GSW @ DEN 1/5/09: PostThoughts

"I'd expect a fairly good Warriors' effort in this game, coming on the heels of Nellie's dopey whip-cracking as it is. But even given the Nuggets' injuries, winning this one might be a little much to ask. We've lost our last four games in this building, and in general we've continued our nasty years-long habit of falling apart late when on the road. I'd expect a competitive game that nonetheless sends us to 9-24."

File this one under "A", for "as advertised."

Classically tragic loss, but count me out of the principled outrage against the refs/league/Freemasons/etc. Monta was stupidly close enough to Smith to make a foul call a realistic possibility, and both Monta and Curry traveled on the go-ahead bucket that preceded the final play. Plus, come on: the Nuggets lost Lawson with an injury with 4:09 remaining, forcing them to play Anthony friggin' Carter, one of the most over-the-hill players in the league. Four minutes to go, we're up four, facing a punchless lineup of Carter, J.R., Joey Graham, K-Mart and Nene. If you blow that, you deserve to lose, no matter what the zebras do or don't do.

Sending complaints to the league office just signals to the franchise that you're okay with how this game was played and coached. And you shouldn't be. To paraphrase a feud whose cobwebs were just recently dusted off: the refs didn't screw us, we screwed us.

GSW @ DEN 1/5/09: PreThoughts

Our return to the Pepsi Center brings us our second straight banged-up opponent: Birdman's out, Chauncey's doubtful, 'Melo's a game-time decision. Denver is not a team that's well-suited to playing without their stars... only two Nuggets that are likely to play tonight, Ty Lawson and Nene, have Win %s above .500, and the team has lost four of five. Still and all, they'll compete, even if the big guns stay holstered. Lawson, J.R. Smith, Afflalo, K-Mart and Nene is enough to beat a team whose head isn't in the game.

We will need extended and productive minutes from our big guys to have a shot tonight; the Nuggets get to the line more than any other team, so discipline will be key. They also profit off turnovers, as we do; we're third in the league in turnover differential, and they're fourth. Expect a good number of steals, and for the team who gets more of them to be in pretty good shape.

I'd expect a fairly good Warriors' effort in this game, coming on the heels of Nellie's dopey whip-cracking as it is. But even given the Nuggets' injuries, winning this one might be a little much to ask. We've lost our last four games in this building, and in general we've continued our nasty years-long habit of falling apart late when on the road. I'd expect a competitive game that nonetheless sends us to 9-24.

Warrior To Watch: Andris Biedrins has not only not had a double-double so far this season, he has not had a single-double: he has not scored ten points or grabbed ten rebounds in any game. He'll be coming off the bench tonight, and it seems like a nice, low-pressure situation, where he won't have to worry about early foul trouble. If he doesn't have his best game of the year thus far, we have essentially no shot of winning.

Nugget To Watch: The Ty Lawson/Steph Curry comparisons are just depressing, so let's say J.R. Smith. The Dubs spent the last couple days engaged in defensive drills, with an emphasis chasing guys who are coming off screens; Smith will gladly put them to the test.

Let's Get A Gun.

The big NBA buzz of the day comes from Utah. The Jazz have apparently come to grips with the mediocrity of their current roster... as such, they're looking to make some moves and shed some payroll, with only Deron Williams deemed untouchable. There are two caveats: they'd like to remain somewhat competitive, and they want to shed payroll this year, to limit their luxury tax penalties. That makes things a bit tricky, as plain old expiring contracts will not help them. The only way they can significantly ease their '09-'10 burden is by acquiring contracts they won't actually have to pay in full: non-guaranteed contracts, partially guaranteed contracts, and contracts that are largely covered by insurance.

Happily, we have one of the latter: Speedy's contract! His expiring deal nets him $5.2 million, but as his injuries have prevented him from playing, insurance covers 80% of that cost. In other words, Speedy has a $5.2 million cap hold but only a $1.04 million price tag, making him an automatic money-saver for any team that acquires with him with real contracts. This is exactly the kind of deal the Jazz are looking for, and there aren't many like it in the league.

In other words: pick up the phone, Larry Riley, and get Kevin O'Connor on the horn. It's time to try to leverage Speedy's contract into a deal that helps us. It's time we tried to clear our future books... and it's time we tried to land a stud in the process. A complementary player better-suited to our needs than almost any other. A guy who doesn't need the ball in his hands to be an effective player. A guy who doesn't need a coherent scheme around him to be a defensive asset; a guy who defends the rim, and yet has a better assist/turnover ratio than any Warrior except for CJ. A guy whose winning ways are evinced by his having led his perennial playoff team in net plus-minus in five of the last six seasons.

Tuesday Potpourri: Riley, Ronny, Steals, Stats

• A Larry Riley radio interview with Ralph and Tom (courtesy of GSOM). Riley comes off as a charming, intelligent and media-savvy guy... says all the right things at all the right times. And if he really was the trigger man on the Crawford and Jack dumps, it seems like he at least knows his way around a trade. I wouldn't mind seeing him outlast Nellie by a year. Having said that, two of his main points here -- that one more solid player would make us competitive, that Monta is fabulous -- don't hold much water.

• Ronny is starting tonight. Y'know, because that's the best away to protect his sore knee...

• ...what?!?!??!?!??

• Steals alone can't make you good, but it'd sure be great if they did: all three of our little guys rank in the league's top 15 in steals per night. As with so many other facets of the game, the most impressive Warrior in terms of steals is quietly CJ, who averages 2.19 steals per 36; among guys who've played a lot, only Rondo and Rudy Fernandez top that.

• You know who realized that a big lineup would easily outrebound and beat the wounded Blazers? Mike Dunleavy. Congrats, Nellie -- you are officially the dumbest coach in basketball.

• Marc Stein reports that the Raptors will be waiving Pops Mensah-Bonsu... they hope to re-add him if he clears waivers. With Biedrins and Turiaf back, our rebounding situation is not as dire as it was, but dropping Devean for Pops is still a good idea.

Mikki No Moore

Per ESPN, the Warriors have waived him to make permanent room for Chris Hunter, as our hardship exception has run out. (EDIT: Marcus Thompson has more.)

This was the right move. Given the fondness Nellie and Smart showed for Mikki's bellowing veteran ways, I'd expected them to try to keep him around, perhaps dumping Hunter to do it. That would've been a mistake, not because Hunter has much value, but because Mikki has none. We kept the younger, more useful player here. Smart call.

Mikki becomes the first Warrior to lose his stripes in our Internet tenure. While we won't miss his punchless contributions, we appreciate his willingness to play hurt and his eagerness to take fellow journeyman Hunter under his enormous wing. He seems like a nice enough guy.

Fare thee well, big man... I'm guessing you see the postseason before we do.

A Historic Game. (Well, Technically Two.)

It's been a while since we had some silly fun with Basketball Reference's Play Index...

In our last two games, Anthony Randolph has played a total of 39 minutes. His combined line:

21 points (9-16 FG), 17 rebounds, 6 assists, 6 blocks, 3 steals, 1 turnover, 5 fouls

That'd make a pretty salty one-night performance. How many guys have had nights like that?

In the twenty-four seasons for which BBR has sortable game data... one. Since 1986, only one player has recorded 21 or more points, 17 or more rebounds, 6 or more assists, 6 or more blocks, 3 or more steals and one or zero turnovers in a single game. It was Hakeem Olajuwon, in his famed quadruple-double game, against (naturally) us. That's the only time on record that a player did in one game what Randolph just did in halves of two.

Not bad, Anthony! If you keep this up, maybe you'll earn consistent playing time on the fucking third-worst team in basketball!

Monta's Plus-Minus In Detail

Tim Kawakami posted thoughts on this over the weekend, and Geoff Lepper, among others, has posted thoughts on said thoughts. We Worriers have been thinking similar thoughts for awhile now. Put simply, Monta Ellis's current plus-minus numbers are worse than any full-time player's has ever been. This is curious... dare I say, even thought-provoking.

Kawakami acknowledges, and Lepper emphasizes, that there's plenty of noise in Monta's off-court numbers, as he's only been off the floor for scattered garbage-time minutes. I largely agree. It's a point that loses its power as the season progresses -- the Warriors have now played 212 minutes with Monta on the bench, more than four games' worth of minutes, which ain't exactly chicken feed. And garbage time data is not as worthless as some believe... if your garbage-time unit consistently outscores its opponents, you should probably think about giving some of those guys bigger roles. (Monta's dogged defense and positive results in garbage time, in fact, is what got him on our map in the first place.) But overall, the point stands. Our non-Monta numbers are limited, noisy, and show an unsustainably high level of offensive efficiency. For now, we can disregard them.

But the on-court numbers are not as easy to ignore. Monta has played 1328 minutes, a full half-season for most NBA players. In that time, we have been outscored by 209 points. When Monta is on the floor, we get outscored by 7.6 points per 48 minutes. That's just about how much the Wizards got outscored by last year... they went 19-63. With Monta on the floor, we've played like one of the very worst teams in basketball, worse than even our record would indicate.

Now, that's not to say that this is all Monta's fault. We've suffered from injuries, from a lack of size, from stupid lineups, from error-prone young 'uns... we've got tons of issues that have nothing to do with Monta. Monta Ellis is not the problem. But thus far, he has been no kind of a solution, either. Tyreke Evans also leads an inexperienced and undersized team, and his Kings are 4.5 games better than Monta's Warriors. Is that all due to peripheral factors, or is Monta actually less effective than the other stars who put up big numbers?

Dissecting Smallball

Since its recent inception, this blog has hammered home one point above all others: that this Warriors roster is poorly suited for a smallball-centric approach, and that Don Nelson's refusal to realize this is hurting the team. With our miserably coached loss in Portland last night, that point holds more salience than ever. More than Monta's epic efforts, more than the Stephen Jackson melodrama, more than the cascade of injuries, smallball's inadequacy as a governing strategy has been the defining story of our season thus far.

But as true as that is, we're getting pretty tired of saying it. And the fact that Nellie's in a creative rut doesn't mean that we have to be. So we're going to walk through the pros and cons of smallball, demonstrate in detail why it's such a mistake with this roster, and then move on with our lives. While the subject may come up again here and there (Nellie will undoubtedly make sure of it), we will not waste time and energy ranting about it. If the guy wants to end his career in tawdry and stubborn fashion, so be it; from now on, we'd rather talk about the good and likeable young players he miscoaches.

A dissection of smallball requires answers to four questions:

1) What do we mean when we say "smallball"?

2) How well and how often has a predominant smallball strategy worked in the past?

3) When it has worked, what team elements have made it work?

4) Does the Warriors' current roster feature those elements?

Let's dive right in.

1. Defining Smallball

This is not as simple of an exercise as it might first appear. When we say that a team is going "small", how do we quantify that? Is it when a team fields a couple players at positions that are "bigger" than their natural ones? Is it when a team fields a frontcourt that is shorter than usual? Is it when a team fields a frontcourt that is lighter than usual?

GSW @ POR 1/2/10: PostThoughts

"We will have the bigger and better available roster tonight, a roster that will outrebound, outdrive and outsize the Blazers if simply given the chance. A failure to take advantage of our size will be an abject failure of coaching."

combined minutes for Biedrins/Turiaf/Randolph: 54

rebounding totals: POR 43, GSW 36

final score: POR 105, GSW 89

Look.

This is not, inherently, an anti-Nellie site. Nellie has given this sad-sack franchise color, swagger, and occasional glimpses of legitimacy over the last two decades; he has overseen most of the all-too-rare Warrior highlights of both Doug's and my lifetimes. When we criticize Nellie, it is with a heavy heart; when we advocate for his dismissal, it is only after long and anguished consideration. We would love to see the guy change his ways, coach decently and lead us back towards playoff contention. All we are looking for is a Warriors team that won't embarrass us.

Tonight, Nellie denied us that. On a night when he faced a team whose injuries bore an eerie similarity to those that he'd been using as excuses all year, Nellie snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. His coaching performance tonight was not just bad. It was not just terrible. It was not just embarrassing. It was not just fireable. It was staining.

Don Nelson's coaching success has been predicated on two main pillars: astute evaluation of offensive ability and a keen eye for mismatches that earn you a net floor advantage. Tonight, he failed by both metrics so badly that it'd be funny if it wasn't sad. Nellie gave 29 minutes to a detrimental Steph Curry, 21 to an on-point Andris Biedrins and 20 to an electrically good Anthony Randolph. And tonight, Nellie faced a fearsome Blazer backcourt and a punchless Blazer frontcourt, and decided to attack... the backcourt, with a lineup that was pointlessly small.

GSW @ POR 1/2/10: PreThoughts

A team that has lost their top two centers and several swingmen to injury? A team that will only have eight players available? And it ain't us? Hot dog, this really is a new year!

The Blazers, of course, are handling their injury woes with much more intelligence and aplomb than we did; they have won seven out of nine. In Brandon Roy, they will have the best player on the floor tonight. They are excellent at home, and we are clueless on the road. But this is a game we should win. And the path to doing it is as clear as day.

The Blazers will be fielding three, and only three, decent NBA players: Roy, Andre Miller, Jerryd Bayless. These guys are very good -- Roy's better than anyone we got, the eternally underrated Miller may be as well, and Bayless is starting to play like the former #6 pick he is -- but they're all 6'5" or shorter. And thanks to LaMarcus Aldridge's tweaked ankle, Portland's frontcourt cupboard is just about bare, with only 62-year-old Juwan Howard, stinky-ass Martell Webster and a host of smallish rookies able to dress. One of those rookies, Jeff Pendergraph, has looked pretty good thus far. But which is the better battle plan, attacking their All-Star backcourt, or the kid playing in his sixth NBA game?

Tonight, we need to own the paint. Biedrins and Randolph should get as many minutes as their health and foul situations allow; Turiaf should get a bunch as well. Monta and Maggette should drive to the hoop early and often. The only healthy Blazer who's shown any ability to rebound or affect shots is Jeff Pendergraph, and again, that's based on a mere 84 minutes of court time. We should shoot thirty foul shots tonight, we should outrebound the Blazers by at least a dozen, and we should win the game. Any other result is unacceptable.

Our Best Possible Lineup

Good evening, everyone. I hope your hangovers are going well.

So the Dubs are starting the new decade with a bit of momentum, coming off of three straight impressive performances. It would be really, really nice to see this good play continue; the playoffs are not a possibility at this point, but the fans could use some sunshine, and the old man has a record to break. We start a seven-game homestand next week that features five beatable opponents. If we want to do any winnin', now's the time.

As such, it's time for Nellie to put his best possible lineup on the floor. This is something he's had trouble doing for over a year now. Injuries have been a part of that, but only a part... Nellie has also overplayed bad players (Mikki Moore, Jamal Crawford), underplayed good players (Brandan Wright, Andris Biedrins) and assembled combinations that simply lack the size to compete. We are not a good enough team to survive suboptimal use of our talent; if we want to string together some wins, we'll need to field the best team we possibly can.

Things have been looking up on this front, both in terms of health and in terms of Nellie's inclinations. Biedrins is back, Maggette is playing more, Randolph has gotten a couple starting nods... these are all positives. And the Curry/Ellis/Maggette/Randolph/Biedrins combo that has started the last two games is pretty good; it's one of our better possible lineups. But it's not our best possible lineup.

Lost Decade, Part 4: The Aughtie Awards

Best Player Of The Decade: Baron Davis

There is no other defensible answer. He was only around for three years and change, and missed more than half a season's worth of games due to injuries. His work wasn't MVP-level or All-NBA level; even at his very peak, he was probably never one of the best dozen players in the league. But when healthy, he played at a much higher level than any other Warrior even approached. The Aughts Warriors were a .551 team with Baron Davis on the floor, and a .331 team without him. Our few bright moments of the decade came about mostly of one man's basketball genius, and that man is not Don Nelson. Thanks, Baron... it was fun.

Worst Player Of The Decade: Adonal Foyle

I love this man, I truly do. And he did some things very, very well... in his prime, he'd have made a splendid backup for a playoff team. But we gave him too many minutes, too much money, and too many chances; his defense, while brilliant, couldn't make up for his bottom-tier offensive skills and horrible rebounding. He can write a poem, he can heal a village, he can light up a room with his smile, but Adonal Foyle can not help you very much on the basketball court. We spent a decade pretending otherwise. Our futility in that decade was not coincidental.

Most Underrated Player Of The Decade: Andris Biedrins

He may have contributed more in the decade than any Warrior except Baron, he single-handedly kept us viable on the glass in our only two competitive seasons, and he remains on pace to hold the NBA career record for field-goal percentage... there are few records that are more significant from a winning standpoint than that one. And yet even now, when people talk about who the best player on the Warriors is, Andris Biedrins's name rarely gets mentioned. Wake up, people: this cat is the best thing we've got going.

Most Overrated Player Of The Decade: Jason Richardson

J-Rich was a decent shooting guard, but no better... his defensive weakness negated most of his offensive value. Most years he was not even an above-average player at his position, the least important position on the floor. There is no worse type of player to give star-level money to than a middling shooting guard. We traded J-Rich to the Bobcats; we got better, they got worse. The Bobcats traded J-Rich to the Suns; 'Cats got better, Suns got worse. Jason Richardson is simply not a winning player. And while he was a charming and proud Warrior, I'm really, really, really not sure he's a great guy... it's time to stop mourning his loss. (Stephen Jackson was in the conversation for this award, but we didn't delude ourselves into thinking he was a star for as long as we did with J-Rich.)

Lost Decade, Part 3: Player Records, '00-'09

Games Played

1. Adonal Foyle, 515

2. Jason Richardson, 438

3. Troy Murphy, 359

4. Mike Dunleavy, 356

5. Andris Biedrins, 324

6. Mickael Pietrus, 310

7. Erick Dampier, 293

8. Antawn Jamison, 282

9. Monta Ellis, 263

10. Baron Davis, 217

Points

1. Jason Richardson, 8008

2. Antawn Jamison, 5946

3. Baron Davis, 4567

4. Monta Ellis, 4507

5. Troy Murphy, 4024

6. Mike Dunleavy, 3778

7. Stephen Jackson, 3478

8. Andris Biedrins, 2711

9. Mickael Pietrus, 2669

10. Larry Hughes, 2443

Rebounds

1. Troy Murphy, 2957

2. Adonal Foyle, 2678

3. Andris Biedrins, 2641

4. Jason Richardson, 2363

5. Erick Dampier, 2201

Assists

1. Baron Davis, 1845

2. Jason Richardson, 1394

3. Monta Ellis, 967

4. Mookie Blaylock, 923

5. Stephen Jackson, 896

Lost Decade, Part 2: Single-Game Records, '00-'09

Team Highs

Most Points Scored: 146 (Warriors 146, Timberwolves 105, 11-9-09)

Most Points Allowed: 154 (Suns 154, Warriors 130, 3-15-09)

Fewest Points Scored: 65 (Rockets 83, Warriors 65, 1-05-04)

Fewest Points Allowed: 71 (Warriors 90, Knicks 71, 11-10-11)

Most Rebounds: 72 (Suns 106, Warriors 102, 2-13-05)

Most Rebounds Allowed: 66 (Kings 117, Warriors 91, 3-18-03)

Most Assists: 39 (Warriors 122, Grizzlies 117, 4-1-07)

Most Assists Allowed: 42 (Nuggets 140, Warriors 129, 11-24-06)

Most Blocks: 18 (Nuggets 108, Warriors 92, 4-13-01)

Most Times Blocked: 24 (Raptors 109, Warriors 92, 11-7-01)

Most Steals: 22 (Warriors 146, Timberwolves 105, 11-9-09)

Most Steals Allowed: 17 (vs. ORL 11-12-00, vs. DEN 4-12-02)

Most Turnovers: 31 (Kings 115, Warriors 84, 11-8-00)

Most Turnovers, Opponent: 29 (Jazz 100, Warriors 78, 1-23-01)

Most Fouls: 41 (Wizards 129, Warriors 124, 2-8-06)

Most Times Fouled: 42 (Jazz 117, Warriors 108, 2-27-06)

Most Threes Made: 18 (3-12-05, 4-8-05, 1-3-07)

Most Threes Made, Opponent: 16 (Magic 113, Warriors 81)

Biggest Margin Of Victory: 43 (Warriors 135, Magic 92, 11-16-02)

Biggest Margin Of Defeat: 40 (Spurs 129, Warriors 89, 12-4-06)

Longest Game: 63 minutes (vs. NOH 11-23-04, vs. SAC 1-14-09)

Lost Decade, Part 1: The Warriors' Record, '00-'09

Tuesday night's loss to the Lakers represented not only a heartening sign, but a closing chapter... the Warriors have completed their Aughts assignments. A grotesque decade's worth of basketball, spanning from a 1-3-00 loss in DC to a 12-29-09 loss in LA, is now in the books. And while many will wait till season's end to view NBA teams through an "end of the decade" lens, we Worriers will not hold off our reckoning any longer. Let's take a look at the damage here, starting with the overall performance of the team.

(Warning: this series will mention many names, games and moments you have tried very hard to forget. Proceed with caution, if not outright dread.)

The Warriors played 822 regular-season games in the Aughts, and a mere eleven playoff games, all of which you probably remember. Our final regular-season record for the decade is 322-500... Tuesday night's loss, in other words, was quite a milestone. Our .392 winning percentage was the lowest in franchise history for any decade, topping the previous .405 low of the '80s. No matter how you count it, in fact, this was the Warriors' worst decade: most losses, worst record, fewest playoff appearances, fewest playoff wins. Our feeble record also extended a cold streak that reaches back to Truman: we've registered a losing record in five of the last six decades.

We were the fifth-worst NBA team of the Aughts, behind only the Bobcats, the Grizzlies, the Clippers and (how things change) the Hawks. The Bobcats have not made the playoffs in their five-year existence... every other NBA team made the playoffs at least once in the decade. The only two teams to make the playoffs only once were the Clippers and Warriors, and the Clippers stretched their second-round playoff appearance to seven games, while we only stretched ours to five. It could be argued that nobody made less of an impact on the '00-'09 NBA landscape than we did.

No West, Young Man

A brief note on the recent rumblings that the Warriors are interested in acquiring David West. Many fans have praised the idea of going after him, arguing that West is the exact kind of skilled power forward we need to get to the next level.

David West's '09-'10 stats, per 36:

17.6 points on 15.4 shots, 7.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.2 turnovers, 0.7 blocks, 0.7 steals, 2.7 fouls

Anthony Randolph's December '09 stats, per 36:

17.2 points on 13.7 shots, 9.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 2.1 turnovers, 2.8 blocks, 1.0 steals, 3.9 fouls

Trading for David West would be a mistake for a number of reasons, but the biggest one is this: he's not as good as our current power forward. Right now, Anthony Randolph is not only better than David West, he's better than David West at just about everything.

GSW @ LAL 12/29/09: PostThoughts

Is there a purer possible distillation of good vs. evil than Anthony Morrow vs. Sasha Vujacic? Anthony Morrow should not get a technical just because he realizes what a boner Sasha is. Sasha should get a technical for every breath he has the audacity to take.

Anyway, this was our best performance of the season. Bar none. Not even close.

We didn't have the Oracle faithful to buoy us; no Warrior had a career night; the whistles did not tilt hugely in our direction; we were not significantly more rested than our opponent. There was no "Bad News Bears" vibe to our early lead. We faced the world champions in their building, on a night when they were determined to wash the taste of a bad loss out of their mouths. We took them to the limit, with no asterisks.

The level of basketball we played last night is sustainable. We're not going to shoot 55% from the field every night, but if we pass that intelligently, and compete on defense and the glass as we did, we will be a real basketball team, night in and night out. The Golden State Warriors didn't look like a bad team having a good game; they just looked like a pretty good basketball team. This was the most mature and impressive performance we've given since the Baron days.

I'd predicted that this game would be more interesting on an individual level than a teamwide level. That could not have been more wrong; just about every Warrior played well, and they played so cohesively that singling anyone out seems beside the point. (Best stat of the night: seven of the nine Warriors who played recorded at least three assists.) There is only one personnel specific that I'll point to... I've beaten it into the ground already, but apparently further beatings are necessary.

GSW @ LAL 12/29/09: PreThoughts

The Lakers... ew. These guys are dicks.

This is a road game, the second half of a back-to-back (there really should be some helpful abbreviation for that), against the league's best team, which is also the team we're least-equipped to combat. And with these last two thrilling wins, we've done our good deeds for the week. This is one of the lowest-pressure games we'll play all season... no shame in going quietly tonight. Any intrigue will come on the individual level.

The main things to look for: decent stamina and touch from Biedrins and Turiaf. A touch of poise from Randolph in the face of the league's premier front line. Some type of bounceback night from Curry. A commitment from Nellie to competing on the glass all night, even if our larger lineups go down early (it's not like our smaller lineups won't).

Above all, it'd be nice to see a disciplined game from Monta Ellis, our Warrior to Watch. He's coming off of a brilliant showing, and will be eager to do make noise, given that he's going head-to-head with a living legend... all the elements are in place for one of his eight-turnover nights. If Monta can avoid trying to do too much, despite all the recent accolades and the fun of testing Kobe, it will be a sign of real growth. Learning when to do less is important.

The Laker to watch: Pau Gasol. All of our bigs -- hell, all of our players -- should take notes on his sophistication and precision in the post.

Housekeeping, Simmons

It has been asked how one might contact the makers of this blog. A reasonable question, indeed... our computerin' is not yet up to snuff, and you'll have to bear with us on certain details. For now, feel free to direct any questions, comments, suggestions and criticisms to goldenstateworriers | at | gmail | dot | com. We would love to hear from you. And Twitter? Oh, yeah, you can find us on Twitter. BIGTIME. Better jump aboard this train before it leaves the station; we are gaining a new follower every five or six days.

Down to business. A commenter has asked us to weigh in on Bill Simmons's recent weighing in on the squad's direction.

Now, we Worriers read the Sports Guy with the same pronounced ambivalence that most Americans do. We want him to hold himself to a higher standard joke-wise. We want him to settle down about Larry Bird. Above all, we want him to never, ever write about poker again (yeah, nothing shows you're a true-blue veteran card player like quoting "Rounders," you fucking chickenhead). A lot of the time, Bill Simmons annoys us something fierce.

But he's also a funny and perceptive writer, and we respect those who, like us, care more about the NBA than the stupid amateurs in the college game. More to the point, when Simmons pops in on the Warriors, he almost always has a solid handle on the state of play, and his most recent piece is no exception.

(We'll quote most of the Warriors section. This may anger ESPN, but it's not like they're going to sue us... those milquetoasts don't have the balls.)

Tuesday Potpourri: Plus-Minus, Monster Monta, Lucky Sevens

• An 82games update has come down the pike. These stats are updated through the morning of the 26th, so consider this a snapshot of the team at (what will hopefully be) its nadir:

Corey Maggette is finally the proud owner of a positive net plus-minus... no Warrior has done more to earn one. Other than that, and the pandemic tinge of extra crappiness four additional losses will add, there haven't been many big changes since the last time we looked. The on-court plus-minus numbers are getting pretty scary here, with only CJ and Hunter still in the black as of this update, and every other player rating -3.0 per 48 or worse. Monta's net number is a bit less horrifying than previously, but only because we've played less scorchingly well without him; we still (even factoring in the last two games) play like a 60-loss team when he's on the floor.

BOS @ GSW 12/28/09: PostThoughts

Another win! Fun!

Must be acknowledged early: a ton of bad calls in our favor tonight. If the zebras tilted against us that hard in a game, we'd be screaming bloody murder; we got damn lucky here. Still. Fun.

Good performances aplenty. Monta gave the kind of mature, strap-your-team-to-your-back superstar turn he's often incorrectly credited with... he was spectacular tonight, with no asterisks. CJ did great with a brutally tough assignment. Morrow had his second solid all-around game in a row, which is nice to see from a supposedly one-dimensional guy. Turiaf provided the passing, fire and blooper-heavy rim play that defines him; Maggette contributed despite a rare off-kilter scoring night; Vlad did his job nicely. And man, Randolph had himself a run or two. Only two bad games from Warrior players, and I'm not worried about the first, as it's reasonable to assume that Andris Biedrins will start making a couple of those. Curry... well, Curry stank. He probably didn't deserve to be put in the deep freezer for the night, but it was certainly one of those games where you see just how far a young guy has to go.

Nellie's coaching performance was not without its weirdness. He made two substitutions at center in one three-minute stretch, and yet only one substitution in the backcourt all night. He rode several guys for too long, gassing them badly, and his Radmanoviciophilia still disturbs me. But a deal is a deal: he gave us 66 minutes of honest-to-God big men on a night where Biedrins had a low minutes ceiling, and as such, Nellie gets an automatic thumbs-up for tonight. He also went with our best starting lineup so far this year (the optimal one would sub in CJ for Curry, but no matter), and Morrow's cuts and passes seemed Nellie-generated, and were very good ideas. And we once again fouled when up three, like all good Christian teams do. So yeah, great stuff from Slim.

Tomorrow does not figure to be pretty; we'll be tired, away from home, and facing a team with literally thousands of skilled nine-footers. But our Oracle swagger appears to be back, and the importance of that can not be overstated. If we're a competitive team half the time, we can only sink so low.

BOS @ GSW 12/28/09: PreThoughts

Holiday travel

Limiting your blogging time?

Preview in haiku!

Boston Celtics? Yikes.

Best damn road team in the league.

League's best defense, too.

Saturday was fun,

but let's don't get crazy here.

Celts win this by nine.

Warrior to watch?

Andris Biedrins, quite clearly!

Welcome back, greaseball.

The Celtic to watch:

Rajon Rondo, backcourt fiend.

Good luck, tiny Dubs.

Franchise Fix #8: Perfect Your Pitch

So that Phoenix win has you feeling all warm and gooey about the Warriors again? Wake up, Pollyanna! One hot-shooting survival of a road-weary team does not a Fixed Franchise make; the Suns even shine on a dog's ass some days. We are still 14th in our conference, still 8.5 games out of the eighth seed, still one of the sorriest teams in all the land. Now is not the time to get excited. Now is the time to get smart.

As such, we alternate-universe G-State GMs are sticking to our '11-'12 time horizon. And to maximize the potential of that shining season on the hill, we will now implement Franchise Fix #8: rehabilitating the team's image with fans, advertisers, the media and the league. In this world, it's not enough to develop a great product... you also have to market that product correctly. And if we ever want to pack Oracle on a consistent basis again, attract a top-tier free agent, or help Chris Cohan sell the team on terms he finds acceptable, we are going to need to fix this brand. Two primary directives will help us do it.

Play Nice

Before anything else, we gotta class things up a little. It's one thing to be a bad team; it's quite another to be a bad team that treats people shabbily. The Wizards have been terrible many times over the years, but thanks to the generosity and loyalty of Abe Pollin, they've never inspired hatred from their fanbase or the world at large. It will take a lot to get the Warriors good again. It wouldn't take much to make them likeable again.

So the first thing we do: a few splashy charitable donations and involvements. The Warriors are already a solidly generous team (something for which Cohan never gets credit), but a new giving campaign or two couldn't hurt... there's no shortage of worthy charities in the Bay Area. We need to trumpet the idea that "the Warriors care," louder and more consistently than ever. Maybe that sounds craven to you. Well, what did I tell you about being Pollyanna, Pollyanna? Folks in need get some help, a basketball team gets a facelift, everybody wins... so what if there's cynicism behind the gesture? We're not playing paper dolls, here.

Sophomore Sunday: A Tale Of Two Anthonys

Douglas ably covered last night's dazzler, and we've got plenty of time to anticipate being re-Biedrinsed tomorrow night. Let's take a quick breather and check in with our second-year men, who have seemingly been heading in different directions of late. How are the Anthonys doing, and how can they improve from here? Fill us in, clumsily-pastiched screenshots:

On a per-minute basis, Morrow's second season has not been wildly different from his first; he's passing a bit worse, picking off a few more passes, actually scoring a bit more efficiently (he's still 24th in the league in TS%, despite his recent struggles). The main differences: he's shooting fewer twos, getting to the line even less often, and grabbing offensive rebounds only half as often.

The Dubs fan CW is that Morrow hasn't been getting enough open looks from beyond the arc. And there's something to that -- it'd be good if he, Nellie, Monta and Curry could figure out a way to get him a few more threes. But part of the story here is that Morrow's not doing anything *else*... he's shooting midrange jumpers, driving and drawing fouls even less often than last year. It's possible that he's just too targeted of a weapon this year, and that he'll get more open threes if he can convince his opponents that he might try to hurt them in some other way.

Randolph has gone in the opposite direction... his FG% is even weaker than it was last year, but thanks to increased aggression and improved accuracy at the line, he's more of a scoring asset than he was a season ago. That's not to say that he's a big scoring asset -- his TS%, though improved, is still a tad below league average. But the combo of improved efficiency and increased usage is a heartening thing, as is the jump in Randolph's passing numbers; he still creates a bunch of positive defensive plays, and his foul rate, though high, is still normal for a young big. The only bad news here is a dip in his rebounding totals. This may have to do with his increased passing duties on offense and his tighter man assignments on D. It may also be that last year's numbers were a bit fluky high. At any rate, ten rebounds per 36 is no tragedy.

The easiest way for Randolph to improve? Rediscovering his solid touch near the basket; he's gotten blocked and spooked a ton down there, and a pump fake or two would do wonders. But it's worth noting that Randolph *doesn't* need to fix anything to be effective. His current warty approach is enough to make him a very good player; any meaningful improvements will make this Anthony an All-Star.

PHO @ GSW 12/26/09: PostThoughts

1) Great game. Great game. 48 minutes of pure fun. 57% from the field. 87% from the line. The Warriors simply outplayed the Suns.

2) Golden State scored 132 points despite only hitting four three-pointers. Anthony Morrow was 0/5 from behind the arc.

3) Corey Maggette was nearly perfect in 35 minutes: 13/17 FG, 7/7 FTs, with good rebounding and acceptable defense.

4) The Warriors overcame a vintage performance by Steve Nash, who nearly sent the game into overtime.

5) Great to see Monta Ellis finally get some support. Randolph was Randolph, and I loved seeing him be efficient, with 17 points on seven shots.

6) CJ Watson was Corey Maggette lite off the bench, with a hyper-efficient 14 points on five shots, three rebounds, three assists, two steals and zero turnovers in 29 minutes. And he hectored Nash in the final seconds to ensure the win.

7) Ronny Turiaf deserves loads of credit for shutting down Amar'e Stoudemire. He was a a very significant +8 in 14 minutes off the bench.

8) I'm very impressed with how the Ws closed this game out. They looked like an actual NBA team tonight.

PHO @ GSW 12/26/09: LiveBloggin'

7:50 - Everyone's playing well. I have a good feeling about this game. Weird!

7:59 - Randolph looks under control. Biedrins looks saucy on the bench, as always.

8:05 - This game is outrageous. GSW and PHO on pace for a 170-160 final score.

8:22 - Monta Ellis has a real good chance for the first triple-double of his career.

8:25 - Maggette's hustling, playing strong defense and working. Hooray!

8:28 - Ronny!

8:30 - Maggette picks up his third foul, in comes Vlad. This is huge.

8:34 - The Warriors are holding their own without Randolph.

8:38 - Steph Curry! Having himself a fine game. The Suns' TV people are obsessed with his sweet stroke.

8:40 - Perversely, part of me is just rooting for points.

8:44 - Well, it's a barnburner. The Warriors are out-rebounding the Suns 20-18 at the break, but if there's one game in which we can lay down our arms on rebounding, this would be it. Channing Frye hasn't irrupted into my reality yet, but it's coming, I can sense it. I'm sort of dazed and pleasantly buzzed by this game. Would it be too much to ask for a double overtime Golden State Win? On NBATV, the info-graphic about the Cavaliers' road trip was brought to you by...DRUNK DRIVING: OVER THE LIMIT. UNDER ARREST.

9:02 - Bit of a ragged start to the second half, but here come the points again.

9:04 - Randolph draws the fourth foul on Stoudemire and Golden State has a strong opportunity to pull ahead.

9:05 - And as quickly as it appeared, the lead is gone.

9:09 - Nellie burns another timeout as the Suns rip off 11 points in a row.

9:11 - I love me some Monta Ellis post-up game.

9:15 - What a fantastic game by Corey Maggette.

9:17 - Steve Nash or Monta Ellis: who wants it more?

9:21 - Randolph 6/7 on field goals. Luv it.

9:25 - I really can't praise Corey Maggette enough. He's got 27 points on 15 shots.

9:26 - I take it all back.

9:31 - Nothing pisses Alvin Gentry off like a shot clock violation. Warriors lead by one with 10:28 to go.

9:37 - Ellis gets lazy with his passes, but never seems tired when he drives.

9:42 - This game has ground to a halt, and the Suns will be in the bonus with the next Warrior foul. Will Randolph see any more minutes?

9:50 - Ellis commits his seventh turnover of the night and Stoudemire gets a jam on the other end to tie the game at 123 with 2:25 left.

9:53 - CJ Watson is a terrific scorer, with 14 points on only five shots. Second shot clock violation of the quarter for the Suns. Coach Gentry is steamed.

9:56 - Maggette powers home an Ellis miss, and the Suns desperately need to score with 1:25 left.

10:01 - Morrow splits free throws and the Suns have a chance to tie with a 3-pointer and 10.7 seconds left.

10:03 - Steph Curry hits two free throws to ice the game.

PHO @ GSW 12/26/09: PreThoughts

1) The Phoenix Suns, who play the Warriors' game of outscoring opponents far better than the Warriors do, carry with them a special kind of pique as a Warriors opponent. A final score similar to what we saw back in the Ides of March is not out of the question. This one will probably smart.

2) I've said it before and I'll say it again, folks. I don't want no Dudley. Jared Dudley leads the league in three-point shooting at a cool 50%, and as such he's earned the title of Morrow of the Moment.

3) Amar'e Stoudemire sure can jam, but he doesn't play defense, and he rebounds far less than he reasonably should...willya tell me again why he's not on the Warriors?

4) Sideshow Rob Lopez makes Anthony Randolph look like Ben Kingsley. The gulf in skill between these two players is massive; it's funny to think back on their draft proximity in 2008.

5) Monta Ellis needs to be mindful of Steve Nash and his shifty, floppy defense. The only thing between Ellis and 40+ points tonight is early foul trouble.

6) Channing Frye.

Suns Player to Watch: Channing Frye.

Warriors Player to Watch: Vladimir Radmanovic, as he fails again and again to close out on Channing Frye.

Sizing Things Up

As the din of Christmas songs mercifully lessens, the Warriors appear poised to start a new chapter of their season. Both Andris Biedrins and Ronny Turiaf are due back shortly, possibly as soon as tomorrow night's game against Phoenix; a bigger and healthier roster could lead to an improvement in our fortunes.

It could... it certainly should. It may not, because our coach has been impervious to basketball logic for a good long while now. Don Nelson has coached the last 110 games as though he'd be fined for fielding a quintet with an average height above 6'5". He has treated ironclad rules of basketball as aesthetic trifles. He has opted out of the sport's one battle, the one on the glass, that you truly can't opt out of. Simply put, Nellie has been killing us with smallball. And while he's been saying all the right things about committing to a regular-sized lineup in recent days, he's made similar noises before, only to return to smallball within days and sometimes hours. Chris Hunter's DNP-CD on Wednesday night, in a game where size yet again beat us, speaks volumes.

Nellie is addicted to a loser of a strategy. It's unprofessional. It's embarrassing. It is, in a word, fireable. But you know what? In the spirit of the season, let's forget all that. Let's say that if he wakes up on Boxing Day, regards our predicament with fresh eyes and starts coaching decently again, that we'll let bygones be bygones, and love and defend him forevermore. Seems fair, right?

Okay. So you're Fresh-Start Nellie. You wake up with whatever Christmas hangover you accrued, stumble to your desk and start reading about this 7-21 team of yours. Why are your Warriors are so terrible? Three factors should pop out at you pretty quickly: