SB Nation - Mikki Moore

Game Preview #23: San Antonio Spurs @ Golden State Warriors

CapHill — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:09:12 -0000

Thank you, Suns. Why don't you stomp on it too.

Well, that was fun. I hate losing, especially when you manage to crawl out of the abyss, but then fail to close out on the best 3-point shooters in the League!

More doom and gloom after the jump.

Please, FSM, I can't take much more.

I thought that I would have some time to distance myself and do a real preview, but no, this is a SEGABABA. Crap. It's Game #23 and, according to Lauri, it's okay if I start panicking. Time to redo that poll, dfjmed. (My "Now" vote isn't looking so crazy, is it?)

San Antonio Spurs @ Golden State Warriors
Where: ORACLE Arena - Oakland, CA
When: December 16, 2009, 9:30 PM Spurs time
Watch: FSNSW

How They Stack Up


10-4	Home	4-5
2-6	Road	3-12
101.8	Offense	107.0
96.6	Defense	111.7
48.0	FG%	47.1
39.2	3-pt%	36.9
73.8	FT%	78.2
42.0	Rebounds	37.0
14.2	TOs	16.3
7-3	Last 10	2-8
Lost 1	Streak	Lost 3
2nd, Southwest	Position	5th, Pacific


Country/Time Zone	Game Time
Argentina	12:30 AM
West Coast	7:30 PM
Philippines	11:30 AM
Central Europe	4:30 AM
Palestine/Egypt	5:30 AM
East Coast	10:30 PM
Last Night's Massacre	8:30 PM
Perth, AUS	11:30 AM
Tokyo, JP	12:30 PM
Sydney, AUS	1:30 AM

Spurs (12-10)	Matchups	Warriors (7-17)
Tony Parker Meh	Point Guard Tony still seems to be having trouble integrating to the new offense. Plus, he seems a step slower. However, he actually is a point guard, unlike Curry, who's a shooting guard (emphasis on shooting) in a supermodel's body. Advantage: Spurs	Stephen Curry Not a Point Guard

Keith Bogans Meh	Shooting Guard Bogans is another one of those players whose contributions don't always show up in the box score. However, his non-boxscore contributions haven't been showing up lately either. Ellis isn't really big enough to play the 2, having a supermodel frame just like Curry. However, dude can shoot the damn ball. Advantage: Warriors	Monta Ellis Not a Point Guard

Richard Jefferson Meh	Small Forward RJ is still not showing up during some games. Morrow is a young kid who hasn't been starting the whole year. I could probably figure out who has the advantage by looking at advanced statistics, but I don't feel like it. Advantage: Neither	Anthony Morrow Summer League Stud

Tim Duncan Spurs' Savior	Power Forward I don't know why we even bother with rating this position. Timmeh is far superior to any Power Forward out there - don't even try arguing. Hollinger's PER compooper can't comprehend the greatness that is Tim Duncan, even though he's old and can't play anymore. Take that, you freakin' "experts". Advantage: Spurs	Vladimir Radmanovic Laker Cast Off

Antonio McDyess Meh	Center McDyess has been down lately. We need to see the boards and the pretty jumper come back. Mikki Moore has the height to play the center position, but not much else. With the way Dice has played the last few games, no one deserves the advantage here. Advantage: Neither	Mikki Moore Token Big Man

DeJuan Blair BAM	Bench & Role Players Corey Maggette seems to be the first player off the bench, but the Dubs also have Anthony Randolph, the other Summer League Stud. However, we have DeBeast, who will promptly dive on the floor to recover the flailing arms that he has ripped out of the sockets of the Warriors' front court. I love this guy! Oh, and we have Manu Ginobili and George Hill too. They're not bad. Advantage: Spurs	Corey Maggette Who Knows

Gregg Popovich No Beard for Mojo	Coach Even though we don't always agree with Pop and his crazy small ball lineups, at least we don't have to deal with Nelson and his game-by-game, throw the dice decision-making process when filling out the lineup card. Advantage: Spurs	Don Nelson Mr. Crazy Lineups
	images via yahoo.com

	Other Factors
Intangibles
We really, really, really, really, really need a road win, especially against a team that's this bad at home. Advantage: Spurs
Mojo
We have none, after the Suns killed us. But then, the Dubs just lost to the Sixers. It's a tie for crappy karma. Apparently, both teams suck at sacrificing chickens. Advantage: Neither
Winner: The Spurs (I Hope)
The Spurs need another victory after that heartbreaking loss to the Suns. The Warriors want to trade all of their players. It should be a blowout, but it'll probably be too close for comfort. Prediction: Spurs win by less than 10.

Keys To The Game

Starters Show Up - Other than Timmeh, our starters have been wildly inconsistent this year. We can't continue to depend on Duncan to carry the team in the first quarter, or depend on BAM to pull our butts out of the fire.
No Crappy Quarters - Each game, the Spurs have one really bad quarter, or two, or three. It's hard to win when you start the game in a 20 point hole. No more RQCs (thank you, romes).
Defense - Defense is supposed to be a hallmark of the Spurs - not this year. Too many open 3s, too many easy jaunts down the lane - this is NOT acceptable and needs to be cleaned up.

Strength of Schedule

This is a SEGABABA on the road, after another crappy road loss, TO THE SUNS. This does not bode well for the team or our livers.

The Warriors are coming off of a road loss to the Sixers. However, they will be playing on one day of rest, at home. But the Dubs are less than .500 at home, so who knows.

Last Time They Met

Our last meeting with the Warriors was November 25th. We won 118-104, but not because of our defense on Ellis. Monta went off for 42 points, but no other Warrior did much. We had six players score double digits.

Here's some old school Bernard King and the Warriors vs. Iceman and the Spurs.

And now for my second favorite playoff upset of all times.

Some Other Reading

Warriors

Golden State of Mind - The Warriors' SBN blog is one of the most enjoyable blogs around. You gotta give it to Warriors fans, no matter how hard Nelly tries to destroy this franchise, the fans just keep coming and coming at you in waves.
Warriors World - The TrueHoop blog for the Dubs. Their tagline says it all: "We Got Suck and Salary Protection." Perfect.

Spurs

48 Minutes of Hell: Best damn TrueHoop affiliate out there. Always a must visit Spurs site.
Project Spurs: Features live chats, call-in shows and podcasts, with lots of content. Give 'em a try.

Twitter Musings

Nothing worth sharing (unless you count some more LOLs by Blair), but you can always find all the official Spurs Sports & Entertainment Twitter accounts here: http://twitter.com/spurs/official/members

Where to Tune In

TV

This game will be aired on FSN Southwest. If you have cable or satellite, you'll have to look up your individual channel. And of course, there's always League Pass for the haves. For the have nots, read on.

Online

As always, NBA League Pass is recommended for those who are willing to pony up the cash. Most Spurs games will be broadcast there, which is especially helpful for those of us who aren't in the San Antonio area.

Please don't post links to illegal game feeds in the game thread. Links to illegal feeds are not permitted on SBNation, but you can probably find them out there on the internets if you're resourceful and desperate. In fact, nobody can stop you from googling "atdhe". You can also shoot an email to dmenendez@gmail.com for more assistance.

NBA League Pass audio is still free this year, so check it out.

Radio

If you're in the San Antonio area and aren't near a TV, tune in to WOAI (1200 AM).

RUMOR: Anthony Randolph like every Golden State Warrior on the trading block

Atma Brother ONE — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:44:07 -0000

Before we move forward flip back to my colleague JAE's insights on Anthony Randolph before the season began: Anthony Randolph- Hope Beyond the Hype :: 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors Player Recaps and Previews

Regardless of who you want to blame, I don't think it's a stretch to say that we were all expecting more than 11.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg, and 1.2 blocks from the second year big man. At the end of last season we polled folks on whether Randolph or the Kings forward Jason Thompson would have a better sophomore campaign. I don't think there's any question right now that JT is having the better campaign.

Were we hoping for too much?

JUMP for the rumor and more!

Anthony Randolph

#4 / Forward / Golden State Warriors

Height: 6-10

Weight: 205

Born: Jul 15, 1989

College: L-S-U

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
2009 - Anthony Randolph	22	22.0	3.9	9.0	42.7	0.0	0.2	20.0	3.5	4.3	81.1	2.1	4.4	6.5	1.0	1.3	0.8	1.2	2.9	11.3

From Adrian Wojnarowski over at the super purple Y!:

Warriors' Randolph on block again

For two seasons, the Warriors have had an odd time with Anthony Randolph(notes). Sometimes, they're in love with his sheer athletic ability in that 7-foot frame and considered him untouchable. As a rookie, they dangled him in deals, too. Well, it's happening again. Several NBA teams say Golden State officials have offered Randolph in trade discussions, but as one Eastern Conference executive said: "I think all of their roster could be had."

Says one Western official: "The Warriors are willing to do anything and everything."

Randolph is 20 years old and blessed with terrific talent, but his staying power and maturity have frustrated Golden State officials. It appears they're willing to cash his potential for more mature assets. After destroying the summer league in Vegas, Randolph has averaged 11.1 points in 21.8 minutes per night for the Warriors.

Even with his patriarch, Keith Smart, substituting for an ill Don Nelson, Randolph's productivity hasn't improved. Still, he's so young, so gifted, it's a move that would come with a great deal of long-term risk.

I'm pretty enamored with Anthony Randolph's potential, though I think he has a long, long, long way to go. However, with the Warriors currently holding the 2nd worst record in the mighty Western Conference and only 2 Eastern Conference teams (the New Jersey Nets and Philadelphia 76ers who the Warriors just lost to last night- see my man Feltbot's RECAP: Warriors 101, Sixers 117 -- The Answer) having worse records, I'm ecstatic to read these words:

as one Eastern Conference executive said: "I think all of their roster could be had."

Says one Western official: "The Warriors are willing to do anything and everything."

There simply are no untouchables on a team this bad whether it's the quite possibly overhyped Anthony Randolph to turnover machine Monta Ellis (see Polling GSoM: Will the Golden State Warriors lead the league in turnovers this season?).

Let's play this game in Warriors land.

For more on Randolph's season thus far let me pass the mic to JAE who eloquently summed up the Dubs first 24 games earlier this morning in So many deck chairs, so little time:

Randolph's rookie season was rather bipolar. He opened up as a wildly out of control talent who failed miserably in attempts to be an NBA SF, but started to shine as a big man, a rebounding machine with an ever climbing FG% once inserted into that role. The quite-possibly-overstated news stories said that he was putting in the hours over the summer, getting bigger and stronger and working on being the player we need him to be. When Brandan Wright went down, it looked like Randolph would see more time. When Ronny and Andris stopped playing in favor of some quality time with Tom Abdenour, it seemed like Anthony was due major minutes.

But the 21 minutes a night Randolph's averaged seems insignificantly greater than those 18 a night we've seen from Mikki Moore. Moore's previously mediocre to poor rebounding significantly over-predicted what he'd do this year. Apparently no one told him that as the only "big" in the lineup, his rebounding totals would be "padded" in the same manner some allege has happened for Biedrins (but not Turiaf) over the last few years. [We don't know much about Chris Hunter, but for what it's worth, he's been a poorer rebounder than Moore. Either he too didn't get the memo that his totals are supposed to be padded as well. Stop the hollering for Hunter, people. That's the wrong tree to bark up.]

More Randolph and less Moore would be a start. Yes, the foul rate limits how much time Randolph can be out there, but it does not explain why we're seeing Randolph on the bench more often than not. Has he 'regressed' some from the end of last season? Perhaps. But overall the trend still seems up. It's just perplexing why he's not playing far more often. At least we'd have something to hang our hopes on.

Definitely make sure to read the rest of JAE's piece.

The good news Dubs Nation: There's only one way to go up from here and that's up. It really can't get any worse.

Thanks to kenntoe for the FanShot.

Poll

Should the Warriors make Anthony Randolph untouchable in trade discussions?

So many deck chairs, so little time- 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors season through 24 games

jae — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:00:36 -0000

With the season now passed the psychologically all-important 28.012455% completed mark, it's time to assess where the Warriors are and what can be done about it.

For starters, let's get this out of the way. If anyone still held out playoff hopes, let them go. You're wasting valuable wishing on more likely things, like hitting the jackpot in the state lottery. The Thunder, currently 8^th in the west, are on pace for 47 wins. To best that, we'd have to win 41 of the remaining 58 games. Even an outside shot means winning more than 60% of the remaining contests. While we are losing to Chicago and Detroit and looking lost against Philly, that sort of performance is tooth-fairy level fantasy. Getting close to 0.500 is going to take some awesome basketball from here on out as well, and unless everyone gets healthy and starts playing some good ball, and soon, I wouldn't hold out for anything there either.

Going out and not being an embarrassment every night and doing something that remotely resembles building on the future, doing *something* that makes us think that there's reason to pay attention in the future. That has to be the goal.

So what can be done there?

Let's start with the bright spots.

...um...um...

OK, that's enough of that. The bright spots haven't been that bright. Moving on with the "not burned out bulb dark alley" spots, Stephen Curry is putting in more time than a Warriors' rookie has in quite a while, with results that still suggest that they may have done well in the draft. No, he hasn't been the top rookie point guard. That honor likely goes to Brandon Jennings. Even though he's cooled of a bit from the start, Jennings has been rather sensational. And though his scoring efficiency drags down the overall output a bit, he's shown the ability to do everything you can ask of an NBA point guard and has done it well. Additionally, Ty Lawson hasn't played nearly as much, but in his more limited minutes, he's shown all the tools as well.

[For what it's worth, I never understood why the electrically fast Jonny Flynn was touted so highly and eventually went high in the lottery while the equally electrically fast Ty Lawson sunk to the late stages of the first round. Lawson was better in college and so far has been the better pro. Yes, Lawson's in a better situation, surrounded by better players. But that doesn't explain all of it. What he did in college suggested that Lawson was going to be better, that he would make more of his shots, and per minute on the court, hand out more assists and turn the ball over less and grab more rebounds. And that's exactly what we've seen in the pros. Denver is playing real well. Lawson is part of the reason why. Minnesota stinks. Flynn hasn't changed that. The future may change all of this, but for now, whatever 'reasoning' that had Flynn much more highly touted should be examined closely. Their relative performances are more or less what their previous play predicted.]

But getting back to Curry, he's likely here for a while and for the while, that still seems like it could be a good thing. He's demonstrated that he's the best distributor on the team (setting the bar low certainly withstanding). The assist total could be higher and it probably would be without the overall dysfunctional nature of the Warriors offense. The turnovers are a bit high given the number of assists. But he's shown himself to be a reasonable, though not spectacular shooter, efficient enough to suggest that he should shoot it more often and the offense has shown some life when he's been running it. Still he could and should do more. One suspects that Curry is still trying to show the detractors who said he was just an undersized 2 from a small school that he has the chops to make it as an NBA point guard. And he has shown that he really is a point guard, but now it's time to also show that he's able to put some points on the board, to use that sweet stroke he was known for in college to extend the defense.

So is there a move to make? Curry should continue to play. No huge change there. Calls to send him to the pine in favor of C.J. Watson, a player on a one year deal who by almost all counts will have his bags packed to depart the Warriors locker room for good come the final game of the season, seem a bit misguided. That is except for the fact that C.J. should play more, simply because the team has played better when he's been in. And in the long run, reinforcing lousy play across the board will hurt those who don't clean out their lockers come the night of April 13^th, 2010.

So if Curry should play and Watson should play, the minutes have to come from somewhere. And right now, those minutes should come at Monta Ellis's expense.

Please do not interpret this as advocation for sending Monta to the bench, or ditching him entirely. But the nightly Allen Iverson tribute band he's cast himself in is not working out for anyone involved. Forty-one minutes of ball-hoggedly predictable high-volume shooting pads his point total, but makes for a stagnant offense where Monta's points come at the expense of a more efficient offense with a better distribution of the scoring load. At the end of games, opponents know that the shots are coming from a tired Ellis and when defenses can key on a tired player, they tend to win that contest. One gets the impression that Ellis thinks he needs to take every shot, and to some the extent that no one else should be taking 18 shots a night, he's right. But no one should have the opportunity to turn the ball over 9 times a game either. So far this year, Monta has accomplished that 3 times. As a benchmark, Kobe Bryant has done that 4 times in his entire career. An honest 35 minutes a night keeps him fresh and it just might help Curry to become a bit more aggressive when Monta isn't there to take all the shots.

So some Curry spiced with a bit more C.J. Watson, at least until his shooting cools, is in order. Still not the most exciting way to avoid catastrophe, and hardly something to feed our psychotic visions of success sometime in the future. For that, we still have to turn to the off-season's savior apparent, Anthony Randolph.

Randolph's rookie season was rather bipolar. He opened up as a wildly out of control talent who failed miserably in attempts to be an NBA SF, but started to shine as a big man, a rebounding machine with an ever climbing FG% once inserted into that role. The quite-possibly-overstated news stories said that he was putting in the hours over the summer, getting bigger and stronger and working on being the player we need him to be. When Brandan Wright went down, it looked like Randolph would see more time. When Ronny and Andris stopped playing in favor of some quality time with Tom Abdenour, it seemed like Anthony was due major minutes.

But the 21 minutes a night Randolph's averaged seems insignificantly greater than those 18 a night we've seen from Mikki Moore. Moore's previously mediocre to poor rebounding significantly over-predicted what he'd do this year. Apparently no one told him that as the only "big" in the lineup, his rebounding totals would be "padded" in the same manner some allege has happened for Biedrins (but not Turiaf) over the last few years. [We don't know much about Chris Hunter, but for what it's worth, he's been a poorer rebounder than Moore. Either he too didn't get the memo that his totals are supposed to be padded as well, or he's just terrible. Stop the hollering for Hunter, people. That's the wrong tree to bark up.]

More Randolph and less Moore would be a start. Yes, the foul rate limits how much time Randolph can be out there, but it does not explain why we're seeing Randolph on the bench more often than not. Has he 'regressed' some from the end of last season? Perhaps. But overall the trend still seems up. It's just perplexing why he's not playing far more often. At least we'd have something to hang our hopes on.

So what do we have? Reel in Monta a touch and push Curry to step it up and play Randolph the minutes his production warrants? No, the changes probably won't make a huge difference, but rather they try than stick with this Titanic mess that we're seeing.

Make it happen, coach. Those deck chairs ain't gonna rearrange themselves!

Poll

The brightest spot so far this year has been:

RECAP: Warriors 101, Sixers 117 -- The Answer

Feltbot — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:01:53 -0000

More photos » by Jesse D. Garrabrant - NBAE/Getty Images

(Is that Mikki Moore waiting under the basket? Tasty!)

Browse more photos »

Final Boxscore | Game Thread (820+ Comments) | Warriors Web Links

There was a little intrigue surrounding this battle of Eastern and Western Conference cellar dwellers. Would this be the game that the desperate Sixers broke their 12 game losing streak? Would the short-handed and undersized Warriors have anything left in the tank for the fifth game of a long East-coast road trip? And perhaps most intriguing, who would win the battle of lightning-bug scoring machines, the reigning title holder in that category, Allen Iverson, or the man many have called Iverson's successor, Monta Ellis?

Unfortunately, we got early and decisive answers to all of our questions, and they all came down in favor of The Answer, Allen Iverson, and his Philadelphia 76ers.

FINAL - 12.14.2009	1	2	3	4	TOTAL
Golden State Warriors	24	33	11	33	101
Philadelphia 76ers	36	35	26	20	117

COMPLETE COVERAGE >

The Sixers deserve a lot of credit for this win. Their coach, Eddie Jordan, made a bold move by starting a quicker and smaller unit than usual. He took Elton Brand out of the starting lineup, and put Thaddeus Young, normally a small forward, at power forward. T-Young was the Warriors killer in this game. His quickness and athleticism ate up Vlad Rad, and made Mikki Moore look like the old man in the rec league. He finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds, most coming in the first half. Taking Brand's place in the starting lineup was rookie point guard and defensive specialist Jrue Holiday. Holiday did a nice job hawking Monta, and his length appeared to bother Monta's jumper. And yes, The Answer delivered: Iverson got an efficient 20 points on 10 shots. Have you ever seen Allen Iverson play within a team concept, and take only what the defense was giving him? It happened in this game, and may be the way of the future for the noticeably slower 34 year old legend.

But mostly, this game was about what the Warriors couldn't do. Perhaps exhausted in the last game of their long road trip, they simply didn't show up to compete. Monta Ellis couldn't get anything going, shooting 3-15 from the field, many of his misses coming on open layups. But even if Monta had played well, it wouldn't have mattered in a game in which the Warriors simply surrendered the paint to the Sixers.

Here's a couple of stats that tell the real story of this game: The Warriors total number of rebounds, 26, was only one more than the number of offensive rebounds they gave up, 25. If you had tried to count the number of Sixers layups and dunks that resulted, you would have run out of fingers and toes. Overall, the Sixers outrebounded the Warriors 59-26. Now that's a bloody massacre.

Obviously, this was a game in which the Warriors greatly missed their injured big men, Andris Biedrins and Rony Turiaf. But even more obviously, they missed the comfort of their beds at home. As Coach Keith Smart memorably put it in his post-game interview, the road-weary Warriors played "like a horse trying to get back to the barn."

Sticking with Smart's barnyard theme, I'm going to initiate a new feature, that hopefully doesn't get too much use going forward. This is where I try to find some nice things about the Warriors' performance in a blowout loss. I'm calling it:

Lipstick on a Pig

I liked the play of two Warriors in this game:

Anthony Randolph: The Warriors' version of Where's Waldo? showed up for this game, on a night when no one else did. Go figure. Here are the highlights:

Have you been looking for a clue as to why Randolph's playing time has been so sporadic in the last few games? You may need to look no further than this: Randolph virtually never took a jumpshot in this game. He took the lumbering Dalembert to the rack again and again, finishing beautifully, and drawing fouls. Randolph took 11 free throws in this game.
After a slow start in which he again got burned by leaving his feet for pump-fakes, Randolph settled down and gave a solid defensive effort. I think he got more than the 2 blocks he was credited in the box score.
He played under control at all times, even when leading the fast break. Only 1 turnover.
Keith Smart praised Randolph after the game, and at the same time dropped a few more tea leaves to read for puzzled Randolph watchers. Smart said that Randolph was "decisive," and "tried to compete at a high level." And "even with everything going on with him, he was ready to go." A reference to the family emergency that took Randolph away from the team a few games ago?

Devean George: When George came in for Monta Ellis at 5:25 in the third, we knew the plug had been pulled. But surprisingly, George looked pretty darn good in his first extended action this season. He drained three threes, and really competed on the defensive end, helping turn a sickening 30 point blowout into a "respectable" 16 point blowout. Keith Smart praised his professionalism after the game, and said he hoped it would serve as a lesson for his young players.

It will be interesting to see if the Warriors intend to give George real minutes on the front line going forward. From the looks of this road trip, they may need him.

This is a tough choice. This would be the first Warrior Wonder of Devean George's career! And will I ever get another chance to give it to him? I gotta go with the young fella though: Mr. Anthony Randolph. He needs our support.

Sacramento's Sucking Defensive Void: What's the Problem?

Ziller — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:30:13 -0000

More photos » by Steve Yeater - AP

Browse more photos »

With eyes coated glassy from gimlets of joy here in points west, there remains one striking, sucking void in the burgeoning success of the Sacramento Kings: the defense remains absolutely awful. The world's worst a year ago, the Kings defense again ranks among the dregs of the league. The real problem for armchair analysts like me is that there is no easy answer.

The team's shooting defense sucks. The team doesn't create many turnovers. The team can't rebound regularly on the defensive end. The team fouls too much.

In every aspect of defense, the Kings are worse than par. Sacramento has stayed afloat (or exceeded expectations, more like it) based on a booming offense which has rung bells from McKinley to Kilimanjaro. (Well, it's currently 7th in the league. Without all but five games of Kevin Martin. I heard at least some decorative plates rattle.) The defense has attempted to again sink this team, like a malformed anchor of youthful blindness or community distraction. (Optimists, still here, will grasp for the former.)

Rebounding is easy to diagnose: our defensive rebounders suck. Jason Thompson has improved on that end, and in total is a fine, fine rebounder. He could do well to boost his defensive rebounding more, but he's not so much a problem as a concern. Spencer Hawes is a concern, absolutely. His defensive rebounding (21 percent last year, less than 18 percent now) is abysmal -- Mikki Moore level, in fact. This isn't blame so much as observation: Hawes has devolved as a rebounder, and he was subpar for his position and size already. Now he's atrocious. Moving on out of reach of the cyanide, Andres Nocioni has been a sink, of sorts -- his 9 percent overall rebounding rate is Salmonsesque (not good) and below the sinewy, frantic Omri Casspi (nearly 10 percent). Donte Greene has not been rebounding well, either. Kenny Thomas and Jon Brockman are champions, thank you.

Turnovers fit into the team defense conceit we'll discuss more later, and fouls split time between there (later) and this easy-to-grasp statement: Jason Thompson has really got to calm down on the fouls. Brockman and Thomas actually foul more frequently than J.T., and The Show actually isn't far behind, but as Thompson plays so many minutes (necessarily, because he is awesome) his matter most. It's not fair, but the cover of Good Housekeeping ain't free, Holmes.

Shooting defense. A riddle wrapped in prosciutto. Rancid prosciutto bartered from the Slovenian black market, in our example. (Apologies, underground meat salesmen of Celje. I mean no offense. I simply take the simplest path to WTF I can find, and today that route crossed your unfortunately, smelly bridge.) Shooting defense is really tricky to unfurl, even at the team level. On an individual basis, yes, guh, muy difficulto. But at the team level, it's still tricky.

Shooting defense, to me, can be broken off into two branches: shot distribution and actual shot defense. In other words, what locations do your opponents shoot from, and how well do they hit them?

Hoopdata.com has made serious strides in public availability of this sort of data this season. Truly fantastic, in my book, which is the one you're reading. I can give you the last page right now, if you're the type who reads that. But first,

SPOILER ALERT

The Kings' opponent shot distribution ranks 15th; that is, if opponents shot league average against the Kings in every shot zone, the Kings would have the 15th ranked shooting defense. But the Kings have the 22nd ranked shooting defense, because the Kings defense actually underperforms from average; that is, the Kings let opponents shot better than they ought to.

END SPOILER ALERT

First, shot distribution. Do opponents get lots of so-called easy shots -- near the rim, threes -- against the Kings?

Sacramento is middle-of-the-pack in the frequency of opponent attempts at the rim ... a bit surprising really. (We'll come back to interior defense in a moment.) No team gives up more non-layup/dunk shots inside the paint than the Kings, though. The Kings allow the sixth lowest rate of "midrange" 10-15 foot shots, and the 10th lowest rate of long twos. (Long twos are the worst shot in basketball, by category. More specifically, long twos by Chris Duhon are the worst shot in basketball.) The Kings give up the 7th lowest rate of threes, which is a positive.

So, essentially, Kings opponents end up taking a lot of short jumpers, compared to the league at large.

But when those opponent do get to the rim, well. Damn.

The Kings have the second-worst shot defense at the rim. There's that bad interior defense peeking out. (Out of where, well, this is a family blog, let's just move on.) This can potentially be attributed to having the league's fourth-worst block rate, and also, anecdotally, not being terribly good in transition.

Moving out, the Kings actually defend short jumpers (5-10 feet) really well, like, "third best in the league" well. From 10-15 feet, Kings opponents don't hit too much, with Sacramento having the league's eighth best shot defense from there. The Kings rank 27th in shot defense from 16-23 feet (ick), but know that 16-23 foot jump shot shooting percentages tend to vacillate wildly. (Proof: Tyreke Evans is shooting 48 percent from there this year. If that lasts, I'll eat Truck Robinson's sweatband.)

The Kings don't give up a ton of three-point attempts, but they do give up a ton of makes, with the 9th-worst shot defense from beyond the arc. Opponents shot 36.5 percent from three against Sacramento, which is the equivalent of shooting 54.7 percent from two. It's not nearly as bad as last year (where opponents actually shot better than 40 percent from downtown, if you can believe it). But it's still not good.

So there you have it. The Kings have an average opponent shot distribution, but let them make way too many attempts near the rim and from behind the arc.

Now, the big question ... whoooooooo? I can't pretend to know that answer, though I will put on the record that 82games.com reports that opponent guards and centers haven't shot too terribly well against the Kings this season, but forwards have. Small forward has been the most sour defensive spot, by this source. Andres Nocioni and Omri Casspi account for 67 percent of the team's minutes at the position. It's hard to figure this with any certainty (without more data, like game-by-game, possession-by-possession data), especially considering that Paul Westphal uses such varied line-ups and Jim Eyen has installed a couple of zone schemes the team turns to often enough. It's really impossible to lay any blame on the shooting defense on any one, two or three players given the info I have. I think we can recuse the center (Hawes, who has played 56 percent of the team's center minutes, and against whom centers are shooting far worse than they have against other Kings with minutes at the position, namely Thompson), but no one else at this point. (Guard penetration affects shooting percentages across the board -- we can't blame Nocioni if a guard gets past Evans or Udrih and forces rotations which leave Nocioni's man with airspace.)

I have thrice begun a paragraph in which I blame a player thoughtfully given the information I have, but ... nope. Wouldn't do it. I can't say for sure, and I'd rather be silent than wrong.

Preview: Wolves at Kings

Ziller — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:00:19 -0000

by David Zalubowski - AP

View full size photo »

THE OPPONENT

Despite a record worse than Stevie Wonder's baseball career, Minnesota isn't as bad as they look. Mind you, they look really, really bad. Being "not as bad" as that isn't saying a whole lot. Mikki Moore is a better rebounder than Andrea Bargnani, you know? The Wolves are still 1-5 in December. But only one of those losses (last night's visit to the Lakers) have been by a 10-point or greater margin. Progress!

Seriously, though, Kevin Love's return has meant a lot. Love's been back five games, and he's shoved Al Jefferson back to center and Ryan Hollins down in the rotation. (Blessed Earth!) Hollins is basically Moore, but younger and less endearing. As we know from experience, you cannot boast a starter as bad at rebounding for his position as Hollins and survive defensively. Of course, the Jefferson/Love frontline -- while beastly on the boards -- hasn't proven to be a defensive wall. No matter. Love is a big boost from all angles.

Love should make the Kings work on Sacramento's own defensive glass. That's actually an optimistic way of saying that Love could very well end up with 10 offensive rebounds. The Kings still have problems there, problems the team may soon need to accept, supposing Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes are the frontcourt of now and tomorrow. Tyreke Evans and Andres Nocioni are rebounding defensively as well as you could reasonably ask for ... and the team is still 20th in the league in this category.

Luckily, the Wolves are phenomenally bad on offense: 28th in shooting, 29th in turnovers and 29th in foul drawing. Sacramento's weakness is defense; Minnesota should have trouble exploiting that. The Wolves have scored 100 points all of five times this season. Sacramento might be a good opportunity for No. 6, but it's always a struggle with the Wolves.

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Al Jefferson	21	32.9	6.8	15.0	45.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.4	3.4	71.8	2.5	6.4	9.0	2.0	1.6	1.2	1.0	2.3	16.0
Jonny Flynn	23	29.4	5.0	11.6	43.4	0.9	2.7	32.8	3.0	3.7	80.0	0.3	2.1	2.5	4.3	3.2	1.2	0.1	1.4	13.9
Kevin Love	5	28.4	4.6	9.8	46.9	1.2	2.0	60.0	2.8	3.4	82.4	4.0	7.6	11.6	1.8	2.4	1.4	0.8	2.8	13.2
Ryan Gomes	23	30.5	5.2	10.9	47.8	0.9	2.0	42.6	1.1	1.4	75.8	1.4	4.0	5.4	1.6	1.5	1.0	0.2	2.6	12.4
Corey Brewer	23	30.2	4.3	11.1	38.7	0.3	1.5	17.1	1.7	2.7	60.3	1.0	3.2	4.2	2.2	2.1	1.8	0.6	2.7	10.5
Ramon Sessions	23	22.1	3.5	6.7	52.3	0.0	0.3	14.3	1.3	2.1	63.3	0.8	2.3	3.0	3.3	1.7	0.7	0.0	2.0	8.3
Oleksiy Pecherov	20	14.2	2.8	6.3	43.7	0.4	1.8	22.9	0.7	0.7	92.9	1.0	3.1	4.1	0.4	0.9	0.3	0.4	2.0	6.6
Ryan Hollins	23	19.3	2.6	4.8	53.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.3	1.9	65.9	0.9	2.0	3.0	0.9	1.4	0.3	0.5	2.8	6.4
Wayne Ellington	21	16.8	2.0	5.5	37.1	0.4	1.9	20.5	0.6	0.9	72.2	0.6	1.6	2.1	1.0	0.9	0.4	0.0	0.7	5.1
Damien Wilkins	22	15.7	1.7	4.1	40.7	0.1	0.7	20.0	1.1	1.3	82.8	1.3	2.2	3.5	1.2	0.8	0.5	0.1	1.5	4.6
Sasha Pavlovic	22	15.2	1.9	5.4	35.3	0.6	2.1	28.3	0.2	0.5	40.0	0.4	2.3	2.6	1.3	1.0	0.5	0.1	1.4	4.6
Nathan Jawai	17	11.8	1.5	3.2	47.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.1	1.4	82.6	1.4	1.6	3.1	0.4	0.6	0.2	0.3	1.6	4.2
Brian Cardinal	14	9.7	0.6	1.6	36.4	0.1	0.4	16.7	0.3	0.3	100.0	0.1	0.5	0.6	0.9	0.1	0.3	0.1	1.8	1.5
Jason Hart	1	4.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

THE KEY BATTLE

Jason Thompson vs. Kevin Love. As stated, keeping Love off the offensive glass as much as possible will be a key. But further, Thompson needs to exploit his (massive) size advantage here. Love nor Jefferson block shots with any regularity, so the Kings -- led by Thompson in the post -- should attack attack attack. On the other end, Love is most dangerous cleaning up at the rim. Thompson has done better defending the rim, but again (broken record): it comes down to boxing him out and securing those plentiful Wolves misses.

INTERESTING SIDESHOW

I didn't make Evans vs. Jonny Flynn the key battle because, well, Flynn's going to need a bunch of help to slow Evans. But remember how high Sacramento's front office had been on Flynn. If Evans had gone #2 or 3, there's a real chance the Kings could have spent the 4th pick on Flynn. In that sense, seeing how far Flynn how to grow while Evans excels (at a younger age, no less) is striking. And will be striking.

BOLD PROCLAMATION

Corey Brewer will have more steals than Mario Elie.

NUMERIC PREDICTION

Kings by 12.

DETAILS

7PM Pacific on Comcast SportsNet and KHTK 1140AM.

RECAP: Warriors 91, Bulls 96 – Brick!

Fantasy Junkie — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 06:58:58 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

6 days ago: Golden State Warriors' Monta Ellis (8) reacts after missing a shot during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls in Chicago, Friday, Dec. 11, 2009. The Bulls won 96-91. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Browse more photos »

Final Boxscore | Warriors Web Links | Open Thread (1100+ comments)

With all these young guys playing prominent roles, I guess you have to expect this kind of inconsistency. A blowout win over the Nets followed by a head scratching loss to the Bulls. The Warriors "should" have won this game? I guess my optimism got a little ahead of me. The Bulls, losers of 9 out of 10, maybe aren't as bad as I thought. But I'll still maintain that this loss wasn't so much that the Bulls beat the Warriors, but the Warriors shot themselves out of the game. Plain and simple, the Warriors desire to shoot tons of jumpers instead of getting aggressive and driving to the hole, cost them the game. Hopefully these young guys learn from this game.

Shooting Woes
The Warriors made the Bulls look like a great defensive team tonight. 38% shooting? You realize the last few games the Bulls have allowed 50%, 45%, 48%, and 51%? This is not a bad Warriors shooting team. What was with all the jumpers and lack of drives? Were they saving themselves for the second game of the back to back? 37-97 from the field. 8-28 from 3, 28.6%. Ouch. Oops. Oy.

And what's with the 12 free throws? Monta had 6. So between the other 7 players for the Warriors, they shot a combined 6 free throws. Ummm guys? You're allowed to go inside of 10 feet from the basket more than once a quarter. Corey Maggette usually gets to the line 6-7 times per game - tonight he never made an appearance.

The lack of free throws means a lot of jumpers which means not very many assists and also means lots of rebounds. The Warriors got pounded on the boards 58-44 with many thanks to the twin towers, Brad Miller and Joakim Noah. Yeesh. 14 rebound differential.

I have a beef with Anthony Morrow. 15 shots. 13 three pointers taken! Only 4 made. I can understand the 13 three pointers if he was hot, but like with alcohol, know when to say when. He went a little overboard with the 3's tonight. Every now and then you have to take the ball to the hole if you're not shooting so well from the perimeter. Or maybe take a few steps in for a jumper. C'mon young fella. I guess this is part of the maturation process? For awhile there it seemed like he was varying his offensive game by driving it to the hole, pulling up from 15, and making some decent passes. Tonight was not one of those nights.

Monta was bad as well. 10-26 from the field. At least he had more assists (5) than turnovers (3). Steph Curry was 3-9, Vlad was 4-13. The starting 5 was 24-66 (36%).

Just a bad offensive night for the Warriors. Too many jumpers and not enough drives to the hole. Not the Warriors style of play. Not a style of play they'll be successful at. They were nearly successful but that's because this was against the Bulls.

Corey MEgette
There's not a whole lot else I want to write about this game, so I'll write about Corey MEgette. I like how in Marcus Thompson's interview with MEggette that they make the argument he's not selfish because he takes care of the young guys off the court or buys expensive presents for teammates. THAT'S NOT THE SELFISHNESS FANS CARE ABOUT. Nobody gives a crap if you're a kind, generous person off the court. He may be the nicest guy, helps old women cross the street and rescues kittens out of trees. Again, nobody cares.

The selfishness fans care about is his play ON THE COURT. He's selfish on the court, no matter what Monta says. If you directly ask Monta if Corey's selfish, you really think he's going to say "Yes, Corey's selfish. He's a black hole and dosen't try on defense." Uh no.

Does MEgette work hard? Yes. Does he give up his body on offense while driving to the hole? Yes. Flopping on defense does not count as giving up one's body, that's just flopping and nobody likes a flopper. Nobody's saying he's not trying. I write "MEgette" because he plays like he's never heard the word "pass" before. I'm not asking him to be a point guard but at least make the defense think that you might drive and kick or rotate the ball around the perimeter. The second reason I write "MEgette" is because he doesn't give a crap on defense. He flops all the time and will rarely get a charging call. More often than not the offensive player either makes an uncontested shot or goes to the line. And while guarding guys on the perimeter, he's more matador than defender. Good defenders know that it's all about hustle and desire. If you're not a good defender, you lack hustle and desire.

That said, he had a nice rebounding game off the bench - 10 boards in total.

I think he's a good guy and does some great things off the court. I don't think he should be booed at the Oracle. He's far from one of the bad players on the team. He's just not a team player. He doesn't make anyone better. I don't think it's because he doesn't want to, I think it's because he doesn't know how.

One More Rant
Why is Mikki Moore still starting? When your starting center gobbles in 3 rebounds in 26 minutes, you're in trouble. Except for his revenge game against the Nets, Moore has been bad. He played a combined 19 minutes in the games against Houston and Orlando. Is it any coincidence that the Warriors had legit chances to win those games? Heck he grabbed as many rebounds as I did against the Thunder, except he played 21 minutes. How does your starting center suck so bad at getting 2 hands on an orange ball? If he was a good defender ala Chuck Hayes, I could forgive him. If he swatted shots like Turiaf, then at least he'd have something desireable about his game. But the guy is a non-factor. Can we mix up the starting lineup just a bit? It might be just me, but starting Mikki hasn't seemed too successful so far.

Anthony Randolph may have regressed and has been pretty ugly this season, but he's still better than Moore. He might even find a groove if you change it up and throw him in the starting lineup. I don't care if he hasn't earned it. Neither has Moore. Randolph at least has shown some flashes that you might be able to get something out of the 5 spot if you started him. Might even boost his confidence. What do you have to lose?

Right now, you need to change things up. Keith Smart? Don Nelson? Hello?

Silver Lining
The only silver lining? A better chance at getting John Wall. Nobody will match the Nets and Twolves ineptitude, but that 3rd worst spot is up for grabs. LGW!

No Warriors player deserves this. Nor does any of the coaching staff, front office, or waterboy. So instead I'm going TMZ style and giving it to Elin Nordegren for no other reason than I can imagine her coming after the Warriors with a 9-iron after watching them play tonight. And she's not even a Warrior fan.

And this is just a funny picture. Even Corey is about to laugh.

Poll

For the rest of this road trip, Pistons and 76ers, how many games will the Warriors win?

Polling GSoM: Will the Golden State Warriors lead the league in turnovers this season?

Atma Brother ONE — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:49:53 -0000

Game Thread #20: Warriors @ Thunder - Battle For Our Mascot

Hash is working on a fantastic recap and IQofaWarrior is assembling the exhaustive linkage for tonight's blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder as you read this, but I thought this Polling GSoM segment was in order.

If I had to pick one picture to describe the Warriors 2009-2010 season thus far, this would be it:

The Dubs really need to stop eating these for breakfast.

Jump for a look back at some words from GSoM's 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors preview that unfortunately have proven to be true through almost a quarter of this season.

Macro-Warriornomics - WE BELIEVE WE SUCK :: GSoM's 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors Preview

Biggest Weaknesses

The Human Powered Turnover Machine

Barring no injuries and if Monta Ellis can make through the season without hopping on a "low-speed moped", it's a pretty safe bet that the Warriors will lead the league in turnovers. Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette, Anthony Randolph will be the main culprits. Rookie Stephen Curry will probably add to the turnover totals considerably, but we will excuse the rookie.

We'll be using this picture quite a bit in our recaps this season.

Low Hoops IQ

Top to bottom this is one of the dumbest rosters in the league. It can be painful watching them struggle to throw the simplest inbounds pass. Part of that is being young, but most of that can be attributed to players who simply aren't that sharp on the court and off the court. We'll just leave it at that. We're not in the business of hurting the trade value of players on the home team- well at least today.

Well today we are in that business.

Just the facts and nothing but the facts:

The Warriors currently lead the league in turnovers.
"Point guard" Monta Ellis leads the league in turnovers. In 8 games out of 20 so far this season Ellis has as many turnovers if not more than assists.
Corey Maggette, Anthony Randolph, Vladimir Radmanovic, Ronny Turiaf all average more turnovers than assists right now.
C.J. Watson, Chris Hunter, and Mikki Moore are the only players on this roster that have a 2:1 assist : turnover ratio. Watson is a low volume dime dropper most likely gone by the February trading deadline, Hunter is a recent D-League call-up, and Moore is a journeyman.

I'll let you draw the appropriate inferences in the comments.

GM Larry RIley- hope you're on the phone trying to wheel and deal!

via www.sitcomsonline.com

Poll

Will the Golden State Warriors lead the league in turnovers this season?

GAME THREAD #19 - Warriors vs. Magic - Superman that..

R Dizzle — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:36:43 -0000

My arms are this big - I swear.

Warriors: 6-12

Magic: 15-4

Tip-Off: 7:30pm

TV: CSN Bay Area

Radio: KNBR 680

Blog Buddy: Third Quarter Collapse

Alright so things aren't going so well. We lost the last game to the Rockets by a stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid (I think you get the picture) play and it was heart breaking. Monta's been scoring out of his mind but also giving up turnovers at a rate that is out of his mind. Yay.

But hey, at least we get to see another great Warriors game tonight. We're going to finally have a full roster...right?

Right?

What's this? IQofaWarrior says...a big fat N-O.

Sigh...

FACTS

1. The Magic are tied for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

2. The Magic will set a new team record with 7 consecutive road wins,

3. Don Nelson will miss the next 5 road games.

4. Anthony Morrow will miss tonight's game.

5. The Warriors are missing these players - Brandan Wright, Kelenna Azubuike, Raja Bell, Anthony Morrow, Ronny Turiaf, Andris Biedrins, Anthony Randolph, Speedy Claxton, Devean George.

6. The Warriors will play these players tonight - Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, Corey Maggette, Chris Hunter, Mikki Moore, C.J. Watson, and Vladimir Radmonovich.

7. Mickael Pietrus was one of the most fun Warriors players. (See Below)

8. The Warriors are in desperate need of some magic "health" potions.

9. Mickael Pietrus, Matt Barnes, and Adonal Foyle will all get standing ovations when they step on the court (if they do).

10. This guy (pictured below) will Superman the Warriors.

FICTION

1. The Warriors will win tonight. (That is all...)

Poll

Who is your favorite ex-Warrior on the Magic?

Preview - Rockets vs Warriors – Better Late Than Never Edition

Xiane — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:57:37 -0000


Game 19
ROCKETS	AT	WARRIORS Help! I can't make the wee pictures work!


December 3, 2009
9:00 PM CST
Oracle Arena (home of the Delphic Basketball Oracle)
Oakland, CA
Aaron Brooks	PG	Stephen Curry
Trevor Ariza	SG	Monta Ellis
Shane Battier	SF	C Maggette
Luis Scola	PF	V Radmanovic
Chuck Hayes	C	Mikki Moore(dtd)
Carl Landry	Key Reserve	A Randolph
Key Injuries
Tracy McGrady		A Biedrins/R Turiaf?

Team Records: Warriors 6-11, Rockets 10-8

Tonight we revisit the ongoing soap opera that is the Golden State Warriors. So much talent. So much drama. So little defense. So much Don Nelson, wandering around, drinking scotch, and alienating people.

The Warriors are coming off a big loss to Denver, while the Rockets pulled away from the LA Clippers with a strong 4^th quarter showing, turning a tight game into a cakewalk in the space of 8 minutes.

When we last saw the Warriors, again on the 2^nd game of a West Coast back-to-back, they featured Stephen Jackson. Jackson, after much public outcry, whingeing, hand wringing and hoopla, is now a Bobcat. Coming to the Warriors is Vladimir Randmanovic - a man who can truthfully boast one of the worst contracts in the NBA, which is saying something. The Warriors also feature man-child Anthony Randolph - a player I think should become a Rocket, if only to get back to Texas.

No one played that much in last night's win against LAC, with what we call our "2^nd Unit" closing out the game, and the opponent. This is to say, the Rockets have the bench to run up and down with the Warriors on the 2^nd night of a back-to-back.

I think the Rockets can largely keep up with the Warriors scoring, and certainly play a lot more defense. If the Warriors can't field Biedrins or Turiaf, Randolph, Moore and Radmanovic might have a tough job holding down Scola and Landry.

Monta Ellis has been on fire recently, effectively winning some games himself. The Rockets need to stop this from happening in order to win tonight.

Let's look at the match-ups:

PG - Brooks v Curry

As a rookie, Curry has looked great, and not so great, sometimes in the same quarter. Brooks tore up LAC last night, before giving way to the more physical game of Lowry. Edge - Rockets

SG - Ariza v Ellis

Ellis has been on a tear lately, totally destroying the opposition at times. Ariza has been playing better lately, driving and dunking, while still playing good D. We'll see if he can slow Ellis down.

Edge - Warriors

SF - Battier v Maggette

Maggette remains a great enigma of the NBA. Sometimes when you see him play, you think he should dominate the league. But he never really has - injuries, the wrong situation have slowed him down. I think Battier will too.

Edge - Warriors

PF - Scola/Landry v Radmanovic/Randolph

Radmanovic is...not as bad as you might think he is. If you don't watch the Rockets, you'll be surprised to learn that Landry is much better than you thought he was. Scola seemed to be bothered by his shop goggles last night. Let's hope he's found the old school "bug type" goggles. Randolph might go insane and fill up the stat sheet. He might go insane and spend the night on the bench.

Edge - Rockets

C - Hayes v Moore

Wow. Without Biedrins and possibly Turiaf, this looks sort of scary for the Warriors. I'll say now that we're going to see a lot of Andersen.

Edge - Rockets

Rockets by 10

The Opposing Blog