Game 6: Grizzlies 109 Warriors 104

In a disappointing effort for the second time this week, the Warriors fell to the Memphis Grizzlies 109-104 in front of their home crowd. This game undeniably had its excuses with Maggette missing his second consecutive game, and Harrington missing the game because of "back issue," but the fact of the matter is the Warriors lost twice to a supposedly inferior team early on in the season. How can a team with playoff aspirations fall to a team playing so many rookies and youngsters? It seems to me that the team is completely lost at this point, with so many younger players getting playing time for the first time, our rotation constantly changing, and of course the controversial Al Harrington trade situation. Through 6 games this team has yet to find an identity, and I don't think they will until they get rid of Harrington and Don Nelson decides exactly how he's going to play this roster. But enough with my rant, here's a summary of what we learned tonight:

I can't really say we played poorly tonight. The Grizzlies seemed to be on fire in the second half, particularly Rudy Gay who just hit some insane shots. I thought we had a few breakdowns with Hakim Warrick getting some easy buckets, but other than that I thought the defense was OK. It seemed like we just didn't keep up with them in the 3rd quarter offensively when Memphis scored 33 points, while the Warriors only scored 24. We didn't turn the ball over much (12), our PG play was decent and we finished with 18 assists, we were badly out-rebounded but it didn't seem to me like it was a huge game changer. Anyway, we made a few runs down the stretch but it just wasn't enough. It's hard to really put your finger on what we did wrong this game. I'd hate to admit it, but we just actually looked like the inferior team.

I'll move on to the positives for the night since it seemed Nelson was completely willing to use the bench tonight. Had we won of course, this would've been huge for our youngsters and our "depth" but nonetheless I'll point out some performances so we can take something positive from the outcome--

Wright started the game tonight but wasn't spectacular. He did finish the night with 3 blocked shots, but he seemed to force it after his huge game the other night. I think he needs to let the game come to him a bit more next time around

Randolph had a huge game in my opinion. If nothing else, he showed he has the courage to play out there with the big boys in big situations. He certainly didn't shy away from shots and I'm glad he didn't! He was nailing the top of the key jumper with ease... I hope Nelson continues to give him some minutes, even when Magette gets back just to see what he can do.

Marcus Williams had an OK first performance. I was intrigued by the way he initiated offense and was looking to dish it off. His jumpshots were rather ugly though, but if he can improve that or shy away from it a bit and really keen in on getting guys good shots, he can be huge for this team.

Lastly, Belinelli didn't play great. He wasn't bad... He just didn't use his minutes wisely. Rather than stand around the 3pt line I'd like to see him cut to the basket and move around a bit more.

Top Performances
1. Andris Biedrins- What can I say, 23 points and 12 boards, he's becoming a monster. It's a shame we keep losing
2.CJ Watson- His FG% was ugly but he finished the night with 9 points, 8 assists, and 8 boards. That's a solid game for a PG to say the least
3.Anthony Randolph- I loved his confidence out there, and thought it was a great opening performance. He finished the game with 8 points and 7 boards in just 17 minutes

I'm really hoping to see some changes come the next game. When the season started I did not expect to be 2-4 after our first 6 games.