SB Nation - Anthony Randolph

RECAP: Warriors 109 Wizards 118 - GSoM Holiday Party 2!

R Dizzle — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:33:13 -0000

Betcha didn't know Monta was a professional wrestler too!

Open Thread | Wizards vs Warriors boxscore | Warriors Web Links

Hooray another loss.

Hooray Gilbert came in and showed us why it was his arena.

Hooray we suck.

I'm not even going to justify that game.

Instead I'll give you guys another story!

Final - 12.18.2009	1	2	3	4	Total
Washington Wizards	39	21	29	29	118
Golden State Warriors	31	28	23	27	109

Complete Coverage >

Walking up the Roarcle

R Dizzle - Man, it feels good to be back the Bay - beautiful skies, sunny days, and best of all - I get to see my Warriors!

Killa Shom - Yeah man, good to have you back.

R Dizzle - Word, but hey, where are all the people?

Killa Shom - Are you serious? This is a Warriors game...nobody comes anymore. ESPECIALLY against the Wizards.

R Dizzle - The reality of that statement irks me. Stupid Cohan and Rowell...

The Game

R Dizzle - YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!! The whole GSoM crew is here! WADDUP!

Atma Brother #1 - What's goin on man? Help yourself to the food - hella good stuff all around.

R Dizzle - Nice...Killa Shom - go do your thing. Just save me some of Nellie's favorite - Bud Light!

Poor Man's Commish - What's up man? I gotta ask you...are you guys related?

R Dizzle - Ha ha ha. Yes, that would be my older brother. And yes, I'm the young'n of the group. Doesn't that come out in all of my writing?

Poor Man's Commish - True true. To be honest man, I'm a little scared of writing my first recap.

R Dizzle - Are you kidding? It'll be dope! That piece dropped about Jeremy Lin was OFF THE CHAIN!

Poor Man's Commish - Thanks man, but still...

R Dizzle - Ok look, if you ever have any trouble writing something real, just do what I do.

Poor Man's Commish - What's that?

R Dizzle - WRITE A RECAP ABOUT NOTHING.

Poor Man's Commish - Ha.

Sometime during the game

R Dizzle - JAE! Wassup man? Good to meet you.

JAE - Nice to meet you too.

R Dizzle - I really love your stuff on the main page, great statistical analysis and everything. Puts my "work" to shame.

JAE - No no, don't say that. Not everything's full of numbers. I managed to pull my last recap without a single stat.

R Dizzle - True true, I was impressed man. I gotta ask you, with all these trade rumors and what not, what are your thoughts about Anthony Randolph?

JAE - Guy has talent, he just needs to play within his game. FOR EXAMPLE, look he's got the ball now, top of the key. He never makes this shot but he always pull that elbow jumper.

R Dizzle - Right, so?

JAE - So I'm saying, he should not...WHY ARE YOU SHOOTING THE BALL?!?!

R Dizzle - That was kinda ugly.

JAE - Point being, he should know his limits.

R Dizzle - Agreed. Now he's got the ball again...dribbling up...

JAE - STOP SHOOTING THE BALL!!!!

R Dizzle - Right.

Later in the game

R Dizzle - My main man Tony! Good to see you and your lovely wife.

Tony.psd - Good to see you again homie.

R Dizzle - How come you don't have any signs at tonight's game?

Tony.psd - They wouldn't let me.

R Dizzle - What do you mean?

Tony.psd - They won't let me in with "We Suck" signs or anything about the front office.

R Dizzle - That's ridiculous man.

Tony.psd - I know, how are they going to hate on artist?

R Dizzle - Agreed. HOW ARE THEY GOING TO HATE ON AN ARTIST. WE DO SUCK.

Just to keep things short, here are the next 20 minutes of the game as a collective whole.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!"

"Gilbert's on fire!"

"Who's going to stop Heyward?"

"Caron Butler's the man - Maggs for Butler straight up!"

"Why is he shooting it?"

"Monta with another turnover."

"WHYYYYYY?!?!?!"

Halftime

R Dizzle - Hooray for Halftime show at the Roarcle! Since this a nationally televised game, there's gotta be a good show, right?

Killa Shom - Right.

5 minutes later...

R Dizzle - There's no halftime show. What the hell man.

Killa Shom - Right.

R Dizzle - I hate our front office.

3rd Quarter

R Dizzle - GO DJ! Cause that's my DJ!

DJ Fuzzy Logic - Waddup man! Enjoying the snow?

R Dizzle - Ha ha ha. You were there for 4 years before me fool.

DJ Fuzzy Logic - Yeah yeah, but now I'm back in Cali spittin in on the 1's and 2's.

R Dizzle - Word. So what are your thoughts about Randolph?

DJ Fuzzy Logic - I'm good with the man, he just needs to stop trippin.

R Dizzle - Trippin? What's he trippin about?

DJ Fuzzy Logic - No like, literally trippin. Falling. Somehow he manages to end up on the ground every game.

R Dizzle - No he doesn't....

DJ Fuzzy Logic - Yes he does. Look right now!

R Dizzle - Man, that faceplant into the court must have hurt. Maybe he should start wearing a helmet or something.

DJ Fuzzy Logic - Yeah maybe...

Later in the game

R Dizzle - Fantasy Junkie...been too long man.

Fantasy Junkie - Definetly. Enjoying being back at home and at the Roaracle?

R Dizzle - I mean, I'm loving being back at home...but I don't know about this game....

Fantasy Junkie - Why's that?

R Dizzle - This straight sucks man. We're losing to the Wizards!

Fantasy Junkie - Right, but you can't come to games wanting to watch the Warriors. You have to appreciate the other team.

R Dizzle - What?

Fantasy Junkie - Yeah so when I went to the Magic game I wanted to see Dwight Howard and Vince Carter.

R Dizzle - Oh I get it, so tonight, I should be appreciating GILBERT ARENAS' ALMOST 50 POINT PERFORMANCE.

Fantasy Junkie - Exactly.

Even later in the game

R Dizzle - Olympic Mike! Great to meet you man and I'm really glad to have you a part of the GSoM team!

Olympic Mike - Thanks man, great to be around.

R Dizzle - So I gotta ask you, I'm doing the recap tonight. Any suggestions of what to write about this so called "game?"

Olympic Mike - Hmm...I read your stuff enough to know your style. How bout another CONVERSATION RECAP?

R Dizzle - Good idea. I'll start committing things to memory right now.

Some random amount of time later

R Dizzle - Feltbot! Another new edition to the crew!

Feltbot - Nice to meet you, R Dizzle.

R Dizzle - Good to meet you too. So I hear you're a professional poker player.

Feltbot - That's right. Do you play?

R Dizzle - Of course! I'm just as good at poker as I am with writing Warriors recaps!

Feltbot - Oh ya? I've read a few of your things....so let me ask you this, what do you do if you're playing Texas Hold 'Em and you get a 7-2 off suite?

R Dizzle - Go all in!

Feltbot - You're right. You're just as good at poker as you are with writing Warriors recaps.

End of the game

R Dizzle - Glad we got this whole thing to happen man....good to be back home.

Atma Brother # 1 - Of course. Good to have you back. Any idea with what you're going to do with the recap?

R Dizzle - Oh probably something extremely silly and pointless like always.

Atma Brother #1 - Good man. You gonna mention how Arenas and Heyward destroyed us?

R Dizzle - Naw, no need for that.

Atma Brother #1 - How about how Monta had those turnovers? Randolph had moments that showed his potential? Curry had the hot hand at points in the game?

R Dizzle - Naw, again no need for that. I will say that Curry is the man and I would love to get his jersey as a birthday present. (HINT HINT!)

Atma Brother #1 -Then what are you going to do?

R Dizzle - I dunno...I think I'll have something quick in the morning. I mean let's be real - who wants to remember this game anyway?

NOT ME.

To us, the Golden State of Mind CREW!

Poll

Who's the best bloggin crew out there?

Polling GSoM: Who should the Golden State Warriors call up from the D-League? Rod Benson, Rob Kurz, Dontell Jefferson

Atma Brother ONE — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:19:57 -0000

Golden State Warriors vs Sacramento Kings. GSoM Night 8. We're the Real Kings of Cali without a doubt, but what would make the affair even more royal?

GSoM friend Rod Benson!

Scott Schroeder who's still as ridiculous as ever over at the superb Ridiculous Upside has not 1, but 3 D-League ballas for the Warriors to choose from in Warriors Granted 2nd Hardship Exception; Rod Benson's Available!

It's time to make the call!

via www.nakedauthors.com

Links, pics, and more after the jump!

Rod Benson

BOOM GOT THEM THO!

'nuff said

GSoMer nativeson on the Photoshop one's and two's.

Linkage:

Pick up your 09 Boom Tho gear over at TMRB (Too Much Rod Benson)
Read up on his Boomness over at Ball Don't Lie
Follow Rod on Twitter @boomtho (GSoM's @unstoppablebaby)

From the Golden Vault:

Rob Kurz

Imagine the Warriors could instantly get someone that head coach Don Nelson thought was better than Anthony Randolph (also see RUMOR: New York Knicks and Houston Rockets interested in Golden State Warriors forward Anthony Randolph) for most of last season. He even has a miracle shot as a member of the Dubs on his resume.

See Polling GSoM: Are you going to miss Rob Kurz?

It's take 2 for Rob Base, but Rob Kurz takes 3.

Dontell Jefferson

Everything you could ever want to know about Jefferson and more is over at his SB Nation player page.

You thought he was good in the video games? Wait till you see him in real life!

via i638.photobucket.com

This is not going to be an easy decision folks. Thanks again to our man Scott at Ridiculous Upside for the 411.

Poll

Who should the Golden State Warriors call up from the D-League?

RUMOR: New York Knicks and Houston Rockets interested in Golden State Warriors forward Anthony Randolph

Atma Brother ONE — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:15:26 -0000

Funky Slam

via www.slamonline.com

Everyone on the current Golden State Warriors roster should be on the table in a trade. As of writing this team has the 4th worst record in the entire NBA.

There's only 1 way to go.

UP.

So JUMP!

CSN Bay Area: Anthony Randolph's Agent Bill Duffy talks with Scott Reiss about the recent trade rumor.

From Chris Broussard's Agent: Randolph not against trade piece over at ESPN.com:

Sources within the Warriors organization and around the league say the 6-foot-10 forward is available, but they said he is not being shopped.

"They're not trying to unload the guy," one Western Conference executive said. "But they are disappointed in him, so now they're willing to listen to other teams. Whereas before the season, their thinking was that he was untouchable and they wouldn't even listen."

Executives mentioned New York and Houston as clubs that have interest in Randolph, but he will not be easy to move because of the great disparity between his small salary ($1.8 million) and his perceived upside. The most likely trade scenario would include Randolph as part of a larger deal that featured a more accomplished player.

"I don't know that Randolph's stock has dropped around the league," the executive said. "He's a great talent; he just hasn't done much yet. So he's more of a sweetener that could get another deal done if you threw him in."

I'd like to see Randolph stay here and blossom, but I honestly can't tell whether that's ever going to happen. Is he a future superstar or even star? Or is he going to be some much wasted talent a la Stromile Swift? I really can't tell. What I do know:

In terms of desire Randolph seems like he's got it. This isn't Erick Dampier we're talking about.
In terms of athletic ability and talent AR's got it. He's got the height and raw skill.
Key word being raw. AR is extremely raw. His knowledge of the game and fundamentals save for a few bright moments need a lot of work- a LOT.
He doesn't seem all that coachable for a young player. In this regard, Stephen Curry he is not.
Aside from the mental part of the game all of his hoops flaws seem to come down to having a weak core and terrible footwork. DJ Fuzzy Logic and I can never get over how often and how easily he falls and slips on the ground. His footwork is pretty horrendous as well. Both of these are solvable, but will he put in the time and effort to solve them?
Unfortunately Randolph seems to think he's already arrived and deserves veteran privieges like playing time and the benefit of the doubt.
Neither Don Nelson nor Keith Smart seem to be ready to just give him consistent minutes regardless of his play. Who you want to blame for that or how you read it is your call.

What I don't know:

what the Knicks have to offer that would be worthwhile in a trade (see Posting and Toasting)
what the Rockets have to offer that would be worthwhile in a trade (see The Dream Shake)

GSoM Throwback:

99% of rumors never happen, but 99% of them are fun to talk about!

Poll

Would you be upset if the Warriors traded Anthony Randolph and didn't get an established All-Star in return?

Recap: Spurs 103, Warriors 91- Oh the humanity

jae — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:21:37 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

Monta Ellis frames Spurs' center Tim Duncan's head for a photo shoot while Bad Vlad Radmanovic trys to help keep the ball out of the way. Thanks Vlad! (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Browse more photos »

Originally posted Dec 17, 2009 12:21 AM PST

Spurs vs Warriors coverage | Spurs vs Warriors boxscore | Spurs vs Warriors recap

Preview/ Game Thread: I Love GSoM + Dysfunction Junction (1050+ comments)

Warriors Web Links: Nellie's back, Moore's out

I had not heard that Mikki Moore was injured until well after the game, so it came as something of a surprise that he was not in the starting lineup. He wasn't at the shoot-around either. Was this it? Had a big deal gone down where he and the rest of the expiring contracts had been packaged for something resembling the foundation of a basketball team? Sadly, no.

Moore's absence simply meant that someone else would have to pick up the slack of being on the court for a quarter and a half without accomplishing a thing. And try as they might, the rest of the team found out that such was no easy task. That level of inconspicuous nothing takes more than most of this rag-tag crew had in them.

Vladimir Radmanovic, who pretended to be a big man for much of the game, tried, but in his time on the court, Vlad simply missed too many shots. To accomplish nothing one must find quieter means of futility. Miss one or two and you can be forgotten, but fire up miss after miss like he did and you're likely to stand out.

Stephen Curry's noble attempt also failed to capture the essence of Moore, as (and I'm operating off of memory since I've yet to check a box score) his 458 fouls (plus or minus a few) attract too much attention.

And while eyes are still on Anthony Randolph, he's unlikely to fill out as many empty, unnoticed minutes. He should still try to take most of his shots no more than an arm's length from the rim. With even fewer big men to compete for playing time with, Randolph appeared to settle for jumpers above the key. If he took a shot in the paint, it was while I was distracted by the guys behind me making up stories about golf. ("So, you know Mike is a real good golfer I'd heard, but he hasn't been playing in years. Still he went out and shot a... [pause to make up a number that's not so low as to be unbelievable, but not so high as to possibly not sound impressive enough] ...a 73 [nailed it!] on a course in Phoenix on our last business trip there. Apparently, Mike played at Dook [where they have their own course, and it's real hard to make the team there. The only way to make the team is to shoot 7 under par or better for 3 rounds in 3 days, while also dragging a Volkswagen around the course using only your teeth or some other ridiculous rite of passage suggesting that in most years they'd never actually field a full squad]. So you know he's gotta have a whole lot of talent!") Anthony does have a real nice stroke from the right elbow though. He's deadly there. Unfortunately, from the *left* elbow and more or less anywhere else on the court, he may as well just hand the ball over to the opposition. It's not going in and we're not getting a rebound.

No, if there was a Warrior Wonder as in "I wonder where he was because I didn't seem to notice him at all tonight" it goes to Anthony Morrow. I didn't remember him doing anything in the second half, and wondered why, when we could have used the shooters to try to stay in the game, he wasn't playing more. That was until my friend in the seat next to me pointed out that he was actually in the game, and had been for much of the second half.

It's tough to really call this a team right now. It's more of an entourage where all the members just happen to be Turtle. Monta certainly shined above the rest. The ball seemed to find his hands in the right place and he seemed to be moving just that much faster and that much more smoothly than anyone nearby him (which was good when that guy is a Spur, but not so good when that guy is a Warrior). All critique of his ball-hogged ways that have been too frequent of late, tonight, *just watching him play*, it's clear that he can do quite a bit of good on the court and remains one reason to watch. He may not be an "all-star" and as a centerpiece of a winning team, he may always be lacking in some important regard, but he's also capable of dazzling grace on the court. We can lose games without him, but we'd miss out on some true on-court poetry in the process.

The Spurs made it interesting. They aren't particularly exciting and the Warriors led at halftime, but they just played with a quiet confidence where you knew that inevitably, they'd be around when the third quarter collapse hit. It did. They were. Even knowing that you are watching a certain future Hall of Famer in Duncan, his hand heavy with championship rings really doesn't spice up the methodical Spurs. If there's a player who actually caught my attention, it was DeJuan Blair. If he's "undersized" he sure doesn't look it in terms of his presence on the court. Maybe his head is a few inches below that of a "legitimate NBA bigman" but his presence is no shorter. When there's a shot off the rim to pull down, he looks like he's about 8 feet tall. And sure, his knees are held together with duct-tape and zip-ties and looking at him you get the impression that he's bound to be corpulent sooner or later, at which point he may no longer be fit for NBA duty. But until then, he's there where he needs to be, looking huge and doing what needs to be done.

Other observation: there are a whole lot of fans in jerseys of players who now play elsewhere around the association. Particularly cute was the couple sporting the (his) Jackson and (her) Richardson models walking hand in hand out of the arena after the game. Unlike about 60% of the attendees, they stayed 'til the bitter end.

The Downbeat - 16 December 2009 - #123 - The Booyah! Edition

Basketball John — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:00:14 -0000

Boozer returning to the scene of the crime tonight, regardless.

Golden State of Mind is reporting that everyone on the Warriors roster is available. They put up Anthony Randolph as an example. He was thought to be untouchable before. Would he be worth a trade? Would he fit in here or just get buried on the bench? He's long, he can rebound, and he can block shots.

Get voting! Great video.

I've been getting a few more responses for the SLC Dunk night out. I'll keep posting this to see if we can't get some more.

If you're signing up, it doesn't commit you to be there, I just want to get a feel for what night, how many, etc. So head to the form if you haven't already and let me know.

I only wish we could fly everyone in.

A little site announcement coming later today.

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.

Q&A: Marcus Thompson - Contra Costa Times / InsideBayArea.com (Part 1 of 3)- Warriors bright spots, the next to be traded, Robert Rowell and basketball decisions

Atma Brother ONE — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:00:35 -0000

We recently mic'ed up Marcus Thompson of the Contra Costa Times/ InsideBayArea.com to get his thoughts on the Golden State Warriors.

Click and roll to MT's Dubs blog

Jump for some positives about the Warriors season, who will be the next players the team ships out, and Robert Rowell's future in making Warriors hoops decisions.

Golden State of Mind: We're in the midst of some seemingly endless "Dubs Drama" (again). Let's hit the pause button on the dysfunction for a second though. You cover the Warriors extremely closely, so you're the best person to ask this. What are some of the bright spots for this organization either on or off the court that aren't getting enough ink across the hoops world?

Marcus Thompson: The bright spots are obvious: Monta Ellis, Anthony Morrow, Anthony Randolph, Stephen Curry and I will even throw Kelenna Azubuike in there.

The brightest is no doubt Monta Ellis. Say what you want about him, the kid is showing he is special. He hasn't done anything yet. But the prospects look good. He will benefit the Warriors extremely down the road, whether as a player or as trade bait.

Morrow is right behind Ellis. He may not have the superstar power Ellis has, but Morrow at the very least could be just a solid starter for years to come. That is nothing to sneeze at.

Randolph, though he is up and down, I think is still promising. His fate may be more in the hands of his coaches, who have to figure out a way to help him progress. But that is what organizations have to do sometimes. Sure, the onus is on the player. But he didn't invest in himself, the Warriors invested in him. It is on them to do everything they can to maximize that investment. Because if Randolph turns out to be a bust, it's the franchise's fault for drafting him.

The cap flexibility is also pretty good. As it is now, they have the flexibility to add a big contract for a player they really want. The chance is there to really get someone good. If they don't take advantage, that is on them.

Golden State of Mind: Within his first few months on the job as the GM of the Warriors Larry Riley has already given the roster a shake-up. Jamal Crawford, Marco Belinelli, and recently Stephen Jackson have all been shipped out. This still isn't a contender to say the least, so more moves seem likely. Considering the big money deals still on the books, expiring contracts, young and raw talent, and lingering in-house drama, who do you think will be the next player(s) headed out? Does Monta Ellis "got next"?

Marcus Thompson: Ideally, it would be Corey Maggette. They aren't getting the bang for his buck, and he certainly would like to play more. But everyone knows it's tough to trade his contract. With that said, I think it has to be either Monta Ellis or Andris Biedrins. I don't see how they can land a difference maker without giving up one of those two. Those are the two big money guys, so if the Warriors want to give someone $15 a year, they will probably need to move one of those two (unless they can get rid of Maggette's contract). But mainly, those two guys I think are the only commodities the Warriors have that will make another team give up a stud.

If you're Phoenix, who would you want in return for Stoudemire? If you're Toronto, who would you want in exchange for Bosh? Sure, they want young talent, but for the money the Warriors will have to shell out, young talent won't be enough. Maybe if they decided to package Curry and Randolph with Maggette, they might get another team to bite. But I really don't think they'd do that.

Curry and Randolph are among the untouchables currently, but I wouldn't be surprise if their status changed between February and August. Especially in the case of Randolph, the Warriors may be more willing to include him in a deal down the line than they are right now.

Golden State of Mind: Golden State Warriors president Robert Rowell has had his fair share of critics for personally inking Stephen Jackson to that questionable early 3 year extension, among other recent front office decisions. With Larry Riley and Don Nelson firmly entrenched as the Warriors GM head coach is this the last we'll see Rowell making basketball decisions such as negotiating player deals and extensions? How safe is his job with the Warriors?

Marcus Thompson: I think it's the last he'll be taking or given credit publicly. There was a time when the Warriors wanted his name mentioned for the good things the Warriors did. Of course, with that comes your name being mentioned when bad things happen.

I think everyone in the organization, even Rowell, realizes that he needs to either become the GM or let the GM run the show. I don't think that means he is out of the loop on decision making, though. In the end, he's still got to approve all financial moves, and sell them to owner Chris Cohan. So he's in the room, and at the very least in the loop. But Riley will get all the credit and the blame when it comes to basketball decisions.

**********

Stay tuned for the rest of our Q&A with Marcus! In the mean time make sure to check out Inside the Warriors