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    15

    Thoughts on Game No. 10: Warriors 121, Clippers 103

    By Geoff Lepper
    48minutes.net

    On Sunday in the cramped visitors’ locker room at Arco Arena, a reporter told Warriors guard Anthony Morrow: “You’re going to be the new flavor of the week.”

    We might have to adjust that expiration date a little bit.

    Morrow got his first NBA start Saturday in Los Angeles and put on a true show: 37 points on 15-for-20 shooting, including 4-for-5 beyond the 3-point arc. For a team that came into the game ranked 25th in team field-goal percentage (42.6), it was like finding a wheelbarrow of grout in amongst a brickyard.

    Oh, this is the way an offense is supposed to work.

    ““I’ve been in the league for 30 years and I have never seen a performance like that,” coach Don Nelson said.

    Said Morrow: “Today was just one of those things. I mean, you don’t shoot 15-for-20. Sometimes, I don’t even shoot 15-for-20 in drills, man.”

    Often times, though, he does. You can always tell when Morrow’s shooting in a practice situation; not only will he reel off a couple dozen 3-pointers in a row, but he’ll also pure probably 75 percent of those through the heart of the basket, not even thinking of brushing the iron on the way by.

    That honeyed jumper is all most folks Warriors fans be talking about today, but there were two highlights of the game for Morrow that had nothing to do with shooting.

    The first: His hard foul on center Marcus Camby with 4 minutes left in the first quarter, which sent a message to the Clippers that — undrafted rookie or no — Morrow was not going to be cowed by the situation.

    And with 2 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter. Kelenna Azubuike misfired on a long 2 from the top of the key, but Morrow — the only Warrior below the free-throw line — tipped the ball not once but twice, scoring on the second try, while four Clippers stood in an impotent semi-circle around him, just watching.

    That brings up another point that must be made: This happened against the Clippers, in an afternoon game, which in the late-night world of the NBA is the best equalizer of all.

    (Quick aside: The early start was necessitated by the fact that the Kings were playing Saturday night; I thought Baron Davis was supposed to be a big draw in L.A., no? Yet he can’t even outrank hockey in his own hometown?)

    In short, to make himself something more than the flavor of next week, Morrow needs to prove himself against stiffer competition, beginning with the Trail Blazers on Tuesday.

    ** I fear that the smoother offense was more a byproduct of the Clippers’ porous defense than Morrow opening up things for others.

    And as much as I loved Morrow flattening Camby, he did not exactly keep Cuttino Mobley in full check (19 points, 8-for-17 field).

    ** With DeMarcus Nelson in Bakersfield and Marcus Williams back on bench duty, Don Nelson seems committed to the Jackson-at-point-guard experiment. We’ll see how long it lasts.

    ** Corey Maggette with a drive-and-kick? I think half the crowd fainted dead away, right there.

    ** Brandan Wright, paging Brandan Wright. White Courtesy “Where The Hell Did You Go?” Phone, please.

    ** When Chris Kaman flung a ball off of Maggette to avoid stepping out of bounds with it and turning over possession, was it my imagination, or did he smile for half a second?

    ** Speaking of Kaman, how much of a downgrade is that for Davis from Andris Biedrins? You wonder if — while trying vainly to defend yet another Jackson-Biedrins pick-and-roll, or watching Kaman letting yet another layup opportunity slip through his hands — Davis had a pang of regret.

    ** If you had 3 minutes and 11 seconds in the “How Long Will It Take Baron To Break Off A Play And Chuck Up A 20-Seconds-On-The-Shot-Clock 3-Pointer?” Pool, congratulations. You’ve won a No. 5 Warriors jersey, size small, from Overstock.com.

    ** It must be said that C.J. Watson was much improved, but if the league ever starts keeping track of the number of times an offensive player leaps headlong into a charging call — kind of like the “blocked attempts” stat that’s showing up in nba.com boxes these days — he might lead the league on a per-minute basis.

    ** I know I’m an old guy in a league that venerates youth, but here’s my problem with the rampant culture of congratulations that’s so pervasive in the NBA these days. With just less than 11 minutes to go and trailing by seven, the Clippers finished off a solid defensive possession by forcing a contested jumper by Ronny Turiaf with 5 on the shot clock.

    Turiaf missed, and Clippers guard Ricky Davis was left all alone to clean up the rebound; not a single Warrior crashed the glass. Despite the lack of pressure, Davis promptly fumbled the uncontested rebound out of bounds.

    And then, as the rest of the players filtered back down to the Clippers’ basket, Baron Davis reached out and gave Ricky a high-five.

    What was the point? Hey, nice job screwing that up and giving them another possession at a critical juncture in a game we still can win?

    As the kids would say:

    Awful.

    Contact: geofflepper@48minutes.net

12 Responses to “Thoughts on Game No. 10: Warriors 121, Clippers 103”

  1. jerry November 15th, 2008 at 7:50 pm

    could be mistaken, but i think that BA in the nba.com’s boxscores stands for Blocks Against, i.e, how many times you were swatted.

    and, to your point about CJ, isn’t executing a “floater” supposed to keep you from charging? he seems to leap early and release the shot early but never gets back in control. weird. don nelsons manta of staying aggressive when you’re on the floor seems to lead to that kind of thing w/ young players. CJ seems to be calming down every so slightly though.

  2. Geoff Lepper November 15th, 2008 at 7:58 pm

    Honestly, I never looked it up. I just know it stands for the number of times you’ve been rejected.

  3. James November 15th, 2008 at 8:19 pm

    Some of the commentary at the end almost makes me glad you’re not writing for a newspaper right now. You don’t get that stuff in there.

  4. Gene November 15th, 2008 at 8:22 pm

    jerry and geoff, I think you are both trying to say the same thing.

    Today was honestly one of the most amazing performances I’ve ever seen anywhere, any sport. Morrow was unbelievable, and like you said with the rebound, he was doing all sorts of little things out there too. Had a lot of rebounds, and numerous “hockey assists”. Really fun to watch.

    You hear anything more about this Marco to the Nets thing?

  5. Camelot November 15th, 2008 at 8:24 pm

    any updates on this belinelli to new jersey information?

  6. ajbry November 15th, 2008 at 8:53 pm

    Jack won that game for us. Irreplaceable. Pay him now.

  7. dawg November 15th, 2008 at 9:09 pm

    Good stuff as always Geoff. Rumor is that Wright had a sore hamstring, I saw one person say they had a source, is it true?

    Also, did you see the quotes of Maggette after the game? He said he treats the NBA as a business. That doesn’t sit right with me, it feels like we really did no homework on this guy, and that he’s a class A knucklehead.

  8. M.Squared November 15th, 2008 at 9:29 pm

    Whats the official word on Wright? He has to be hurt- no?
    I haven’t heard this Bellinelli thing yet but moving him now seems foolish while his stock is at an all time low and that they still don’t really know what he can do with consistent minutes etc… They still have a lot of time on him and would be dissappointed if they gave him up now.
    “old guy” Geoff- Ouch. Pretty rough last bit about Baron and Ricky.
    I did not see the play- but based off of this written account- I would assume this was the equivelant of a pick-me-up deal to say “unlucky - keep your head up, stay focused” from Baron
    as opposed to a “congrats- you just fumbled the ball”.

  9. Geoff Lepper November 16th, 2008 at 8:16 pm

    I don’t know who posted the most recent item about ball movement = victories, but unfortunately I deleted it by accident. (I’m getting a lot of spam comments, and it got caught in the net.)

    As for Marco to the Nets, I don’t think it was as close to happening as Marco’s side wishes it was.

    dawg: From what I understand, BWright was a healthy scratch. As for Maggette’s feeling the NBA is a business … I don’t think that’s any different than a lot of other guys in the league.

    MS: Maybe you’re right. But it’s just that when you do it after every single play, doesn’t it lose some meaning?

  10. farid November 16th, 2008 at 11:08 pm

    fumbled possession:
    i understand why you would hive five on fumbled possession, it is offered more as a support call rather than something celebratory. meaning i’d celebrate with you in good times and i’m still with you in bad times cause you are my teammate, so don’t feel like you are alone. classic baron davis, too bad you don’t get it mr. Geoff Lepper, but then again that’s why you are a student of the game amongst teachers :P

  11. petaluman November 17th, 2008 at 10:12 am

    Geoff,

    I’m not surprised at Morrow’s coming out party. We all saw in SL that he’s quite a shooter. More importantly, he worked hard on his lesser skills. His shot got him here, but it’s the other things that will determine how many minutes he gets.

    I think PG will still be manned on a game-by-game basis. CJ may get more minutes against smaller, quicker opponents. He’s getting better at playing with the brace on. Any word yet on how his recovery is going? FWIW, I think Monta had more offensive fouls than defensive his 1st year in the league. Watson just needs to learn when to pass to keep the defense honest, how to alter his course enough to make the defender move, and when to back off.

    I’m not bothered with BW getting no time in this game. With an 81 game season, he’ll get plenty of minutes if he earns them. In the long run, his game might have been better served by more hours in the weight room, anyway.

    It will be intriguing to see how we play the next games, though. My guess is that we’ll go bigger in the front court against Portland, and more like the last game against the Bulls. I’m really looking forward to seeing what we do against the 76ers and Brand, though.

  12. dan November 17th, 2008 at 10:49 am

    Belli could only dream to do what Morrow did. Bellie is a backup SG at best but like AH, he thinks he is the greatest euro player since the French Michael Jordan……

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