SB Nation - Kelenna Azubulke

Recap Game #2: Suns 123 - Warriors 101- The less said the better

jae — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:57:38 -0000

More photos » by Paul Connors - AP

The Bay Bridge is still closed and that's made it a pain to get to and from work. BART is jammed packed in the commute hours and it just seemed like a good idea to wait a bit longer for the crowds to thin out. But that left me with a dilemma: find a place in SOMA to catch the game, or try to rush back and run the risk of missing the first bit. I chose option number two, and while crowded trains meant I missed the first quarter, I did not have to face the double indignity of a large bar tab -- in the futile attempt to suffocate the horrors of that horrendous performance -- and getting home about 4 hours after I'd originally intended to be home. As such, I didn't find myself properly seated in front of the TV until sometime in the 2nd quarter. This meant that I caught about 4 minutes of an actual competitive basketball game, followed by the interpretive dance routine summarizing the history of futility that has been the Golden State Warriors for most of my conscious lifetime.

Preview/Game Thread, 1096 comments indicating that others suffered through this as well

Final box score

Blog Buddy: Bright Side of the Sun (at least someone should be happy)

Final - 10.30.2009	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden State Warriors	24	27	22	28	101
Phoenix Suns	28	34	30	31	123

Complete Coverage >

Ugh!

It started reasonably well. The set warmed up just in time to see Azubuike bury a three, then charge up to the other end to catch Amar'e Stoudemire napping and block his shot from behind. Azubuike wins the Warrior Wonder.

Congratulations Kelenna.

After that though, honestly, I'd like to forget this. The block didn't seem to make NBA.com's game recap either and other than that, the highlights were few and far between.

Perhaps the less said out this game, the better.

Observations:

If Monta Ellis ever passed the ball to Stephen Curry, it must have been in the first 16 minutes of the game. After that, there appeared to be three teams on the floor. Two of them were wearing blue jerseys, but playing with each other no more than they were cooperating with the Suns squad.

Monta wants this to be his team. Unfortunately, he seems to believe that this means he has to take every shot in order to score as much as possible. It isn't too late to turn this around, but it's the sort of problem that, if left unchecked, will spell disaster. Did anyone tell him that our quota for tunnel vision shooters ready to go 1 on 5 has already been met? It appears he's fooling some of the people some of the time, as SF Chron writer Rusty Simmons described his performance as "a standout game only from Monta Ellis, who went for 19 points, five rebounds and three assists, and was effective and active on the defensive end." 19 shots to get 19 points coupled with 5 turnovers? It might stand out, but perhaps not in the way that Rusty meant.

Anthony Randolph still has a knack for grabbing rebounds, but he appears no closer to being a SF than he was at the beginning of last year. The discipline and shot selection that seemed to be improving at the end of last season looks like it's still on summer vacation.

The Suns killed us on the boards. The same Suns that were relying on a front line of Stoudemire and Channing Frye, neither of whom should make Phoenix a rebounding power. Of course, much of that has little to do with our rebounding. Much of it is that Phoenix wasn't missing shots. Without misses, it's tough to grab rebounds.

I'd also like to offer an apology:

While I still firmly expect Channing Frye tor return to being a largely useless player who will shoot more often than his skills warrant, last night he was on fire. Did someone show him my posts about him? I'm pretty sure that his performance was meant as a personal affront to me. It is unfortunate that the rest of you had to suffer for this.

It's just ~~one~~ two games, right?

Polling GSoM: Who are you most excited about watching on the Warriors 2009 Las Vegas Summer League squad?

Atma Brother ONE — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:38:32 -0000

It's summatime in the Golden State! Jump for the 411 on the Dubs 2009 La Vegas Summer League squad.

It looks like he's blocking his own shot! [via www.sfgate.com]

Warriors Announce 2009 Summer League Roster & Schedule [Warriors.com]

WARRIORS 2009 SUMMER LEAGUE ROSTER

NO.	PLAYER	POS	HT	WT	BORN	FROM	YRS
40	Connor Atchley	F/C	6-10	226	5/31/85	Texas	R
30	Stephen Curry	G	6-3	185	3/14/88	Davidson	R
33	Jermareo Davidson	F/C	6-10	230	11/15/84	Alabama	2
26	Lawrence Hill	F	6-8	220	9/16/87	Stanford	R
9	Joe Ingles	F	6-8	194	10/2/87	Australia	R
25	Jared Jordan	G	6-2	185	10/14/84	Marist	R
2	Acie Law IV	G	6-3	195	1/25/85	Texas A&M	2
3	Cartier Martin	G/F	6-7	220	11/20/84	Kansas State	1
22	Anthony Morrow	G	6-5	210	9/27/85	Georgia Tech	1
20	Quan Prowell	F	6-8	215	11/1/84	Auburn	R
4	Anthony Randolph	F	6-10	210	7/15/89	LSU	1
44	Lawrence Roberts	F/C	6-9	240	10/20/82	Mississippi State	2
35	Jamal Sampson	C	6-11	235	5/15/83	California	5

*Roster subject to change

WARRIORS 2009 SUMMER LEAGUE SCHEDULE

DATE	OPPONENT	TIME (PDT)	LOCATION
Friday, July 10	Houston Rockets	1:00 p.m.	COX Pavilion
Saturday, July 11	Sacramento Kings	5:00 p.m.	COX Pavilion
Monday, July 13	Detroit Pistons	7:00 p.m.	Cox Pavilion
Tuesday, July 14	Chicago Bulls	5:00 p.m.	COX Pavilion
Thursday, July 16	New Orleans Hornets	5:00 p.m.	COX Pavilion

I feel like I already know what Anthony Morrow can do- shoot the lights out, rebound the rock, and hustle on D. I'm not that interested in seeing Anthony Randolph (likely) dominate this level of competition, but it will be interesting to see his rebuilt body (just like Morrow's). As you all probably know Anthony's Been Doin' Work this summer [see Randolph bigger, vows to be better by MT].

However, my vote for most intriguing watch on the Dubs summer league team goes to Masala Curry and Law & Order IV. I really don't have a feel for what Stephen Curry and Acie Law IV can do even at this level of mostly players fighting to be NBA 12th man.

For the first time in a long time I'm actually pretty excited about the Warriors Summer League team. I hate to temper everyone's excitement, but I feel obligated to caution you- the summer league is absolutely meaningless (ahem, see fool's gold). It's like the 10th- 12th men and practice squad players dueling it out.

Now that doesn't mean it isn't fun, but it does mean that it's a fairly useless barometer of how players will actually do in the NBA regular season. There's exceptions like AMMO and Kaz of course, but for the most part this is just meaningless fun (in all fairness I guess "meaningless fun" also applies to the Warriors regular season). Having said that let's hope the Dubs summer league team dominates and is simply "Unstoppable Baby!"

NBA Finals Championships are for the Lakers, but Summer League crowns? That's reserved for us over here- thank you very much.

We should have several live GSoM correspondents to get you all the 411 and more from the City of Sin. Ridiculous Scott from the super rididiculous Ridiculous Upside in particular will be giving ridiculous airtime to the Summer League festivities. Will anyone else be making the trip out to LV this year? Scouting reports, interviews, etc. are always appreciated for your golden friends here in the Bay Area who missed the bus to Vegas.

More summatime madness:

Summer league roster [SFGate]

Say hello to Joe Ingles (the player blocking his own shot above):

The 6-foot-8 wing with point-guard skills created quite a bit of positive buzz during pre-draft workouts, but after struggling at the Reebok Eurocamp, Ingles went undrafted.

Meet the Warriors Summer League Team [Fast Break]

Summer: school is out, the fog is in, and the Warriors have a shot at winning it all. "It," of course, being the annual Las Vegas Summer League. This year the team will be rolling out two starters from last year’s regular season squad and two new backcourt acquisitions. No, Marco Belinelli will not be dazzling the crowd for a third straight year. With Anthony Randolph on the roster, however, I doubt the Vegas fans need to worry about a lack of excitement.

Poll

Who are you most excited about watching on the Warriors 2009 Las Vegas Summer League squad?

F/C Connor Atchley (R- Texas)

34 votes

G Stephen Curry (R- Warriors)

1481 votes

F/C Jermareo Davidson (2 yrs- Warriors)

17 votes

F Lawrence Hill (R- Stanford)

35 votes

F Joe Ingles (F- Australia)

117 votes

G Jared Jordan (R- Marist)

35 votes

G Acie Law IV (2 yrs- Warriors)

87 votes

G/F Cartier Martin (1 yr- Kansas State)

12 votes

G Anthony Morrow (1 yr- Warriors)

147 votes

F Quan Powell (R- Auburn)

5 votes

F Anthony Randolph (1 yr- Warriors)

858 votes

F/C Lawrence Roberts (2 yrs- Mississippi State)

15 votes

C Jamal Sampson (5 yrs- California)

40 votes

Summer League Head Coach Keith Smart

51 votes

None of the above- Summer League is meaningless

91 votes

3025 votes | Poll has closed

Polling GSoM: Who was the worst defender on the 2008-2009 Golden State Warriors?

Atma Brother ONE — Mon, 18 May 2009 10:15:09 -0000

GSoM friend Tim Kawakami recently posted his 2nd Annual NBA No-Defense Team. This annual fair never ceases to crack me up. We all know the Warriors were the worst defensive team in the league at a whopping 112.3 ppg for a plethora of reasons, namely: a) young players typically play poor D, b) this essentially Chris Mullin constructed roster isn't filled with any players known for their defensive prowess aside from Stephen Jackson and Ronny Turiaf, c) head coach Don Nelson isn't exactly considered a Hall of Fame caliber coach because of his defensive schemes, d) and even the Raiders have a better defensive coordinator than Keith Smart.

Was this required offseason reading for these guys last summer or something?

Each Warriors claim to WDWY (Worst Defensive Warrior of the Year) after the jump.

Around the midpoint of this past season I dropped The 2008-2009 Defense(less) Golden State Warriors (2/5/09). Here's a few additional thoughts now that the "glorious" 2008-2009 Golden State Warriors season finally came to an end.

Kelenna Azubuike- He might be an average to slightly below average defender on another team because he usually plays decent position D. His footspeed isn't there and he gets beat off the dribble, but I'd have a hard time calling Kaz the worst defender on this horrifically defenseless squad.

Marco Belinelli- His D was remarkably improved in essentially what was a decent month of play, but it's still atrocious. If he wants to stay in this league, he should be watching a LOT of film this summer and pay more attention on the court so his man doesn't embarrass him on simple backdoor cuts and what not.

Andris Biedrins- This supposed franchise cornerstone cannot guard a single NBA 4 or 5 man to man. His issues guarding the screen-roll have been documented by Geoff Lepper over at 48minutes.net. Biedrins ranked as the worst Warrior this season on the plus/minus stat: -182 [Talking Points]. Expect a ton of excuses for his poor D this season in the comments from the Biedrins fanboys. I don't expect many Biedrins votes for WDWY, but any made make plenty of sense.

Jamal Crawford- Don't get me wrong I love JC as much as the next delusional Dubs fan (actually probably more so), but it's pretty laughable how bad he looks on D. I can't tell if the mistakes he makes on the defensive side of the ball are because of a lack of effort or because his coaches never made him take Defense 101. I can't fault anyone who awards Crawford with this year's WDWY.

Monta Ellis- Moped Ellis gets my vote. I'll pass the mic to ESPN's John Hollinger for this one:

Monta Ellis (Oakland, CA): Hey Eastcoast media bias! Anyone notice the emerging superstar coming out of the Bay?

John Hollinger: Who -- Monta, or the guy he's guarding?

Stephen Jackson- Captain Jack is actually a stellar defender when he's surrounded by vets like WE BELIEVE. He still had his moments this past season, but with destruction of BoomRich he was improperly cast as the 2nd, then 1st offensive option for this team which took its toll on his defensive energy. The constant yelling at refs and not getting back on D was frustrating as well. I'd be surprised if Jack got more than 1% of the vote though.

Rob Kurz- To tell you the truth I really didn't walk away from this season with any real sort of impression of how good or bad this rook's was, so I'll pass the mic to the GSoM community. Anyone who votes for Kurz as the WDWY is just being mean.

Corey Maggette- How does a guy built like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (and that's a compliment), not play like an enforcer on D? Master Splinter would be very disappointed to see such poor defensive effort from a vet in phenomenal shape.

Anthony Morrow- Honestly I thought he played decent D for a rookie. Like Azubuike he doesn't have the raw foot speed and can get beat off the dribble, but overall I thought Morrow tried hard on this side of the ball and added some scrappiness to a team defense filled with um... crappy-ness.

Anthony Randolph- The blocks were there (1.2 in under 18min) and they were mighty impressive and fun to watch. But as far as holding position and rotating, AR's D leaves a lot to be desired. He's was a rookie and rookies tend to struggle on defense, so I'm willing to give him a pass.

Ronny Turiaf- GSoMer RomesDavidWood can be heard in the people's section of the Roaracle known as section 109 screaming "Tur-i-af is a... BEEEAAAST." No doubt. Sure Ronny's defensive rebounding and his foul rate was far from impressive, but anyone who votes for Turiaf for WDWY deserves to have their voting rights revoked in all future Polling GSoMs.

C.J. Watson- Well he resembles Monta on defense. KBLX provides plenty of smooth R&B, but ZERO resistance to opposing penetrating guards.

Brandan Wright- Don't let those pretty Inspector Gadget swats fool you, this second year player is absolutely lost on D. It's the forward-version of Jamal Crawford's defensive positioning.

If I had to rank them, here's how I would list the Worst Defensive Warriors of the Year. (Seriously this was a tough list to come up because they were just that bad.)

Monta Ellis- See Hollinger's words above. Unless he's moved in a blockbuster trade, Monta should be topping this list for years to come.
C.J. Watson- Maybe that type of D works in the NBDL?
Jamal Crawford- The D was so bad it was funny.
Andris Biedrins- Charmin' soft D that would make even the biggest Troy Murphy fan proud.
Brandan Wright- He's worse than Biedrins, but he barely played (for good reason).

Along with your vote post your rankings for WDWY in the comments.

Poll

Who is your 2008-2009 WDWY (Worst Defensive Warrior of the Year)?

Kelenna Azubuike

6 votes

Marco Belinelli

53 votes

Andris Biedrins

23 votes

Jamal Crawford

578 votes

Monta Ellis

249 votes

Stephen Jackson

39 votes

Rob Kurz

58 votes

Corey Maggette

126 votes

Anthony Morrow

18 votes

Ronny Turiaf

10 votes

C.J. Watson

103 votes

Brandan Wright

11 votes

Anthony Randolph

3 votes

Jermareo Davidson

36 votes

1313 votes | Poll has closed

Polling GSoM: Who should represent the Golden State Warriors at the 2009 NBA Lottery?

Atma Brother ONE — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 09:15:08 -0000

Chris Cohan's Golden State Warriors version of the NBA Playoffs is coming up on May 19th. (That would be the NBA Lottery for all your bandwagoners playing along at home.) Thanks to our friends at Welcome to Loud City we understand the lottery system. So now we turn our attention to one simple, but incredibly important question: Who should rep WE SUCK at this fine event celebrating well... suck-ness?

Wallpapers @ Blogging with Tony.psd

A case for each of these candidates to rep The Suck after the jump. Don't forget to vote!

Chris Cohan: The man Dubs Nation booed at the 2000 NBA All-Star game should suck it up and represent the organization he has led with such uncanny levels of incompetence for a decade and a half front and center. Cohan- show people you actually care about the team you sued your way into owning for a change.

Robert Rowell: Rowell's not exactly a fan or local media favorite. If he flashes a friendly smile out of nowhere and the Dubs luck out with a top 3 pick, he could win a lot of points based on shock value alone. Honestly, Rowell's got nothing to lose by representing the Warriors and everything to win.

Cohan and Rowell: Panelists at the Making Millions of Suck Series

Chris Mullin: Just like his promotion to VP back in 2004, it would be a nice publicity stunt as he exits stage NY.

Even Mullin thinks the back-to-back lottery busts
of Ike Diogu and Patrick O'Bryant are hilarious!

Don Nelson: Yes, he's quite the drama queen as even the biggest Nellie apologists have to admit, but there's no denying that this old man knows his hoops. If there's anyone to believe in and restore fan confidence, it's this eccentric hoops legend who has resurrected the Dallas Mavericks pretty much out of nowhere and the Golden State Warriors not once, but twice. He has the interesting distinction of being the only head coach to take Cohan to the playoffs in two different decades. (Haha I can't even type that with a straight face.) Good luck getting Nellie to leave his poker game with Willie Nelson in Maui for Secaucus, New Jersey though.

Nellie spies lotto balls!

Larry Riley: He's heavily rumored to be Mullin's replacement in the front office. If so, this would be fitting introduction to Warriors fans and the NBA world.

Let's hope Riley can scout and fine some hoops stars even in the boondocks.

Stephen Silas: How can we forget when he balled up fools on Family Matters alongside Eddie Winslow?

Jamal Crawford: It would be an entertaining way for JC to announce that he isn't opting out of the remaining 2 years $20 million on his contract, much to Nellie's and many silly and confused Warriors fans' (!) dismay. Maybe Jamal can somehow work in that funky behind the back crossover dribble too. Can't get enough of that!

Can't wait to see JC drop 50 again!

Anthony Randolph: Given his terrible body language, weird sense of entitlement to unearned minutes as the last pick of the lottery, cheapshot at everyone's favorite 12th man Rob Kurz in practice, and the entire coaching staff's criticisms about his attitude and work ethic earlier in the season, I had some serious doubts about AR's future both on the Warriors and in this league. However, Rudolph finished off the season leaving every Warriors fan and many hoops junkies wanting more. If there was a bright spot to this sorry season AR was it. He's the #1 reason to look forward to 2009-2010 GSW hoops.

Like Archie Bunker and crew- Nellie and Rudolph keep it All in the Family.

Can you feel the love?

Rob Kurz: Everyone's favorite 12th man! (Apologies to Adonal Foyle.)

Almost as good as Kosta's Zero Threat Position!

Jason Richardson/ Baron Davis: (ducks and hides for cover) Just to see how many entertaining comments I can get by bringing up the BoomRich backcourt. My goodness- is there any other team in the league dumb enough to prematurely break up this duo and the rest of that We Believe 2007 PLAYOFF team, just so they can build around an undersized center and 2-guard with extremely limited upside and the complete inability to guard their counterparts mano y mano?

The golden life was the high life.

Kelenna Azubuike: If Kaz flexes those biceps, do you really think they're going to deny him that top pick?

Corey Maggette: See Kelenna.

Andris Biedrins: He might be the most popular Warrior player right now. Biedrins can do no wrong in many Warriors fans' eyes. It's almost at that annoying Dunleavy-esque level circa 2004-2006, except at least Biedrins has some game, albeit an unpretty one. Just like when the Warriors lose in real games on the hardwood- if they end up being big time losers on super lotto day, the majority of Warriors fans will go absolutely nuts if even the slightest blame is directed his way. It's a win-win situation for the Dubs.

How does a guy who lead the team in rodmans by a WIDE margin have the worst season +/-? It's his teammates and the coach right? Riiiiight.

Ronny Turiaf: He would easily have the best celebration dance if the Dubs defied the odds and moved up. Shoot, he'd probably have a fun dance even if the Warriors moved down from the 7th spot.

Another funky dance that few can comprehend.

Monta Ellis: MopedGate was the #1 reason the 2008-2009 Golden State Warriors were an eyesore. Make the "franchise player" suck it up and show up for the lottery festivities and the fans. Along with Jack and Maggette, he sure didn't do that for the final home game of this past season.

Let's hope the moped was at least X-treme!

Stephen Jackson: In terms of roster personnel what the Warriors need right now is some serious turnover. As he proved this season, there's no better man to help the Warriors do that than Jack.

Even with 3.9 turnovers a game, Jack is still one bad mofo.

Franco Finn: My man Franco brings the HYPE!

Thunder: Bring our muscled super hero back! Inflatable Thunder too!

I know you can hear us man. It's time for a comeback like New Edition!

Who should represent the Golden State Warriors at the 2009 NBA Lottery?

Poll

Who should represent the Golden State Warriors at the 2009 NBA Lottery?

Chris Cohan

21 votes

Robert Rowell

22 votes

Chis Mullin

126 votes

Don Nelson

76 votes

Larry Riley

14 votes

Stephen Silas

14 votes

Jamal Crawford

10 votes

Anthony Randolph

106 votes

Rob Kurz

46 votes

Jason Richardson/ Baron Davis

113 votes

Kelenna Azubuike

27 votes

Corey Maggette

3 votes

Andris Biedrins

36 votes

Monta Ellis

50 votes

Stephen Jackson

100 votes

Franco Finn

42 votes

Thunder

199 votes

Ronny Turiaf

97 votes

1102 votes | Poll has closed

The Future is Golden

Atma Brother ONE — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:27:59 -0000

As the 2008-2009 Golden State Warriors season winds down, it's important to focus on the bright future this world class organization has. When a team has been rebuilding this long, you can only imagine how good it's going to be when the execution of this master vision is finally complete.

Make the jump to see what I see...

Chris Cohan is one of the NBA's finest owners. No doubt about it.

Robert Rowell's picture is next to the word "classy" in the dictionary.

Chris Mullin is a fantastic GM and a top basketball mind who knows how to draft and manage the cap. He made Nellie.

Don Nelson's a terrible coach. We should run him out of town because the fans and local media know hoops way better than him. I mean come on- everyone knows that young teams win in this league. After all he's never won a championship- he must be a bad coach right?

Monta Ellis is not only the fastest player in the league, but the smartest and most mature. I'm glad the Warriors ran Boom and Rich out of town to build around him.

Andris Biedrins is an amazingly tough defender with equally amazing fundamentals and upside. Just wait till he showcases his jumpshot and right hand next year.

Stephen Jackson is putting up Antoine Walker in-his-prime stats and that's a recipe for success.

Corey Maggette always looks to pass first.

Jamal Crawford is always on the right spot on D. He never loses sight of his man.

Kelenna Azubuike is better than Jason Richardson. Forget the totals after the game (and the final score). In limited minutes he gives you similar production. That's all that matters.

Anthony Morrow needs to stop shooting.

Anthony Randolph has fantastic body language. He's untradeable just like Ike Diogu was for Ron Artest back in 2006.

Brandan Wright is going to be a monster big man in this league for years to come.

Marco Belinelli's going to be a fantastic point guard and defender in this league.

CJ Watson is a shutdown perimeter defender. That's obviously why he got called up from the NBDL.

Ronny Turiaf's absence is going to the be key reason the LA Lakers lose in the NBA Finals this year.

Rob Kurz is going to be a Warrior for a very long time.

WE BELIEVE the Warriors will make the playoffs next year and they only missed it this year because of the injury bug.

This organization is definitely going somewhere!

Poll

Is the future golden for the Golden State Warriors?

YES: Buy tickets! BUY TICKETS!! BUY TICKETS!!!

150 votes

150 votes | Poll has closed