Another perusal of the Warriors-Nuggets videotape makes one thing clear: There was plenty of bad defense to go around for Golden State in its 123-105 loss to Denver on Monday. Before the Warriors shucked their man-to-man scheme for zone late in the third quarter, the Nuggets scored an obscene 52 of their 90 points in the paint.

Was forward Rob Kurz the worst individual defender on the Warriors that night? No. That would be rookie Anthony Randolph, who was burned twice — allowing a dunk and a layup — in his two on-ball confrontations before being yanked for good.

Was I too hard on Kurz, as some have suggested? I don’t think so. My point was that Don Nelson continually touts Kurz’s ability to be in the right place at all times as one of his key virtues, and I didn’t think that ability was in evidence against the Nuggets.

I will give Kurz credit for his block on Carmelo Anthony as the Nuggets star tried to take him 1v1 from the top of the key. But I didn’t notice previously that he had last-man-back responsibility on Kenyon Martin’s second cherry pick bucket (which featured a 75-foot pass from Chauncey Billups).

And I stand by the assessment that Kurz was too far away from Martin on the alley-oop play early in the second half; instead of staying put on the left block, he went midway up the lane and a couple feet out, allowing Martin to score practically without moving. There were several other instances where a teammate failed to pick up Martin on a cut (Kelenna Azubuike whiffed on a play with about 4 minutes left in the third quarter, the next-to-last play before Nelson finally abandoned the man-to-man and went zone). But this was a situation where Martin didn’t even need to cut to score, and I fault Kurz for that.

Here’s the reason why I care: As the only power forward on the roster with 3-point range, I could easily see Nelson playing Kurz over Randolph and Brandan Wright. That’s good for Kurz’s development, and bad for Randolph’s and Wright’s.

And when you look at how much growth seems possible for each of those three players, that’s the wrong equation for a team that needs to be building for the future.

– Geoff

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

At a Warriors practice last week, Golden State captain Stephen Jackson stood on the sideline talked for roughly 10 minutes with team president Robert Rowell and minority owner Michael Marks.

I have no idea what the gist of the conversation was, but Rowell needs to have another meeting with Jackson, with one simple message:

Sit down until you’re healthy.

Like Oscar De La Hoya’s cornermen after watching him get pummeled for eight rounds at the hands of Manny Pacquiao last week, someone has to step in and say it, because Jackson refuses to admit what’s obvious to everyone — that his injured left hand is crippling his effectiveness on the floor right now.

Jackson showed reporters this week how his middle finger is misaligned, and said that the ligaments had been pushed out of place when he originally incurred the injury against Boston on Nov. 26 (his hand got caught in a Celtic’s jersey as Jackson tried to fight through a screen). Nevertheless, he steadfastly refuses to ask off the floor in games, even after he takes a shot and can clearly be seen between plays rubbing the hand to try and ease the pain.

The team has not given any indication that Jackson needs anything other than rest to get better. If that’s the case, then the rest should start immediately.

Jackson was 1-for-13 from the floor in the Warriors’ 123-105 loss to the Nuggets on Saturday. Teams are overplaying his right hand now, knowing that he can’t get anything going on a dribble with his left.

That’s bad enough, but let’s be honest: Even if Jackson had been playing at his 2007-08 level against the Nuggets on Saturday, does anyone really think that would have turned the tide? On a night where Don Nelson’s top three possibilities at power forward — Corey Maggette, Brandan Wright and Ronny Turiaf — are all off the floor? Maybe an 18-point defeat becomes an eight-point margin. But there’s not much more to it than that.

The only way the Warriors are going to make the playoffs — assuming you’re not joining the Tank Brigade after a quarter of the season — is if they win a stunning proportion of the games once Monta Ellis comes back. We’re talking a 65, 70, 75 percent proportion.

Running Jackson out for 31 minutes on back-to-back nights in games where the Warriors already have next to no hope because of their myriad other…

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

The level of the Warriors’ competition went up Thursday. The level of their winning went down.

And it’s very possible that’s going to become a familiar lament for Golden State in the next few weeks.

It’s a cliche to say that the Warriors, as the NBA’s youngest team, need to learn how to win. But it’s a fact that Detroit’s 107-102 win over Golden State is the fourth time out in six losses for the Warriors this season in which they’ve held the lead in the final six minutes and failed to hang on.

The image of the night? Warriors coach Don Nelson, draping his right hand on top of his head as he tried not to have his brain jump out of his skull with 3:10 remaining when C.J. Watson — jarred by the sight of an onrushing Allen Iverson — stepped inbounds before passing the ball in.

The costly turnover was followed by a back-breaking 3-pointer from Rasheed Wallace that gave Detroit a 96-92 lead with 3 minutes left, and the Warriors never drew closer than three points after that.

The Warriors dropped to 3-6 on the season, an especially disappointing mark when you consider that, given the relatively easy nature of their schedule to this point, they should have expected a 5-4 record at a minimum — games at New Jersey, at Memphis, vs. Memphis and vs. Minnesota were all good bets for a win, as was the Denver contest at home when the Nuggets were missing both Iverson and the man he was primarily traded for, Chauncey Billups.

Unfortunately, things get significantly more difficult between now and Dec. 17, when Monta Ellis’ suspension ends. There are two long road trips — which have never been the Warriors’ forte — and home games against a higher caliber of opponent.

One’s man’s guesses as to how the Warriors will fare over the next five weeks:

Saturday, at LA Clippers: TOSSUP
Tuesday, vs. Portland: LEAN LOSS
Nov. 21, vs. Chicago: LEAN WIN
Nov. 23, at Philadelphia: LEAN LOSS
Nov. 25, at Washington: LEAN WIN
Nov. 26, at Boston: SAFE LOSS
Nov. 28, at Cleveland: SAFE LOSS
Nov. 29, at New York: LEAN LOSS
Dec. 1, vs. Miami: LEAN WIN
Dec. 5, at Houston: SAFE LOSS
Dec. 6, at San Antonio: LEAN LOSS
Dec. 8, at Oklahoma City: LEAN WIN
Dec. 10, vs. Milwaukee: SAFE WIN
Dec. 12, vs. Houston: LEAN LOSS
Dec. 13, at Denver: LEAN LOSS
Dec. 15, vs. Orlando: LEAN LOSS
Dec. 17, at Indiana: TOSSUP

That’s 10 in the…

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

OAKLAND – On a night chock-full of revelations at Oracle Arena, second-year Warriors forward Brandan Wright supplied the exclamation point to Golden State’s 111-101 victory over the Nuggets.

With 1:12 remaining and Denver trailing and desperate for a hoop, veteran Denver forward Kenyon Martin tried to sneak an extra step closer to the basket. That was all the chance Wright needed to spring forward, bat Martin’s jumper into the air and eventually tap it to C.J. Watson to help seal the victory.

It was one of three blocks on the evening for Wright, who also tallied a career-high 18 points and 13 rebounds.

“I just wanted to be a spark and do positive things and hope we get more Ws like tonight,” Wright said.

Wright was active and assertive on the offensive end, hitting his first seven shots and grabbing six offensive boards. But it was those blocks that stood out the most.

The Warriors reached double digits in blocks only twice last season, a deficiency they hoped to address by seeing improvement from Wright and signing free agent Ronny Turiaf.

Andris Biedrins finished with five blocks and Turiaf had two of his own, although they were all upstaged by Kelenna Azubuike, who simply laid waste to a fast-break dunk attempt by Dahntay Jones in the second quarter.

“Their length inside really allows them to help us out on the defensive end,” said Azubuike, who played the entire second half and finished with 22 points, eight rebounds and four assists. “When we get beat, they are always there in the middle to block or change a shot.”

Combined with the Nuggets’ almost pathological desire to pass the ball out of bounds — I understand Denver was down to one true point guard (Anthony Carter) while awaiting the arrival of Chauncey Billups, but this was ridiculous — the Warriors showed signs of being a potentially dominant defensive team.

“They blocked 11 shots, with 20 turnovers that they created,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “That’s a lot of shots and possessions that they had control over.”

** While Wright was setting all kinds of personal bests, fellow 2007 first-round draftee Marco Belinelli and this year’s first-rounder, Anthony Randolph, were put on notice by Nelson that they won’t see significant playing time until their work improves in practice.

Watson, who set a career-high Wednesday with 14 points and tied another with four assists, rookie starter DeMarcus Nelson and even recently re-signed Rob…

[EDIT at 3:30 p.m.: I looked up and then forgot to list the team offensive efficiency stats from John Hollinger. The Warriors are 21st so far this season, averaging 85.0 points per 100 possessions. A year ago, they were third, at 96.6. Just another sign they need another facilitator to move the ball in the short term.]

It’s been a week now since Al Harrington put on his impassioned Elvis impersonation, and the Warriors seem no closer to moving their forward to happier climes.

In fact, I’m beginning to get convinced that Harrington and the Warriors might be stuck with each at least until Monta Ellis returns from his ankle surgery.

That fact was put into stark relief Monday when Joe Dumars struck almost without warning, collecting Allen Iverson from the Denver Nuggets in exchange for three players, most notably point guard Chauncey Billups.

Pulling the trigger on that deal was almost comically easy for Dumars, since it represents a victory in both the short and long views — the immediate effect is an upgrade from Billups to Iverson and a desired shakeup in the team’s culture, while the two-year plan is the opening of a slot for rising guard Rodney Stuckey.

For the Warriors, however, there do not appear to be any such no-brainer trades lurking out there by which Harrington can be set free.

That’s because Golden State’s short- and long-term goals cannot be easily resolved by any one player.

In the short term, it’s indisputable that the Warriors need help at the point guard position. DeMarcus Nelson, while a find as an undrafted rookie, is a raw, unfinished combo guard who’s not yet ready to be the primary playmaker on an NBA team. C.J. Watson is a score-first guy with flashes of occasional passing creativity, but not enough consistent ability to get past his man on the dribble. Stephen Jackson is too turnover-prone to be a full-time initiator. Marcus Williams has, for better or worse, been banished to irrelevancy.

But the whole point of signing Ellis to a six-year, $66 million deal was to make him the Warriors point guard of the future. (Admittedly, the timetable had to be moved up on that transformation once Baron Davis opted out, but Don Nelson has said consistently and pretty much from the moment he got here that Ellis would need to be a point guard to attain greatness in the NBA.)

So while someone such as Kirk Hinrich…