I have not done the research on the blocked shot leader board to see which of those many names are guards?

As far as steals, we already knew that. He has consistently been up there in this department: 2.1 steals per game as of this writing. Not leading the nation because there are plenty of quick guards out there, but still extremely impressive.

I wonder how many of the nations' steals leaders are as big as Jeremy at 6'3" 200 lbs. Something tells me all the players ahead of him are probably smaller and skinnier (i.e., D-Wade leading the league in steals is even more incredible because he's ahead of smaller and more nimble guys like Brandon Jennings).

Oh, and in case you weren't paying attention, Dwyane Wade is currently averaging 1.7 steals per game in the NBA format.

Show me an NBA GM who wouldn't want defense as part of the investment in a first-round pick, in a 6'3" 200-lb point guard, no less. All this talk about offense, what were the scouting reports pertaining to defense on the 16 point guards taken in the 2009 NBA Draft?

Here are Jeremy's stats averages overall...

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
2009 - Jeremy Lin	9	32.7	5.4	10.6	51.6	1.4	3.9	37.1	6.2	8.4	73.7	1.1	4.2	5.3	4.2	3.3	2.1	1.2	2.4	18.6

In fact, he was the only Division-I player in the nation to finish in the Top 10 in all major offensive and defensive categories last year, to which the UConn TV announcers, among which is the renowned Doug Gottlieb of ESPN, said:

That's unbelievable!

Here's his incredible swat of Jerome Dyson on a fast break...

ASIDE: I actually originally had this eye-popping stat swapped at #1 with the points-per-2nd-half, but when I re-read it and added the Dwyane Wade numbers, I'm back at my favorite aspect of the game: defense which, again, I wrote about at the beginning of the season.

What could go wrong

I hope you have jumped on the bandwagon by now. If not, then you are saying, "Well, Jeremy Lin can't ________."

At that point, you need to ask yourself those three words, "Based on what?"

Still, the road to the NBA could be derailed. Any number of things can happen:

Knock on wood, but he could get injured, which is the same risk for any other future draft pick out there, so this is not really saying anything.
NBA people could continue to discount the fact that he is Asian and they have not seen an Asian player produce like this. You would like to think, however, that Jeremy being Asian would actually help him make the NBA, due to the marketing potential.
Harvard could start playing bad, causing Jeremy to fall off the radar no matter what numbers he puts up. This is because Harvard is in the Ivy League. I don't know if you noticed, but in the NCAA, the exciting parts are the early non-conference battles (like UConn vs Kentucky last week), the conference tournaments and the NCAA Tournament itself. League play gets to be pretty mundane unless you are in a powerhouse conference. To make matters worse, for whatever reason, the Ivy League does not have a season-ending conference tournament (the Pac-10 didn't even have one until several years ago).
Harvard could continue to play well, but not finish first in the Ivy League and therefore probably not receive an NCAA Tournament bid. Yes, it's a little early to be talking about the NCAA Tournament, but Harvard's already in the top 65 in RPI rating. If you are not playing in the NCAA Tournament, then you are not on national TV. That could cause Jeremy's stock to plummet. It should be noted that there are three other invitational tournaments, one of them the NIT, at the end of the season.
Every team could start playing like Cornell and Army and, as a team, stop Jeremy Lin. However, I have concluded that most teams are either not talented enough to handle all of Harvard's weapons, or are too talented such that it is impossible for them to sacrifice as a collective unit to stop one man, as have the powers that be at Cornell and Army been able to do. In short, I think we're okay with this one.
You might not tell anyone about Jeremy Lin, which will result in him still being a secret. Let's remember one thing: NBA offices have human beings sitting behind computers hooked up to the Internet these days. Last week, the blogosphere erupted after ESPN's cadre of college basketball analysts poured the praise on (I have a whole collection of links below, don't worry!). In this day and age, you can make a difference. Remember, social media played a huge role in Barack Obama getting elected as President.

Even the detractors will say, at least now, that Jeremy will be welcomed to play professionally somewhere. However, if you're an Asian-American, you should hope he makes the NBA because it will help eliminate the discrimination on America's playgrounds.

To make the NBA, you need to be on the draft boards, which I've yet to figure out who the sources are (NBA agents?). You need to perform, as Jeremy has been helping himself in doing, and you need to win, of course. Once you're on the draft board, you need to have great workouts, but you need to be drafted. There are only 60 slots available. If you're drafted in the first round, you're in good shape; there is almost no chance that any NBA executive would let you play anywhere else but the NBA, because that executive has got to prove his pick was worth the investment. If you're drafted in the 2nd round, you've been labeled "NBA-caliber", but you can't screw it up in Summer League or training camp, and it depends on the roster of the team that selected you.

But if you're undrafted, there are only so many people named Anthony Morrow or Will Bynum out there.

Here's what ESPN's Dana O'Neil said in an ESPN chat transcript:

The NBA is so frustrating to me. They pick on upside and measurements and all this who-ha instead of whether or not a kid can play. I heard it about Jameer Nelson for two years. He was too small, too this. And now he's an All-Star. So I don't know if Lin will get drafted. I do, however, think he could help a team smart enough to take him.

Another more notable analyst from ESPN, Chad Ford, said this (Insider required):

Lin is a terrific scorer, quick, has good leaping ability and is a nice size for a point guard. The fact that he's an Asian-American guard playing at Harvard has probably kept him off the NBA radar too long. But as scouts are hunting everywhere for point guards, more and more are coming back and acknowledging that Lin is a legit prospect.

It doesn't look like he cracks anyone's top 30 at the moment. However, if he finishes strong and has great workouts against some of the better prospects in the draft, his stock could soar.

The most famous ESPN college analyst on TV, Jay Bilas -- the one who covers the NBA Draft -- paid the ultimate compliment (Insider required):

Lin can play anywhere, in any league.

When you look at the basic stats, you don't see a whole lot of difference from mid-first-round to late-second-round. Every guard's got respectable numbers in the high teens in scoring and maybe four or five assists per game. It's the national TV and hype that moves you up.

We can actually do something about that hype. We can show the world that people want to see Jeremy play, that we would buy tickets to his games if he makes it into the NBA. And as someone who has bought each and every Harvard game video streaming package available under the sun (every college is responsible for streaming its own home games), I can tell you that it has been worth every penny. Certainly worth more than what the Warriors charge!

Maybe it was meant to be that Facebook and Twitter started becoming mainstream this year?

Maybe it was meant to be that GSoM picked up Poor Man's Commish on their staff right about this time. This blog gets picked up by all of the national distributors. If you believe in Jeremy Lin, forward this article to anyone you think might be interested, asap!

What's next? Mark January 4th on your Bay Area calendars!

Jeremy's next game is on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 11th-ranked Georgetown (yikes!), which has a potential NBA lottery pick in 6'11" sophomore center Greg Monroe. Unfortunately, Georgetown doesn't have any guards that are ranked as highly as UConn's backcourt for the mano-y-mano versus Jeremy, but the fact remains, Georgetown as a collective unit is way, way up there. Also, the game is the only one on Georgetown's schedule that will not be televised. See what I mean?! Luckily, it will be on their video stream. For me, 425 x 300 pixels is better than nuthin'!

Then, Harvard makes a quick trip out to the West Coast, first up to Seattle University on January 2nd, 2010. Actually, there's an even longer-shot NBA prospect in point guard Charles Garcia, that ESPN's Chad Ford wrote about (Insider account required):

Two weeks ago we said that Seattle U's Charles Garcia was a potential draft sleeper ... but he appears to be a sleeper no longer. More and more scouts have him on their radar screen and he's wowing them with his versatility and production. One minute he's playing the 4, the next he's playing the point. It's virtually impossible to deny the talent. However, don't go overboard just yet. As an increasing number of scouts start to see him play, they're also digging into his background and the early reports don't sound good. Does he have the talent to be a first-round pick? Maybe. But scouts are expressing concerns about enough background questions to keep him out of the first round until teams feel like they have all of the answers.

This should make for a nice head-to-head matchup against Jeremy.

You should go to Harvard at Santa Clara, Monday, January 4th, 2010 (7:00pm)

Finally, Jeremy makes a "homecoming" appearance as Harvard travels to Santa Clara for a game on 1/4/2010. Tickets are already selling briskly. There are not many Lower Reserved seats remaining next to the Harvard bench.

Any and all basketball fans should go, but at least every Asian who is in town that day and enjoys basketball, went to Harvard, or wants to help the advancement of Asian-Americans ought to be at this game. I'm hoping the game will be packed with Jeremy Lin supporters.

The game isn't being televised, so if you're remotely interested, you'll need to carve out arrangements for this. Even though it's not televised, I hope that the YouTube revolution will continue and some of you attending the game will capture this potential history-making event.

Email harvardsantaclara@gmail.com. They've got discounted tickets.

Jia Yo!

The literal translation from Jeremy's household language of Mandarin is, "add fuel." But for all intents and purposes, it's the Chinese way of saying, "Let's go!!!"

If you hear this chant on Monday night, January 4th at SCU's Leavey Center, please join in!

If you could've gone, and you don't end up going

Remember, it still remains to be seen if fate will allow him to be drafted by an NBA franchise this summer. If he doesn't or, for whatever reason, he does not end up making an NBA roster, then you will have missed a golden opportunity to see him play in the Bay Area, live.

He would probably end up playing in Europe and we all know how much coverage we get here in the U.S. on Euro-basketball: none.

This could be your last chance.

More links for you to gobble up

To stay updated on Jeremy Lin you can...

Follow me on Twitter @poormanscommish
Friend me on Facebook at http://facebook.com/dreamleague
Subscribe to my YouTube videos at http://youtube.com/dreamleague
Check out my blog (RSS feed available there), Poor Man's Commish

If someone wants to help me continue keeping track of his and others' dunks, buzzer beaters, or whatever other stat, speak up!

I'm sure you don't have the time to read all of these, so drop your questions in the comments!

Photo gallery of Harvard-UConn including Jeremy's dunk and swat: http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-men/hc-uconn-men-harvard-pictures,0,932976.photogallery
ESPN's Dana O'Neil and her article entitled Immigrant Dream Plays Out Through Son that set the Twittersphere ablaze last week and was the cover story on ESPN.com's College Basketball section: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=oneil_dana&id=4730385
Gottlieb's praise that accompanied the O'Neil article (Insider required): http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4731117&name=ncbexperts
More from ESPN college basketball analyst O'Neil as well as Andy Katz: http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/tag/_/name/jeremy-lin
Dana O'Neil's chat transcript: http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/29844/ncaa-bb-with-dana-oneil
Jay Bilas saying "anywhere, any league": http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4721259&name=bilas_jay
Chad Ford: http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4734046&name=nba_draft
Many, many quotes put on one page by GoCrimson.com: http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/mbkb/2009-10/releases/091210_MBB_Quotes
Jason Kidd's college stats with 9.1 apg, 6.9 rpg (off the charts!), in case you were interested: http://www.basketballreference.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=KIDDJA01
Steve Nash's college stats with 6.0 apg, 3.6 rpg: http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/n/nashst01.html
Chauncy Billup's college stats with 4.8 apg, 4.9 rpg (eerily similar): http://www.basketballreference.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=BILLUCH01
Deron Williams's college stats with 4.5 apg, 3.0 rpg: http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/player/illinois/deron-williams
Dwyane Wade's college stats with 3.4 apg, 6.6 rpg: http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/player/marquette/dwyane-wade
Chris Paul's college stats with 5.9 apg, 3.3 rpg: http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/player/wake-forest/chris-paul
Jeremy's up-to-date stats on ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=32762
ESPN's 2010 draft board: http://insider.espn.go.com/nbadraft/draft/tracker/position?id=1&draftyear=2010
NBADraft.net's draft board: http://www.nbadraft.net/2010mock_draft
DraftExpress.com's draft board: http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2010/
John Wall's sick stats this year: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=45885
Willie Warren's stats. Comparable at 6'4" 199 lbs and similar offensive stats, but Jeremy outshines on defensive rebounding, blocked shots, and steals: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=41570
Greivis Vasquez's stats. He's 6'6" but only 190 lbs. I have not seen him play (yet) and I've read that he's not the most humble player, which may be chickenfeed for NBA competition: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=32018
Iman Shumpert's stats. He's comparable at 6'5" 209 lbs. Only 8.3 ppg and 2.3 rpg as of this writing, though. I have not seen him play: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=40975
Armon Johnson's stats. He's comparable at 6'3" 195 lbs and I have not seen him play. Again, similar numbers but Jeremy shines on defense and game-breaking ability: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=36326
NCAA's current leaders in blocked shots. I wonder how many of these are guards: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/leaders?groupId=50&cat=blocks&sort=AVG&seasonYear=2010
Compendium of Jeremy Lin blogposts on Poor Man's Commish: http://www.dreamleague.org/blog/category/jeremylin/
Poor Man's Commish: The Legend of Jeremy Lin Part 1 of 2 (I said it first: "He will make the NBA.")
Poor Man's Commish: The Legend of Jeremy Lin Part 2 of 2 (the possibility that there might not be a fairy tale ending)
Poor Man's Commish: The Revolution will not be televised (most comprehensive scouting report on Jeremy thus far)
Poor Man's Commish: Meet Mr. Crunch-Time (2nd half scoring, the dunk at Holy Cross)
Poor Man's Commish: JL4 does it again (the William & Mary buzzer-beater)
Poor Man's Commish: Status check on the Megatron star (more links!)
Poor Man's Commish: Jeremy Lin's stats plunge (blowout vs Bryant and debacle vs Army)
Poor Man's Commish: David vs Goliath II (includes dunk tallies)

Poll

After reading this, do you think Jeremy Lin will eventually play in the NBA?

RUMOR: Anthony Randolph like every Golden State Warrior on the trading block

2009-12-15T16:44:07Z

Before we move forward flip back to my colleague JAE's insights on Anthony Randolph before the season began: Anthony Randolph- Hope Beyond the Hype :: 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors Player Recaps and Previews

Regardless of who you want to blame, I don't think it's a stretch to say that we were all expecting more than 11.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg, and 1.2 blocks from the second year big man. At the end of last season we polled folks on whether Randolph or the Kings forward Jason Thompson would have a better sophomore campaign. I don't think there's any question right now that JT is having the better campaign.

Were we hoping for too much?

JUMP for the rumor and more!

Anthony Randolph

#4 / Forward / Golden State Warriors

Height: 6-10

Weight: 205

Born: Jul 15, 1989

College: L-S-U

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
2009 - Anthony Randolph	22	22.0	3.9	9.0	42.7	0.0	0.2	20.0	3.5	4.3	81.1	2.1	4.4	6.5	1.0	1.3	0.8	1.2	2.9	11.3

From Adrian Wojnarowski over at the super purple Y!:

Warriors' Randolph on block again

For two seasons, the Warriors have had an odd time with Anthony Randolph(notes). Sometimes, they're in love with his sheer athletic ability in that 7-foot frame and considered him untouchable. As a rookie, they dangled him in deals, too. Well, it's happening again. Several NBA teams say Golden State officials have offered Randolph in trade discussions, but as one Eastern Conference executive said: "I think all of their roster could be had."

Says one Western official: "The Warriors are willing to do anything and everything."

Randolph is 20 years old and blessed with terrific talent, but his staying power and maturity have frustrated Golden State officials. It appears they're willing to cash his potential for more mature assets. After destroying the summer league in Vegas, Randolph has averaged 11.1 points in 21.8 minutes per night for the Warriors.

Even with his patriarch, Keith Smart, substituting for an ill Don Nelson, Randolph's productivity hasn't improved. Still, he's so young, so gifted, it's a move that would come with a great deal of long-term risk.

I'm pretty enamored with Anthony Randolph's potential, though I think he has a long, long, long way to go. However, with the Warriors currently holding the 2nd worst record in the mighty Western Conference and only 2 Eastern Conference teams (the New Jersey Nets and Philadelphia 76ers who the Warriors just lost to last night- see my man Feltbot's RECAP: Warriors 101, Sixers 117 -- The Answer) having worse records, I'm ecstatic to read these words:

as one Eastern Conference executive said: "I think all of their roster could be had."

Says one Western official: "The Warriors are willing to do anything and everything."

There simply are no untouchables on a team this bad whether it's the quite possibly overhyped Anthony Randolph to turnover machine Monta Ellis (see Polling GSoM: Will the Golden State Warriors lead the league in turnovers this season?).

Let's play this game in Warriors land.

For more on Randolph's season thus far let me pass the mic to JAE who eloquently summed up the Dubs first 24 games earlier this morning in So many deck chairs, so little time:

Randolph's rookie season was rather bipolar. He opened up as a wildly out of control talent who failed miserably in attempts to be an NBA SF, but started to shine as a big man, a rebounding machine with an ever climbing FG% once inserted into that role. The quite-possibly-overstated news stories said that he was putting in the hours over the summer, getting bigger and stronger and working on being the player we need him to be. When Brandan Wright went down, it looked like Randolph would see more time. When Ronny and Andris stopped playing in favor of some quality time with Tom Abdenour, it seemed like Anthony was due major minutes.

But the 21 minutes a night Randolph's averaged seems insignificantly greater than those 18 a night we've seen from Mikki Moore. Moore's previously mediocre to poor rebounding significantly over-predicted what he'd do this year. Apparently no one told him that as the only "big" in the lineup, his rebounding totals would be "padded" in the same manner some allege has happened for Biedrins (but not Turiaf) over the last few years. [We don't know much about Chris Hunter, but for what it's worth, he's been a poorer rebounder than Moore. Either he too didn't get the memo that his totals are supposed to be padded as well. Stop the hollering for Hunter, people. That's the wrong tree to bark up.]

More Randolph and less Moore would be a start. Yes, the foul rate limits how much time Randolph can be out there, but it does not explain why we're seeing Randolph on the bench more often than not. Has he 'regressed' some from the end of last season? Perhaps. But overall the trend still seems up. It's just perplexing why he's not playing far more often. At least we'd have something to hang our hopes on.

Definitely make sure to read the rest of JAE's piece.

The good news Dubs Nation: There's only one way to go up from here and that's up. It really can't get any worse.

Thanks to kenntoe for the FanShot.

Poll

Should the Warriors make Anthony Randolph untouchable in trade discussions?

So many deck chairs, so little time- 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors season through 24 games

2009-12-15T16:00:36Z

With the season now passed the psychologically all-important 28.012455% completed mark, it's time to assess where the Warriors are and what can be done about it.

For starters, let's get this out of the way. If anyone still held out playoff hopes, let them go. You're wasting valuable wishing on more likely things, like hitting the jackpot in the state lottery. The Thunder, currently 8^th in the west, are on pace for 47 wins. To best that, we'd have to win 41 of the remaining 58 games. Even an outside shot means winning more than 60% of the remaining contests. While we are losing to Chicago and Detroit and looking lost against Philly, that sort of performance is tooth-fairy level fantasy. Getting close to 0.500 is going to take some awesome basketball from here on out as well, and unless everyone gets healthy and starts playing some good ball, and soon, I wouldn't hold out for anything there either.

Going out and not being an embarrassment every night and doing something that remotely resembles building on the future, doing *something* that makes us think that there's reason to pay attention in the future. That has to be the goal.

So what can be done there?

Let's start with the bright spots.

...um...um...

OK, that's enough of that. The bright spots haven't been that bright. Moving on with the "not burned out bulb dark alley" spots, Stephen Curry is putting in more time than a Warriors' rookie has in quite a while, with results that still suggest that they may have done well in the draft. No, he hasn't been the top rookie point guard. That honor likely goes to Brandon Jennings. Even though he's cooled of a bit from the start, Jennings has been rather sensational. And though his scoring efficiency drags down the overall output a bit, he's shown the ability to do everything you can ask of an NBA point guard and has done it well. Additionally, Ty Lawson hasn't played nearly as much, but in his more limited minutes, he's shown all the tools as well.

[For what it's worth, I never understood why the electrically fast Jonny Flynn was touted so highly and eventually went high in the lottery while the equally electrically fast Ty Lawson sunk to the late stages of the first round. Lawson was better in college and so far has been the better pro. Yes, Lawson's in a better situation, surrounded by better players. But that doesn't explain all of it. What he did in college suggested that Lawson was going to be better, that he would make more of his shots, and per minute on the court, hand out more assists and turn the ball over less and grab more rebounds. And that's exactly what we've seen in the pros. Denver is playing real well. Lawson is part of the reason why. Minnesota stinks. Flynn hasn't changed that. The future may change all of this, but for now, whatever 'reasoning' that had Flynn much more highly touted should be examined closely. Their relative performances are more or less what their previous play predicted.]

But getting back to Curry, he's likely here for a while and for the while, that still seems like it could be a good thing. He's demonstrated that he's the best distributor on the team (setting the bar low certainly withstanding). The assist total could be higher and it probably would be without the overall dysfunctional nature of the Warriors offense. The turnovers are a bit high given the number of assists. But he's shown himself to be a reasonable, though not spectacular shooter, efficient enough to suggest that he should shoot it more often and the offense has shown some life when he's been running it. Still he could and should do more. One suspects that Curry is still trying to show the detractors who said he was just an undersized 2 from a small school that he has the chops to make it as an NBA point guard. And he has shown that he really is a point guard, but now it's time to also show that he's able to put some points on the board, to use that sweet stroke he was known for in college to extend the defense.

So is there a move to make? Curry should continue to play. No huge change there. Calls to send him to the pine in favor of C.J. Watson, a player on a one year deal who by almost all counts will have his bags packed to depart the Warriors locker room for good come the final game of the season, seem a bit misguided. That is except for the fact that C.J. should play more, simply because the team has played better when he's been in. And in the long run, reinforcing lousy play across the board will hurt those who don't clean out their lockers come the night of April 13^th, 2010.

So if Curry should play and Watson should play, the minutes have to come from somewhere. And right now, those minutes should come at Monta Ellis's expense.

Please do not interpret this as advocation for sending Monta to the bench, or ditching him entirely. But the nightly Allen Iverson tribute band he's cast himself in is not working out for anyone involved. Forty-one minutes of ball-hoggedly predictable high-volume shooting pads his point total, but makes for a stagnant offense where Monta's points come at the expense of a more efficient offense with a better distribution of the scoring load. At the end of games, opponents know that the shots are coming from a tired Ellis and when defenses can key on a tired player, they tend to win that contest. One gets the impression that Ellis thinks he needs to take every shot, and to some the extent that no one else should be taking 18 shots a night, he's right. But no one should have the opportunity to turn the ball over 9 times a game either. So far this year, Monta has accomplished that 3 times. As a benchmark, Kobe Bryant has done that 4 times in his entire career. An honest 35 minutes a night keeps him fresh and it just might help Curry to become a bit more aggressive when Monta isn't there to take all the shots.

So some Curry spiced with a bit more C.J. Watson, at least until his shooting cools, is in order. Still not the most exciting way to avoid catastrophe, and hardly something to feed our psychotic visions of success sometime in the future. For that, we still have to turn to the off-season's savior apparent, Anthony Randolph.

Randolph's rookie season was rather bipolar. He opened up as a wildly out of control talent who failed miserably in attempts to be an NBA SF, but started to shine as a big man, a rebounding machine with an ever climbing FG% once inserted into that role. The quite-possibly-overstated news stories said that he was putting in the hours over the summer, getting bigger and stronger and working on being the player we need him to be. When Brandan Wright went down, it looked like Randolph would see more time. When Ronny and Andris stopped playing in favor of some quality time with Tom Abdenour, it seemed like Anthony was due major minutes.

But the 21 minutes a night Randolph's averaged seems insignificantly greater than those 18 a night we've seen from Mikki Moore. Moore's previously mediocre to poor rebounding significantly over-predicted what he'd do this year. Apparently no one told him that as the only "big" in the lineup, his rebounding totals would be "padded" in the same manner some allege has happened for Biedrins (but not Turiaf) over the last few years. [We don't know much about Chris Hunter, but for what it's worth, he's been a poorer rebounder than Moore. Either he too didn't get the memo that his totals are supposed to be padded as well, or he's just terrible. Stop the hollering for Hunter, people. That's the wrong tree to bark up.]

More Randolph and less Moore would be a start. Yes, the foul rate limits how much time Randolph can be out there, but it does not explain why we're seeing Randolph on the bench more often than not. Has he 'regressed' some from the end of last season? Perhaps. But overall the trend still seems up. It's just perplexing why he's not playing far more often. At least we'd have something to hang our hopes on.

So what do we have? Reel in Monta a touch and push Curry to step it up and play Randolph the minutes his production warrants? No, the changes probably won't make a huge difference, but rather they try than stick with this Titanic mess that we're seeing.

Make it happen, coach. Those deck chairs ain't gonna rearrange themselves!

Poll

The brightest spot so far this year has been:

RECAP: Warriors 101, Sixers 117 -- The Answer

2009-12-15T06:01:53Z

More photos » by Jesse D. Garrabrant - NBAE/Getty Images

(Is that Mikki Moore waiting under the basket? Tasty!)

Browse more photos »

Final Boxscore | Game Thread (820+ Comments) | Warriors Web Links

There was a little intrigue surrounding this battle of Eastern and Western Conference cellar dwellers. Would this be the game that the desperate Sixers broke their 12 game losing streak? Would the short-handed and undersized Warriors have anything left in the tank for the fifth game of a long East-coast road trip? And perhaps most intriguing, who would win the battle of lightning-bug scoring machines, the reigning title holder in that category, Allen Iverson, or the man many have called Iverson's successor, Monta Ellis?

Unfortunately, we got early and decisive answers to all of our questions, and they all came down in favor of The Answer, Allen Iverson, and his Philadelphia 76ers.

FINAL - 12.14.2009	1	2	3	4	TOTAL
Golden State Warriors	24	33	11	33	101
Philadelphia 76ers	36	35	26	20	117

COMPLETE COVERAGE >

The Sixers deserve a lot of credit for this win. Their coach, Eddie Jordan, made a bold move by starting a quicker and smaller unit than usual. He took Elton Brand out of the starting lineup, and put Thaddeus Young, normally a small forward, at power forward. T-Young was the Warriors killer in this game. His quickness and athleticism ate up Vlad Rad, and made Mikki Moore look like the old man in the rec league. He finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds, most coming in the first half. Taking Brand's place in the starting lineup was rookie point guard and defensive specialist Jrue Holiday. Holiday did a nice job hawking Monta, and his length appeared to bother Monta's jumper. And yes, The Answer delivered: Iverson got an efficient 20 points on 10 shots. Have you ever seen Allen Iverson play within a team concept, and take only what the defense was giving him? It happened in this game, and may be the way of the future for the noticeably slower 34 year old legend.

But mostly, this game was about what the Warriors couldn't do. Perhaps exhausted in the last game of their long road trip, they simply didn't show up to compete. Monta Ellis couldn't get anything going, shooting 3-15 from the field, many of his misses coming on open layups. But even if Monta had played well, it wouldn't have mattered in a game in which the Warriors simply surrendered the paint to the Sixers.

Here's a couple of stats that tell the real story of this game: The Warriors total number of rebounds, 26, was only one more than the number of offensive rebounds they gave up, 25. If you had tried to count the number of Sixers layups and dunks that resulted, you would have run out of fingers and toes. Overall, the Sixers outrebounded the Warriors 59-26. Now that's a bloody massacre.

Obviously, this was a game in which the Warriors greatly missed their injured big men, Andris Biedrins and Rony Turiaf. But even more obviously, they missed the comfort of their beds at home. As Coach Keith Smart memorably put it in his post-game interview, the road-weary Warriors played "like a horse trying to get back to the barn."

Sticking with Smart's barnyard theme, I'm going to initiate a new feature, that hopefully doesn't get too much use going forward. This is where I try to find some nice things about the Warriors' performance in a blowout loss. I'm calling it:

Lipstick on a Pig

I liked the play of two Warriors in this game:

Anthony Randolph: The Warriors' version of Where's Waldo? showed up for this game, on a night when no one else did. Go figure. Here are the highlights:

Have you been looking for a clue as to why Randolph's playing time has been so sporadic in the last few games? You may need to look no further than this: Randolph virtually never took a jumpshot in this game. He took the lumbering Dalembert to the rack again and again, finishing beautifully, and drawing fouls. Randolph took 11 free throws in this game.
After a slow start in which he again got burned by leaving his feet for pump-fakes, Randolph settled down and gave a solid defensive effort. I think he got more than the 2 blocks he was credited in the box score.
He played under control at all times, even when leading the fast break. Only 1 turnover.
Keith Smart praised Randolph after the game, and at the same time dropped a few more tea leaves to read for puzzled Randolph watchers. Smart said that Randolph was "decisive," and "tried to compete at a high level." And "even with everything going on with him, he was ready to go." A reference to the family emergency that took Randolph away from the team a few games ago?

Devean George: When George came in for Monta Ellis at 5:25 in the third, we knew the plug had been pulled. But surprisingly, George looked pretty darn good in his first extended action this season. He drained three threes, and really competed on the defensive end, helping turn a sickening 30 point blowout into a "respectable" 16 point blowout. Keith Smart praised his professionalism after the game, and said he hoped it would serve as a lesson for his young players.

It will be interesting to see if the Warriors intend to give George real minutes on the front line going forward. From the looks of this road trip, they may need him.

This is a tough choice. This would be the first Warrior Wonder of Devean George's career! And will I ever get another chance to give it to him? I gotta go with the young fella though: Mr. Anthony Randolph. He needs our support.

Warriors Web Links: Warriors 101 @ 76ers 117 - Flat tire on road trip finale

2009-12-15T05:45:39Z

More photos » by Michael Perez - AP

Browse more photos »

Last update: Dec 15, 12:00am - Added gameflow.

Box score | Gameflow

Warriors: Golden State of Mind
Recap: RECAP: Warriors 101 Sixers 117 -- The Answer
Game thread: GAME THREAD #24: Warriors @ 76ers - Will the 76ers show the Warriors some brotherly love? (800+ comments)

76ers: Liberty Ballers
Recap: Sixers snap 12-game losing streak
Game thread: Warriors @ Sixers game thread 12/14/09

Other recaps

Associated Press recap: 76ers snap 12-game losing skid against Warriors
Sports Network recap: Young, Sixers stop 12-game slide with rout of Warriors
Marcus Thompson II recap: Golden State Warriors end road trip with shellacking by Philadelphia 76ers
Rusty Simmons recap: Golden State checks out early

Live Blogging Links

Geoff Lepper: Game 24, Live: Warriors (7-16) at 76ers (5-18)
Rusty Simmons: final (to be added if available)
Rusty Simmons: Game 24: Warriors at Philadelphia (halftime)

Pregame News

- Before the game, there was some talk about how Monta compares to Allen Iverson.
Marcus Thompson II: Golden State Warriors' Monta Ellis is drawing comparisons to Allen Iverson

Postgame News

- Some quotes from George and Keith Smart about George's game tonight.
Rusty Simmons: George plays well in 1st significant minutes

- Nellie should be cured of pneumonia, ready to fully return with the team.
Marcus Thompson II: Don Nelson's health improving; he's set to reclaim Golden State Warriors' head coaching duties

Pregame Videos

No pregame videos found.

Postgame Videos

Postgame: Keith Smart.

Highlights by orangino.

What's next?

- A two game home stand: Wed vs Spurs, Fri vs Wizards.
- Nellie is ready to fully return to the team.

Poll

At what point did you switch over to the 49ers pregame/game?

San Francisco 49ers vs. Arizona Cardinals Open Thread [Niners Nation]

2009-12-15T02:28:16Z

San Francisco 49ers vs. Arizona Cardinals Open Thread [Niners Nation]

Warriors snapping the Sixers 12 game losing streak got you down?

Flip the switch to ESPN Monday Night Football and click and roll on over to Niners Nation.

LET'S GO NINERS!

GAME THREAD #24: Warriors @ 76ers - Will the 76ers show the Warriors some brotherly love?

2009-12-14T19:33:23Z

(It's sweet to see Monta giving gifts out during the holidays, but lets hope he and the rest of the Warriors can give us fans the gift of a win tonight)

Warriors: 7-16

76ers: 5-18

Tip-Off: 4:00pm

TV: CSN Bay Area

Radio: KNBR 680

Sbnation Blog Buddy: Liberty Ballers

Happy Monday Warriors nation.

It's the beginning of a new (work) week. It's the holidays. The San Francisco 49ers are playing Monday Night Football.

Not only do you have variety, but if the Warriors are sucking, you have options for other entertainment during the evening. Unless the Niners are sucking, too, then, damn, we're out of luck.

The Warriors are at the end of their road trip and just in time. They're facing the Philadelphia 76ers, who struggling equally. But crappy teams, sans the New Jersey Nets, seemed to find a way to break out of their funk. Will the Allen Iverson versus Monta Ellis showdown tonight be like watching mirror images battling each other? Derrick Rose seems to think so.

Who will come out on top? Click for some predictions.

The Warriors are severely undermanned and under-talented. The 76ers, on the other hand, are somewhat more talented on paper, but with some mismatching parts. Which is the bigger problem though? The Warriors lack of depth looks like its become a bigger impediment than ever, especially as it forces Monta to dominate the ball leading to unforced turnovers.

Allen Iverson has been pretty average since rejoining his former squad, but I can guarantee that he will temporarily break out of his funk for one night to show us some of this:

Predictions:

Warriors by -7
Monta Ellis has 34, but also 9 turnovers.
Stephen Curry has 15 points and 7 assists
Elton Brand plays like he's in his twenties again: 28 points, 19 rebounds, and 4 blocks
Allen Iverson gets tripped up for the 3rd game in a row, this time by Monta on a crossover.

(Monta Ellis this time around?)

What are your predictions for tonight's game?

Introducing... Feltbot!

2009-12-14T19:31:10Z

Just like the rest of the GSoM Crew, you're probably well aware of the masterful craftiness of Feltbot. You've witnessed his guest recaps on GSoM and Feltbot's Warriors blog. So naturally we asked the good man to join our growing and unstoppable band of hoops junkies. Here's how it went when Fantasy Junkie and I tried to get Feltbot to join our writing staff...

AB1: "Feltbot! Felbot-tronics! Felt-botanical gardens! Join our golden crew and as we say over here in Dubs land, you'll have a great time out!"

FJ: "Plus we've got fly threads! I mean you saw our retro GSoM Night 7 jerseys. Just wait till you see what we've got in store for GSoM Night 8!"

Feltbot: "This is all very true and sounds exactly like the kind of exciting, labor intensive, low paying gig I've been searching for all my life! I'm in. BUT...

AB1: "But what?

Feltbot: "I'll only join the crew if you two jokers beat me in a game of poker."

FJ: "Ummm, this shouldn't be too hard. I mean AB1 and I are the masters of fantasy sports. Poker? Psshhh... we got this!"

AB1: <whispers to FJ: "Are you nuts?!">

ALL IN.

via kkenkk.files.wordpress.com

Jump to see how the poker game transpired.

Feltbot's Hand

via www.svenstightpokertips.com

Fantasy Junkie + Atma Brother #1's Hand

via psp.88000.org

FJ: "WHEW. You know I was just joking about us being good at poker."

AB1: "They don't call us unstoppable baby for nuthin'!"

Please put your fingers to your keyboard and give Feltbot a golden welcome to the GSoM Crew!

Poll

What has a higher probability of occurring?

NBA 'Watchability' Scale: Ranking every team based on entertainment, not talent

2009-12-14T17:10:35Z

NBA 'Watchability' Scale: Ranking every team based on entertainment, not talent

Just when you thought the .304 Golden State Warriors were "Unwatchable Baby!", they placed in the top half of the league in terms of 'watchability'.

An entertaining mess... just like GSoM?

Q&A: Marcus Thompson - Contra Costa Times / InsideBayArea.com (Part 1 of 3)- Warriors bright spots, the next to be traded, Robert Rowell and basketball decisions

2009-12-14T02:00:35Z

We recently mic'ed up Marcus Thompson of the Contra Costa Times/ InsideBayArea.com to get his thoughts on the Golden State Warriors.

Click and roll to MT's Dubs blog

Jump for some positives about the Warriors season, who will be the next players the team ships out, and Robert Rowell's future in making Warriors hoops decisions.

Golden State of Mind: We're in the midst of some seemingly endless "Dubs Drama" (again). Let's hit the pause button on the dysfunction for a second though. You cover the Warriors extremely closely, so you're the best person to ask this. What are some of the bright spots for this organization either on or off the court that aren't getting enough ink across the hoops world?

Marcus Thompson: The bright spots are obvious: Monta Ellis, Anthony Morrow, Anthony Randolph, Stephen Curry and I will even throw Kelenna Azubuike in there.

The brightest is no doubt Monta Ellis. Say what you want about him, the kid is showing he is special. He hasn't done anything yet. But the prospects look good. He will benefit the Warriors extremely down the road, whether as a player or as trade bait.

Morrow is right behind Ellis. He may not have the superstar power Ellis has, but Morrow at the very least could be just a solid starter for years to come. That is nothing to sneeze at.

Randolph, though he is up and down, I think is still promising. His fate may be more in the hands of his coaches, who have to figure out a way to help him progress. But that is what organizations have to do sometimes. Sure, the onus is on the player. But he didn't invest in himself, the Warriors invested in him. It is on them to do everything they can to maximize that investment. Because if Randolph turns out to be a bust, it's the franchise's fault for drafting him.

The cap flexibility is also pretty good. As it is now, they have the flexibility to add a big contract for a player they really want. The chance is there to really get someone good. If they don't take advantage, that is on them.

Golden State of Mind: Within his first few months on the job as the GM of the Warriors Larry Riley has already given the roster a shake-up. Jamal Crawford, Marco Belinelli, and recently Stephen Jackson have all been shipped out. This still isn't a contender to say the least, so more moves seem likely. Considering the big money deals still on the books, expiring contracts, young and raw talent, and lingering in-house drama, who do you think will be the next player(s) headed out? Does Monta Ellis "got next"?

Marcus Thompson: Ideally, it would be Corey Maggette. They aren't getting the bang for his buck, and he certainly would like to play more. But everyone knows it's tough to trade his contract. With that said, I think it has to be either Monta Ellis or Andris Biedrins. I don't see how they can land a difference maker without giving up one of those two. Those are the two big money guys, so if the Warriors want to give someone $15 a year, they will probably need to move one of those two (unless they can get rid of Maggette's contract). But mainly, those two guys I think are the only commodities the Warriors have that will make another team give up a stud.

If you're Phoenix, who would you want in return for Stoudemire? If you're Toronto, who would you want in exchange for Bosh? Sure, they want young talent, but for the money the Warriors will have to shell out, young talent won't be enough. Maybe if they decided to package Curry and Randolph with Maggette, they might get another team to bite. But I really don't think they'd do that.

Curry and Randolph are among the untouchables currently, but I wouldn't be surprise if their status changed between February and August. Especially in the case of Randolph, the Warriors may be more willing to include him in a deal down the line than they are right now.

Golden State of Mind: Golden State Warriors president Robert Rowell has had his fair share of critics for personally inking Stephen Jackson to that questionable early 3 year extension, among other recent front office decisions. With Larry Riley and Don Nelson firmly entrenched as the Warriors GM head coach is this the last we'll see Rowell making basketball decisions such as negotiating player deals and extensions? How safe is his job with the Warriors?

Marcus Thompson: I think it's the last he'll be taking or given credit publicly. There was a time when the Warriors wanted his name mentioned for the good things the Warriors did. Of course, with that comes your name being mentioned when bad things happen.

I think everyone in the organization, even Rowell, realizes that he needs to either become the GM or let the GM run the show. I don't think that means he is out of the loop on decision making, though. In the end, he's still got to approve all financial moves, and sell them to owner Chris Cohan. So he's in the room, and at the very least in the loop. But Riley will get all the credit and the blame when it comes to basketball decisions.

**********

Stay tuned for the rest of our Q&A with Marcus! In the mean time make sure to check out Inside the Warriors

RECAP: Warriors 95, Pistons 104 - Deja Vu

2009-12-13T06:10:45Z

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

2 days ago: Golden State Warriors assistant coach Keith Smart directs from the sidelines during the second quarter of an NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons in Auburn Hills, Mich., Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009. Warriors coach Don Nelson was home in California recovering from pneumonia. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Browse more photos »

Final Boxscore | Open Thread (1000+ Comments)

This game mirrored the loss to the Bulls.

The first half was all about quick, crisp passing, ball movement, and drives to the bucket. At one point they built a 13 point lead. Despite some bone headed plays which allowed the Pistons to go on a 10-2 run, the Warriors were able to hold onto a 6 point lead at the half. On the road you just want to be close at the end to give yourself a chance to win and the play in the first half looked like the Warriors would have a chance. It was looking good.

The second half became another struggle for the Warriors to score. The 3rd quarter was a disaster with the Warriors going 5-19 and scoring just 12 points to the Pistons 22. They fell into the same problem they had yesterday, jumper, jumper, jumper, jumper. Essentially, the Pistons got the Warriors to play at the Pistons tempo, slow and deliberate. Half court to half court. Not many fast breaks. Too many possessions with the shot clock winding under 10. Slow and deliberate. Even though the Warriors nearly made a comeback as they went back and forth in the 4th with the Pistons to cut the lead to 2, they just weren't able to fully recover from the disastrous 3rd.

What's With All the Second Half Meltdowns?
I begin to wonder how much of these second half meltdowns are due to fatigue. This was the back end of a back to back so I can understand being tired, but to me, it looked like they had enough energy to finish the game. That doesn't explain the collapses at home against the Rocketes and Magic, as well as the poor second halves against the Bulls and Pistons. Are they tired because they were playing with 7 man rotations for so long? Or are these second half failures due to just not being a very good team? Or both?

If it's the fatigue issue, that's on the management. When you consistently trade healthy players for injured players (Devean George, Speedy Claxton, Raja Bell), your roster is going to be depleted. If it's the just not being a very good team, again, that's on the management, the coaching, and well, the players.

I'm not saying I know what the issue with the meltdowns is, but why does it happen so often? I could look on the bright side and say "at least they were in the game", but the only thing that really matters are W's and L's.

Anthony + Anthony = 0
I have no idea what happened to these two tonight but they contributed just barely more than I did, and I contributed nothing. Their combined stats: 32 minutes, 0 points (0-4 FG's), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 4 turnovers. Ouch! I think A-Mo has an excuse, he might not be there mentally due to the death in the family. I'll give him a pass for the last few games. He just doesn't look the same.

But I don't know what happened to Anthony Randolph. I don't know where he is mentally because he made numerous boneheaded mistakes tonight:

He missed cutting down the lane to receive a pass from Curry who had drawn to defenders. Randolph would have had an easy dunk.
He's still taking bad shots. In fact, right now, anything outside of 5 feet should be considered a bad shot for him. That airball from 15 feet out on the baseline was hideous.
He's still leaving his feet on defense when he doesn't need to. I can remember two instances. The first had a guard driving the lane in what amounted to a 2 on 1. The guard jumps, Anthony jumps and leaves his feet, which allows the guard to just dump the ball to a big man for a dunk. Second time was when Stuckey grabbed an offensive rebound and Randolph was standing between him and the basket. Stuckey pump fakes, Randolph jumps, Stuckey draws the foul. Why does Randolph need to leave his feet every time a guard drives the lane? If he stays on his feet, keeps his hands up, he makes it extremely difficult to make the shot. And if the other guy leaves his feet, Randolph is quick enough to get up and block the shot.

Corey + Monta
These two guys played well tonight. Even though Maggette is still shooting 3's early in the shot clock (bad shot) he looked much better tonight than last night. He got to the line 8 times (0 yesterday) and shot a nice 8-13 from the field. He was more aggressive in attacking the bucket which got him some easy buckets and free throws, his bread and butter. He only grabbed four boards tonight, but it felt like he was much more active in the paint trying to secure rebounds.

Monta was great tonight. He played all 48 minutes and was still working hard until the end. He had a nice shooting night, 29 points on 11-20 shooting. But he also chipped in with 7 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, with just 1 turnover. He was also very aggressive on defense going for steals and harassing the opposing guards. I've been impressed with the effort he's put forth on D this year. He says he's been doing it the entire time, but you, me, Monta, and the coaches know that he's stepped up his D in comparison to last season. And to be honest, it makes me smile. I appreciate effort, hustle, and desire on defense.

via cdn0.sbnation.com

Pistons

Rip Hamilton played in just his 2nd game of the season. His presence just might make the Pistons a better team. He didn't shoot exceptionally well, but he hit some key shots in the 4th.
But Rip wasn't the reason for the win, that honor belongs to Rodney Stuckey - 29 points (10-18 FG's, 9-10 FT's) to go with 7 assists. His 7 turnovers were a sore spot, but he came through in the 4th for them when the Warriors made a little run to cut the lead.
The other guy I was impressed with was Charlie Villanueva. His post moves looked smooth and refined. He had a hook shot from about 7 feet, he caught an alley oop when Vlad turned his head, and he did some nice work with jumpers.

via cdn0.sbnation.com

Warriors Web Links: Warriors 95 @ Pistons 104 - Back to back disappointments

2009-12-13T06:27:15Z

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

Browse more photos »

Last update: Dec 13, 09:30am - Added MT2 Inside Warriors, Mike Massa recap.

Box score | PopcornMachine Gameflow

Warriors: Golden State of Mind
Recap: RECAP: Warriors 95, Pistons 104 - Deja Vu
Game thread: GAME THREAD #23: Warriors @ Pistons - Diagnosing and Curing The Suck (1050+ comments)

Pistons: Motown String Music
Recap: Title to be added
Game thread: Game 23: Golden State Warriors @ Detroit Pistons [Game Thread]

Other recaps

Associated Press recap: Pistons beat Warriors in Hamilton’s return
Sports Network recap: Hamilton's return sparks Pistons over Warriors
Rusty Simmons recap: Warriors lapses waste plenty of good play
Marcus Thompson II recap: Warriors can't keep up in loss
=== Added Dec 13, 09:30am ===
Mike Massa recap and thoughts: Warriors follow familiar template in loss to Pistons

Live Blogging Links

Geoff Lepper: Game 23, Live: Warriors (7-15) at Pistons (10-12)
Rusty Simmons: Game 23: Warriors at Detroit (final)
Rusty Simmons: Game 23: Warriors at Detroit (halftime)

Pregame News

- No pregame news found.

Postgame News

- Monta's been racking up the turnovers. But a little tweak in the offense has lowered his turnover numbers recently.
Marcus Thompson II: Ellis turnovers down with less time at point guard

- The next step the Warriors would like to the see the point guard take is getting to the foul line more often.
Rusty Simmons: Curry's next step - get more free throws

=== Added Dec 13, 09:30am ===

- MT2 on losing close games, lower fg %, Morrow's slump, Monta's fewer turnovers.
Marcus Thompson II: Game #23 (7-16): Pistons 104, Warriors 95

Pregame Videos

- No pregame videos found.

Postgame Videos

Postgame: Bob and Jim.

Postgame: Keith Smart.

Highlights by orangino.

What's next?

- A day off, and then the last game of the road trip on Mon. @Philadelphia.

Stat request

- During the broadcast, Bob mentioned that the Warriors defense has held their opponents to about 40% shooting on their first shot attempt. But the Warriors are getting killed on the second chance shots, a lot of which comes from opppnents offensive rebounds and put backs. Can someone find this stat and check to see how we rank compared to the other teams?

Poll

The player that brightened your evening tonight is:

Monta Ellis

96 votes

Stephen Curry

33 votes

Anthony Morrow

3 votes

Vladimir Radmanovic

4 votes

Mikki Moore

2 votes

Corey Maggette

7 votes

Chris Hunter

0 votes

Anthony Randolph

7 votes

CJ Watson

12 votes

Nobody. Get me a flashlight.

67 votes

231 votes | Poll has closed

Former Warrior Derek Fisher is on the wrong side of a Slam poster insert

2009-12-12T20:20:56Z

Former Warrior Derek Fisher is on the wrong side of a Slam poster insert

Arguably, the awesomest dunk of the week... for Warriors fans at least.

GAME THREAD #23: Warriors @ Pistons - Diagnosing and Curing The Suck

2009-12-12T18:00:19Z

Thank the hoops gods the O.G. Bay Boys aren't around to destroy the Warriors tonight.

via need4sheed.com

Warriors: 7-15

Pistons: 7-13

Tip-Off: 4:30pm

TV: CSN Bay Area

Radio: KNBR 680

Blog Buddy: Motown String Music

Around the Association: The Return of the Bay Boys

The Pistons are coming off a nice, impressive win. see Injuries, What Injuries? Pistons 101, Nuggets 99 [Motown String Music]

The Warriors are not. see RECAP: Warriors 91, Bulls 96 - Brick!

JUMP for a preview of tonight's matchup!

.318 = 4th Worst Team in the League

Warriors homers, apologists, and mismanagement like to paint us as being negative for saying this, but the truth is this basketball team straight up sucks. The Chicago Bulls had lost 9 out of 10 coming into last night's matchup and a perfect throwback to the Leastern Conference of this decade. That was not a good team the Warriors just lost to.

Not at all.

Newsflash: The 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors are not a good team.

Thank goodness we got jokes.

Diagnosis + Cures

The Warriors are a flat out mess. Here's a few of the major issues and a few solutions. Please add yours in the comments.

Diagnosis: Horrible assist to turnover, turnover, turnover ratio. see Polling GSoM: Will the Golden State Warriors lead the league in turnovers this season?

Cure: Last night's game notwithstanding the biggest culprit has been the Warriors wannabe All-Star Monta Ellis (more on his empty meaningless numbers on a garbage team later). The limited, low hoops IQ guard Chris Mullin/ Robert Rowell foolishly decided to blow up WE BELIEVE for and build around is currently leading the league in turnovers by a wide margin at 4.5. It's not like he's a high volume assister either at 5.3.

Is it all his fault?

Of course not.

Part of it is his teammates just aren't playing very good basketball right now and simply aren't creme de la crem of the NBA talent-wise (apologize if you thought they were with their mythical, untapped upside).

Another part of it is coaching and management. Why this team continues to force him into a point guard role and primary ball handler makes no sense to me.

He's simply not that (point guard) guy.

So many sharp Warriors fans have known this for years. It's not that difficult of a concept to grasp.

The cure is simple. Move Monta off the ball more... a lot more. Make Stephen Curry the primary ball handler and distributor. Sure there's going to be a lot of rookie mistakes early on, but let's see what he can do. We already know what Monta can do.

Make Curry the distributor and Monta the scorer.

Diagnosis: The Warriors can't buy a bucket at the end of quarters.

Cure: See above. Get the ball out of Ellis' hands. I can't say that enough. If he was coming off the ball I bet he'd have a much more impressive scoring rate on those last possessions.

Diagnosis: The Warriors are getting beat on the glass every single night.

Cure: I don't think he'll make the biggest impact on this team's win total, but when Andris Biedrins comes back this shouldn't be as big of a discrepancy. I'll have to dig deeper a little though.

In the mean time I'd like to see Chris Hunter and Anthony Randolph playing more over Mikki Moore. Not that I don't appreciate MIKEY!'s professional attitude. Not that I don't think MIKEY! is a decent 3rd or 4th string center for this team. Not that I don't think MIKEY! isn't trying. Not that I don't think MIKEY! hasn't had some good moments for this team this year.

It's just that giving him all this playing time is somewhat pointless.

I know Coach Keith Smart isn't that big of a fan of Hunter, but hey- it's not like playing MIKEY! so many minutes is producing all that much. Hunter has been pretty solid and has earned some PT in my book.

I know Randolph can be a complete disaster most of the time and he seems like exactly the wrong young guy to gift wrap playing time too, but hey- it's not like MIKEY! has really earned all that PT this season. I do understand the decision to start MIKEY! over AR to position Randolph against backup players and prevent him from picking up early frustrating fouls though.

Diagnosis: I'm fairly certain that unless there's a major shakeup this team is not making the playoffs... again. That means that between 1994 and 2010 the Warriors have only made the playoffs ONCE. Pitiful.

Cure: Sell the team Chris Cohan. (Sorry if it seems like I'm repeating this ad naseum. I guess I am.) From what I've gathered the past 2 years from various folks Cohan is looking to sell, it's just a matter of time and for what price.

Well hurry up already!

This franchise needs an owner that will give Don Nelson a talented veteran team for a last grand finale. I'm confident Larry Riley can steer the ship in the right way given the resources. Unfortunately we might never know.

Predictions

Monta Ellis scores 25+ points but has 5+ turnovers
Aside from the Ellis turnovers, Ben Gordon's statline looks eerily like Monta's.
Anthony Morrow aka Mr. GSoM Night 8 snaps out of yesterday's shooting funk. Chocolate rain ya'll!
Tonight's Warrior Killer: I give you none other that Swedish product Jonas Jerebko
Warriors by 1

"Whatcha Gonna Do?"

Hopefully not lose to another bad team... again.

Post any pre-game thoughts and ongoing game discussion in the comments.

Detroit Pistons News

Golden State Warriors (7-15) at Detroit Pistons (10-12), 7:30 p.m.
(Sports Network) about 1 hour ago.
Recap: Detroit vs. Denver
(Sports Network) 1 day ago.
Denver Nuggets (16-6) at Detroit Pistons (9-12), 7:30 p.m.
(Sports Network) 2 days ago.
Recap: Philadelphia vs. Detroit
(Sports Network) 2 days ago.
Detroit Pistons (8-12) at Philadelphia 76ers (5-16), 7 p.m.
(Sports Network) 3 days ago.
Recap: Detroit vs. Washington
(Sports Network) 5 days ago.
Washington Wizards (7-11) at Detroit Pistons (7-12), 6 p.m.
(Sports Network) 6 days ago.
Recap: Detroit vs. Milwaukee
(Sports Network) 7 days ago.
Milwaukee Bucks (9-8) at Detroit Pistons (6-12), 8 p.m.
(Sports Network) 7 days ago.
Recap: Chicago vs. Detroit
(Sports Network) 9 days ago.

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Richard Hamilton	1	36.0	10.0	19.0	52.6	1.0	5.0	20.0	4.0	5.0	80.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	2.0	25.0
Rodney Stuckey	22	37.8	6.8	16.6	41.1	0.3	1.3	21.4	4.9	5.8	84.3	1.0	3.8	4.7	4.4	2.6	1.3	0.1	3.1	18.8
Ben Gordon	18	33.6	6.4	14.3	44.7	1.5	4.3	35.1	4.4	5.4	81.4	0.4	1.8	2.3	3.0	1.8	0.8	0.1	2.6	18.7
Charlie Villanueva	21	28.6	6.3	13.3	47.3	1.2	4.0	30.1	1.8	2.3	77.6	0.9	4.5	5.4	0.8	1.2	0.6	0.9	3.4	15.6
Will Bynum	21	28.0	4.5	10.5	43.0	0.3	1.4	24.1	3.9	4.8	80.2	0.5	2.5	3.0	4.2	2.2	0.8	0.1	2.6	13.2
Tayshaun Prince	3	38.7	5.0	10.3	48.4	0.3	1.3	25.0	2.0	3.3	60.0	1.0	4.0	5.0	2.3	1.7	0.3	0.0	3.0	12.3
Jonas Jerebko	20	27.3	3.1	6.4	47.7	0.5	1.6	31.3	1.4	2.1	64.3	2.1	3.4	5.5	0.6	1.5	0.5	0.4	3.4	8.0
Jason Maxiell	21	17.9	2.1	4.1	51.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.8	56.8	1.7	2.1	3.8	0.4	1.0	0.6	0.5	2.5	5.2
Austin Daye	20	13.3	2.0	4.1	48.8	0.5	1.3	36.0	0.3	0.5	66.7	0.5	1.9	2.4	0.3	0.8	0.3	0.5	1.4	4.8
Chucky Atkins	10	15.7	1.6	5.1	31.4	0.5	2.2	22.7	0.8	0.9	88.9	0.1	0.4	0.5	1.7	0.4	0.5	0.0	0.9	4.5
Kwame Brown	20	15.5	1.7	3.4	49.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.1	2.5	44.0	1.6	2.7	4.3	0.8	1.0	0.3	0.2	1.9	4.4
Ben Wallace	22	31.0	1.6	3.7	43.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.9	53.7	4.3	5.8	10.1	1.8	0.9	1.5	1.2	2.0	4.2
Chris Wilcox	10	9.6	0.9	2.5	36.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	1.0	30.0	0.6	1.7	2.3	0.2	0.9	0.1	0.1	1.2	2.1
DaJuan Summers	13	7.2	0.7	2.1	33.3	0.4	0.7	55.6	0.3	0.3	100.0	0.2	0.4	0.6	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2	1.2	2.1

Poll

Will the Warriors get this W tonight in front of the barbaric Detroit Pistons fans?

RECAP: Warriors 91, Bulls 96 – Brick!

2009-12-12T06:58:58Z

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

3 days ago: Golden State Warriors' Monta Ellis (8) reacts after missing a shot during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls in Chicago, Friday, Dec. 11, 2009. The Bulls won 96-91. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Browse more photos »

Final Boxscore | Warriors Web Links | Open Thread (1100+ comments)

With all these young guys playing prominent roles, I guess you have to expect this kind of inconsistency. A blowout win over the Nets followed by a head scratching loss to the Bulls. The Warriors "should" have won this game? I guess my optimism got a little ahead of me. The Bulls, losers of 9 out of 10, maybe aren't as bad as I thought. But I'll still maintain that this loss wasn't so much that the Bulls beat the Warriors, but the Warriors shot themselves out of the game. Plain and simple, the Warriors desire to shoot tons of jumpers instead of getting aggressive and driving to the hole, cost them the game. Hopefully these young guys learn from this game.

Shooting Woes
The Warriors made the Bulls look like a great defensive team tonight. 38% shooting? You realize the last few games the Bulls have allowed 50%, 45%, 48%, and 51%? This is not a bad Warriors shooting team. What was with all the jumpers and lack of drives? Were they saving themselves for the second game of the back to back? 37-97 from the field. 8-28 from 3, 28.6%. Ouch. Oops. Oy.

And what's with the 12 free throws? Monta had 6. So between the other 7 players for the Warriors, they shot a combined 6 free throws. Ummm guys? You're allowed to go inside of 10 feet from the basket more than once a quarter. Corey Maggette usually gets to the line 6-7 times per game - tonight he never made an appearance.

The lack of free throws means a lot of jumpers which means not very many assists and also means lots of rebounds. The Warriors got pounded on the boards 58-44 with many thanks to the twin towers, Brad Miller and Joakim Noah. Yeesh. 14 rebound differential.

I have a beef with Anthony Morrow. 15 shots. 13 three pointers taken! Only 4 made. I can understand the 13 three pointers if he was hot, but like with alcohol, know when to say when. He went a little overboard with the 3's tonight. Every now and then you have to take the ball to the hole if you're not shooting so well from the perimeter. Or maybe take a few steps in for a jumper. C'mon young fella. I guess this is part of the maturation process? For awhile there it seemed like he was varying his offensive game by driving it to the hole, pulling up from 15, and making some decent passes. Tonight was not one of those nights.

Monta was bad as well. 10-26 from the field. At least he had more assists (5) than turnovers (3). Steph Curry was 3-9, Vlad was 4-13. The starting 5 was 24-66 (36%).

Just a bad offensive night for the Warriors. Too many jumpers and not enough drives to the hole. Not the Warriors style of play. Not a style of play they'll be successful at. They were nearly successful but that's because this was against the Bulls.

Corey MEgette
There's not a whole lot else I want to write about this game, so I'll write about Corey MEgette. I like how in Marcus Thompson's interview with MEggette that they make the argument he's not selfish because he takes care of the young guys off the court or buys expensive presents for teammates. THAT'S NOT THE SELFISHNESS FANS CARE ABOUT. Nobody gives a crap if you're a kind, generous person off the court. He may be the nicest guy, helps old women cross the street and rescues kittens out of trees. Again, nobody cares.

The selfishness fans care about is his play ON THE COURT. He's selfish on the court, no matter what Monta says. If you directly ask Monta if Corey's selfish, you really think he's going to say "Yes, Corey's selfish. He's a black hole and dosen't try on defense." Uh no.

Does MEgette work hard? Yes. Does he give up his body on offense while driving to the hole? Yes. Flopping on defense does not count as giving up one's body, that's just flopping and nobody likes a flopper. Nobody's saying he's not trying. I write "MEgette" because he plays like he's never heard the word "pass" before. I'm not asking him to be a point guard but at least make the defense think that you might drive and kick or rotate the ball around the perimeter. The second reason I write "MEgette" is because he doesn't give a crap on defense. He flops all the time and will rarely get a charging call. More often than not the offensive player either makes an uncontested shot or goes to the line. And while guarding guys on the perimeter, he's more matador than defender. Good defenders know that it's all about hustle and desire. If you're not a good defender, you lack hustle and desire.

That said, he had a nice rebounding game off the bench - 10 boards in total.

I think he's a good guy and does some great things off the court. I don't think he should be booed at the Oracle. He's far from one of the bad players on the team. He's just not a team player. He doesn't make anyone better. I don't think it's because he doesn't want to, I think it's because he doesn't know how.

One More Rant
Why is Mikki Moore still starting? When your starting center gobbles in 3 rebounds in 26 minutes, you're in trouble. Except for his revenge game against the Nets, Moore has been bad. He played a combined 19 minutes in the games against Houston and Orlando. Is it any coincidence that the Warriors had legit chances to win those games? Heck he grabbed as many rebounds as I did against the Thunder, except he played 21 minutes. How does your starting center suck so bad at getting 2 hands on an orange ball? If he was a good defender ala Chuck Hayes, I could forgive him. If he swatted shots like Turiaf, then at least he'd have something desireable about his game. But the guy is a non-factor. Can we mix up the starting lineup just a bit? It might be just me, but starting Mikki hasn't seemed too successful so far.

Anthony Randolph may have regressed and has been pretty ugly this season, but he's still better than Moore. He might even find a groove if you change it up and throw him in the starting lineup. I don't care if he hasn't earned it. Neither has Moore. Randolph at least has shown some flashes that you might be able to get something out of the 5 spot if you started him. Might even boost his confidence. What do you have to lose?

Right now, you need to change things up. Keith Smart? Don Nelson? Hello?

Silver Lining
The only silver lining? A better chance at getting John Wall. Nobody will match the Nets and Twolves ineptitude, but that 3rd worst spot is up for grabs. LGW!

No Warriors player deserves this. Nor does any of the coaching staff, front office, or waterboy. So instead I'm going TMZ style and giving it to Elin Nordegren for no other reason than I can imagine her coming after the Warriors with a 9-iron after watching them play tonight. And she's not even a Warrior fan.

And this is just a funny picture. Even Corey is about to laugh.

Poll

For the rest of this road trip, Pistons and 76ers, how many games will the Warriors win?

Warriors Web Links: Warriors 91 @ Bulls 96 - Can't close qtrs or game

2009-12-12T06:47:03Z

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

Browse more photos »

Last update: 08:10am - Added MIke Massa questions.

SBNation Box score
PopcornMachine Gameflow

Warriors: SBNation blog: Golden State of Mind
Recap: RECAP: Warriors 91, Bulls 96 – Brick!
Game thread: GAME THREAD #22: Warriors @ Bulls - Nobody Cares (1200+ comments)

Bulls: SBNation blog: Blog a Bull
Recap: No recap for this game.
Overflow: Open Game Thread #21 OVERFLOW: Bulls vs. Golden State Warriors
Game thread: Open Game Thread #21: Bulls vs. Golden State Warriors

Other recaps

Associated Press recap: Deng helps Bulls beat Warriors in overtime
Sports Network recap: Bulls get back in win column, nip Warriors in OT
Mike Massa recap: Warriors struggle to hit shots, grab rebounds in overtime loss to Bulls
Marcus Thompson II recap: Golden State Warriors, Monta Ellis can't close it out in OT loss to Chicago Bulls
Rusty Simmons recap: Warriors find an identity - it's ugly
Feltbot recap: Windy City: Bulls 96 Warriors 91
=== Added 08:10am ===
Mike Massa questions: Plenty of questions, missed shots in Warriors' loss to Bulls

Live Blogging Links

Geoff Lepper: Game 22, Live: Warriors (7-14) at Bulls (7-13)
Rusty Simmons: final (to be added if available)
Rusty Simmons: Game 22: Warriors at Chicago

Pregame News

- Someone from nwitimes.com wrote an article about Chris Hunter.
Al Hamnik: West Side grad Chris Hunter wants to belong in NBA

Postgame News

- Morrow's been struggling with his shot since his return from his relative's funeral.
Rusty Simmons: Morrow has rare off night shooting
Marcus Thompson II: Warriors' Anthony Morrow in a mini shooting slump

Pregame Videos

Biedrins in-game inteview/commentary from the Nets game, part 1, by orangino

Biedrins in-game inteview/commentary from the Nets game, part 2, by orangino

Postgame Videos

Postgame: Bob and Jim.

Highlights by orangino

What's next?

- No time to cry. We're on the road @Detroit tomorrow night. Monday @Philadelphia to conclude the road trip.
- This lost hurts more when I flip open to Yahoo Sport's NBA home page, and I see this caption:

They've been routed repeatedly and even beaten by the Nets. The Bulls rank as this season's most disappointing team.

Poll

The player that made this loss bearable for you is:

Monta Ellis

38 votes

Stephen Curry

7 votes

Anthony Morrow

3 votes

Vladimir Radmanovic

3 votes

Mikki Moore

7 votes

Corey Maggette

8 votes

Anthony Randolph

19 votes

CJ Watson

12 votes

Nobody. It was an unbearable loss.

80 votes

177 votes | Poll has closed

GAME THREAD #22: Warriors @ Bulls - Nobody Cares

2009-12-11T17:00:29Z

via www.zacharys.com
This is about all I know about Chicago. Damn good pizza.

Warriors: 7-14

Bulls: 7-13

Tip-Off: 5:00pm

TV: CSN Bay Area

Radio: KNBR 680

Blog Buddy: Blog a Bull

What's wrong in Chicago? I don't really know and I don't really care, but I certainly hope they don't figure it out until Saturday. This is a game the Warriors shouldn't lose even if they're playing on the road. in fact, this road trip isn't looking too bad. The Warriors get to face 2 teams with worse records (Nets and Sixers), one team with a near identical record (Bulls), and another with a slightly better record (Pistons). But in the grand scheme of the NBA, this game means absolutely nothing to anyone else other than Warriors fans and Bulls fans. It's like a Kings-Raptors game in the middle of the season, nobody cares. It's all about jockeying for lottery position.

It cannot be understated how bad the Bulls are right now. They've lost 9 out of 10, 7 of those losses were by 14 or more. Heck, they lost to the Nets! That should count for 3 losses. I feel a coaching change coming on. When your team gets blown out so many times in a row and you don't have too many injuries, the players have quit on you.

Betcha didn't expect that after hitting the jump. That one always makes me laugh.

The Warriors are still banged up. Andris Biedrins' osteitis pubis is not healing as soon as we thought it would. Ronny Turiaf's less fun injury name, sprained left knee, isn't healing very quickly either. I'm starting to question Tommy Abdenour's abilities. That's right! Tommy Abdenour, not Cohan, Nellie, Rowell, Monta is the reason for the current state of the Warriors. How long has he been with the Warriors? How many times have we made the playoffs? Why is it that we have so many injuries this year and last year and guys take so long to recover? Raja Bell didn't get surgery while with the Bobcats, but as soon as he comes here, boom, surgery. Someone should be held accountable! I think Tommy is the final scapegoat unless we're going to blame the cheerleaders, waterboys, and entertainment. This has nothing to do with tonight's game except that I'm still waiting for our "franchise" center and best backup (dancer) to play again before 2010 hits. How much better would the Warriors be if they replaced MIKEY with ^^^^?

Back to the game:

For the game, I'm looking forward to seeing Monta check Derrick Rose. Monta's defensive effort has really improved so I'm interested to see how he handles Rose who's bigger and stronger than Monta.
Joakim Noah has been playing quite nicely. He's averaging a double double with nearly 2 blocks per game. I don't like him much, but I'll give him his props.
When will Anthony Randolph start over MIKEY? Last year when Beans got hurt, Randolph stepped up and played well. He hustled and worked his tail off. This year, I don't feel like he's playing with that same fire. He's turned it around recently ever since he came back from injury, but I'm still waiting for him to be more than a backup.
It seems so long ago that Corey Maggette played so well in Boston. He's reverted back to the old Corey. Moreover, he's reverted back to the same Corey Maggette we've seen his entire tenure with the Warriors. He's not playing any better or worse than he was last year, it's just that Warrior fans are getting tired of his game. For me, it's not so much that he takes jumpers, it's that he's a black hole and he plays with 0 defensive intensity. It should be Corey MEgette.

Predictions

Bulls gain more ping pong balls, Warriors win by 8
Monta with more turnovers than assists, but also drops 32.
Mr. GSOM Night 8's shot is not affected by the wind in the Windy City, 6 three balls.
Anthony Randolph looks like he's been holding back tears for years now. No longer. He finally cries after having to look at Joakim Noah.
Noah grabs 15 boards.

Poll

What will be greater?

Introducing Poor Man's Commish!

2009-12-11T08:00:12Z

Ready for more hoops insight from one of the best hoops evaluators I know? From knowing whether a guy needs to do more squats to improve his defensive stance to predicting the first Asian American player in the NBA to fixing the release on a jump shot, Poor Man's Commish is all about basketball. He's a hoops junkie and the commissioner of Dream League, the largest Bay Area recreational basketball league (thus the moniker Poor Man's Commish). The hours upon hours upon hours over many years of basketball observation gives him a unique insight into what makes players special. If you want to check out some of his analysis, he's written numerous fan posts with the bulk of it breaking down the Summer League and its players.

For GSoM, he's going to contribute in much the same way the rest of the GSoM staff does by writing articles on hoops (Warriors and NBA in general) and writing recaps, but he'll also continue his Summer League scouting and jump start the GSoM Twitter account, unstoppablebaby.

We're defintely excited to bring Poor Man's Commish onto the team. If you want to check out more of what he's done, go to his blog, Poor Man's Commish. It's my pleasure to have another top notch writer contribute to the site, so please welcome Poor Man's Commish as the newest writer to the unstoppableness that is Golden State of Mind!

Polling GSoM: Do Warriors fans need to stop booing Corey Maggette?

2009-12-11T06:20:35Z

GSoM friend Marcus Thompson has a great piece on Golden State Warriors forward Corey Maggette over at Inside Bay Area: Golden State Warriors' Corey Maggette battles perceptions that he believes are unfair

The picture MT paints of Maggette is a great locker room guy who hasn't had the easiest trajectory to the association, but has prevailed.

Don't look at me- I ain't booing the man.

My thoughts after the jump...

Corey Maggette

#50 / Forward / Golden State Warriors

Height: 6-6

Weight: 225

Born: Nov 12, 1979

College: Duke

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
2009 - Corey Maggette	20	25.1	5.0	10.4	47.8	0.3	1.2	21.7	5.2	6.7	78.2	1.3	4.1	5.3	1.9	2.1	0.8	0.2	3.2	15.4

Sure his game isn't perfect, but the man comes out every night to play hard and he's been a great teammate. That's a lot more than you can say about some of the recent and current "captains" of this squad.

This ain't Al Harrington faking a back injury or Stephen Jackson being a jack... or even Mike Dunleavy being well Mike Dunleavy (see Why Does Mike Dunleavy Get Booed So Much?).

I'll pass the mic:

Hurt. Confused. A bit angry. That's how Warriors forward Corey Maggette said he feels about his home fans booing him, which has been the case of late at Oracle Arena.

"It's not pleasant at all," Maggette said. "I remember the time when Al Harrington was here, and he was getting booed and he was asking to be traded. And I saw it when (Stephen Jackson) was here, and he was asking to be traded. And now, I'm getting booed for wanting to be part of this team through all this nonsense."

Seriously, quit booing the man.

Warriors fans are better than that.

Poll

Do Warriors fans need to stop booing Corey Maggette?

Stephen Curry Live Chat transcript

2009-12-10T23:54:29Z

Stephen Curry Live Chat transcript

Earlier today, Marcus Thompson II held a "live chat" session with Curry. Curry came out a little late from practice, so the session started with just fan questions for MT2. There's some fun stuff and some insightful stuff from both.

Also from MT2, his in depth tidbits from last night's game:
Game #21 (7-14): Warriors 105, Nets 89