SB Nation User Blog: IQofaWarrior

Chris Webber's first day on the job at Inside the NBA.

IQofaWarrior — Sat, 03 May 2008 14:38:15 -0000

Chris Webber's first day on the job at Inside the NBA.

Memories of 2007-08 Warriors

IQofaWarrior — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 05:19:12 -0000

The 2007-08 Warriors season is now over. Before we say goodbye and move ahead to the lottery and the summer break, I'd like to take a moment to mention some of the more obscure memories we've had during this crazy ride.

- @ Sonics: Warriors were so hot, they set scoreboard equipment on fire.
- vs Miami: Monta getting bumped and hitting the shot for the and-1. Fitz: Montaaa FINISHING! Jim: How do you explain it? It's just a kid.
- @ Houston (1): Warriors got really hot in the 4th quarter to finish off the 2007 calendar year and the month of December with a winning record for the month.
- @ Houston (2): Chris Webber news just broke. Warriors got down by 20+, then got white hot in the 4th, but just came up short. Houston's mascot got tackled before the start of the 4th.
- vs Celtics: Miracle play after miracle play in the 4th to stay in the game.
- vs Bobcats: Fitz: Where a 34-6 run happens. Brandan Wright with a monsterous dunk to make the top play of the night.
- @ Orlando: Swarm defense on Dwight Howard frustrated him.

Other memories:
- Fastest to reach .500 after 0-6 start.
- Monta's floating teardrop three to beat the buzzer.

What other less mentioned, more obscure positive memories do you have from this season?

Warriors swarm defense

IQofaWarrior — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:00:22 -0000

One of the trademarks of the Warriors historic late season run last year was their swarming, pestering, pressuring defense. Bob Fitzgerald referred to this as the piranha defense. This defense often pressured the opponent's offense into bad passes and turnovers, breaking their offensive rhythm while fueling our aggressive fast break offense. Our swarm defense was something to be feared. I think this defense was one of the factors that gave our team confidence, attitude, and swagger. It didn't work against every team, but it worked well against many teams. Just ask the 67-win Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki.

This season, the Warrior's defense is still known for its steals and deflections leading to fast breaks, but they haven't played very much notable swarming, pressuring defense against their opponents. Less pressure on the opponents means easier scores on the offense, leading to more pressure on our offense to score back. I noticed this difference the most when we played against Dallas and Dirk this season. In those games, we weren't rushing to double team and pressure Dirk into bad shots. We weren't trying to break his offensive rhythm, to get in his way, to mess with his mind. Dirk was then able to play well and beat us.

We often hear Jim Barnett say on the air that everyone has off nights in their shots, but the one constant in every game is the defense. So my question for discussion is this: Where did the swarm defense come from last year? Was it Nellie's idea? Where did it go this year? Why isn't Nellie coaching the swarm defense? Is it because it takes too much energy? Even with Barnes and Pietrus's inconsistencies on offense, couldn't they contribute in the swarming defense? Couldn't Buike, Watson, and Belinelli swarm as well? They look quick enough to do it.

Thoughts and opinions welcomed.

Crowd Energy

IQofaWarrior — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:38:25 -0000

I've noticed the lack of crowd energy with the Warriors' fans recently. In some cases, such as last night's game vs Sac, I think that's partly caused by a more choppy, disjointed, foul-a-lot style of play.

But for a more general explanation, I felt like there was something else that I couldn't place my finger on it. At first, I thought it was because of the lack of team plays, too many iso into one-on-one plays, no ball movement. In the past few games, that has been solved. There's more ball movement, looking for the open man, etc, so my worries about that are gone. Nevertheless, the crowd was pretty dead for most of the game.

Pietrus last night put on a great show. He had a couple of emphatic "get that outta here!" blocks, along with the powerful followup dunk. Those plays finally woke up the quiet crowd. In watching Pietrus, it suddenly hit me what's missing from this team.

What's missing from this team is fire, swagger, and attitude. Attitude sends out statements like: "Don't mess with us. We're gonna run you out of the gym. I'm gonna jump over you and stuff it down in your face. I'm gonna block your shot into the 4th row. We're gonna pester and swarm all over you into a turnover and you can't stop us."

In the past, our fire guy was Jason Richardson. Even when the Warriors were a bad team, JRich always radiated and played with attitude and fire. Last year, that attitude spread to the rest of the team and the crowd as well, leading us to our historic run into the playoffs with the loudest crowd in the NBA.

This season, I don't feel any attitude radiating from the Warriors. They play with confidence, they play well together, they play as a team, and they're capable of beating most of the teams in the NBA. But they're not playing with that extra attitude and fire. They're not sending out any messages of fear. They're not out to destroy their opponent, only to win. I think this is why we always seem like we teeter on the brink of losing games. Without attitude, we're not playing that extra smooth level of tic-tac-toe plays on offense, and we're not swarming and pressuring the opponent as hard on defense. I think this is one reason why we don't have Dallas' number this year. Our team attitude this year didn't overwhelm them like last year. Dare I say it: As a team, we're collectively softer than we were last year.

I think the crowd senses all that, thus they're not as loud, and they don't cheer as hard. Thus, we're not as obnoxious of a crowd as we were last year. It's simply harder to cheer for a team that doesn't radiate swagger or attitude.

So what do you think?