Hmmm, that's two encouraging pre-season games in a row. I know, its just another pre-season game, and I know, it's just the Oklahoma City Thunder. But on a night when it seemed like The "Thunder" started and played all their big time players (Wilcox came off the bench, and I'm not sure if that's the plan for the regular season or not but nonetheless all their go-to guys got minutes), and the Warriors sat Biedrins and Maggette (and heck, at some point this season we'll have Ellis so you can even say we were missing 3 key people), it seemed like the Warriors were clearly a superior team.
I think any game against Oklahoma City where Durant plays 34 minutes plus, you have to figure it was a serious game. And even without Biedrins and Maggette, and for those of you taking notes even Kelenna Azubuike, it seemed like the Warriors handled every aspect of the game. To be honest, there are very few things to complain about in the Warriors second straight preseason game, and so this time (unlike last), I'm just going to focus on the positives since their are so many things to point out.
Just like in the previous preseason games, I think the minutes that need the most analysis are in the 1st quarter. And here we go:
1st Quarter
-The game started off 13-2 in favor of the Warriors which included two quick 3 pointers from a starting Marco Bellinelli. Maybe we should just start him every game to see if he's hot enough to get us out to a quick start? I'm kidding but encouraged nonethelss.
-More Marco Belinelli: Ended the quarter with 11 points, leading the game at the time.
-I think the pace was very quick. Every few seconds we were running a 3 on 2 or 4 on 3 break. The more I see us run without Baron the more encouraged I am, even though we don't have that PG problem fixed yet. If we can keep the tempo up, we won't need Baron to make some of the difficult drives and fadeaway jumpshots that saved our halfcourt offense many times last season
-Evidence to back up the last point: We finished the quarter with 37 points and only allowed 28. We had 70 by halftime.
And other Miscellaneous Notes:
-Bellinelli one more time- Not only did he lead the team in points, but Barnett pointed out several times that he was playing excellent defense on Kevin Durant. Not seeing the game personally, I can't put my finger on that but if it's true then that's the thing that will catupult him into real games during the regular season. He finished a very respectable 8-13 for 22 points and he added in 6 assists.
-Best PG performance thus far? Demarcus Nelson. He's the best defender of the four, but today he showed a little bit of everything. Barnett really fell in love with his game and personally claimed that he believes he'll make the Warriors team now. And if nothing else, he's guaranteed a spot on another NBA team. My thoughts: We have no PG. If he's guaranteed a spot on another team, and not on ours, that would be strange. We currently have no PG. If any team in the NBA needed someone like him, it'd be us. If his defense is as good as scouts have been saying, and offensively he continues what he started tonight, I'll be in favor of it.
-Richard Hendrix: This was the first glimpse we've seen of him and it was exactly what I wanted from a second round pick. The first thing I thought of when we drafted him was of course Brandon Bass, Paul Millsap, those undersized PFs that give the Warriors so much trouble. Well he did just that against the Thunder posting 12 points and 13 boards in 22 minutes of action
-Lastly, any game Harrington gets 9 boards I have to point it out. I liked his activity this game, and these are about the number I think we'd all like to see from him game in and game out. 16 points and 9 boards. 0-4 from three unforotunately but the activity in the paint is what the Warriors are really looking to get out of him.
One last note as I could probably talk about every player on the roster for this game: I think Warriors fans have got to be pleased with the depth of the roster this year. Coming into the season we assumed it would be good but with the Warriors, you just never know. But thus far, the results have been pretty good. Unlike the last two seasons, I think the Warriors can comfortably use a 10 man rotation, and that's really going to help down the stretch.
Please post a comment with your thoughts so we can get some discussion going. It was a fun game, now let's discuss it before the team goes to China to face the Bucks and we have a completely different impression on the team (hopefully not).
11 October, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
12 comments:
Warriors definitely need a 10man rotation if they are going to play a brisk pace every quarter. This was also their achilless heel last year because Nelson plays Davis too many minutes and some players at times too, leaving them with not much steam in the 4th. Nelson should work their depth to their advantage. The PG position need to be addressed...with no Ellis, Nelson, Watson, and Williams need to share PG minutes.
Solid Comment and I completely agree. The strength of the team this year will have to be its depth and the use of the fastbreak. We've been fastbreaking for years but without any depth, we really burnt Baron and Stephen to the ground. This year we should be able to stay uptempo all season long, and we're going to need to in order to have any success at all.
cool blog man..i saw it from your post on gsom, def will bookmark and will check for future posts...keep up the great analysis!
Appreciate the support man, its comments like those that inspire me to take my time and try and get some discussion/analysis going every game. Trust me, there will be plenty more to come.
Meanwhile, hook yourself with an identity so people recognize you when you post a comment. Its right under where you leave comments where it says "Choose an identity." Whichever option works for best for you.
Take Care
Go Dubs
So, buy into my theory that the so called Warriors depth is a mirage if Belli hasn't fixed his shooting mechanics?
cool blog, you write well dude. do you think demarcus will start at pg and get significant pt for the regular season? it nellie ball, anything's possible:) im in a really deep 20 team fantasy basketball league and i have space for him in my bench
Unfortunate about the Anonymous names, this blog would be better with easily registered names or something.
Anyhow, Anonymous 1:
Not sure that I can buy into that theory. I know he was a huge factor tonight, but when we talk depth, were talking 9-10-11 deep. Obviously Belinelli, to most of us, would be huge because we've been waiting for his summer league performances to do something during real games. But suppose he's a sitting duck like last year... We still have Turiaf coming off the bench ass a bunny rabbit who can play in the post, Wright who didnt play amazing this game but the previous game was stellar, Anthony Randolph, who everyone would call a stud if he didn't turn the ball over so much, and most surprisingly Hendrix who SOUNDED like a beast last night off the bench. And heck, the way Demarcus played last night you need to throw him into the picture as well, particularly if he's not starting. So to answer your question I wouldnt agree to the mirage perse, although if Belinelli could continue playing well he would be a HUGE addition to our depth
Anonymous 2: I still think its way too early. Thus far Don Nelson has started a different PG every game and although Demarcus had the best performance so far, I'm not sure Don is ready to give him the crown just yet. First let's wait and see if he makes the team, (IE Morrow doesnt?), and then we can discuss adding him to your fantasy team
hey, great analysis. i'm a displaced w's fan in seattle, and it's great to get some recaps. we who aren't blessed with barnett gotta get our fix when we can get it.
keep it up, i'll keep reading!
No worries Jacob. Also a displaced fan here in San Diego, however I'm blessed with NBA League Pass :)
I'll be sure to keep them coming though, thanks for the comment
With a 10 man rotation of players that can all score and can all run no one will be able to stay with us at the end of games NO ONE! & if we do need that last second game winning point that Baron gave us in the past we can now just send Maggette to the hole, that's almost guaranteed foul or points....better than throwing up a prayer.
gotta sorta agree with that Maggette comment although referees have a tendency to keep their whistles to themselves towards the final seconds of a game
Interesting to know.
Post a Comment