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    Thoughts on Game No. 19: Rockets 131, Warriors 112

    By Geoff Lepper
    48minutes.net

    There’s been a fair amount of statistical data collected that shows the Warriors have fared better in the short stints where they’ve played their two centers, Andris Biedrins and Ronny Turiaf, together on the floor.

    That’s why, in Golden State’s 131-112 loss to Houston on Friday, Rockets center Yao Ming tried to break that pair up as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, Turiaf helped Yao push him to the six-foul limit.

    Turiaf lasted only 22 minutes, and Biedrins 32, before they both fouled out. In the 17 minutes and 35 seconds Biedrins and Turiaf were able to team up, the Warriors outscored the Rockets, 39-34. In the remaining 30:25, Houston topped Golden State, 97-73.

    Warriors coach Don Nelson made clear earlier in the week that he wanted to use Biedrins (who is not very effective when giving up a large weight difference) on Yao only as a last resort. So it was no shock that Turiaf earned his second start of the season and drew the unenviable duty of serving as Yao’s speed bump.

    But the fact that Turiaf had five fouls in the first half — and was done for the night with 21:30 still to play — was not entirely attributable to the bulk of Yao. Some of it was Turiaf — who averages 5.7 fouls per 36 minutes over the course of his NBA career — not being able to contain himself.

    Here’s a breakdown of Turiaf’s six infractions:

    First quarter, 6:08 remaining: Turiaf defending on the right block behind Yao, who takes an entry pass from Rafer Alston. Corey Maggette and Stephen Jackson both come on a double/triple, but Turiaf it whistled for bodying up too hard.

    First, 1:49: Alston loops around the backside of an inattentive Jamal Crawford to steal the ball, setting off a 3-on-2 break with Crawford and Turiaf as the defenders. Turiaf fouls Carl Landry on the trial layup try.

    Second, 7:54: Von Wafer rebounds Crawford’s missed 3 from the left corner and dribbles into the frontcourt. With Crawford (who toppled backwards into the Warriors bench after the miss) late getting into the play, no one steps up to stop the ball and Wafer slices straight down the middle of the lane. Turiaf eaches in with a no-hope swipe at the ball and gets caught. Turiaf was pulled at that point, but came back in after a rest of only 2:15.

    Second, 3:00: This was probably the one foul Turiaf could most legitimately complain about. Yao posted him on the left block, took the ball and just basically backed down Turiaf, who did a good job maintaining his vertical plane. Yao then made a half-turn over his left shoulder (paying no heed to Maggette’s attempted double-team), shoveled up a prayer when he felt contact and was rewarded with a cheap whistle at Turiaf’s expense.

    Second, 0:51.7: Rafer Alston, having blown right by Jamal Crawford without hint of interference, missed an 8-foot running finger roll in the lane. After boxing out Yao, Turiaf went up late for the rebound, which Luis Scola already had collected, and needlessly drew foul No. 5

    Third, 9:10: Yao gets Turiaf trapped on the left block, so Jackson comes down on the double team to deliver a foul and keep Turiaf in the game. But instead of keeping both arms straight, Turiaf — the league’s leading shot-blocker, on a per-minute basis — can’t help himself. He brings his left arm down and clearly whacks Yao on the wrist. Despite Jackson putting his arm up and attempting to claim responsibility, Turiaf’s evening is over.

    The first foul was a judgment call on the referee’s part. The second foul was a good decision, making Landry prove that his early-season leap in FT% isn’t just a fluke. The fourth was a cheap call that Turiaf didn’t deserve.

    But fouls No. 3, 5 and 6 . . . those are all fouls that represented mental errors Turiaf’s part, errors the Warriors couldn’t afford, not on a night when they needed Turiaf to play as close to 48 minutes as possible.

    (11:22 am ADD — I should have mentioned this but forgot: You could make a pretty compelling case that Turiaf shouldn’t even have been on the floor for the second and third fouls. Yao came off the floor with 2:27 left in the first quarter and didn’t return until the 7:24 mark of the second, when Rick Adelman called him in to take advantage of the fact that Turiaf had drawn his third foul and was forced to the bench.)

    Would the Warriors have won if Turiaf hadn’t picked up those extra fouls? Probably not. The fact that Houston shot 13-for-21 on 3-pointers had very little to do with the Turiaf/Yao battle and much more to do with Golden State’s inadequacies on the perimeter. But it would have given them a chance. Once Turiaf was through, they had none.

    Notes
    Anthony Randolph’s dunk and screaming staredown of Yao? Sick, just sick. Totally worth the technical. . . . I understand there were foul issues that partially forced Keith Smart’s hand, but it was truly hilarious to see that Brandan Wright was never going to get a shot until Nelson was tossed from the game. . . . Nelson made it clear earlier this week that he doesn’t think rookie bruiser Richard Hendrix is anywhere near being ready to contribute at the NBA level. But if you’re going to have Marco Belinelli pull yet another DNP-CD, wouldn’t you be better served by having Hendrix on hand in case, you know, both of your centers foul out trying to guard Yao? . . . The Warriors were 2-for-2 using a side screen-roll play on the left wing where Jackson — so often the ball-handler in these situations — instead would set the screen for Crawford. I expect to see more of that play in the future.

    The Lineup Project
    We’ve already discussed the Turiaf-Biedrins combination, but the numbers still jump out off the page:

    Lineup              GS    OPP    Time
    Large                 2        7        1:55
    Turiaf-Biedrins     39      34      17:35
    Medium              64      74      24:02
    Small                 7        16       4:28

    Without Monta. . .
    The Warriors held steady, as I had this game in the “SAFE LOSS” category. Golden State is on pace for a 7-19 record on Dec. 17, when Monta Ellis’ suspension is slated to end.

    Contact: geofflepper@48minutes.net

12 Responses to “Thoughts on Game No. 19: Rockets 131, Warriors 112”

  1. Cedric December 6th, 2008 at 10:59 am

    Why does Nelson hate Brandon Wright? It was almost to the grade school play ground level of pettiness when he played Kurz before Wright. That’s the little boy saying “I’d rather kiss your dog before I kiss you” to the little girl who likes him.

  2. Son of Ahmed December 6th, 2008 at 11:41 am

    Cedric,
    Good point. Putting in Kurz over Wright does not show a commitment to winning. That kind of pettiness will have a negative affect on team morale and chemistry.

    I see a wedge growing, and it’s not just because of losing games.

  3. David E December 6th, 2008 at 12:59 pm

    Well, yes, of course, the Ws would be better to have Hendrix, but would it be best for Hendrix. People are prone to talk out of both sides of their mouth this year. One minute, the big issue is developing the youngsters–anything to do that. The next minute, sacrifice that strategy or any other for the win. Of course, it’s rarely done in confronting the contradiction. It’s done as a slap on someone. The fickle fan never falls on his sword.

  4. David E December 6th, 2008 at 1:04 pm

    A Useful List: Has anyone ever prepared a list of great players Nellie didn’t play or players he sat and went elsewhere to greatness? I’d like to see that list. I bet it’s a lot shorter than people think. Wright has the skills of a center but he doesn’t have the body. Kurz went in because he thought maybe he could body Sciola. Wright is as light as a paper airplane. Show me that list. It might ground our talk some.

  5. beanmaxz December 6th, 2008 at 2:07 pm

    I have to second what David is saying. Nellie makes a lot of head-scratching moves, but Wright has been a huge disappointment no matter how you feel about how he’s been used. Watching him in college, I thought he would be a natural for a Nelson or D’Antoni type system, but he’s offensvely and defensively challenged in too many ways. He needs more bulk and a more polished offensive game — he looks overmatched too often.

  6. James December 6th, 2008 at 2:21 pm

    In Wright’s defense, he’s shown capable flashes but needs to do a better job of getting good at one or two things to the point he can be counted on to do them consistently. But, just like playing Maggette at the 4, trying to play Wright at the 5 is doomed to failure from the start. It’s really no surprise when they struggle in those roles.

  7. Warrick December 6th, 2008 at 3:04 pm

    DLH and Pacman, instead of the Dubs game tonight. Havent won in San Anton ever since they built the building. I highly doubt this is the nite after 8 straight losses.

  8. JoeSez December 6th, 2008 at 3:45 pm

    Phil Jackson would have suited up Hendrix and let him play.

    Phil used a Three-headed_center approach after Bill Cartwright retired.

    The last 3 Bulls titles were with Luc Longley Bill Wennington and Will Perdue at Center.

    They all contributed against some of the best Centers in the NBA like Shaq in his prime, Zo Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing.

    Why not use Hendrix anmd is 6 fouls up against Yao? Why not prove to the kid he’s not ready by having Yao push him around? That would be one mor ebig body to move and a fresh set of legs.

  9. howl December 6th, 2008 at 4:09 pm

    joesez = phil? anyway those guys were all basically VETERAN 7 footers not a rookie who measured in at 6′6.75″….. guy is almost a FOOT shorter than Yao.

    but let’s overlook all that. usually, when a coach says a guy isn’t ready, it means one of two things - 1. he’s physically not ready (ala Brandan Wright) or 2. mentally not ready (ala Jordan Farmar who spent time in the d-league his rookie yr); meaning they don’t know the sets offensively and/or defensively.

    living in LA, one thing about Phil… when the Lakers were barely playoff worthy - he had a short rotation. why? b/c he was trying to win games to get into playoffs or get in w/ a better seed. now that he has a strong team that can win even while playing some scrubs, his rotation has expanded to give guys rest so that they are strong in the postseason…. just like every other experienced coach. even Nellie had a much larger rotation with his previous semi-contenders like the Bucks & Mavs and were playoff shoo-ins. only inexperienced dolts like D’Antoni & Avery don’t rest their teams when a high seed is for all intents and purposes guaranteed.

  10. beanmaxz December 6th, 2008 at 4:15 pm

    >>only inexperienced dolts like D’Antoni & Avery don’t rest their teams when a high seed is for all intents and purposes guaranteed.<<

    That “inexperienced dolt” in New York is coaching his decimated, undermanned, undertalented team to play above its heads and play with more effort and a better record than this Warriors team.

  11. Dig December 6th, 2008 at 4:26 pm

    Phil Jackson barely plays Chris Mihm his backup center for the Lakers. He plays him a whooping 5 minutes a game. Let Hendrix tear it up in the D-League for awhile before bringing him up.

  12. JoeSez December 7th, 2008 at 11:23 am

    howl: Phil founds minutes for his centers. Will Predue was a Bull’s draft pick so Phil developed his game. Hendrix could have been a 6 foul, push on Yao guy or maybe he’s really bad and not worth anything. He’s on the team so use him.

    Dig: Nelson sez Hendrix isn’t ready - probably not but based on age and pick status BUT if he’s not at the D-league and we’re short handed due to fouls, why not hack a Yao with Hendrix? Williams DNP didn’t help the team did it?

    Jackson’s 3-headed center stunt was when the league had dominate big men like I listed. Shaq in his prime, The Dream, and Ewing. Today Jackson doesn’t need to wear down the big men with bodies. Mihm isn’t need and BTW I think he’s a great FA pick up since Phil doesn’t need to use him.

    Those 3 centers had 18 fouls to give and used them on opposing centers. The Bulls centers also swatted any player who thought they’d get an easy layup. Why not use Hendrix and other bench guys to stop the 120+ point layup drills?

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