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Nov9
Thoughts on Game No. 7: Kings 115, Warriors 98
Filed under: News; Tagged as: Andris Biedrins, Anthony Morrow, C.J. Watson, DeMarcus Nelson, Dick Bavetta, Don Nelson, Kevin Martin, Marcus Williams, Rob Kurz, Stephen JacksonBy Geoff Lepper
48minutes.netSACRAMENTO — Stephen Jackson realized a while ago that there’s a very basic problem at the heart of the Warriors’ struggles so far this season.
“Guys are going to have to understand that I can’t be the only guy out there making plays for other guys to get open shots,” Jackson said on Wednesday. “Everybody has to be accountable for that. And that’s what was a big part of our success last year. Baron (Davis) got guys open shots. Monta (Ellis) got guys open shots. I got guys open shots. Right now, it’s just me getting guys open shots. So until we figure out that everybody has to try to make the extra pass or worry about making a play for somebody else, then we’re going to be in the same position.”
Despite a change in location, the Warriors found themselves back in that same position Sunday. With Jackson effectively removed from the game by aggressive, early double-teaming from the Kings, Golden State’s offense once again fizzled, and Sacramento ran away with a 115-98 victory.
“We would expect that that’s going to happen,” said Warriors coach Don Nelson, who admitted that he “packed it in” after three quarters with his team trailing by 16 points. “When you’re limited as far as your star players go, that’s a pretty smart thing (for an opponent) to do, don’t you think?”
So what can you do in response?
“Then somebody else has to step up. It’s his job to make the proper pass, not try to fight it. And it’s up to the other players then to deliver.”
In that case, go ahead and rename them the Golden State Postal Service, because there were no deliveries made Sunday. C.J. Watson and DeMarcus Nelson combined for five assists and four turnovers in 51 minutes. (Marcus Williams had three assists and no TOs in 9 minutes’ worth of garbage time.)
The Warriors shot 41.1 percent, and even the shots they made had a much higher degree of difficulty than the open layups that Kings such as Kevin Martin (27 points before a third-quarter spill knocked him out for the evening.
“I think we just need to share the ball more,” said center Andris Biedrins, who had the team’s second-highest assist total with four. “We always just do one pass and shoot. You don’t really need to be a playmaker to get somebody open. Just drive, pass it out, next pass and the next pass.”
** Jackson said he’s working hard to maintain his poise despite a 2-5 record because the Warriors “have got a lot of young guys playing right now, and it’s frustrating to them. But I can’t be frustrated because it turns into a domino effect and they all get frustrated.”
It looked like Jackson was venting some frustration on referee Dick Bavetta when he picked up a technical foul in the second quarter, but he denied that was the case.
“I was trying to talk to him, he had attitude and one thing led to another,” Jackson said. “I got a million techs in my career. That’s nothing. I’m fighting for my young guys when I’m out there. I’m going to support them. If I feel like they got fouled or I got a bad call, I’m going to talk about it, because I’m the captain, and before the game, referees tell you you’re allowed to talk to them, being a captain. So that’s what I did.”
** The offense wasn’t spectacular, but Don Nelson was even more disappointed with the defensive work his younger players displayed.
“I didn’t think they followed the game plan, they lost their concentration, and (did) a lot of things that young players are going to do,” Nelson said. “I think they listen. Somewhere in between going to the scorer’s table and getting on the floor, they forget. And some of these game plans are fairly complicated. Maybe a little different than we’ve been training them.”
My semi-educated guess: After drilling people for so long on switching as often as possible (usually anything between the 1 through 4 positions on the floor), it was difficult for the youngsters to adjust to a game plan in which the point guard was tasked with doing nothing defensively except chasing Kevin Martin through a thicket of screens.
** Insta-prediction: Warriors diehards will want to see more Anthony Morrow after the rookie guard’s 3-for-5 shooting performance during the fourth quarter.
“I liked Morrow when he came in the game,” Nelson said. “He’s been playing extremely well in practice, and it was the first opportunity he had and I liked him in the game.”
** Of course, the coach also lauded the play of rookie forward Rob Kurz, which seemed to fly in the face of all available evidence. He went 1-for-6 with a turnover and three fouls in 23 minutes.
“I liked Rob on the floor a lot,” Nelson said. “I know his numbers weren’t real good, (but) there’s a guy who doesn’t make a lot of mistakes and moves it. This was his first game. He probably was a little tight on a couple of his shots, but we know he can make that shot. I felt real good about his performance and his presence on the floor.”
Contact: geofflepper@48minutes.net
21 Responses to “Thoughts on Game No. 7: Kings 115, Warriors 98”
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Son of Ahmed November 9th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
Jackson’s comments about finding open players is an open invitation for Williams. The need his playmaking.
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Not even 10 games into the season and the Warriors are tanking already. Good thing Nelson got his extension first. Still wouldn’t put it past Cohan to sue Nellie over the contract (again).
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BW is a bust. Book it !
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the only thing i’m excited for in the coming weeks is getting AL outta here…i heard a rumor about a certian gerald wallace trade….you guys hear anything bout that?
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I don’t mind tanking it it means Randolph, BWright, Beli, and MWill get major burn. But screw this tanking stuff if it means Kurz, CJ, and Nelson get 20+ mins while Randolph, Beli, Morrow, and MWill each get 13 mins or less. That was an awful game to watch. Ticket sales are gonna plummit, nobody is gonna look forward to watching Kurz and the D-league scrubs get blown out every night.
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Man, what happend to our team?
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norm:
what happened? they drafted many so so prospects, none is a sure thing or none will become a star. Thats how your franchise goes down the tube real fast. Except for AR, I don’t see real NBA players on this roster. MarcusW, Nelson and the rest are bench warmers. Up front, you have AB. Jax is being asked to do too much and probably is not able to carry it out.
BWright is a marketing hype and guarantee to be a bust. You know what BW reminds me of ? Joe Smith except that Joe could hit a mid range jumper and rebounded better. If people want to hope that someday BW will become a PF in the NBA, keep dreaming on. I have seen enough.
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Jack is doing yeoman’s work. Pay him phat.
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commish November 10th, 2008 at 7:53 am
I don’t get all the hating this early. We are getting what we wanted from Nellie, more or less. He is playing the rookies and rest of the bench. We all knew this would be a down year, especially when Moped went down for the first three months (we hope). And Maggette out for a few games and then Al and Nellie blowing up with one another.
Wright looked real good in earlier games and also looked not so good. What do we expect this early in his career. I mean I hate losing to Sacto as much as anyone, but right now they have the better team, especially with all that has gone on in the last couple weeks.
Now, if we lose Tuesday at home to the Wofves at home, then I’ll start worrying. Until then I’m still hopeful we can compete with most teams even if we don’t win many games. Basically I’m expecting this to be a down year in terms of wins but an up year in terms of our young team (officially youngest in the NBA with only one player over 25) learning how to compete in the NBA.
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GS Worrier November 10th, 2008 at 8:50 am
CJ sucks major ass. Williams needs to start.
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good post commish….all the bitching that went on around the Bay Area last year for young guys to play, well this is what you’ve got. Personally, I think Randloph, AB, Monta,(if healthy),Buike and maybe BW will be or are(ME, AB) very good to outstanding NBA players. What did people think we were going to make playoffs playing a squad full of first and second year players without even a legit PG?
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Btw, Nellie has been proven right twice now with Diogu and POB. Reporters and fans were blasting Nellie for not playing Ike and POB. Everyone were sure if those two could get away from Nellie, they would become real NBA players. NOT. POB was inactive 2 consecutive games now and you want to bet that the Celtics will send him to D-league soon.
The W’s do not have good prospects and that is the scary part. The future does not look good….
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petaluman November 10th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Last time I checked, we were down 3 starters, including our PG, 2 top scorers, and 2 best % 3 shooters. Ask the Spurs if it is easy to win with multiple key players out. It’s development time by necessity. As pointed out in the OP, some of these guys are still learning what they’re supposed to do on the court.
Enjoy the games! Learn to laugh at mistakes (Randolph trying to go Globetrotter and getting picked)! We’re all trying to figure out who can give us what. Kurz played a lot yesterday because he did the best job on Miller. He was a DNC the game before.
GL pointed out the 2 biggest issues I saw yesterday - defensive breakdowns, and ball movement. It’s not just 1 pass and shoot, though. What I noticed is most of the guys are trying to create shots when they get the ball, even if they do eventually pass it on. They need to learn to move it quicker. If you’re not open when you get the ball, make the pass.
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commish November 10th, 2008 at 10:22 am
One thing I didn’t understand from last night was why only four minutes for Ronny. I sure hope he isn’t in Nellie’s doghouse; that would suck. Speaking of which, why not bring Hendrix back from the D League because that is what this year’s squad basically will be–a learning curve for our very young team. Might as well learn on the job.
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M.Squared November 10th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Brandon Wright is developing fine. He can’t get 18 and 13 every night right now. He is still learning and is on pace with other guys drafted right around him (who got more PT last year). A good example of this is Al Thorton and Al Horford. Both have some outstanding games but then have some mediocre ones as well. Keep in mind too that most PF’s don’t do real well without a point guard that can get them the ball in desirable positions. Wright is getting a lot of his points off of hustle, rebounds and putbacks. He will get more consistent and already has shown the ability to get a legit 2-3 blocks per game.
Nellie’s bench game last night was a bit flawed. That was a chance to run his developing players ( Wright, Bellinelli, Randolph) with a guy like Williams and either AB or Turiaf in the middle. Thsi would have allowed time to evaluate Williams in a “game situation” for extended minutes and it would have gotten the 3 youngsters out there with a distributor so they werent settling on jumpers or trying to creat their own offense. Those 4 should have gotten the majority of the minutes while letting Morrow and Kurz pickup 5 or so min to get their sea legs under them.
RE: passing. The Ws do need to emphasize more ball movement all over. The past 2 years you had a core of guys who liked to jack up 3’s but also knew how to move the ball- Davis, Barnes, Jax and Ellis all had a knack for making nice passes. Hopefully when the younger guys get on the court with Ellis and Jackson- this same type of game will evolve once again. -
I think AB and Woo were trying to tell Kaz w/out naming names that he needs to pass more…I think he has a good chance to be a 6th man of the year, but he chucks like no other….i know they dont have him in the game to pass, but he dribbles around way too much…
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The wrong young players are getting the most mins. Whats Nellie’s love affair with Rob Kurz? 1 for 6, 2 rebs and a bunch of dumb fouls yet he loves his performance? MWill has 7 assists in 17 minutes played, total. DeMarcus Nelson has 10 assists, the entire year. Belinelli should be getting all those mins at SG that DeMarcus is eating up. Playing CJ/DeMarcus together is a disaster.
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M.Squared November 10th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
BOB:
yeah- not sure what his deal is with Kurz. He may be a fine player to have around but unless he has “Azibuike” game-I don’t see why he played so many minutes. I honestly think that Nellie might be using guys like Kurz and Nelson to get other guys like Bellinelli and Williams to step up or practice harder. This may be his way of stimulating competition. Either way- it doesnt appear to be doing anything but taking away from the development of those guys. Your other points are solid too. -
I like the idea that Nellie’s is using Kurz to send a message to the players.
AFAIK Rob Kurz does what he’s told to do and picks it up the first time he’s told.
What coach wouldn’t reward that kind of behavior?
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I’m impressed, I must say. Rarely do I encounter a blog that’s both educative and entertaining. Your idea is outstanding - this subject is something that needs more attention.
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All that matters is that Gears of war three begins in a week
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