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    Thoughts on Exhibition Game No. 6: Warriors 126, Lietuvos Rytas 106

    Warriors captain Stephen Jackson has already taken over Baron Davis’ old locker in the prime corner spot.

    Could he really take over Davis’ old position on the court as well?

    Jackson finally appeared as an honest-to-God true point guard Tuesday night, something coach Don Nelson had been wanting to see for much of the exhibition season. And in a fairly routine 126-106 drubbing of an overmatched Lietuvos Rytas squad from Lithuania, Jackson’s debut was the high point: 28 points, three assists, three steals and just two turnovers in 33 minutes.

    “I enjoyed it, but it’s not what I think, it’s what coach thinks,” Jackson said. “I think I did pretty decent for my first time.”

    Nelson enjoyed it as well, especially since moving Jackson to the 1 meant he could get Kelenna Azubuike on the floor without having to yank either Jackson or Corey Maggette. It also meant the Warriors could switch defensive assignments with impunity, making them that much stronger.

    “I liked (Jackson) at point, actually,” Nelson said. “I thought when he tried to do too much, he got himself into a little trouble, but when he moved the ball, the team did well and were able to pick it up defensively, able to switch the screen-and-rolls more easily.”

    In half-court sets, there did not appear to be a huge difference between Jackson as point guard versus the Jackson who initiated the offense from the 2 and 3 spots last season. But Jackson was much more cautious in bringing the ball up than when he was at the 2 or 3.

    “I wasn’t focused on beating my man,” Jackson said. “I was just focused on being solid, getting the ball up the court, getting into the offense, and once the ball comes back to me, then it’s time to be aggressive.”

    In that vein, Jackson took up Davis’ tradition of shooting 3-pointers in a flurry, hoisting five in the third quarter and making four en route to 16 points in the third period alone.

    Here are some other items to ruminate on from Oracle Arena:

    ** First off, it must be said: Those were some ugly uniforms the visitors were rocking. That’s a whole lot of red and black, right there.

    ** The Warriors also tried a fair amount of Maggette at power forward, with pretty average results. It was a strange night for Maggette, who didn’t look nearly as good on the court as he did on the stat sheet, where he totaled 17 points and five rebounds in 26 minutes. He seemed oddly disconnected from the rest of the team, as if playing his own game, and wound up with five turnovers and a defensive effort that was something less than top-notch.

    “The concentration was not as good on the defensive end as I would have liked it,” Nelson said.

    ** Andris Biedrins looked rock-solid in his 23 minutes: 4-for-4 shooting and nine points, five assists, and three rebounds. If the team can get that level of production for 36 minutes a game, night in and night out, that would be huge.

    ** Brandan Wright had a couple of nice drives from the perimeter and even showed a crossover leading to a 12-foot pullup jumper. Obviously, defending a player such as New Orleans All-Star David West is vastly different from stopping Milko Bjelica, but it marked another step forward for a former rookie who could get next to no run last season.

    ** Newly minted starting point guard DeMarcus Nelson picked up three fouls in the opening 3:31. There’s being aggressive, and then there’s being over amped.

    ** Marco Belinelli stepped into a pair of wide-open shots and missed each. But he drilled a 17-footer with the familiar leg kick. Who needs balance?

    ** Outside of Jackson’s 5-for-8 on 3-pointers, the Warriors went 0-for-7 on treys. They also finished up with only 21 assists on 45 buckets, and while some of that can be attributed to getting 36 points off turnovers (often on breakaway buckets where there is no assist), it’s also indicative of too much ball stagnation.

    ** There are going to be some bruised bodies at practice Wednesday: C.J. Watson went flying over the row of seats on the baseline after a first-half layup. Wright came up limping at one point in the third quarter, although he continued to play, at least briefly. And Azubuike crashed to the ground after a hard foul in the third period as well.

    ** Marcus Williams did not get off the bench, despite a single plea (6:37 a.m. EDIT: from the crowd) during a second-half lull. Nelson’s doghouse can be a pretty lonely place; hopefully Patrick O’Bryant left behind some reading material.

    – Geoff

10 Responses to “Thoughts on Exhibition Game No. 6: Warriors 126, Lietuvos Rytas 106”

  1. Scotty October 22nd, 2008 at 12:35 am

    I’m stoked you started this blog Geoff. I like it a lot. Is there anything to report on Monta? Was he at the game? Has he been rehabbing at the Warrior’s facility?

  2. Dig October 22nd, 2008 at 1:06 am

    I’m guessing we see SJax sliding over to PG a lot this year? Ugh this is going to be a long year.

  3. ballerbaggins October 22nd, 2008 at 1:35 am

    Everything I’ve seen/heard about Jax playing the 1 has been really positive. Think that’ll become a routine thing? I love mini-nellie (demarcus) and all, but a rook’s a rook and stackjack can handle the ball and defend better than/as good as any of the pg’s. besides the starting lineup with stack at point is rather kickass:

    1 - sjax
    2 - buike (eventually monta)
    3 - maggette
    4 - big al
    5 - goose

    plus kelenna would make a great 6th man for that lineup.

  4. Jon October 22nd, 2008 at 2:36 am

    I worry that Jack chasing a significantly smaller man, combined with the added pressure of bringing the ball up and initiating the offense will wear him out even faster.

    His ballhandling against pressure was suspect, and his dribble drives were often careless. He would be guarded by a smaller man as well, which would make it even harder for him to get penetration.

    While there are positives (switching ability on defense is highly underrated but actually important; posting up his smaller defender)…I am not sure they will prove worth it.

    Demarcus, Azubuike, and Jackson is the best perimeter trio we can put out there; with Wright and Biedrins in the front court I believe that’s our best defensive unit.

  5. son of ahmed October 22nd, 2008 at 8:01 am

    Jon,
    You make some good points, but I don’t think that Nelson will make Jackson pg over long stretches. I think he’ll have him bring up the ball here and the there the way P. Jackson had Pippen bring it up. My guess is he will have Kellena help when there’s pressure and he’ll have Andris at the half court line to help retrieve passes when Jax is being pressed.
    I think its a nice option because it gives Azubuike more pt and it puts your best 5 on the floor. I would prefer Wright or Randalph (as raw as he is) over Al. Al should back up Maggette.

  6. Full Nelson October 22nd, 2008 at 9:14 am

    Any idea what’s going on with Maggette? Why the sudden disconnect? Perhaps being the third highest player, without the title of Captain hurt his ego? I’m really hoping this isn’t a glimpse of a larger character flaw that we have to watch for the next 5 years.

  7. wordbfree October 22nd, 2008 at 12:37 pm

    A new nickname for MWill: Toast.

    The front office is showing signs of a power struggle. We stillhave no point guard or power froward. Our main, off-season acquisition (Mags) and our team leader (Jack) are being played out of position (as usual). One of the cornerstones of our organizations (Monta) is on ice. It’s gonna be a long, frustrating season.

    Go dubs!

  8. Jon October 22nd, 2008 at 1:43 pm

    DANGER! DANGER!

    Geoff, can you confirm or deny the rumored “impending extension” for Captain Jack, as mentioned in the SF Chronicle today?

    It would be a horrible decision to commit to an aging, consistently inconsistent swingman with 2 years still left on the books!

  9. Geoff Lepper October 22nd, 2008 at 7:28 pm

    BB: I think they would like to make it a regular thing, because it gets Kelenna off the bench without necessitating the removal of Jack or Maggette, thus increasing the total talent on the floor at any given moment.

    Jon: I agree with your concerns, which why I wrote about whether this team is asking too much of Jack. (A: Very likely.)

    SOA: They have “pressure releases” in place (with Andris being the main valve) if/when Jack faces full-court defense.

    Full Nelson: Maggette’s hurting. See the next post, if you haven’t already checked it out.

    Jon (part II): Look for a post later on this topic later this evening.

  10. JustPuked October 24th, 2008 at 9:21 am

    Geoff- The other pressure release they should use more often with Jax at point is Harrington. He looks very competent bringing the ball up, in fact, better than Jax. I only saw it two or three times on Tuesday night, but I’d like to see more if they’re going to run Jax at point.

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