Posts tagged ‘c.j. watson’

Some news of note before opening night vs. Hornets…

* Al Harrington wants out. According to a report by Tim Kawakami, Al doesn’t feel he’s being used properly by Nellie and is seeking a trade. In fact, he’s wanted out since the end of last year. It’s a shame because Al is one of the real good guys in the locker room.

But will the Warriors bite?

Well, if there’s a way to fill a need by trading Al, I’m certain Mullie would do it. But Kirk Henrich of the Bulls (whose name has been associated w/ Al during the summer) probably isn’t the answer. My guess is Nellie and Al will work things out and Harrington will be a key 6th man once Monta is back.

* Nellie will be back — and for a few more years! I make no bones about being a Nellie supporter. He’s the best thing that’s happened to this franchise, and that spans two decades.

The two year extension he signed today is worth about $12 million, with some of that money deferred.

Nelson has the second most coaching wins in NBA history and will now be assured to break Lenny Wilkens record sometime over the next two years — barring anything unforeseen.

We all want to see what Nellie himself wants - “an ass-kicking veteran team that would have a chance to win a title.” And we now may get to see that during the course of this contract.

* Who said Nellie hates rookies? DeMarcus Nelson will get the opening-night start at point guard. That’s big news since the Duke rookie was a undrafted free agent, who was not even likely to make the squad. But C.J. Watson’s injury opened the door and little Nelson walked right through it. It’s his time to shine before Mr. Ellis comes back.

* Speaking of C.J. Watson, he is on the opening night roster, in spite of having a torn elbow ligament. He received permission from the NBA to wear a brace and is available for action. Unfortunately, I have a distinct feeling he’ll be a shell of the scorer he is until the ligament fully heals. It’s a shame because he’s a real success story. Here’s hoping C.J. gets healthy in a real hurry.

* Last but not least, Monta filed a grievance with the league with regard to his contract status — and for good reason. The W’s suspended Ellis for 30 games, which will cost the young guard roughly $3 million in salary, but they also want to reserve the right to terminate his contract should Monta not fully recover.

That’s double jeopardy by most measures. Hopefully, a NBA arbitrator can solve this mess before we have another Chris Webber mess on our hands. Warriors President Robert Rowell seems to be the point man on this decision. And if there’s not more than meets the eye, he certainly deserves the flack he’s been receiving. Terminate him or suspend him, but there’s no need to do both.

Here’s a statement from Monta, via his agent:

“To My Community, Friends and Fans:

I want to thank you very much for your continued support and encouragement. While management and I do not agree on their actions, I want to be clear that my injury is based on my mistake in judgment. And I always accept responsibility for my actions.

The Bay area has become home to me and I love everything about this community. I see the kids wearing Number 8 in the arena and around the Bay area and it always brings a big smile to my face and a sense of pride and responsibility. I accept that role because there were people in my life that made a difference during my childhood and into my adult life.

It means a lot to me to be an NBA player, and something that I have worked hard my entire to life to achieve. I also take seriously the impact that some of my actions have on others, and particularly our youth. I am working very hard to get back on the court and help my teammates and coaches win many games and recreate the playoff atmosphere of 2007. We were as excited on the court as the fans in the stands, and I will continue to work hard to make you proud of the Warriors.

Thank you for becoming such a special part of my life.

Warmly, Monta”

Will the Dubs get off to a fast start this season? You tell us…

And look for our season-opening podcast with Adam to come this weekend!

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.

The giant Jazz monkey is still firmly attached to your Warriors.

Box Score

This Jazz team is a cold, calculated killing machine, and they’re also built like hockey players - that moonlight as underground bare-knuckle fighters.

The game was competitive for the first quarter with both teams pouring in 36 points. As the game wore on it became apparent that, at least on this night, the Warriors defensive liabilities far outweighed their offensive assets, and they were down by double digits going into the half. If it wasn’t Kirilenko lighting the Dubs up from outside, it was Boozer or Okur ripping them up on the inside, or Harpring pounding them midrange. Williams ran his defenders ragged, bouncing them off of endless screens and breaking them down with ease. By the end of the third, he was already at 24 points and 10 assists. The Warriors were incredibly overmatched on the glass and the huge Jazz players ran an offensive clinic. When they weren’t scoring inside, they were driving and dishing to a wide open Kirilenko or Korver.

Nellie pulled both Baron and Jack near the end of the third and both headed to the locker room for treatment. Something was up with Baron’s knee and Jack’s toe was bothering him.

The fourth quarter was pure garbage time. BWright, C.J. Watson and Azubuike got an extended run to end the game. C.J. was aggressive on offense and his shot was falling, but he got his lunch money swiped by Williams.

Kaz struggled for most of the quarter, missing layups and turning the ball over. He woke up and poured in a few points in the last three minutes, but generally had a poor outing.

Brandan was on the court for nine straight minutes, but didn’t impact the game much. He did make a few nice passes, which you can put on the giant ’hope we can see more of that’ list.

Baron, Monta and Al all looked like they were going to go for big offensive games, but nobody could save the Warriors from their own anemic defense.

The only silver lining I can come up with is that the Webber experiment finally got interesting. C-Webb was actually a positive contributor on offense. His much tauted passing prowess was on display in the first quarter and he hit Baron on a gorgeous back door cut early on. He hit several jumpers, and even completed a drive with a pretty reverse lay-up. Can’t write the big man off yet. Final line for Webber: 9 points, 3 assists, 1 steal and a block in 16 minutes.

The key to the Warriors’ D is intensity. They are successful when they can get their hands on the ball and shake up their opponents. Forcing the disciplined Jazz into 19 turnovers is no small accomplishment, but the bullies from Utah don’t rattle. That’s the last time we’ll face them in the regular season. A meeting in the playoffs would be a serious buzz kill.

Another tough game with Boston tonight.

It was a MLK day matinee at the Oracle and the Warriors decided to teach all the young ones in attendance about life’s little disappointments.

Box Score

There were some great parts of this game and at times it was a fun one. What’s not fun is losing to the team with the worst record in the league at home while most of your competition (Houston, NO and Utah) for limited playoff spots notch wins.

It’s completely obvious at this point that the Warriors’ Achilles heel is an active big man, and that happens to be one of the only things the Wolves have going for them. Gomes and Jefferson combined for 56 points and 23 rebounds for Minnesota and both looked automatic as soon as they got the ball. Andris came up with 12 rebounds, but he and Al were thoroughly out-muscled and out-maneuvered in the paint all game.

The one true positive to come out of this Monday matinee debacle was the play of Matt Barnes. I forgot about the surge of energy Matt can bring to the team when he plays at a high level. He’s been struggling with well documented personal grief all season and it’s carried over to his play on the floor. On MLK Day, Matt was the Barnes we saw during the 2007 playoffs. He was a rebounding devil and got a season high 20 points. It’s wonderful to see him back in sync and playing so well.

Monta had another terrific night offensively and looked smooth as silk finishing. He fought hard for a couple of rebounds, but seemed to be a step behind Marko Jaric at times on defense, which is not good.

Baron got some good rest and was going full speed when he was in.

C.J. Watson played a solid 16.5 minutes, mostly alongside the Baron. He didn’t put up much in terms of numbers, but was quick on D and passed a big test when he nailed two clutch free throws late in the fourth to tie the game.

Jack came in off the bench during crunch time in the fourth and nailed two amazing threes in a row, but missed the killer third.

Patrick O’Bryant got a few minutes in the second quarter and hustled for some tough rebounds, got a few points and looked nice overall. No minutes for Wright for reasons we’ll never really know, but will perpetually ponder.

At times, the Dubs really got after it on defense and created turnovers, but they didn’t execute any kind of sustained pressure. The rotations were slow or missing at times and they got eaten up inside.

It was an avoidable, disappointing loss at home.

Next up, the nasty Nets on Thursday.

C.J. Watson has a blog up on Draft Express and he’s just posted an entry describing his first few days with the Warriors.

There is a lot to like in this piece. He’s not afraid to admit that this is a very happy time for him, or that Baron is making him run errands like the rest of the rookies.

The most valuable part of the post is his observation about Nellie’s carefully honed time out technique: “He just sits there and rubs his head and will occasionally draw up a play every now and then.”

The Warriors signed C.J. to his original 10 day on January 8th. Today is the 18th. I can’t imagine that they won’t at least get him down for one more 10 day contract, as he’s playing well and is hungry.