World HOt toPPIX

Warriors Recap #26: Golden State Warriors 91 vs Portland Trailblazers 93 - Nothings easy for the Dubs.

When I wrote yesterdays game preview/open thread I truly believed we could win this game against the Blazers. No disrespect to Portland, they're a great team. I felt that with LaMarcus Aldridge injured (get well soon) and the team coming off a terrible loss the night before against the Washington Wizards we would have the upper hand. I let my guard down and forgot about a rule I promised myself: "It ain't over till the buzzer sounds at the end of the 4th" and I was wrong. We can't finish games in the 4th quarter and Monta was sitting pretty (I believe he was ill) on the bench.

Read More: Marcus Camby (C - POR), Monta Ellis (G - GSW), Gerald Wallace (F - POR), LaMarcus Aldridge (F - POR), Jamal Crawford (G - POR), David Lee (F - GSW), Nicolas Batum (F - POR)

I think we saw Monta's worth and growth tonight Mind you, I still firmly believe that Curry is our best player (though Lee has been this past week). I have no doubt that we should build around Curry, not Monta (if it comes down to that). But I think we saw what Monta means to the team tonight, and also how he?s grown to be a more selfless player. Curry may be our best player, but Monta?s really taken on a leadership role and helping the team even when he?s not scoring well.

On another note, we?re showing vast improvement as a team, despite the loss. If you had told me in December that we would come down to the buzzer against Portland (even without LA), despite Monta and Steph combining for 6-19 shooting, I would?ve laughed. Between Lee, our bench scorers, and our defense, we?ve become a much better team. It?s fun to watch.

Andris Biedrins! Anyone else think he played well tonight? When the dude?s on?.boy can he rebound the basketball. I know that Udoh is playing really, really well, but I?d still like to see Beans get on the floor for more than just the start of the first and third quarters. Instead of going small ball when Lee sits, I?d like to see Beans and Udoh share the floor and dominate defensively.

I liked that coach kept Nate and his hot hand in the game. With that said, Nate has very poor handles, and I don?t understand the reasoning behind having the ball in his hands in a situation where you need to go full speed up the court and get a quick shot. Especially with Monta ill, I see no reason for anyone other than Curry to have the ball there, even with his poor shooting night. should?ve been steph time, in my opinion.

by bradyk2 on Feb 16, 2012 3:28 PM PST reply actions Its so funny cause when monta takes the last shot they say he should not shoot it. then when he sits on the bench everyone wonders why he is not in the game LOL?.

With that said, with monta out i would have given the ball to david lee? Feed the hot hand plus get the highest chance shoot possible.

by callahan on Feb 16, 2012 6:23 PM PST up reply actions Well, there?s nothing wrong with saying he should be in the game, but also thinking he should not shoot it (at least not in an iso situation).

by dubzfan on Feb 16, 2012 4:30 PM PST up reply actions Tony, small correction. Lee scored 29 points, not 23. Which also may explain why you did not offer him as a candidate for the last shot. Frankly, Lee would not have been a bad choice.

by dinohealth on Feb 16, 2012 3:41 PM PST reply actions lin should have taken the last shot "Anthony Davis is no different than Al Farouq Aminu."

by dinohealth on Feb 16, 2012 3:51 PM PST up reply actions don't expect Lee to take those final possession shots he has absolutely no preparation in his resume for the role. on a slick-passing, ball movement team, he could definitely be developed as an option. teams without highly developed ball movement usually depend on guards or wings for those shots, with the bigs going to the offensive boards after setting screens. Another factor that might be more decisive, Lee?s minutes are second most to Ellis? on the team, with about 3x more expected from him on defense and the boards. at the game?s end, he?s usually defended by someone fresher, and bigger or quicker.

Exactly why it would be such a great play to add. I understand your argument and agree with most of it. However, Lee has proven to be the most consistent performer this year. It would not hurt to add that option, and would catch folks off-guard.

lol. Big K! Correct.... I was wearing my ?kid gloves? when I presented it in that manner. Slam-dunking is not as instructive, and leaves little room for thinking. ;-)

by dinohealth on Feb 16, 2012 4:14 PM PST up reply actions I might also add, that I am keenly aware that Lee is leading the active players on team in field goal percentage at .523 (excluding Biedrins who has ony 45 attempts)! You are jading your argument by presenting TS. In the situation we are talking about, where you need someone to score, Lee having the highest FG% on the team (outside of Biedrins) should indicate a high scoring probability to most casual observers. Certainly, it may be yet another reason to add that play as a surprise option in game-closing situations.

but FG% jades your argument as well! What percentage of Lee?s attempts are point blank, off of feeds from Steph or Monta? He shoots about 90% on those, so that?s going to skew his shooting percentages. As much as I love DLee, he gets his points from being smart, and working his butt off. He?s very good in the pick and roll, very good at moving to the right space when someone penetrates, and very good at crashing the boards for second chance points.

Well, 6 one way, 1/2 dozen the other... Wouldn?t you want to have a real close, point blank attempt for the win off of feeds from Steph or Monta by a guy that leas the team in FG%? Does not have to be an isolation play. At any rate, I am not talking about a go-to guy. Frankly, I do not think we have anyone that good! Just thought it would be yet another good surprise option in our arsenal to work on.

I agree that we need to go to him more but asking for Monta or Steph to dribble the ball 70 feet and then find an open Lee under the hoop, all in the final six seconds of a game is just not realistic.

Brady, "absolutely not on the final play", speaks of predictability and inflexibility. That is why Monta has become less and less effective in that role, in spite of his tremendous scoring ability. You lose the element of surprise when everyone knows who you are going to. I simply suggested that adding a play to Lee would give you an added dimension. His scoring efficiency and consistency this year indicates that he may be able to execute well that element of surprise, particularly of our consistent failure to do so with all the options we have used.

I agree with the element of surprise but I?d much rather it be at the hands of Curry. If not him, Klay or Brandon. The fact of the matter is, surprise or not, in that given scenario you can?t get the ball to lee with more than 2 or 2.5 seconds left on the clock. That is not enough time for him to get a half-decent shot off, given his skill set. Curry or Klay will be able to get the shot off that they?re looking for. Lee would not.

by bradyk2 on Feb 16, 2012 9:47 PM PST up reply actions You are jading your argument by presenting TS. In the situation we are talking about, where you need someone to score, Lee having the highest FG% on the team (outside of Biedrins) should indicate a high scoring probability to most casual observers.

unfortunately, when you?re talking about efficiency, fg% is not a good measure. TS% accounts for a player?s ability to get to the free throw line, as well as a player?s ability to hit a 3 pointer. yes most casual observers may think highest fg% = best chance to score, but to anyone who looked into it further would see that that?s not true.

I am aware of that Big K. Thanks. I simply would not have any problem adding an option play to the highest FG% shooter of the team underneath the basket. He is also shooting 72% from the FT line, with the difference being a couple percentage points from Curry and everyone else. Only Monta and Nate crack the 80%. He is third on the team among the starters in TS%, behind Curry and Wright. Point is, it would not hurt to add an option play to him on a game-on-the-line situation, if you can reasonably get the ball to him.

Well, hard to say that. They lost their star player, but, Monta was ill, on our side. Curry, was not having a great game. Lee and Nate, admirably filled the offensive void for those two. Ultimetely, it boiled down to who makes that last shot. Major Jackson went with the guys that were doing it for him all game. Play did not work out. Can?t fault him for that. Sadly, questions are still out there on the Curry-Monta duo developing as an effective backcourt. This game was no indicator, because, by all accounts, Monta was ill. Kinda like all those games when Curry was out, or, coming back. Hard to draw any conclusions. On a positive note, Biedrins was more effective on the boards (would love a few more points from him), Wright was a lot more present, and Nate?s performance did not surprise anybody.

You can't fault him for the Last shot not falling, but what about his questionable lineups? I think Brandon rush should have guarded crawford in the end?. His three would have been a more difficult shot to make. Then he puts McGuire on Crawford and he blows right by him for the foul?? Both of those plays put the blazers up.

by dinohealth on Feb 16, 2012 6:41 PM PST up reply actions We just can't get a good shot off in the final 5 seconds... So many chances to put teams away and we just can?t execute the final play..

Thus, we have to rely on playcalling to get buckets at the end of games. Neither our execution nor the playcalling itself has really seemed all that good though.

"Just your typical Giants scoring rally: A faceburger on the basepaths, two errors from the second baseman and a bases-loaded balk."

by Badly Browned on Feb 16, 2012 5:15 PM PST up reply actions I think our blog made history. We may be the first to use the term "Tebowesque" to describe Lin's impact! Preview & Game Thread #22:

I'd certainly assume it's been used before Lin and Tebow have been compared EVERYWHERE, including heavily in Bill Simmons? most recent mailbag.

I also think I used it in an earlier comment (I think without the capital T and I may have used a hyphen -esque), but I cannot find it! :

We were the first to connect the Lin performance to Tebow, and use the term Tebowesque to describe his impact! I have since been using the term Linesque! I just read a discussion on the 6th of February, when I was being shelled for suggesting that Tebow (after his second win) was a lost to us due to a ?criminal? lapse, that I responded to the obvious lack of a valid statistical sample with the phrase ?yes, but, he wins?. Somebody responded with sarcasm, ?Lin, is Tebow?. That night, I used. for the first time, the term ?Tebowesque? to describe Lin?s impact.

by dinohealth on Feb 16, 2012 6:00 PM PST up reply actions Incidentially, the term "linesque" that I use now to describe Lin's performance, in addition to giving him an identity of his own, is tied to some Tao-Linesque chinese language writings. I thought it was very a propos!

by dinohealth on Feb 16, 2012 6:20 PM PST up reply actions Looks like David Stern caved and added Lin to the Rookie Sophomore game (or as they call it, the Rising Stars Challenge)

Really? Has it been announced somewhere? I was wondering how they were going to resolve that. Of course, a one game bomb-out performance would have taken care of the problem, but it never came! :-)

by dinohealth on Feb 16, 2012 6:06 PM PST up reply actions it was kenny smith's decision "Anthony Davis is no different than Al Farouq Aminu."

Funny, you should say that. I was going to suggest to start Nate at PG, and place Curry/Monta at shooting guard, playing both, whenever we wanted to go real, extra small. Kinda like The Three Stooges.;-)

by dinohealth on Feb 16, 2012 6:09 PM PST up reply actions monta was recorded saying he didn't want to go back in the game yesterday because he felt like the warriors had the game won who says that? it?

he said he felt a little congested so he didn?t want to go back into the game unless he had to. and he didn?t think he had to because he thought we had the game won.

Ellis: Not really. Nate (Robinson) was going, everybody was jelling. I thought we had the game pretty much sewed up so I wasn?t looking forward to coming back in. I thought it was a good decision by coach to play those guys who were rolling. And that?s what he did.

Question: He said he approached you in the fourth quarter and asked you if you could play. You said you could, but Jackson said it wasn?t the usual Monta Ellis ?Yes.?

Ellis: I don?t know ? I guess I sounded different because I was congested. It was his decision. It was a great decision. There?s nothing you could do. We had the game. It?s not like that was the reason we lost. We still had the game."

Discussion for discussion's sake, pack behavior, using selective data to support predispositions, and splitting hairs, diminishes the quality of the blog. People get tired of that. Unless you want to present in here as an exclusive fraternity of folks with politically-correct views toward the FO and shared predispositions on the players. You presented this discussion with a provocative ?monta was recorded saying he didn?t want to go back in the game yesterday because he felt like the warriors had the game won?. I, too, responded to that. However, it turns out that is not exactly what Monta said. So, if you do not want to be ignored, and you want meaningful discussion in here, kinly refrain from these sought of misrepresentations..

by dinohealth on Feb 16, 2012 7:21 PM PST up reply actions You presented this discussion with a provocative "monta was recorded saying he didn?t want to go back in the game yesterday because he felt like the warriors had the game won". I, too, responded to that. However, it turns out that is not exactly what Monta said. So, if you do not want to be ignored, and you want meaningful discussion in here, kinly refrain from these sought of misrepresentations..

how did i misrepresent him? did he not say that he didn?t want to come back in because he thought they had the game won in that exact quote?

You can definitely interpret that as not wanting to, but in knowing Monta, you also know that getting his thoughts across in a clear way is not his strong suit. You also know, that in the past few years, Monta has played hurt, injured, tired, sick and upset. Now, I?m not saying that I?m sure he didn?t mean what you seem to think he did. He may have. It?s sort of a confusing situation, and very little is actually clear, especially since his statement made no sense regardless of whether he wanted back in or not. We absolutely didn?t have the game sewn up. However, I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, especially since he wasn?t trying to make a big deal of his illness until he was asked about it. I mean, he never even mentioned throwing up, which David Lee said he did after coming out in the 3rd quarter.

also i agree that at no point in that game did it even look like we had the game sewn up, but monta for some reason mentioned not once, but twice, that we had the game won. i wonder what made him think that.

by tafkasam on Feb 16, 2012 8:27 PM PST up reply actions it?s not even the monta thing for me. it?s the fact that he completely went away from lee, the one thing that was working for us offensively.

by Brownie13 on Feb 16, 2012 9:34 PM PST up reply actions Generally speaking I like Jackson?s rotations, but I gotta say Smart?s out of bounds plays seemed better.

"Just your typical Giants scoring rally: A faceburger on the basepaths, two errors from the second baseman and a bases-loaded balk."

by dinohealth on Feb 16, 2012 6:11 PM PST reply actions We need rebounding from Udoh One rebound is 20 minutes is sad. Yes he boxed out his man, but no matter what he should be getting more than one rebound. It?s ridiculous how bad our rebounding is.

I agree, doubleteapot. He is a big plus on defense, however. Which is why I cannot understand wtf everyone's problem is with Lee, in here! Lee, as you point out, is the only major rebounding threat we have! He is pulling in a 9th in the NBA 10.1 RPG. He is scoring at an 11th in the NBA clip of 19 PPG. He is shooting .523 FG %, which is good for 12th in the NBA (includes guards, centers, forwrds). He is doing all this with a team that has, this year, a non-existent, underperforming center (Biedrins), a sub-par Curry, a sub-par Monta, and, a sub-par Wright as starters next to him! I hope no one argues that these folks are peaking out this year! He has demonstrated sound leadership traits, a solid work ethic, and, is a team player. I do not care how much money people think he should get per year. Fact is, he is the only one delivering! HE SHOULD GET ALL THE LOVE AND ADMIRATION IN HERE.

by dinohealth on Feb 16, 2012 7:48 PM PST up reply actions I have missed Evanz! The season has progressed enough I would think, for one of his refreshing statistical analyses and reports?.

by dinohealth on Feb 16, 2012 8:10 PM PST reply actions these "shoulda won" games are usually the opposite. I don?t know, maybe it?s me, but when a team suffers a bad loss like the way Portland did against the Wizards the night before, I always feel they are going to be way more hungry for a win to get the taste of losing so badly out of their mouth. So I wasn?t entirely surprised by the outcome of this game. But still disappointed nonetheless.

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