Now that was a great ballgame for Warriors fans. After a disappointing no-show against the Memphis Grizzlies (only 2 days ago), and without go-to forward Corey Maggette, the Warriors beat the Nuggets 111-101 with a much different performance that Warriors fans aren't used to. The Warriors had 56 points off the bench, 11 blocked shots, and surprisingly allowed some of the youngsters to play in a very entertaining game at home. This obviously gives me tons to discuss to I'll get right to it...
Energy off the Bench
Don't forget folks, the Warriors were down 18 early in this one, but Don Nelson decided to yank Al Harrington earlier than usual and insert CJ Watson into the game and it changed everything. In an interview later in the game, Nelson admitted Wright and company brought us back so they earned the right to play the rest of the game. I love that. I was afraid that once we got close Nelson would put Harrington in again to stink it up but that wasn't the case. He stuck with Wright, Azubuike, and Watson to play the rest of the game.
Team Defense
Tonight, I saw a very scrappy Warrior team out there, one I hadn't seen in a long time. Those guys were fighting for rebounds, diving all over the floor, and playing their hearts out. There's nothing I like seeing more. Throw 11 blocked shots on top of that, and you have a heck of a performance. This was all culminated with a solid defensive effort by Stephen Jackson. I really don't know how he has enough energy to lead the league in minutes, and play aggressively on both sides of the court. It's astounding.
No Fourth Quarter Collapse
If not for Wright, this would be the biggest accomplishment tonight. What I liked to see was actual plays being run down the stretch. Maybe this was a result of Maggette on the bench with a sore hamstring, but rather than play a bunch of ISO basketball in the closing minutes, I saw a bunch of screening and movement that led to some higher percentage shots. That's what will CONSISTENTLY win ball games tonight. I can only hope that Nelson continues with this winning strategy later in the season, particularly when Maggette comes back healthy.
The Youngsters (Andris too)
You know I had to bring this up. What a performance Brandan Wright pulled in tonight. He showed he's NBA ready. He showed he can contribute. Heck, he even showed you can play this kid 30+ minutes and not have to worry about him hindering "winning" while developing his game for the future. In fact, he had the best +/- ratio tonight with a +24. That's great. Not only does this show Nellie that he can play regular minutes, but it might even show we can do without Al Harrington as our starting PF...
Kelenna Azubuike, CJ Watson, and Andris Biedrins were also huge. Biedrins and Buike are starting to do this consistently and I love it. One of my favorite moments of the night was when Biedrins demanded the ball in the post on consecutive plays late in the 3rd quarter and he faced up Chris "Birdman" Anderson and took it to the rack for 2 buckets. He showed some great quickness and assertiveness, and I would love to give him the ball in those situations 6-8 times a game if possible.
Lastly, Marco played again! He racked up another 4 minutes of action and I thought he was fine. Nellie claims that by playing Marco or Randolph he's not giving us the best shot to win but I thought Marco was fine on both sides of the floor. I kept my eye on him defensively and he stook with his man the whole way. Offensively he created a wide open shot for a teammate and nailed a long jumper. What's not like to like? I wouldn't mind seeing more minutes if he can be as solid as he was tonight.
Top Performances
1. Brandan Wright- 18 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks. I will take those numbers from our starting PF any night. I couldn't be happier for him.
2. Andris Biedrins- 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 blocks. I'm starting to call him out every night but he deserves it. If it weren't for the fouls his numbers would be even better.
3. Stephen Jackson- 29 points and 7 assists. I think the bigger number is assists because without a PG we really need someone to set up teammates for easy buckets and he's been doing a good job of that. Only problem is he's turning the ball over way too much (he could easily lead the league in TOs this year).
05 November, 2008
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4 comments:
Great wrap as usual. Always impressed by how quickly you get your blog up after games.... Some comments, if I may:
1. Whatever Jax's offensive numbers were, I was most impressed by the job he did on Carmelo tonight. Althougn Anthony got his 28 points, or whatever, he had to work extremely hard for them. Jax made him go to his left more than he would like (a weak point in 'Melo's game). By mid-4th quarter, Carmelo was spent physically and dragging his butt up and down the court.
2. B. Wright: Great job on the boards,tipping in several baskets, using his wing-span defensively, and not letting his man get by him. I think he came into his own tonight and wouldn't be surprised to see him start on Friday vs. Memphis. That would put AH back as the sixth man, something coach Nelson has been touting him as since we got him from Indiana. That is, 6th man until he gets traded.....
3. Watson and Azabuke were terrific tonight. Going to the hole with impunity and double-teaming on the perimeter. Also, it seemed Azabuke was working extra hard on the offensive rebounds and had 2 or 3 tip-ins. Anyone notice that he was playing SF for a substantial portion of the game, while Jax was the SG? I kinda like that, especially if he is going to the glass offensively.
4. Other than one impressive block, I was not that impressed by Turiaf tonight. He needs to be more effective while he give Biedrins his breathers; otherwise, Biedrins will continue to be in foul trouble... I thought the highlight of the night was Biedrins putting his head down at the right "L" and driving to the basket for the slam dunk. It brought the house down and really pumped up the team. I actually watched him inbound the ball, take his time down the court and never break stride once he got the ball.
5. While I didn't think Belineli's 4 minutes were as good as you make them out to be, the fact that he was in there at all speaks well for Nelson attempting to come out of his shell with substitutions. Who knew that CM getting hurt could help this much?
6. Lastly, although the end result was a good one for the Ws, I was very discouraged by the first 9 minutes of the game: It seemed that every basket the Nuggets scored was of the layup and slam-dunk variety. While the Ws tightened their defense the rest of the game, other teams who are better than the Nuggets will not give up 18 point leads all that easily. To be successful, the Ws need to play tight defense (like they did for 3 quareters tonight) the entire game, pending Monta's return.
Looking forward to your report on Friday's game. Best, NoCalFred.
Again, I love the comments Fred. It's always nice to hear another person's perspective.
I'm suddenly very interested in the Memphis game. We stunk it up there with Maggette. Now there's a chance Maggette doesnt play and Wright starts with Harrington hopefully coming back. I'm not sure that's an effective thing to do however... Last season Harrington was a spark off the bench no doubt, but for some reason I think now Wright might be that spark. Perhaps this is just me completely lacking confidence in Al these days, I'm really just getting sick of him. Nonetheless I'm very intrigued about this game, and I would predict we stomp on them in our house by 20+. Let's see if I get my first prediction right, Fred--you can hold me to it
You're right about Turiaf. With all the success around him, I kinda missed that he did have kind of an off night. It didn't hurt us too much tonight but on other nights when Biedrins gets in foul trouble we're really going to need him to be more effective. On another note, does he never go for pick and rolls? Biedrins is famously known for this aspect of his game but I've rarely seen Turaif attempt one with the PG or Jackson...
PS, I take notes during the game of a couple of things I don't want to forget to mention in the blog... And once the game is finished I take a few minutes to think about the game as a whole and what I want to write about, and BOOM... I'm blogging :)
Unless I have homework or something to study for, a post should be up within the hour. As a fan I've always appreciated that sorta thing, so I'll do my best to do it for everyone else.
Andrew -
AH practiced with the "B" team yesterday, while Azabuke and CJ had the day off. No way Harrington starts tonight... NoCalFred.
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