Friends and Foes - Warriors 127, Bobcats 96

JRich was welcomed home with cheers, but his Bobcats were sent packing in a brutal blowout.

Box Score

The Warriors shook off the flu and came down with an unfamiliar strain of the consistents. It’s been noted that this team seems to play up to higher level opponents and down to lesser ones. If that pattern held true then the Warriors should have come out slow and lazy against the stumbling Bobcats. That pattern didn’t hold true.

This game was what Dubs fans have been craving - an entertaining smack down of a lesser team complete with big minutes for the rookies.

Look at this even spread of playing time:

Every single player on the squad got to hit the court and have fun. Even Patrick O’Bryant, who has been completely excluded from Nellie’s game plan, got in there and did some damage in the last six minutes.

Baron and the Dubs got passed over once again for the All-Star team (more on this later) and responded by playing like a team of All-Stars. Baron, Jack, and Monta stamped their mark on the game early with intense drives, dead-eye shooting and pretty assists. Jackson in particular played the part of the distributor, finding Andris multiple times after driving and drawing defenders.

Jack continued to look for teammates in the third quarter with a substantial lead, demonstrating a previously absent attention to aggression. Rather than start heaving lazy jumpers, Jack kept up the play that got them their lead in the first place, helping earn himself and the rest of the starters an unheard of rest for the entire fourth quarter. The aggression wasn’t limited to offense. The steals and deflections that are key to the Warriors’ game were numerous. Baron played JRich close and strong, Andris defended the rim and the Dubs quickly set up camp in the Cats’ heads. It was a wonderful team effort, highlighted by individual execution. It was a joy to watch.

In a brief attempt to remove my rose-colored glasses, I’ll mention that Al was destroyed by Okafor in the first quarter. His attempts to front Emeka down low were met with endless lob passes followed by emphatic dunks. The defense in the low block was improved vastly by Andris. The only other gripe I can force myself to utter is that the free throw shooting is still spotty. It seems that the norm is to split the gimmes.

End of the game notes: Welcome to the Puppy Bowl.

Getting to watch Brandan Wright, Marco Belinelli and the rest of the second stringers run the show for an entire quarter was a gift. The crowd was fired up to see the rookies. The Oracle urged the Italian sharpshooter to let it fly as soon as he touched the ball. BWright threw down a massive left-handed jam that brought everyone to their feet and caused Baron to attempt to cool him off via towel waving from the other end of the court. These guys might be pretty good. Brandan’s play was pure hustle, ears, elbows, hands - that highlight dunk gave me chills. Marco nailed a three, converted a nice drive and racked up couple of assists. He looked fairly relaxed on offense, but perhaps a tad slow for the scrambling Warriors defense.

The JRich show was conspicuously absent. Baron played him tight and he hit the bench for good late in the third quarter. I have to admit that it made me rather sad to see him playing against the Dubs at home and for his new team to be embarrassed. For those of you wishing to wallow in sentimentality, watch this epic video of the glorious BoomRich Backcourt from back in the day.

The Backcourt: YouTube mix by 510 entertainment.

It’s a long break for the Dubs followed by three winnable games at in home in the form of Chicago, Sacto, and Washington. Some old dude you may have heard of is expected to make his return against the Bulls on Thursday.

Boom Dizzle has once again been passed up as an All-Star, but Ann Killion of the Mercury News has him starting on her All-Snub team.

Last bit of news: The West just got a whole lot tougher (and quite a bit uglier). The Lakers shipped out big disappointment Kwame Brown for the big Spaniard, Pau Gasol. This is kind of a big deal.