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)

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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.

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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?

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More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

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[editor's note: our own illustrious Dubs Fan in Boston does his own fine job of breaking down the numbers here.  If you've read it, you may have heard it there first.  If you haven't, you should.]

You heard it hear first. SBNation is reporting that Stephen Jackson is bound for the Charlotte, NC along with Acie Law for guard Raja Bell and forward Vladimir Radmanovic. Having once lived in the Queen City for all of four weeks before I came to my senses and returned to the Bay, I can't say I envy him.  In sending last season's team-leading scorer on his merry way, the Warriors reshape both the on-court product for 09-10 and open up new possibilities going forward, both in this season and beyond.

And like most deals in the NBA, it's all about money.

The short answer is "no, we cannot go out and use the money we've saved on Jax to get another big man"; It's best to not even ask the question.

And in terms of the immediate impact to the team, we could leave it at that. But the deal is not without implications for years to come and for the long term, may have some real impact on how the Warriors can proceed in the future, both this season and in the not-too far future.

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In reality, in the young season, it's probably too early to cut anyone out of the playoff picture, and after netting our first win on Wednesday, things seem much more upbeat than they just two days ago.  Still, history suggests that this isn't a clash of titans, and the Clippers' rapid accumulation of 4 losses against a lone close win over the visiting T-wolves on Monday won't shave away too many doubts about where they'll wind up come season's end.  But they play 'em for a reason, and expect plenty of drama to be had. 

Warriors: 1-2

Clippers: 1-4

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More photos » by Paul Connors - AP

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

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

Final box score

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

Ugh!

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More photos » by Francis Specker - AP

Out.of.my.way!

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Disaster is not upon us. Losing the first game of the season does not end all chances for a successful season. It is a long season and one game against the Rockets did not answer all the questions surrounding the team. But we do know a bit more about our squad than we did Wednesday at 7:29pm. We know that Monta can still score and looks to have the mid-range shot and the quick move to the rim. We have seen Curry against real NBA competition when a game mattered, and the kid looked pretty good. The offense ran well with him driving the show and final seconds aside, there's more promise than doom while he's playing. Beyond that, Jackson is still Jackson, Maggette is still Maggette and neither seem overly concerned about those often unfortunate facts.

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Early on, there were fewer more critical of Anthony Randolph than myself. Ready to give up on him?  Not exactly, but certainly not one to let him get in the way of just about any respectable trade offer that came along.  There just did not seem to be enough to warrant so much hype surrounding a rail-thin bigman who was more likely to miss a shot or turn the ball over than to do anything positive.

While indeed his play at the time was terrible, this is the most simple statement I can make about that early evaluation of his potential.

I.was.wrong.

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via acielaw.yardbarker.com

Law. Claxton. George.

There is always a chance that one of these players will step up and contribute.

But I wouldn't count on it.

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A quick confession: Though Sactown Royalty blogheads probably would not believe it, after my beloved Warriors, I am a Kings fan. More than a half-decade living in the Central Valley, a period that coincided with the exciting Webber/Divac/Bibby/Peja Kings a period that coincided with the Kings being the greatest threat to knock off the Lakers, instilled in me a fondness for our NorCal neighbors. And though I do not own a cowbell, I have stepped foot inside Arco to cheer for the home team. There was no joy in watching them lose to anyone other than our Warriors. And I really do wish them and their fans success.

But this fandom (if only fandom-lite) is not at the expense of objectivity. Objectively, the Kings were not any good. Good teams do not lose 65 games a season. Good teams do not find themselves 29^th in the league in rebounding percentage and 30^th in the league in in defensive efficiency and 25^th in offensive efficiency. Such are the sort of numbers associated with a team struggling to even remain competitive. There's not much silver lining there. Last season, the Kings just plain stunk.

That's yesterday's news though, isn't it?

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It's far from clear what the 2009-10 Phoenix Suns will be.  It's far from clear *who* they will be.  In the mean time, there's intrigue, and still quite a bit of firepower.

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