Posts tagged ‘matt barnes’

Burnt out and broken down.

Box Score

In what was most likely the last relevent roller coaster ride of the season our Dubs got us high, low, and everywhere in between.

I’m not going to kick the corpse too much. The keys to defeat were glaringly obvious if you watched the game. Missed threes, missed free-throws, missed lay-ups, JR Smith, Allen Iverson, and most importantly, a dead in the water captain trio of Boom, Jack, and Barnes.

I know it’s a stretch to call a BD dead in the water when he put up a triple double, but he failed to rescue his squad with multiple chances at the end of the game.

Jack had the same type of night we’ve seen from him too often these last few weeks. He couldn’t get into the flow of the game and couldn’t hit any big threes.

Barnes again failed to get out of whatever personal pit he’s stuck in and was more of a sad memory than a contributor.

The Nuggets won this game with smart coaching, deadly shooting from their superstars and a vicious three point shooting bench squad. After watching his team get completely run to the tune of 37 points in the first quarter, George Karl moved into a zone defense and watched the Warriors shoot themselves in the foot with missed jump shots and lack of problem solving skills. Carmelo Anthony got unconscious, Allen Iverson made all the big shots, and JR Smith mercilessly pounded the Dubs with threes and dunks.

Monta and Andris were the bright spots in this thing. They are two pieces that are getting better by the game and the front office needs to figure out how to lock them up for the future.

That’s probably the end of the season for the Warriors. I don’t think it’s a cop out at all to call it a great one. The record will speak for itself, and watching Monta take his rightful place center stage was glorious. Don’t hang your head too much Dubs fans.

Right now I’m going to enjoy a sunny Friday off of work and start dreaming about next year.

exclusive postgame audio

Don Nelson

Baron Davis

Stephen Jackson

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.

Your Warriors took care of the baby Blazers.

Box Score

You know you’re a Warriors fan when you get nervous if a fourth quarter lead dips below twenty points.

Baron looked like he was ready to hurl from the flu, but Nellie still put him in for 27 minutes. Boom and the team had a horrendous 22 point first quarter. They got down by as much as 14 and were dominated by Portland’s active young big man LaMarcus Aldridge. The Dubs woke up in the second with Al hitting his threes, Monta and Kaz scoring inside, and Jack running the show. Warriors down by 1 at the half.

The warm Warriors fuzzies started kicking in in the third quarter. The defensive intensity picked up, Monta, Baron, and Jack started getting hot, and our old friend Matt Barnes finally came home to the fans that love him.

I was at the horrible loss against the Hawks in February and something stuck in my mind from that game. Matt Barnes had a miserable outing, one of many from this season. The guys sitting behind me were moaning about him the entire game, busting out “brain-dead Barnes”, and just plain hating. I’m not adverse to calling out struggling players (ahem…pre-trade deadline Peety), but to submarine Matt after his from out of nowhere contribution last year, and his devastating personal loss this year was low. Matt Barnes pulled himself up from NBA obscurity last season and has come to really embody the general Warriors identity. He’s grimy, not a little bit dirty now and again, unpredictable, and straight up hungry.

Welcome back Matt.

Barnsey had what I hope was his comeback game. He put up 8 points and grabbed 8 boards to the delight of the proud Oracle crowd. It was awesome to hear the fans scream in unison for him when he hit his first three. The standing ovation he got as he went to the bench more than made up for the hateration I suffered through at that Hawks game.

The steamroller was gassed up and ready to roll for the fourth. The Warriors were up 19 and Nellie felt confident enough to completely empty the bench. Barnes led CJ, Kaz, Brandan, Uncle Austin, Marco, and Kosta to the easy win.

Denver came back to beat Dallas earlier, cutting our cushion to a 1/2 game ahead of them. The back to back against both of them on Saturday and Sunday is going to be massive. Go Warriors!

PS: Fascinating, fairly cathartic insight on the Delaney call from Monday’s Laker game from Marcus Thompson’s blog. Not that we’re bitter or anything:

The league does, however, share its findings on controversial calls when a member of the media asks. So I asked. And Stu Jackson answered.
“We did review,” he said Tuesday. “The call was incorrect.”

exclusive postgame audio

Baron Davis

Stephen Jackson

Nate McMillan

LaMarcus Aldridge

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.

In case you didn’t watch the Dubs win over the lowly Bucks, the most
experienced guy available on the bench for that game was our homeboy
Kelenna Azubuike. Matt Barnes was inadvertently left off the active
roster, Mickael Pietrus was listed as active & inactive, even though
he was sick and Austin Croshere was unavailable.

Because of the mistake and the Warriors injury/sickness plagued road
trip, the bench consisted of Patrick O’Bryant, Buike, Kosta Perovic,
Brandan Wright, and the Italian Stallion, Marco Belinelli.

POB saw action halfway through the 1st quarter and picked up three
fouls in four minutes, Kosta Perovic made his NBA debut (and played
well), and C.J. Watson played a career-high 30 minutes, pouring in a
career-high 13 points.

The roster oversight is attributed to Keith Smart, Nellie’s left-hand
man (Larry Riley being his right) and all-around great guy (except
that time he hit a jumper to beat Syracuse in 1987 NCAA Title Game).

Anyhow, Nellie was very forgiving, but he did let us all in on how
‘Smart’ could make such an error.

“Actually, Keith Smart left him off because he was watching the adult
movie channel when he should have been concentrating on drawing up the
roster. So we’re going to take that privilege away from him for the
rest of the year — no more adult movies for Keith Smart,” said the
Don.

I’m glad Nellie told us about Keith’s addiction. It’s a problem and I
think all of us need to console Mr. Smart when we see him next at the
Oracle. We’re here for you, Keith.