Warriors finish road trip in New Orleans

The Warriors welcome the end of a brutal road trip, wrapping up in New Orleans tonight. The trip began in Miami last Tuesday, then subsequently moved to Orlando, Atlanta, and Charlotte. Despite playing without Andris Biedrins and Monta Ellis, the Warriors competed valiantly in three out of the past four games, yet unfortunately couldn't win. The last time the Warriors won on the road was Jan. 6 against the T'Wloves. The Warriors have four total road wins this season (11/13 vs. Knicks, 11/24 vs. Mavs, 12/9 vs. Nets).

The Warriors catch a break tonight against the Hornets, without All-Star Chris Paul. The Hornets have received big contributions from rookies Marcus Thornton and Darren Collison. The Warriors should give the Hornets a good game tonight. They shot 32 percent against Charlotte and the Hornets is average at best.

Magic outclass Warriors in Orlando

The Warriors sailed into the perfect storm Wednesday night in Orlando, as they absorbed a sound beating at the hands of a loaded Magic squad. The Warriors played with a skeletal eight man roster and were outclassed in every facet of the match. The Magic methodically established Dwight Howard in the first quarter, which created openings for gang of talented perimeter scorers.

The upcoming bonanza off-season is an issue for many teams this year, polarizing buyers and sellers. The Magic are a buyer, while they did most of their buying before this season, they are in position to win now. The Lakers, Cavs, Mavs, Nuggets, and Magic have spent the money, stocked up with deep rosters, and are in position to win the NBA Title this year.

The Warriors, like many sellers in the league, are just trying to limp across the finish line. Again, give the W's credit for competing and not mailing it in like the Knicks, Wizards, and Nets. The insertion of D-League players is certainly a disadvantage in talent and chemistry, but these are capable athletes interviewing for a job in the Association every time they take the court. Hungry D-League players bring energy which keeps the Warriors competitive on most nights. Other struggling teams like the Knicks, Wizards, Nets, Clippers, and even the Heat seem to underachieve and suffer fluctuations of energy from night to night. These are teams predicted to undergo major reconstructions in personnel, perhaps creating a sense of unease for the payers who might be on their way out.

If I'm a coach and I need to win one game, give me a motivated D-Leaguer on a 10 day contract over a complacent veteran already under contract.

The road trip doesn't let up, as the Warriors visit "The highlight factory" in Atlanta. The Hawks will be looking to avenge a loss in Oakland where they blew a 17 point lead to start the fourth quarter. The Warriors benefited from Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins in the upset, two players they will be without on Friday.

Warriors drop close one to Heat, 35 points for Wade

Give the Warriors credit for almost winning a tough game, without Monta Ellis or Andris Biedrins. (Truthfully, the W's would be non-competitive without Steph Curry) Credit to the Warriors for playing with heart and competing 48 minutes, unlike the Knicks, who quit and lay down when the game gets out of hand. The Warriors were in position to win this game if they made a few plays down the stretch. Morrow missed a three that would have put the W's up one with under a minute remaining. With 8 seconds in the game, Jermaine O'Neill missed two free throws, leaving the door open as the Warriors had the ball, down two points with 8 seconds remaining in the game. On the following possession, Turiaf set a high pick for Curry, but fumbled Curry's zipped pass as he rolled to the basket, thus ending any comeback hopes.

The opportunities to win were there.

The Heat should be concerned about making it into the playoffs, as they had lost four previous games without superstar Dwayne Wade, and needed all of Wade's 35 points, 12 assists, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals to eek out a win over a group of D-League All-Stars. No disrespect to the players on the Warriors roster, including the latest call up Reggie Williams, who made solid contributions in his first NBA game going for 10 points on 4/7 shooting, 2-2 from three point range, along with 5 assists and 5 rebounds. The Heat are obviously a superior team to the lowly Warriors, but Miami showed a lack of maturity by trying to cruise through the game. Michael Beasley is ultra talented, but he lacks the attitude to be a professional on a team that goes deep into the playoffs. (opposite of a Jerry Sloan, Greg Papavich, or Phil Jackson player)...Like the Knicks, the heat are a team that will undergo a complete off-season makeover after the season is done. Like the Warriors, Heat fans and some players are thinking ahead to next season.

The Warriors chances to beat the Magic in Orlando tonight are slim to none, as they (along with most of the league) have no answer for Dwight Howard and play poor perimeter (and all-around) defense. The Warriors will face two former "We Believers" in Matt Barnes and Mikael Pietrus. Tip off at 4:00 P.M. Pacific.

Warriors beat Pistons after trailing at halftime

The Warriors found a way to beat the Pistons Saturday night without leading scorer Monta Ellis. Not entirely shocking, as Stephen Curry has been better than Ellis since the All-Star break.


The Pistons shot a lousy 42 percent (11-26) from he free throw line and allowed the Warriors back into the game in the second half. The Warriors employed a "hack-a-Ben" strategy down the stretch to put Ben Wallace and his 40 percent free throw average at the line. On one of the trips, he air balled both attempts. Why did the Pistons coaching staff allow Wallace to be in the game at that critical point?

Intentionally fouling of a poor free throw shooter could be a problem in the future for Andris Biedrins. Unfortunately, Biedrins was not around to see how the game played out, as he re-aggravated his groin injury and left the game early.


The most surprising part of this win is the fact that the Warriors failed to reach the 100 point mark, but still pulled off the win.

Billups, Nuggets shoot down Warriors

Chauncy Billups took advantage of the Warriors from opening tip to the end. Stephen Curry looked like a lost two year old l in the grocery store, spinning around in circles looking for his mommy. Billups went 3-3 on three point attempts in the first quarter, scoring 11 points. Billups finished with 37, the same amount he scored in the last meeting, an overtime win over the W's. Billups is one of the top four point guards in the West, and one of two "superstar" level players on the Nuggets. There is no excuse for losing track of Billups at any moment. The Warriors payed, letting Chauncy go 6-8 from three.

Curry's weak defense was overshadowed by his offensive production. Curry finished with 30 points, 13 assists, and 7 rebounds. Unfortunately, while Curry got things going on offense, making shots and creating for his teammates, Monta Ellis disappeared. Ellis made one field goal in the second half and finished 6-22 shooting. Supposedly, Ellis was playing with a sore back, but who doesn't have some kind of physical ailment at this point of the season. And if Ellis knows he isn't completely healthy, he shouldn't take so many shots.

It looks like Ellis is displaced, and he is with the emergence of Curry's game. Ellis is the kind of player who needs to know his role. When he was third option to Baron and Jack, he took high percentage shots and did his part with 24 points on 9-12 shooting. When those players shipped out and left Ellis as the featured threat on offense, Ellis carried the Warriors on his back and became one of the top scorers in the NBA. Maybe all the minutes are setting in on Ellis. I hope so. The other possibility is Ellis is frustrated that he isn't the featured player anymore. Curry is growing in popularity every game, making Ellis more expendable if one or the other has to go. Ellis has no right to be upset, if he is. He was the one who messed up his ankle on a moped and missed most of last season. Ellis was the one who said that Curry and himself would not work before they ever took the court. I don't disagree with Ellis in the fact that the Warriors are at a big disadvantage on defense with Curry and Ellis together and only works for a Nelson coached team where defense is a non factor.

I'm not giving up on Monta after one bad game, but there is a campaign going on right now a try-out for who will be the foundation of the future. If Warriors fans and front office had to chose between Curry or Ellis, who do you think they would chose? (This is hypothetical, so don't say both)

76ers dominate Warriors

The 76ers, like many teams in the league, seem to have to Warriors number this year. After an emotional win over a top Eastern Conference team in the Atlanta Hawks, the Warriors had to like their chances against Philly, who are a lesser team than the Hawks. The last meeting against the Sixers was in Philly at the end of a road trip, as the Warriors apologists will mention, and resulted in the Warriors getting beat down in a varsity versus frosh ugliness.

To the disappointment of hopeful Warriors fans, the Sixers dominated the game. The Warriors made a push in the fourth, but I won't get into all the details, that's for Warriors beat writers. As usual, several Warriors opponents achieved career and season highs against non-existent Warriors defense. Rodney Carney had a season high 16 points that came easier than a pre-game shoot around, shooting 3-5 from three point range. Lou Williams, a young player getting better every year, scored 26 points and matched a career high with five three point makes, including a dagger to put the game away.

I don't want to hear the Warriors apologists make excuses about how the Warriors "just didn't shoot well" or "they sure played a great fourth quarter". The bottom line is they lost the game because of horrible defense. The 76ers towel boy could have scored against the Warriors. If CJ Watson isn't scoring, he's useless, as he often allows opposing point guards to blow by him. Anthony Morrow couldn't guard without fouling, and Steph Curry is always a target of the opponent's offensive game plan. Monta Ellis is the only Warriors player that can guard on the ball and sometimes he finds foul trouble trying to be too aggressive.

When the Warriors win, it's because of offensive production from the guards and wings. The 76ers guards and wings were far better than Golden State's. Lou Williams, Jrue Holiday, Andre Iguadala, and Rodney Carney created fast breaks, got easy buckets, shared the ball to get open shots, and used their superior athleticism to bother the Warriors perimeter focused offense.

The Warriors are the most exciting team in the NBA when they are making shots, but when they can't convert on offense, it's like watching a lion take his time on a broken legged zebra. It's gonna be ugly.

Notes: Andris Biedrins played only 9:00 in the loss to the 76ers. In an interview with The Razor and Mr. T on KNBR, Don Nelson said, "(about Biedrins) I'm not going to rub his belly anymore. If he's not willing to make a contribution, I'm going to take him out for someone who is." Biedrins has shot 3-23 from the free throw line this season and has looked hesitant to initiate offense inside.

Warriors come back to edge Hawks

Warriors fans with enough character to resist changing the channel in the third quarter (or head for the parking lot if they attended) were rewarded with a thrilling fourth quarter comeback. The Warriors competed in the first half as they have in many games this season, then hit a wall in the third, as they have in many games this season.

Don Nelson's extra diminutive line-up of Curry, Ellis, Watson, George, and Morrow allowed Al Horford, the Hawks dynamic All-Star center, to shred the Warriors inside. Horford scored a quick 9 points in a 21-8 Hawks run, pushing the lead to 73-59. This is the point when frustrated Warriors fans reached for the remote and the Hawks bus driver warmed up the engine.

Don Nelson looked like a coach eight games away from having the most wins of all time, rocking the Hawks to sleep in the third quarter. Maybe it was part of Nelly's master plan, but he made a game changing decision with the insertion of Chris Hunter into the line-up along side Andris Biedrins in the fourth quarter. The two bigs did well to expose a Hawks team that lacks a true center, as Horford is 6'9" in Timberlands and Josh Smith likes to operate on the wing. The Golden State bigs defended the paint, rebounded, and allowed Curry, Watson, and Morrow to get a 14-0 run in the fourth quarter to get right back in the game. Curry had 10 points in the fourth quarter.

Nelly's second game changing move was resting Monta Ellis for most of the fourth quarter. The combination of Curry, Morrow, and Watson has built chemistry during the time Ellis spent recovering from his knee injury last week. They share the ball and trust one another to make open shots. Nelson subbed Ellis for Morrow with 4:07 in the game, the Warriors were up 99-97. A rested Ellis brought energy on defense, made two critical steals, and shut down Joe Johnson, Atlanta's best offensive player. Curry scored 32 points and was the MVP last night, but the Warriors would not have won if not for the production from Chris Hunter.

Nelson silenced the nay sayers for now. I can see Nelson after the game smoking his Montecristo and sipping a whiskey sour, smirking to himself knowing he out- coached Mike Woodson and his playoff bound Hawks. Mike Woodson's post game speech probably borrowed phrases from former Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green, "They are who we thought they were!" ..."And we let em' off the hook!!!"