clippers game: the warriors made their best in the 2nd qtr and got the lead when udoh, amundson, radmanovic, ellis, and reggie in the lineup.  the 3 bigs weren't a factor offensively, but the warriors got the lead thanks to their defense.  smart will never realize that it is his bench players and defensive players that either bring him back in the game or get them the lead.  if i recall, udoh was his usual blocking shots, grabbing boards, and altering shots, and has the best +/- of any warrior again, at +5.  why oh why did he get only 12 mins?  and why oh why did he get pulled out of the game when the warriors got the lead and he was doing so well?  f--- you smart

lakers game: i didn't watch the game in full depth, but why did udoh get 0 minutes against the lakers bigs?  lee is not going to be able to defend gasol, bynum, or odom at all, he got torched by ike diogu on sunday!  i think smart put in gadzuric because he was a "veteran" but come on, live up to your name, smart!

udoh is just one example of smart's poor coaching.  besides that he's always favoring his starters to close out games too.  just because they are a starter does that mean they have to close out games??  put in the best lineup during the game that will get you the win smart!

===================================

 well if our overpaid lee and biedrins rebounded like they were paid to do, we would have had a much better shot at winning.  amundson can grab some boards, blocks, and play good defense with his energy and hustle.  udoh can grab boards, blocks, and alter shots.  i would have much rather seen udoh on gasol than david lee on gasol.  it's a no brainer, and the coach needs to stop looking at his "starters" and make the appropriate in-game adjustment and do some real coaching and exploit matchups - which was how nellie was successful - he would have baron post up against smaller guards in certain games, he took out the soft dunleavy and started a physical player journeyman barnes over him.  smart has a tendency to put in his "starting 5" to close out the 2nd and 4th qtrs - there is no golden rule saying that you have to put your starting 5 to close out games - why not put in the best players who played well that game.  cripes.

i don't think biedrins lost his nose for the ball.  it is clear that he only "plays" when he decides to, as in the memphis game when he got 27/20.  watching the lakers game, you see him make silly and lazy and-1 fouls again - i can't stand continually seeing this from him.  he is so soft and has no defensive presence at all.  udoh is already better than him defensively and offensively.  offensively udoh can hit shots all the way to the ft line, and udoh has smooth ft forms.  i would start udoh over biedrins.  relegate biedrins to the bench in order light a fire under his asss, and make him win his starting job again - that is what real coaches do.

and yes, we need to get our pf's and centers involved more.  what the heck does smart have against the pick n roll?  the pick n roll is lee's bread and butter and the reason how he averaged 20 ppg on the knicks last year.  i ALWAYS see lee have the ball in the post on an iso, he backs his guy in, and it bounces off his foot for a turnover.  lee has no post game whatsoever, he needs the ball on a pick and roll for crying out loud!

get this smart guy outta here!  jeff van gundy please.  let's get some real defense, not the gambling-i'm-gonna-try-and-get-away-with-it-swipe-it-lazy-fouls and if-the-refs-call-it-i'm-gonna-yell-back .... that is just a bad example to the crowd.  let's play some real disciplined defense and stay in front of our man!

yea, this may seem like an obvious title, but i just wanted to point something out.

we got murdered on the boards, and yes that is why we lost.

so everyone is saying, why didn't nellie just put bigger guys into the lineup, ie. harrington at the 4, pob at the 4, croshere at the 4.

well the answer is...

remember when the warriors were facing the mavs?  the warriors played small ball so well that it forced avery johnson to change his lineup to 'smaller' as well by taking out diop/dampier at center.  after the mavs lost, johnson received huge criticisms from everyone.  and johnson put back diop at center the rest of the series.

nellie did not want to "adjust" to the jazz.  he did not want to "give in".  he wanted to play our style of basketball, and force our opponent to play "our style".  as jim barnett pointed out before the game, he said he loved nellie so much because he is a "creator", not a "reactor".  meaning he likes to make our opponents adjust.

i think our small ball style with pietrus at the 4 will pay off dividends.  there are a lot of pietrus haters out there, but hey don't forget that nellie started him A LOT of games last year too.  in nellie i trust.  i think nellie knows alot more than you guys out there.

our small lineup will win more than half of our games this year.  we will beat a lot of teams, but we will also get CRUSHED by a few teams.  the jazz simply have our number like how we have the mavs number.

just one game, and i'm looking forward.  i still think the warriors are very capable of beating the jazz with their small lineup.

if they just hit their free throws, move the ball more, hit their shots, etc., they can win

he is learning from his past mistakes:

1. buyout foyle
2. resign azubuike for the lowest possible (even though i thought azu deserved more)
3. resign barnes for the lowest possible.  i remember when dunleavy finished a season strong and mullin handed him a senseless $45 million contract extension.  barnes played even better than dunleavy did in 1/3 of a season.  barnes played well for a full year and stood out in the playoffs.  mully held down the fort this time and didn't overpay barnes.  mad props.  the only thing i'm worried about is if barnes has another great season, we're too busy resigning biedrins and ellis, and barnes gets a lucrative deal elsewhere.  but the good news is that a one year deal keeps barnes on his toes to play well again.
4. get rid of jrich
   

i was against this move, but it was for the best of the team's future.  we needed money to resign biedrins and ellis.  i would have much preferred to see ellis leave for wright if that was possible.  but after the arenas catastrophe, i think no fans wanted to see ellis leave.  ellis is only getting better and does have potential no doubt.  but he's no arenas.  i'm gonna miss jrich.

5. don't overpay baron's extension
hold down the fort for this mully.  baron is aging, injury prone, and not worth it.  baron is just trying to maximize his value like nelson and barnes.

6. s&t trade pietrus and jasik for jwill.  we get a great backup pg and a $9 mil expiring contract to help us resign ellis/biedrins
7. use the trade exception (if you have to soon) on drew gooden.  we need a proven rebounder and big body to guard the duncans and boozers.

current roster:
pg - baron
sg - ellis/belinelli/azubuike
sf - jackson/barnes
pf - harrington/wright/croshere
cc - biedrins/perovic/o'bryant

what i would like to see (3 man deep per position):
pg - baron/jwill/pierce
sg - ellis/belinelli/azubuike
sf - jackson/barnes/lasme
pf - harrington/wright/croshere
cc - biedrins/gooden/perovic

http://www.pe.com/sports/basketball/clippers/stories/PE_Sports_Local_D_nba_notes_05.3fb053f.html

for those of you hoping former stanford star would sign as the warriors backup, it seems that he's signing with LA.  The bad news is that he signed for only $4 mil over 2 years.  what the hell mullin.  that would have been a steal to get a pass-first backup pg at that price.  i sure hope you're getting jwill for pietrus and cabbages.

it is dissapointing to see so many good role players move around this offseason and mullin not catching any of them (ie darko, etc.)

i'm not too sure if this idea was brought up before, but what about us, the fans, all contribute some money to create an ad to thank jrich for all of his years of hard work?  maybe tony.psd can create a cool picture, and all of us on goldenstateofmind, can contribute a little bit of money to get an ad out.

i think jrich would really love this, it's like a thank you back, for the same thing that he did.  i personally would like to thank him for all of the years of hard work that he put into us.  he was the main reason why i continued to be a loyal warrior fan the past 12 years.

what mullin needs to tell barnes is "look, you are over-valuing yourself.  i am only going to give you 10 million for 3 years.  if you do not want it, you risk not being at a home that loves you, a system that blows up your talent, and this is close to your hometown.  if you leave, u risk being with a coach who doesn't know how to use your talents.  and take one for the team.  we are trying to get better.  a la get kg, keep baron.  if u want too much money, then it will not work out.  if u turn us down, then we will gladly take posey (and pietrus)."

take it or leave it.  don't be a jerk barnes.  u were about to quit basketball, and we gave u the opportunity.

bottom line is, i would much rather have barnes than posey.  but the trick is we need to get barnes for cheap.  barnes has the swagger and hotter 3 pt shooting than posey.  posey is slightly better at defense and rebounding, but he is a "cancer".  he gets injured often and never shows passion in playing.  but that's my opinion.  feel free to agree/disagree.

1.  i really think that ellis, azubuike, and bellinelli can fill the shooting guard position that jrich left behind...azubuike is a great underrated player and i hope the warriors resign him.
2.  the wolves don't seem to want ellis since they have a similar player in foye.  they want some froncourt help - aka biedrins.  how about trading biedrins, keep ellis, and we sign darko?  i think a frontcourt of kg and darko sounds great.  darko is probably very similar to biedrins but probably runs the floor slower.  i think that nellieball will revive darko's career.  he is already a good shotblocker and has some nice moves in the post.  and he had to have some type of talent if the pistons picked him over melo...

mullin please don't get yi!  getting thaddeus young at the #18 spot is a super steal.  the dude is super athletic and will be the next josh smith.  he is good insurance since pietrus is gone and barnes may leave.  yi is just hype and just a way to sell tix.    i'm ashamed of all these asians wanting yi.  i don't want to be tortured with another mike dunleavy.

i think its a big mistake to trade to move up in the draft to get this guy.  i really think this guy is just overhyped and is mike dunleavy part II.  i think the only reason why mullin wants this guy is to increase ticket sales based on the audience in the bay area, and especially not for this skills.  i seen videos of this guy on youtube, and he is not that great.  once he plays with guys like kg, duncan, boozer, they're just gonna break his frail body.  the guy will not be able to hang in the nba.  he has hype written all over him.

i read in the newspaper today...monta for the 11th pick??  are you f*-in kidding me mullin?  even if we get the 11th pick, there is no guarantee we are going to get yi at that spot.  so that is a waste of a trade, especially for a guy like monta.  that is just plain ridiculous.

in the meantime i see the suns getting kg, the hawks getting involved.  where the heck are u at mullin?  u s*ck.

i think we should have beat the jazz.  we should have won game 1.  we should have won game 2.  we won game 3.  we should have won game 4.  we could have easily beat the jazz 4-0.  what happened?

well hopefully the warriors learn a lot from this "playoff experience".  but if this was probably their best year/shot to win a "championship".  i think we could have beaten phx and detroit.

this offseason may have some big changes.  jrich might be traded.  we may look for that big man.  some guys might leave for new contracts.  this might have been the best warrior team in the last 13 years.  i think this year and the timing, might have been our best shot of winning a championship.  i am worried that the next couple of years we might not be as good.

this is the lineup that brought us the 126-102 victory.  how did dwill do so bad that game?  was it because monta guarded him and stayed in front of him all the time with his quickness?  I don't think dwill has much of a postup game.  hammy or not, i don't think baron is capable of guarding dwill.

one thing i noticed was that baron tried to post up dwill, but dwill was so strong that baron was forced to take two fadeaway baseline jumpers, which are not high percentage shots.

ellis needs an opportunity like how harrington got today.  he should start, and if he doesn't do well, then obviously bring in barnes right away.

i remember harris torching us with his layups, dwill is doing the same thing right now.  we need to stay in front of him.

just some adjustments that i think we need to take for game 2

i am hesitant in buying season tickets next year.  something might happen this offseason - something might need to be done.  don't get me wrong.  this team is great.  i'm loving it right now.  but we can't keep it all together.

i think some of you know that we can't keep jrich and baron on the same team together because their salaries are just too big.  one of them may have to go in order to keep ellis and beans.  

i think we will lose either barnes or pietrus this offseason.  they are both going to get good contracts.  so why can't we afford everyone?  the answer is ellis and beans.  both will command big money come contract time.  the only way we can keep everyone together is if these two guys sign for considerably less money.   but i don't think that is going to happen, right?  beans will need at least 10 mil because centers are hard to come by and thats the standard for them - did u see what chris kaman got?

and nobody wants to see ellis go after what happened with arenas.  so i think we are going to end up overpaying him, and that's sad.  because i don't think ellis will ever be as good as arenas.  arenas has that swagger where he can throw up a game winning 3 and put his hands in his air before it goes in.  ellis doesn't have that.  at best, i think ellis can be an allen iverson, but w/o the assists and playmaking.  iverson avg'ed good assists in his rookie year and ellis can't suddenly "develop" playmaking skills for his teammates.

sorry for those who like him, but pietrus is the first who has to go.  i rather have barnes because he has a brain (sorry for the bluntness).  and azubuike (if we are also lucky to even keep him too) can take pietrus' spot.

cabbages is also gonna walk away.  we will buy foyle out - we have to because no team wants his gross contract.  even if we get rid of him, i don't think its enough $$ to keep this team together.

i know that i am going to bashed on a lot for this diary.  but it's true.  so the bottom line is, enjoy this year while it lasts.  it is one of the best already.  and don't get me wrong, i want this team to stay together!

a little aside: this year, we saw nellie's, baron's, and jax's careers get saved.  u know who we should get?  darko milicic.  we need another rebounder shot blocker.  he had to have some good potential being picked ahead of carmelo.  i think his career can be revived with nellie.  and i think we can get him for cheap.

watching the game over again, up by 9 with 3 minutes left, we should have kept attacking the basket.  it was obvious we were trying to wind the clock down and take bad threes at the end of the buzzer, which wasn't right.  hopefully the warriors learn from this experience and play hard until the end of the game.  we have our foot on the mavs throats, we just need to continue stepping down on it until our foots touch the ground.  lol.

up 9 and dirk hit two threes in a row.  up 3, i still think we could have held on.  we should have played tougher defense, attack the rim, baron find the open man when he was doubled team, draw the foul, move the ball, do something.

this won't happen again because thursday we will blow them out.  WE DESERVE TO WIN.

nelson made a great move by benching harrington and putting in biedrins.  should he do the same thing by benching monta and putting barnes?  barnes has been playing well lately and monta hasn't been doing too well................................................................................................ ..................................

we can't let this loss affect us.  we need to forget about it and move on quickly.  because if we lose 6, game 7 will be ever so tough in dallas.  we all need to group together and defeat dallas together, as teammates and fans, in game 6.  whoever is going to game 6, yes...we need it be even louder than friday.  even louder than sunday.  this needs to be as loud as fans threatening the refs that if you make any more lousy calls, we are going to trash the arena :)

he literally pile drived baron davis to the ground.  why wasn't there an automatic ejection?  he better get suspended........................................................................................... .................................................................................................... .................................................................................................... ..................

i love baron davis.  but everytime i see him play too many minutes or try to do too many things, i always get so scared.  the other warriors need to step it up, because once baron davis gets injured or goes down, our season will go down.  i do not know why nellie still plays baron - sometimes nellie keeps him in blowouts or games that we won for sure.

i also see too many iso plays.  everyone just stands there and watches baron - he does too much.  other guys need to step it up and help him out.

if theres any team to come back from a 3-1 deficit, it is dallas.  monday's victory was great, but remember, the series is not over yet.  the warriors need to continue to play every game like it's their last.  i hope they win in dallas on game 5.  i have been a warriors fan long enough to know that a 20 point lead is never safe with the warriors.  and i still don't think a 3-1 lead is safe - not with the warriors.  so don't go celebrating yet, there is still much to be done!

i think the main reason why we won tonight was because of the fans.  tonight, we let out 13 years of frustration.  from the moment tip off started, we  were already chanting "defense!".  the crowd was constantly on its feet.  and the players pretty much drew their energy from the crowd.  so big props to the crowd.  we won it together as a team tonight.

i have a feeling that we won't match the same energy for sunday's game, which is a must.  it just feels like there will be less fans there, most of the die-hards won't be there, they aren't giving out free yellow t-shirts, today's game was the first in 13 years.  the 2nd game back in 13 years won't be as good as the first.  we came off a great win today, we might get too cocky like we did for game 2.  remember, tonight's game was just another game.  we need to keep it humble and take one game at a time.

i won't be able to go to the game on sunday.  so whoever is going, please cheer your loudest.  sunday is a must win.  if we go into dallas with a 3-1 advantage, that gives us the best shot at winning this series.  we can never underestimate dallas.  if we go to dallas tied 2-2, they can take game 5 and use that momentum to finish us off in game 6 in oakland.

hopefully the arrival of jessica alba will create some cheers.  haha.  but if you are reading this and are going to sunday's game, we need you!  WE decide the game, not the refs!

attention all warrior fans who are going to friday's game.  we need this crowd to be louder than it has been in the last 13 years.  its time to let out all of our 13 years of frustration and no playoffs.  i want every single person in there to let out some kind of emotion.

this is the most important game of the series.  this is pivotal game three.  dallas has momentum right now and if they beat us on friday, they will increase their momentum.  if the warriors win friday, they will have a good chance of winning on sunday as well.  imagine coming into dallas 3-1.  wow!

i really believe that this game will be decided by the fans - NOT THE REFS!  it will be a close game, and the warriors need our vocal support to give them that extra ounce of energy to win the game.  i really think that the louder we are, the better chance we have of winning the game.

be as loud as you can tomorrow.  this is it!  if baron or jax get ejected, i say we trash the place.  they can't all put us in trouble, if we all get into trouble together!  what are they gonna do, arrest 20,000 fans? :)

(i wanted to say this before the suspension :)

dear mr. jackson,

i had you misunderstood.  you have emerged as the 2nd best player on this team - something i totally never expected.  at first i hated the trade that brought you over because of your thug mentality, low shooting percentage, and trigger happy threes.  but after watching you play over here, it was exactly what we needed.  this franchise was getting nowhere with the soft play of dunleavy and murphy.  you needed a fresh start and thank goodness it was with the warriors.  you have emerged as a playmaker, averaging a career high in assists and a career best shooting percentage with us.  nelson has created you into a point forward and unveiled a passing ability that nobody saw in you.  jrich should be the number 2 leader on this team, but you stepped up to the plate.  you have brought defense, hitting your free throws, open threes, and even better, clutch threes.  something that dunleavy never did.  your stats at the end of the year were simply incredible.  now i love watching your rainbow threes and hold my breath hoping it goes in.  i sure hope that you don't go to jail.  we need you - the fans need you - the warriors need you.  you brought a tough mentality to a franchise that desperately needed it.  hopefully the judge will look at the incredible job you did here and release you.

ps: welcome to the hyphy movement.  i sure hope you like it over here.

after watching the huge discrepancy in free throws last night, sometimes i just wonder, is david stern writing a script to make the nba more exciting and profitable?  does he have power in influencing calls by the refs??  i didn't watch the entire game last night, but it seems that there were some absurd calls last night - which led up to baron's and jax's ejections.

i really believe that the mavs deserve to lose.  they remind me of the kings and the way they loss to the lakers.  ever since their window of opportunity faded away, they were nothing but whiners, complained about every small foul, and eventually ended up being losers.  the mavs are the same way.  they built a 2-0 lead in the finals against the heat, were full of it, and started whining the rest of the way.

i remember at the end of one game, cuban walked on the court, pointed at david stern in the stands, and looked into his eyes and gave the most ugly look ever.  from that point on, dwyane wade started averaging a ridiculous 20 free throws a game.

i was rooting for the mavs to beat the heat last year in the finals.  but the way how they carried themselves at the end of the series made them look like a bunch of girls who didn't deserve to win.

i really really hope that the warriors upset the mavs in the first round.  because i can't wait to see mark cuban cry like a little girl.

sam mitchell won.  nellie didn't get any recognition.  i bet next year mitchell will have a losing season.  that was a fluke.

why should nellie be coach of the year?  the warriors haven't been in the playoffs for 12 straight seasons - and the last coach to bring them to the playoffs?  don nelson.

another reason?  nelson brought them back to the playoffs in the first year that he came back.

another reason?  we overcame injuries to jrich and baron.

another reason?  we had to adjust with murph/dun out and jax/harrington in.  we were winners in the beginning of the year.  and we did not have a full team until baron came back to play against detroit.  and what was our record since then??

don nelson was snubbed.

when the clock hit the 7:50 mark, and the warriors were over the foul limit, i thought the mavs would take control and win the game with free throws (esp cuz the warriors foul like crazy).  warriors were up 89-81.  shot clock winded down, and jrich just "hands" the ball to devin harris.  i knew right then - because of j-rich's heart - that he would hustle back and block that shot.

that block reminded me of exactly tayshaun's block on reggie miller a couple of years back.  it turned the tide.  hopefully, it turned the tide for this whole series!!!!!

go warriors!