SB Nation User Blog: Fantasy Junkie

GSOM Night 8: Post-Game Anthony Morrow Q&A

Fantasy Junkie — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:11:30 -0000

A-Mo + GSOM. Gotta love it.

What?! Yea, you read that right. Chris Murphy of the Warriors hooked us all up with a GSOM Night 8 post-game Q&A with our favorite sharpshooting Yellow Jacket, Anthony Morrow. A-Mo, Chocolate Rain, whatever you want to call him, he'll be there after the game, January 8th against the Kings to answer questions from you. I'm extremely excited it and I hope you are too. All you have to do is purchase a ticket to GSOM Night 8 against the Sacramento Kings to join in on the Q&A. More details after the jump.

One other update to GSOM Night 8 is that the Warriors have lowered ticket prices by $6 for the sideline tickets and $5 for the corner/baseline tickets.

When
Friday, January 8, 2010 @ 7:30p vs Sacramento Kings

Tickets (Purchase Tickets Online )
- Club 200 Sideline (rows 1-9): $32 each ($18 discount)
- Club 200 Corner/Baseline: $20 each ($15 discount)

For Every Ticket Purchased

- You get to attend the post-game Anthony Morrow question and answer session
- You will be entered into a raffle for free tickets, merchandise and memorabilia
- You will receive a free Tony.psd t-shirt (finalizing the design soon)

We changed up the post-game activity from last time, the Free Throw Contest, so that we could bring you an up close, perhaps more intimate, chat with one of the more popular Warriors, Anthony Morrow. So far, I know the Warriors will supply a moderator and the GSOM community will supply them with a list of questions. Those questions will need to be created prior to the Q&A and we'll do that right here on GSOM. In the next week or so, look for a front page post where you can submit questions to ask Morrow.

GSOM Night 8 Archive

GSOM Night 7 Archive

RECAP: Warriors 109, Rockets 111 - Not Again!

Fantasy Junkie — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:52:33 -0000

That was a baaaaad call

Final Boxscore | Warriors Web | Open Thread (1400+ comments)

It was a game the Warriors should have won. They were up 10 with 6:20 remaining and then a series of poor offensive possessions led to a 4.5 minute scoring drought in which the Rockets went on a 12-0 run. They did the same thing to the Clippers last night. The Clippers didn't score a bucket in the last 9 minutes of the game until Baron hit a meaningless 3 with seconds remaining. Impressive. The Warriors started taking bad shots and turning the ball over in conjunction with the Rockets D stepping it up.

2 things just killed me in tonight's game. First was the foul call on CJ Watson when he allegedly grazed Aaron Brooks' arm on the Rockets last possession. There were some questionable calls tonight, but how do the refs call this? CJ might have been close but it didn't look like he touched Brooks. That play essentially decided the game. It gave the Rockets 2 free throws in a tie game with just 2 seconds left. Ridiculous. One of the worst calls I've seen.

The second was that 4th quarter. Ugh the Warriors went small ball with CJ, Monta, Curry, Morrow and Maggette. That's supposed to be an advantage right? It forced Adelman to take out Scola who was having a very nice game in the paint. Oh but all it did was allow Carl Landry to pick up where Scola left off. If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it. The Rockets rolled off a 12-0 run, holding that mini-lineup scoreless for 4.5 minutes. Monta didn't make a field goal in the 4th as they bottled him up. Why didn't Nellie make a change? Why didn't he throw in Vlad or Hunter to mix it up a bit? Everyone in the arena could see when things started to go bad. Hey Nellie, call a timeout, make a substitution, do something! Even though Nellie didn't make any moves, the players on the court still needed to execute and they didn't with poor shots (e.g. Maggette taking a long 2). Put it this way, the Rockets should have never had the ball with 19 seconds left and the score tied. The Warriors played hard all night but just let the lead slip away.

Monta?
Yikes. The Rockets sure bottled him up in the half court tonight. He couldn't get anything in the half court offense. How many times did he drive in the lane, jump in the air and then have nowhere to go with the ball? Way too many. He got blocked 7 times and turned it over 9 times. He made 9 shots, missed 18. I think at one point he got frustrated and took a 3 early in the shot clock. Additionally, you could see he was frustrated with the officials all night. The Rockets defense gave him fits and he seemed to get most of his made buckets off fast breaks.

Even though Monta had an incredibly poor game overall, I thought he came out with a lot of energy in the 2nd half to set the tone for the rest of the quarter. On the Rockets second possession of the half, he stripped Aaron Brooks and then found Morrow for 3. On the very next possession, he stole the ball from Chuck Hayes and blew past the Rocket defenders for a layup. It was just 2 possessions, but he gave the Warriors a jump start to get the 2nd half rolling. After that, you could see the defense getting scrappy, going for more steals and diving on the floor - something that didn't happen enough in the first half. I really don't think the Warriors take the lead in this game if Monta doesn't make those two huge defensive and offensive plays. The Warriors went from down 7 at the half to up 4 with 9 minutes to go in the 3rd. It was a major turning point in the game.

A-Mo!
What can I say, he's really expanding his game and becoming a very nice player. He's no longer just a gunner, he's got a nice head fake and is taking the ball to the hole. He even crossed over Battier and took it all the way in for a layup to tie the game at 109. Just watching him up close tonight, he's got the youthful exuberance of a kid with a quickly maturing game. After he made that fantastic pass near the start of the third quarter - a bounce pass from near half court that weaved through defenders to a cutting Radmonovic for a layup, he had a big smile on his face and pointed at the coaches. He's always in the middle of the huddle facing the coaches. When he's on the bench he's even yelling on the court helping the players communicate. I was impressed.

Vlad Radman
What a game from Vladimir - 20 points on 8-13 shooting (4-7 from 3), 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. He was a major reason for the big run in the 3rd to take the lead and hold onto it for a 6 point lead to start the 4th. Can anyone explain to me why he didn't start the 4th or why he didn't get back in the game until there were less than 3 minutes left? Hmmmm. Coach?

Aaron Brooks
Whew. That guy is FAST and QUICK and nobody seemed to able to guard him. I don't know how to compare his speed and quickness to Monta but they feel quite different. Monta has that end to end speed where if you're not already in front of him, you're not going to get in front of him. He's also got the quick first step and amazing body control to finish. Brooks on the other hand, doesn't seem as fast from one end to the other, but when he has the ball in his hands in the halfcourt he just gets in the lane at will. Once he gets just that little room of daylight he explodes and exploits it. Where Monta seems a little more graceful and calculating, Brooks seems more explosive off the dribble. By the way, Brooks is so fast, he makes Steph Curry look slow. It was a very nice night for Brooks with his 25 points, including his 4 three's in the 3rd (14 overall in the quarter).

Random Thoughts

Chris Hunter didn't play the 4th, why? I thought he was doing a decent job down low. The Rockets scored on him every now and then but he did a good job inside. Perhaps since Scola never came back in the game, Hunter didn't need to either.
Trevor Ariza played the 3rd and 4th quarters but you wouldn't have known it. He was nearly invisible out there on offense. He scored just 2 points of his 18 points in the 2nd half. He did a nice job containing Monta though. Him and Battier gave him trouble all night.
I have to give major props to Carl Landry for taking advantage of the Warriors' small ball lineup. He was just great in the paint in the 4th. He finished with 22 points (8-10 shooting), 9 rebounds, 2 steals, and 3 blocks.
Big shout out to Melissa V of the Warriors for upgrading me with some ridiculous tickets. I was so close that I could see Ronny Turiaf has "Turiaf" stitched into the back right pocket of his jeans. I could see Biedrins and Turiaf joking around during timeouts. I could see that Turiaf's jacket was so small he couldn't button the bottom button and that Stephen Silas suit is so big it looked like he borrowed it from his dad, Paul Silas. I could hear Anthony Morrow yelling from the bench, the coaches yelling "3 seconds" or "traveling", and that these guys are much bigger and faster than tv gives them credit for. Lastly, I got to see the last play drawn up first by assistant coach Scott Roth and then overruled by Nellie (Roth's play wouldn't have worked). Heck neither play worked, but it was great to have a little bit of an insight into the game. Anyways, all those little things you don't pick up on normally were all right there for me and made my understanding the game just a little bit sharper.
Lastly, I love Battier's game. He usually won't stand out in the boxscore, but he does so many things to help your team win. In this case, it was his 7 blocks and one sweet block on Corey Maggette. See below from different angles.

It's between Vlad and Morrow because both guys had such great shooting nights and contributed all over the floor. I could go either way or cop out and give it to both, but instead I'm going with the new guy for his better overall floor game. Vladimir Radmonovic gets the Warrior Wonder for tonight. He would have had an even better game had Nellie kept him on the floor instead of playing Corey MEgette.

GAME THREAD #18: Warriors vs Rockets - Vengeance Will Be Mine!

Fantasy Junkie — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:13:53 -0000

Warriors: 6-11

Rockets: 10-8

Tip-Off: 7:30pm

TV: CSN Bay Area

Radio: KNBR 680

Blog Buddy: The Dream Shake

Okay, shake it off. That last game against the Nuggets can be easily forgotten, time to move on.

The last time the Rockets came to Oakland, they won on opening night (GSOM Night 7) with their superstar-less roster. They shot 46% from 3 and had 14 steals. Will this time be different?

The Warriors have a few things going for them this time:

The Rockets have one of the toughest back to backs in the league - Clippers on Wednesday, Warriors on Thursday. Talk about a house of horrors. Just kidding. Both teams aren't so great, but at least they're not this team. Ouch. 0-18.
No Stephen Jackson.
Monta Ellis is playing the best ball of his career. I had questioned whether we'd ever see the old Monta after his accident and less than stellar play earlier this year, but I think he's made quite the statement recently. Honestly, I'm more impressed with his defensive effort every game more so than the offense.
Chuck Hayes is an excellent defender, but he really has nobody to defend down low on the Warriors. That's how you neutralize a great defender!
Hopefully some of Ron Artest's halftime beverage habits from his Chicago Bulls days transferred to some Rockets players (for this game only of course).
It's Hardwood Classics night! The Warriors always play well when they break out the alternate jerseys. Nothing like putting San Francisco or The City across your chest to make you play better.

Questions

Will someone contain Aaron Brooks? He had 12 assists the last time these two teams met. If Monta's guarding Brooks, who's guarding Battier and Ariza?
The Rockets love to shoot the 3 - 4th most attempts per game in the league. If they get hot like they did on opening night, this game will be tough. Someone has to close out and get a hand up to make it tough to shoot those 3's. Ariza, Battier, Brooks and Budinger will bomb away. Watch the Rockets ball rotation as well. They'll whip it around the perimeter for open 3's. Can the Warriors keep the Rockets from getting hot outside?
Inside, Scola knows how to score in all sorts of different ways. Will anyone be able to keep him under control?

Predictions

Warriors win by Monta (8)
Monta scores Monta x 4
Anthony Randolph falls on the floor 5+ times
The Warriors help Scola and Landry look like the next great twin towers
Anthony Morrow for 3,3,3,3,3

Poll

Predict tonight's Warrior Wonder

GSoM Night 8: Don't Miss Out!

Fantasy Junkie — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:47:38 -0000

Just wanted to throw a reminder out there for those who have yet to purchase tickets to GSoM Night 8. By working with Chris Murphy of the Warriors, we've got discounted tickets to the Warriors-Kings game on January 8, a NorCal Battle. We're also giving out a Tony.psd designed t-shirt (no jerseys like last time) and we'll once again be hosting a post-game event that we can't reveal quite yet. Last time it was a free throw contest and you know we're going to come up with something just as fun. Make sure to get your tickets early to secure the best seats in each section.

When
Friday, January 8, 2010 @ 7:30p vs Sacramento Kings

Tickets (Purchase tickets online or download, print and mail the flier)
- Club 200 Sideline (rows 1-9): $38 each ($12 discount)
- Club 200 Sideline (rows 10+): $30 each ($10 discount)
- Club 200 Corner/Baseline: $25 each ($10 discount)

Perks
- Every ticket purchased is entered into a raffle for free tickets and memorabilia
- Receive a free Tony.psd t-shirt
- Every ticket purchased can participate in the post-game activity (TBD: last activity was an on-court free throw contest to win courtside tickets)

GSOM Night 8 Archive

GSOM Night 8: A NorCal Battle

GSOM Night 7 Archive

OPEN THREAD #12: Blazers vs Warriors - The New Team Heads Home

Fantasy Junkie — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:51:55 -0000

Prepare to have nightmares of Brandon Roy

Warriors: 3-8

Blazers: 9-4

Tip-Off: 7:30pm

TV: CSN Bay Area

Radio: KNBR 680

Blog Buddy: Blazers Edge

The big, bad Blazers come to Oakland with their big, oft-broken center, Greg Oden, and big star Brandon Roy. This is a very good team and they're going to be good for a long time. In a few years, perhaps next year, this team could challenge for the title. Jealous? Yes. They just have guys that are easy to root for.

On the other side of the floor, the Warriors are, well, the Warriors you know and love. But, Warriors basketball post-Jax has been much more team oriented, slightly bearable to watch. Even though both games ended in losses, there were definitely some encouraging signs for the team moving forward.

Fewer "what are you doing?!" shots
I'm not sure what it is, but Jax took a lot of bad shots and that seemed to rub off on everyone else. Now that he's gone, it seems like the other guys have reverted to knowing what a good shot is. Well, everyone except for Anthony Randolph. He still shouldn't be taking so many shots outside of 3 feet. It's been nice.

Steph Curry and Monta Ellis
The ball is in their hands more and that's a good thing. Jax would make a nice play every now and then, but these are the two best ballhandlers and I like seeing the ball in their hands more often, especially Curry. He just has a knack for finding the open man and anticipating what the defense will do. More ball with ballhandler + less time in Jax's hands = good.

Corey Maggette
The biggest positive out of all this mess is that Corey Maggette is starting to play a different game. He's working his butt off on the defensive end - something I don't think I've seen. He's taking less long jumpers and working to get inside more often. Lastly, he's rebounding more. Not sure what's got into him, but I've been impressed probably for the first time since he's joined the team.

It's only been 2 games, I'm looking for anything to make me feel better about the Warriors. Hopefully this is the beginning of a newer, better team (provided nobody else gets injured).

Predictions

Warriors by 3. Yea, that's right. I think the Warriors will win shorthanded against a superior team and I have no idea how.
Anthony Randolph with a double double (missed shots and rebounds)
Monta Ellis drop 30
Greg Oden with 15 rebounds

RECAP: Warriors 95, Celtics 109 – 3rd Quarter Collapse

Fantasy Junkie — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:08:06 -0000

I'll take a Bud Light!

Open Thread (~1400 comments)

Final Boxscore

Blog Buddy: Celtics Blog

The final outcome was pretty much what we all expected, a blowout win for the Celtics. The Warriors hung tough for the first half, but when that 3rd quarter came around, boy oh boy, that was rough. The Celtics didn't put the Warriors away, they just let the Warriors hang around for most of the 3rd. When the Warriors didn't take advantage of the Celtics early on in that quarter, the Warriors were doomed because once the Celtics found their groove, the Warriors never did, and that's all she wrote. The 1 point halftime lead ballooned to 13 and the Celtics pretty much coasted to victory extending their lead to as much as 16 and never lower than 10. The Warriors put forth a solid effort but that just wasn't good enough.

On a side note, amazingly, my prediction, Warriors by -14 was right on point. Crazy. That's never happened before. Come to me for all your gambling needs.

Hit the jump for some thoughts:

1) Things I Liked
Let's start with the good things.

Is it just me or is there a different feeling when watching the team? No Jax around and there seems to be better team chemistry. The ball moves better, there are less ill-advised shots, and guys seem to be hustling and trying harder. Maybe I just want to feel that way since Jax is gone, but after watching 2 games without him, something feels different, something better.

I like Raja Bell simply for volunteering to play when he knew the Warriors were down to just 7 guys. His wrist is injured enough that he needs surgery on it, yet he still volunteers on playing. I like that and his 23 minutes where he shot 3-3 from 3.

Corey Maggette is playing some of the best ball I've seen him play as a Warrior. He's really working out there and hustling, doing some of the dirty work, and banging inside on defense (not just offense). While he shot just 6-9 from the line, I appreciate his willingness to stop taking so many long jumpers and rather take mid-range jumpers instead while also going inside (where he's best). On a team that falls in love with the long jumpers, they're going to need someone who knows how to score in the paint off of a post up, and Maggette has shown a willingness to do just that. If this is the new Maggette we're going to see for the rest of the year, I'll be very happy.

Randolph always shows us a little glimpse of what he's capable of. He's got these moments where he's able to corral all of his energy and put together a few minutes where he's focused and doing everything right. And then other times, he's just simply out of control. Tonight, he showed us glimpses of what we're all hoping he does in the future.

Lastly, I liked that Monta was able to get in the lane against the Celtics. He's just going to have to convert some of those layups. The old Monta did, but I'm still waiting to see if the new Monta can. Maybe he's still getting used to game speed but it's a little disconcerting that he's not able to finish drives like he did before nor is he able to knock down the mid-range jumpers like he did before.

2) The 3rd Quarter Woes Continue
The Warriors just cannot put together a decent 3rd quarter. After being down by just 1 point at the half, the Warriors came out and stunk up the Boston Garden. It started out fine, at the 8:48 mark the score was tied at 55. And then the drought began. The Warriors couldn't get any points, not a field goal or a free throw. They scored their 56th point at the 4:18 mark - 4.5 minutes without scoring a point. Yikes! It was the combination of 3 turnovers and 7 missed shots that doomed the Warriors. It'll be hard to beat any team when you do that.

You know what's worse? The Celtics weren't exactly playing lights out either. They scored just 3 points 3.5 minutes. The Warriors had a chance to take a significant lead if they could have just taken care of the ball and knocked down some jumpers. They could have taken the lead against the Celtics late into the 3rd quarter!

The one thing that stands out to me in the play by play is this. 5:56 - Boston full timeout. Maybe this was the mandatory under 6 minutes timeout, but either way, Doc Rivers and co. took advantage. The very next possession they get the ball to Rondo who passes to KG for a bucket. Their scoring drought was over, the Warriors' was still going. After that timeout, the Celtics scored on their next 5 straight possessions! I don't know what was said or done during the timeout, but it sure worked. That one Celtics run put the game away and the 3rd quarter saved the Celtics.

3) Rondo Rondo Rondo
Rondo is a special player. You watch him operate on the court with the stars surrounding him and you can tell he's learned how to get them the ball where they like it. He's got the ability to get in the lane any time he wants and wreak havoc on the defense. His 12 assists show that he's able to find the open man as he runs the offense and gets in the lane. His 18 points came on just 12 shots. Additionally, 9 of his 12 shots attempted were from inside of 2 feet, he made 7 of them. It's a testament to how good he is at creating for others and scoring while in the paint.

The Warriors struggled keeping him contained especially in that 3rd quarter. When the Celtics made their run after the 5:56 timeout, Rondo was involved on 4 of the 5 consecutive scoring possessions. Assist to KG, makes a layup, makes another layup (and 1), and then assists to Pierce. All in all, he had 12 points in that quarter to go with 4 assists.

Again, he's a special player and fun to watch.

4) 21 Turnovers
Unacceptable. 21 is good in blackjack, but when you give the ball away that many times, more than likely, you're going to lose. Heck, the Celtics had 30 points off turnovers! You can't give away possessions like that with poor passing and poor decisions.

Curry had 6 of them to go with his 7 assists and 4 steals. If he took care of the ball a little better this would have been one of his best games as a pro. Oddly, Curry was a +5 in 35 minutes. That means in the 13 minutes he was off the floor the Warriors were -19. Crazy.

Vlad Radman had 5 turnovers and Randolph had 4. Sheesh. Are the big men handling the ball that much or are they just careless with the ball? Methinks they're careless. I expect that from Randolph every now and then, but I have no idea what to expect from Vlad, certainly not 5 TO's.

This team isn't good enough to give away the ball like that and still win a game.

Corey Maggette for stepping up his game and taking on more of the load now that Jax is gone. Tonight: 23 points (8-13 FG's, 6-9 FT's), 8 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.

Poll

Pick your Warrior Wonder for this game

Stephen Curry

136 votes

Monta Ellis

72 votes

Corey Maggette

377 votes

Anthony Randolph

76 votes

661 votes | Poll has closed

OPEN THREAD: Warriors @ Celtics – Can We Just Play Ball?

Fantasy Junkie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:00:25 -0000

Ahhhh memories...

Warriors: 3-7

Celtics: 8-3

Tip-Off: 4:30pm

TV: CSN Bay Area

Radio: KNBR 1050

Blog Buddy: Celtics Blog

Can we just have one day without drama? Stephen Jackson this and Stephen Jackson that, he wanted to go to a contender but now he's a Bobcat. Monta might want out as well?

Yesterday's game was quite a surprise. 7 guys vs one of the best teams in the league. To have been down by 1 with under 2 minutes after scratching back from down 15 is a pleasant surprise. They were really working hard out there. It looks like they're going to have to be a scrappy team to get some wins. They're going to have to work harder than the other team on the boards and on defense. They're going to have to run the offense smoothly by moving the ball around to get open shots. They simply cannot win by going 1 on 1 and relying on any one person to win. This is no different now than it was with Jax on the team, but after one game, it looks like the offense is less 1 on 1, more ball movement.

I don't expect this game to be close. The Celtics should be able to overpower the Warriors. Back to back on the road facing 2 of the best teams in the league? It's a tough thing for any team to be able to play well in both contests. Throw in the 3 days of rest for the Celtics, all the injuries on the Warriors, playing only 7 guys again and the Warriors will find themselves in a difficult situation. If the game is close in the 4th quarter, that will be quite an achievement. The game will show what these guys are made of and what kind of condition they're in.

Regardless of what I think might happen, I'm still looking forward to this game because:

Monta and Curry did such a great job distributing the ball yesterday. It was nice to watch our two top guards go out there and find the open man and also create shots for teammates.
See if Corey Maggette can keep up what he did yesterday. 11 boards and 3 assists? Really? Wow. Will he continue to grab boards and look to set people up?
Anthony Randolph had a poor first 3 quarters in Cleveland. His 4th quarter was encouraging to see. Apparently Raja Bell told him a few things prior to the 4th. AR was very active on the glass and trying to make things happen on offense in the paint.
Big 3 + Rasheed + Rondo. It's the first chance I'll get to see how the new and improved Celtics look.

Predictions

Warriors by -14
Rondo eats Curry for dinner
Somebody breaks Ray Allen's ankles just like JC did last year
Monta drops 25

GSOM Night 8: A NorCal Battle - Tickets On Sale

Fantasy Junkie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:24:17 -0000

GSOM Night is all about having a good time with a bunch of friends at a Warrior game regardless of how good, how bad, or how much drama is going on with the team. The GSOM crew and Chris Murphy of the Warriors are dedicated to making these GSOM Nights fun for everyone no matter what. It's the reason we pick certain games on the schedule that we think will be competitive and appealing to many fans. It's the reason we changed it up this year to include post-game activities and continue to give away Tony.psd designed work. On opening night, we hosted the wildly popular free throw contest while Tony put together the first ever GSOM Night jersey. Seriously, we're all about having a good time with good people. For GSOM Night 8, you can count on the same things especially the post-game activity and the Tony.psd giveaway. You'll definitely want to head out to the arena with us for this one.

When
Friday, January 8, 2010 @ 7:30p vs Sacramento Kings

Tickets (Purchase tickets online or download, print and mail the flier)
- Club 200 Sideline (rows 1-9): $38 each ($12 discount)
- Club 200 Sideline (rows 10+): $30 each ($10 discount)
- Club 200 Corner/Baseline: $25 each ($10 discount)

Perks
- Every ticket purchased is entered into a raffle for free tickets and memorabilia
- Receive a free Tony.psd giveaway
- Every ticket purchased can participate in the post-game activity (TBD, but the last activity was a free throw contest on the court)

GSOM Night: Always a great time out!

RECAP: Warriors 146, Timberwolves 105 - There's no I in TEAM

Fantasy Junkie — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:41:28 -0000

More photos » by Rocky Widner - NBAE/Getty Images

Browse more photos »

Boxscore

Preview/ Game Thread (1150+ Comments)

We have to be sure to not get carried away with tonight's game. All that we've established is this:

Western Conference Power Rankings (updated)
14. Golden State Warriors
15. Memphis Grizzlies
16. Minnesota Timberwolves

I'm not trying to take anything away from the Warriors, they played dominant, amazing basketball tonight. I'm just worried that the success is more a result of the opponent and that the Warriors won't consistently play with this level of effort and intensity.

Hit the jump for some more thoughts.

Can we play the Timberwolves for 82 games?

All the things that the Warriors had done the last 2 games against the Clippers and Kings are what the Timberwolves did tonight, but much worse. I mean it was ugly. Heck, Canis Hoopus, the SB Nation Twolves blog, started writing their recap with 1:50 left... in the 3rd quarter!

Like I said in the preview, there's not a whole lot to like on this Twolves team. I never got the sense that any of these players had ever played together before. There was zero chemistry on the floor.

Guards turned the ball over a lot: Flynn 6 TO's, Sessions 4 TO's, Pavlovic 4 TO's, Ellington 3 TO's.
Lazy passes: There was no zip on the ball. Just a lot of lob passes and passes to the wrong side of the man.
Guys not coming to the ball when passed to: You have to come and meet the ball when someone's passing you the ball. The Twolves players just stood and waited for the ball to get to them.
There was no sense of urgency. They looked like they had given up midway through the 2nd quarter.

T.E.A.M. - the acronym for success

This wasn't all about the Twolves sloppy play. It was actually more that the Warriors finally decided to play with some life.

Teamwork: It was amazing. It was as if they had the most amazing practice sometime between the Kings game and this one where they learned how to play with each other. All 10 Warrior players seemed to know where everyone else was going to be on offense. They moved without the ball and even looked to set each other up. Tonight made it seem like they actually want to play with each other.

Effort: The guys were all over the floor tonight. You could just see the difference. They played with energy, life, and passion. Players were making things happen on offense and defense just by staying active. They were in the passing lanes all night as well as putting pressure on the guards while doubling down on the big men. Check out this stat: leading rebounder for the Warriors? Monta Ellis with 10.

Assists: The ball was zipping around tonight. The Twolves defense never got comfortable as the Warriors moved the ball with ease - 36 assists to just 12 turnovers. 15 for Jack compared to just 3 turnovers. Even Corey Maggette passed the ball. Corey Maggette! If he's passing the ball, you know something is going right. Seriously though, props to Maggs for 11 points in 10 minutes. But I digress. The Twolves D had something to do with the excellent ball movement, but the Warriors put forth a major effort to move the ball around.

Minnesota: Clearly the most important ingredient for another team's success.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

One thing that worries me: How did Brian Cardinal block Monta Ellis on a fast break layup? Is the ankle 100%? Will it get back to 100%? There's no reason Brian Cardinal should be blocking your shot on a fast break.
The Warriors are only 2 games under .500. Yessss.
Kelenna Azubuike was ridiculous tonight. 31 points on 13-19 shooting. He couldn't miss in the first half.
I liked what I saw from Anthony Randolph tonight. It was probably his best game of the season. He attacked the basket under control and didn't try to do too much.
Acie Law with 5 steals 12 minutes? I like his hustle. He really works hard out there.
Morrow had a good shooting night but there's still something lacking about his game. He tends to disappear at times and his defense can still use a lot of help.
Like I said, this game was against the Twolves which proves almost nothing. The Warriors played great, but they have a lot to prove. They'll get their chance to prove it with the upcoming road trip without Andris Biedrins (out 2 weeks). @ Indiana, @ New York, @ Minnesota, @ Cleveland, @ Boston, vs Portland, @ Dallas, @ San Antonio, vs LA Lakers. Before anyone gets too optimistic, let's see how the Warriors look after this tough stretch of the schedule.

Sorry ladies, it's not Kelenna Azubuike. I'm going with Stephen Jackson.

Damn impressive game from Jax tonight. He was Steve Nash-like with his passes. The 15 assists in 3 quarters weren't simple passes. It wasn't a bunch of passes to Anthony Morrow standing wide open. He was threading the needle to the big men as they rolled through the lane. He was able to drive into the lane and create for others on the floor. And what was even better, he didn't force any shots tonight. I'm not sure what was going on, but he really increased his trade value tonight.

Final - 11.9.2009	1	2	3	4	Total
Minnesota Timberwolves	29	26	22	28	105
Golden State Warriors	33	41	37	35	146

Complete Coverage >

Poll

Will the Warriors win more than 25 games?

Yes, more than 25 wins

769 votes

No, 25 wins or less

521 votes

1290 votes | Poll has closed

GAME THREAD #6: Timberwolves vs Warriors - Battle of the Bottom Feeders

Fantasy Junkie — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:57:13 -0000

Welcome to being a Warrior fan

Warriors: 1-4
Timberwolves: 1-6
Tip off: 7:30 pm
Radio: KNBR 680
TV: CSN Bay Area (do you really want to watch?)
Blog Buddy: Canis Hoopus

Ooooookaaaay. So much for starting hot out of the gate. Remember, this was the easy part of the schedule. It's going to get a lot harder soon. You know I didn't want to make the playoffs this season anyways. In fact, I didn't want the Warriors to win 20 games this season. Whatever. Stupid Laker fans, it's their fault. And Al Davis's fault. And I blame Bush. And Tim Kawakami. Actually, it's the economy. I blame it all on the economy.

So many questions, so few answers: Is Don Nelson tanking already? Is John Wall that good? When is Stephen Jackson going to get traded? Can we trade for Chris Bosh even if he doesn't sign an extension? Will he even be any good playing for this cursed franchise? If you could trade all the Warriors for all the Clippers, would you do it? Do vegetarians eat animal crackers? Can fat people go skinny dipping? How does a thermos know whether a drink should be hot or cold?

Let's review:

Loss to the Rockets without Yao Ming or Tracy McGrady
Beat down by the Suns without JRich
Blowout loss to the Clippers without Blake Griffin
Served by the Kings without Kevin Martin

I'm sure if Minnesota sits Al Jefferson, they'd beat the Warriors too. Here's what would happen:

Oleksiy Pecherov would dominate inside
Brian Cardinal would laugh in our faces as we grabbed his 15th rebound
Ricky Rubio fly over from Europe so he could play just this once so he could tear up our backcourt
Jonny Flynn would drop 30 all against Stephen Curry
Corey Brewer would shoot higher than 35%

Actually, wow this Minnesota team is bad. They beat New Jersey (the worst team in the league, no offense Warrior fans) and then have lost 6 straight. Even though they lost to the Clippers in LA by only 3, I just don't see a whole lot on this roster that I like: Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Jonny Flynn, Corey Brewer, Ramon Sessions?

The Warriors have to win this game. If they have any pride at all, they win this game. It's becoming a matter of pride and effort. As of right now, it looks like the Warriors have no pride and give no effort.

Awww comfort food. A nice bowl of curry (not Curry) to make the pain stop

Predictions

Warriors by 6
Al Jefferson DOMINATES
Monta has a field day and scores 30 since nobody on the Twolves can stop him or block his shot
We will all know who Oleksiy Pecherov is after the game
Anthony Randolph continues to struggle

Poll

Will the Warriors win more than 25 games?

Yes, more than 25 wins

296 votes

No, 25 or less wins

510 votes

806 votes | Poll has closed