Posts tagged ‘al harrington’

Your Warriors still got game.

Box Score

Highest scoring game of the season, nice.

The Warriors took a 6-0 lead early, and never got behind for the rest of the game. The Kings stuck within striking distance behind inspired offensive efforts by John Salmons (22 points, 6 rebounds), Francisco Garcia (31 points), and the ruthlessly efficient Kevin Martin (29 points, 7 rebounds). Ron Artest was in a suit, providing nothing but uncomfortable gesticulations from the bench.

Monta, Baron, and Beans led the Dubs in this fast paced win.

Boom had his best night in months, putting up 33 points and dishing 9 dimes. He played a team high 42 minutes and was focused on the win.

Monta played a brilliant 34 minutes, putting up 16 points and dishing 7 assists.

Andris was incredibly active, picking up a game high 17 rebounds and converting quick thinking plays down low.

Al continued to look strong, focusing on power plays in the paint and putting in good work on the boards.

Watching the development of Kevin Martin and Monta Ellis is a gift from the NBA gods. Martin is more refined, and is already a team leader, but Monta’s explosiveness and creativity is unparalleled.

The obvious down side of the game for the Warriors was the lack of defensive focus. With the exception of the first minute-and-a-half of the game, during which Al and Baron stole the ball 4 times, the Kings’ main challenge was deciding whether to drive, or shoot the jumper. Mikki Moore (who dropped 19 and 10 on us in March) was mercifully silenced early on, picking up quick fouls and a tech in the first. I think we’re all better off seeing less of those ridiculous predator dreads on the court.

CJ Watson got a good run in the second half when Nellie sat Monta. Watson wasn’t nearly as explosive as All Day, but he fought hard for a couple of offensive rebounds and was the only Dub able to slow Kevin Martin down all night.

Pietrus returned to the squad in a fairly triumphant fashion. He brought a much needed spark to the building during a second half lull with two emphatic blocks and a gorgeous put back slam. He also reminded us that he’s still the same Peety with one of his patented traveling calls from the corner.

The stage is set for the 8th seed showdown against the Nuggets on Thursday. I’m too nervous and scattered to make any predictions beyond some random Barkley hateration. Make sure to set your DVRs/TIVOs/Alarm Clocks up ahead of time because tip-off is at 5:00 on TNT.

GO WARRIORS!

exclusive postgame audio

Baron Davis

Stephen Jackson

Al Harrington

Your Warriors ain’t dead yet.

Box Score

With some smart early play by Jack and Baron, and not a little bit of help from a dismal looking Griz squad, the Dubs’ youth movement got its most extended run of the season.

It’s all about perspective. If you were as down as I was on the team after the turrable Texas trouncings, this game should help. If we end up just outside of the playoffs this season at least we’ll have Monta, Brandan, Andris, and some combination of Marco, CJ, and Kaz to look forward to in the future. Grizzlies fans will have Rudy Gay, Mike Miller, draft picks and…..fantasizing about getting Darko off of their team. Pecking order you see, it’s all about finding someone worse off than you and making yourself feel better about your lot at their expense.

All Warriors all game.

Andris had 14 points and 12 rebounds by the end of the second quarter and BoomJack had already combined for 11 assists. The greybeards were obviously focused on moving the ball and Beans was the focal point on offense early on, running tight pick-and-rolls and boarding like mad. Andris finished the game with 21 points & 17 rebounds.

Kaz got another start, and his 40 minutes was the longest stretch on the team. He quietly went about his business, grabbing 10 boards and draining 3-5 threes. With Matt Barnes’ game on life support, Kelenna has really done well to fill the dirty work gap.

Marco Belinelli unexpectedly entered the game for Monta with a minute and a half left in the first, and stayed in for another 21 exciting minutes. In his post game interview he mentioned that Nellie told him to be ready to guard Juan Carlos Navarro, meaning that coach planned this whole circus out. It’s a bit frustrating to see Nelson start gambling with young player development this late in the season, but the results were hard to second guess. After floundering into two turnovers on his first two possessions, Marco shook off the jitters and got his summer league on. He was darting to open spots on the floor off of screens and blasting away with off balance jumpers from all over the court. 13 points on 6-11 shooting with 1 three.

CJ Watson also got a chance to get some licks in, running the point for the last six and a half minutes of the game. He racked up his 9 points in four minutes, going 4-4 with one three.

Brandan Wright’s go-go-gadget arms got 20 minutes of action and excelled against the unmotivated, soft Grizzlies front court. He looked smooth and silly skinny, getting two blocks.

Al looked like junk. He repeatedly tried to force his own shot in the paint, only to get rejected or brick it off the front of the rim. His thumb is wrapped and it seems to be completely throwing him off of his game.

Barnes once again made his presence felt via pain. He blatently shoved Kyle Lowry off of him during an out-of-bounds play in the fourth, earning yet another flagrant - and a suspension for the NO game on Sunday due to cumulative flagrant foul points. Frustration and pain are ruining Matt’s game, it’s a really sad turn of events for a player most of us want to see stick around and do well with the Warriors.

Oh yeah, Monta. The kid cruised through the game, looking like he was playing in high school again. He was a bit sloppy with the ball, picking up 4 turnovers, but was also opportunistic against the sloppy Grizzlies, picking up 4 steals. Mellow 19 points for All Day.

Conventional wisdom tells us that the extended rest for Baron and Jack is a positive sign for the Dubs’ chances against the Hornets on Sunday. The problem is that the Warriors repeatedly tell conventional wisdom to shove it. It’s an early one, 10 am local time on ABC so turn on, tune in and hold on.

PS: Dallas lost to the Lakers…damn I hate being happy about a Lakers’ win.

It appears that Al Harrington, a NJ native and a big NY Giants fan, had to give up his prime Super Bowl tickets due to Webber’s last minute mini-camp. He may be giving up some more minutes to the new old kid as well.

From the Chronicle article by Janny Hu:

Again, it’s Harrington who figures to make the biggest adjustment - not the least of which was selling his 50-yard-line tickets to Sunday’s Super Bowl when Nelson re-instated practice after Webber’s arrival.

In a recent KNBR interview, Brandan Wright claims Al never brought up missing the big game in practice, but that had to have hurt a bit. I can’t imagine that Al’s too nonplussed about the hypothetical minute reduction as it seems only Baron, Stephen and Monta are consistent starters.

The rest of the league is buzzing about Gasol’s debut with the Lakers and collectively scratching their heads about the possible Shaq Diesel trade. Meanwhile we’re all sitting on our hands waiting for Nellie’s grand experiment to be unveiled tomorrow night against the Bulls.

The second Webber era is almost upon us.

The Warriors faced another limping squad on a losing streak and kept it way too close for comfort.

Box Score

Postgame Audio Clips:

Baron Davis

Monta Ellis

Al Harrington

Don Nelson

I’m going to need a big ol’ bottle of Valium if the Dubs are going to keep this tightrope act up.

Monta Ellis scored a career-high 39 points, Baron Davis got a big triple-double and Al Harrington went crazy stupid dumb hot in the fourth quarter. But the Warriors are lucky they won this game. They played no inside defense, gave up 23 offensive rebounds and completely phoned in the third quarter.

Only the steady hand of Monta Ellis and some absolutely horseshoe-up-the-rear-end good shooting by Al kept the Warriors from serving up their second steaming pile of last minute defeat in a row.
Highlights: Baron dancing on Kidd with a behind-the-back fake to a between-the-legs dribble into a step-back jumper. Monta Ellis getting compared to Dwyane Wade on TNT. Al Harrington hitting 4 threes and the Warriors reeling off 22 unanswered points to start the fourth quarter.

Lowlights: Listening to Reggie Miller drain all the joy and mojo from Marvelous Marv Albert’s announcing. Nets players waltzing to the rim on almost every offensive position. The unveiling of the ridiculous Hack-A-Boone strategy. The Hack-A-Boone strategy failing miserably. Squandering a 13 point lead and massive momentum in the fourth quarter to eek out a win at home against a struggling team.
The Nets ran a lay-up line through the Warriors’ fluffy bunny defense all game long. Only their own inability to consistently finish at the rim or shoot the ball kept them from winning this thing.
Jason Kidd had an off night and he and Al Jefferson missed wide open fourth quarter threes that would have put them up late. Vince Carter (understandably) dismantled Baron for most of the game and Josh Boone of the unfortunate braids and facial hair dropped 21 points and seventeen rebounds on the Dubs.
Monta Ellis ruled the school in the first and fourth quarters. He scored 12 of the Warriors’ 33 points in the first and allowed them to hold on to the win with his perfect free-throw shooting in the fourth. Not only has Monta become the most consistent player on offense for this team, he was all the offense for portions of this game.

Such is the curse of expectations. Rather than be happy that our Dubs pulled out an exciting win on national television, I’m ranting and raving about how they almost lost.

Thank you Monta, thank you Al, thank you Baron and most importantly thank you Nets for being slightly worse than the Warriors tonight.

A couple of days rest and then the Knicks come a knockin’ on Sunday.