Last Night's Run - Warriors Give It Away Again

Warriors give it away
Give it away give it away give it away now
Give it away give it away give it away now
Give it away give it away give it away now



The Warriors might've been listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers before the first two games of the season. If that's the case, I have one request for them. Please stop.

Hornets and Raptors fan could argue that their teams won the games rather than that the Warriors lost them and that's a valid argument. However, it doesn't go with the theme of this post, so I'll stick with my argument.

Nellie went with a much different type of lineup Friday night. It was actually bizarro-Nellie, and on Halloween Night. Rather than go small against Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani, and Jermaine O'Neal, he went large to take advantage of Jose Calderon, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, and Jason Kapono. Nellie's best line-up consisted of Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette, Al Harrington, Ronny Turiaf, and Andris Biedrins. Defensively, they were tremendous, especially Turiaf. It made me think that he needs to start at the 4 spot, even if they don't go big.

Much like teams without great point guards do, the Warriors turned the ball over in the clutch. Late in the 4th quarter with the lead, they took terrible shots, threw the ball away, fell down with the ball in their hands, and things like that. It seemed that Corey Maggette was the designated go to guy in the 4th, but he didn't work out. Kapono was guarding him and rather than take Kapono to the hole and go to the free throw line, he was setting for jump shots and fade aways. And then when he finally decided to go to the hole, he wasn't getting the calls.

Al Harrington seems to believe that the heavy minutes that the starters are playing is causing them to be tired by the game's end, in what I think seems to be a shot at Nellie.

In the preseason, we weren't playing 40 minutes. Right now we are, so it's something we've got to get used to, get adjusted to, and quick.

The preseason is usually a time where you're resting. It seems like we should have been playing a little bit more so we'd be prepared for now. It's going to take us a couple of games to get adjusted to and then we'll start knocking our shots down in the fourth.

It's a logical statement, but anything he says might seem a little tainted because of this now public feud with Nellie.

New Jack City brings people together
Truehoop has a great story about Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge and how there was a tiff between them and they were brought back together because of a trip to Oregon for Nike. During the trip, they watched New Jack City (Odom was also on the trip, but he's a sleeper) together and found out that they were each huge fans of the movie. And then, because they didn't have cell phone reception, they just started talking and worked things out.

With Rodney King's resurgence (he's on Dr. Drew's second season of Celebrity Rehab), I was reminded of this quote. "Can't we just all get along?"

Gay/Mayo Update
Rudy Gay hit a buzzer beater to help his Grizzlies beat the Magic last night. But more importantly, he opened up a huge lead over OJ Mayo in the shots category. He took 26 shots last night to Mayo's 11. He now leads 48-31.

Last Night's Run - Baron Davis Needs The Warriors

Baron Davis needs the Warriors and the Warriors need Baron Davis.
After watching my poor Warriors lose their home opener last night and at the same time seeing that the Clippers were blasted by the Lakers, I came to the conclusion that Baron Davis leaving the Warriors doesn't just hurt the Warriors, it also hurts Baron Davis.

(At least it hurts him on the court. Jay Jay just posted that Baron is now dating Kate Hudson.)

The Warriors some how hung tight with New Orleans last night and did it without having a point guard on the court for most of the night. Rookie DeMarcus Nelson, who isn't even a point guard, started at point guard for the Warriors, but for most of the night Stephen Jackson played the point, and we're not talking point forward. The Warriors played like Mike Martz was coaching them. They were frenetic, crazed, and at times, Stephen Jackson was playing like he took 4 shots of vodka at halftime. With Baron, they would've won the game, and probably easily. Even though Corey Maggette was better than expected, putting up 27 and 8, without anyone to direct that team, they looked like a 33 win team. They desperately need Monta, but it's not like he's a point guard either.

As for Baron, it might be worse. I took one look at the starting lineup that the Clippers rolled out there against the Lakers and man for man, the Warriors were better. I'm not sure how you can win with Tim Thomas starting and Ricky Davis coming off the bench and playing 24 minutes. Baron might've bit off more than he can chew. Marcus Camby was injured, but he's not going to help them put the ball in the hole. Who is going to score for the Clippers other than Baron? Cuttino Mobley is a career 16 ppg scorer, but that's on shooting 43% compared to Monta shooting over 50% last year. Maybe Al Thornton improves on his 16 ppg from his rookie year and maybe Eric Gordon finds a way to get some playing time. But that's a lot of maybes and when your best player is a guy who is oft injured, that's not a good look.

Photo by luzer shared via creative commons

Baron, you and the Warriors need each other. On the Warriors, you regained your status as one of the best point guards in the league. Without them, I'm not sure you can be.

Al Harrington vs. Don Nelson
The Warriors do have more pressing worries though. This won't be like the Chris Webber deal because Al Harrington isn't as good of a player, but it looks pretty ugly.

Geoff Lepper has some quotes from both guys.

From Nellie:

He better play his ass off, don't you think? For us to make a trade for him and get a good player in return, he's going to have to play well. Otherwise, if he doesn't play well, he doesn't get his wish, and I don't get mine by having a good player... You're going to play all you want. You're going to be begging to come out of the game.

From Harrington:

I've heard that before. So I'm just at the point where I want it to be shown to me... I've been the gunslinger before and the guy that could do whatever I wanted to on the floor. And that didn't happen (here). That's why, when he tells me that, I can't jump for joy, because I've heard it before. We'll start tonight and we'll see if that's the truth.

Nellie wins round one. Harrington shot 5-17 in 42 minutes with only 13 points and 7 boards.

Mayo vs. Gay
I stated in my preview that one of the most exciting battles this season would be to see who has the most shot attempts between chuckers OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay. After one game, Rudy leads 22-20. Come on OJ, I got money on you.

The Real Reason Baron Left

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/hudson%20dating%20davis_1085170

What's worse? Owen Wilson's sloppy seconds? Or Teri Hatcher's?

By the way, I'm not bitter....

Hack A Shaq With The Double Thumbs Up

Saw this on Ball Don't Lie and it was too funny to not put up.

Shaq went from frustrated and hurt to happy all in the span of a few seconds.

Last Night's Run - Opening Day

Because of the great invention that is the DVR, I was able to watch last night's double header on TNT early this morning. I mostly stayed away from any spoilers except for a Facebook message by one of my friends that let me know that the Lakers were busting the Blazers asses.

But there were three specific things stood out to me based on the games from last night.

(I didn't see Chicago vs. Milwaukee at all.)

1. The Lakers are better than I thought.
I know, it's only one game and I'm not about to give them the title now, but they played like a well oiled machine. Defensively they were impressive, though some of that could be attributed to the funk that Portland played in as well. This team is for real.

(Photo by rich115.)

2. Boston is still hungry.
I didn't know how they could be, that is, until they got their rings. They didn't play well in the first half but they played lock down defense in the second half, holding the Cavs to 35 points. With the exception of not having James Posey, they look very similar to last year's team and didn't miss a beat.

(This is an awesome story about KG and last year's playoffs.)

3. The Cavs are going to be good... real good.
They're going to figure out how to use Mo Williams. He's going to learn exactly where to spot up and Lebron is going to get him the ball. Though he didn't shoot well (free throws included), Lebron looks upset, kind of like how Jordan did after Detroit kept beating him up. He has an edge to him. They won't lose that kind of game in April.

The Opposite Of Phil

If the Blazers pull 25 offensive rebounds tonight against the Lakers, do you think Phil Jackson will go buck wild like this man?

Al Harrington Wants Out?

According to Tim Kawakami's blog, Al Harrington wants to be traded, and as soon as possible.

What's odd to me is that Harrington's value is in being able to play multiple front line positions in the Warriors' uptempo offense. He's probably far more valuable to a team like the Warriors, than most other teams in the league. But he's also one of those players who people continue to think is going to turn into a breakout star, even though they've been thinking about him like that for years.

I like Al in the Warriors system because he's fairly athletic and can shoot, but he's not the difference in turning a team around.

Also, Bay Area fans have seen this before. Don Nelson can wear on players.

Edit

Geoff Lepper has a story that quotes Harrington and Nelson as saying things are ok.

2008 NBA Season Preview - Monta's Mopeds

I'm not going to go in depth with a 5000 word NBA preview. I'm haven't done far enough research to do that, don't have the stamina for something like that, and I don't want anyone to fall asleep reading this. Thus, I have put together a list of ten for you.

These ten things are the top ten things that I'm looking forward to this upcoming season.

I'm looking forward to ...

Lebron and Mo Williams becoming the next dynamic duo.
Ok, maybe Mo isn't going to set the world on fire. But he does give Lebron a reliable second option (and one who doesn't run like he's on stilts). This has to be the year that Lebron takes Cleveland back to the NBA Finals because, um, he might not be around next year. And then it will be Mo Williams and everyone's favorite Wally Szcerbiak as Cleveland's dynamic duo.

Dwayne Wade upstaging rookie Michael Beasley.
A healthy Dwayne Wade (did you watch the Olympics?) means more to Miami's upcoming season than a Rookie Of The Year type of year from Michael Beasley. If you get both, Miami can contend for the playoffs. But if I were to bet on one, I'd bet Wade. Beasley is talented, but already has that Donyell Marshall vibe to him. Who me worry?

(By the way, I get to take that back if MB goes for 20 and 10 out of the gate. As for Donyell? He will just go back to hanging out with Tom Gugliotta.)

watching Portland early on.
The Blazers come out of the gate with Greg Oden, Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Rudy Fernandez, Jerryd Bayless, Steve Blake, and Ike Diogu - sorry, I had to get in another ex-Warriors player. To me, they are the single most intriguing team all year long. How's Oden going to do in his rookie year after last year's injury? Is Brandon Roy ready to lead these guys to the playoffs? Is Rudy Fernandez going to continue opening eyeballs (did you watch the Olympics?)? Here's hoping Ike gets some run.

seeing if OJ Mayo can back up the hype.
I think he'll struggle early on, but have a solid second half, and probably the best last month of all the rookies. But what might be the most exciting competition on the Grizzlies is to see who chucks up more shots between Mayo and Rudy Gay.

hoping that Kobe Bryant has a great year.
The odds are against him according to Bill Simmons. But I think Kobe is a different breed. Even after playing all the way into the NBA Finals and the Summer Olympics, I don't think Kobe wants to do anything else other than play more basketball. If he stays healthy, I think the Lakers are back in the finals.

wondering if KG, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen have it in them to beat a hungry Lebron.
It's going to take a supreme effort to keep Lebron James out of the finals this year. And that's especially if Kobe gets there again. I have to wonder if those guys are as hungry as last year. They had a special season and as hard as it is to win a title, it's even harder to do it again.

Ron Artest's influence over the Houston Rockets.
For some reason, Artest's addition intrigues me. And I'm not sure why. I've never really been an Artest fan. Maybe it's because I have a soft spot in my heart for Yao and Tracy McGrady. Maybe it's because my friend Billy Parker roots for the Rockets. I'm still unsure about it, but I do know that Ron makes Houston the biggest wild card team in the West.

the Baron Davis era in Clipperland.
I'm going to deeply miss Baron Davis in the Bay Area. Eddy Zucko is going to deeply miss Jessica Alba at Warriors games. Even if his wheels fall completely off, it's better than the CJ Watson, Marcus Williams, DeMarcus Nelson three headed monster that the Warriors will throw out there this year. How old is Tim Hardaway? Maybe he can come out of retirement? Sleepy Floyd? I'd even settle for a 250 pound Keith "Mr." Jennings right about now.

the Anthony Randolph era.
Actually, I'm not really looking all that forward to watching him play basketball as much as the fact that I've always been a Bell Biv Devoe fan and Randolph is a dead wringer for Devoe. Really though, are they Warriors going to run Randolph, Brandon Wright, and Andres Biedrins on teams all at the same time? Calista Flockhart would be so proud.

Photo of Anthony Randolph, I Mean Ron Devoe, By cMacDutt

playing pickup ball with Coby Karl after no one signs him.

seeing how creative the mascots get in mocking Monta Ellis.
I predict that every mascot comes riding into the arena on a moped. By the way, I imagine that every Fantasy Basketball league has at least one (and possibly many) Monta's Mopeds, Mississippi Mopeds or Moped Monta team in their league. At least it's better than those Oden's Bad Knee teams that your leagues had last year.

That's all for now. Enjoy your hoops tomorrow. Welcome back NBA.