48minutes.net

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

By now, you’ve undoubtedly read Marcus Thompson’s blog item regarding the report from Stephen Jackson that Baron Davis wants to be traded back to the Bay less than six months after bolting to go back home.

Aside from the usual eye-rolling that comes with most Baron pronouncements, there’s a very specific and immoveable obstacle to this scenario: BD can’t seriously think that the Warriors (i.e., team president Robert Rowell) — who didn’t want to be on the hook for four fully guaranteed years because of concerns about Davis’ health and motivation — are suddenly going to be willing to pay for FIVE seasons.

Here, then, is a helpful guide to 30 things more likely to happen than Baron Davis coming back to the Bay:

1) Barack Obama arrives at the White House on the afternoon of Jan. 20, spots George Bush ducking out the back door, tosses him the keys and says, “You can keep it. I just got Hank Paulson’s last report, and I’m outta here.”

2) Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter each play 82 games — in the same season.

3) Clay Bennett goes bankrupt and the City of Seattle picks up the Thunder for $42,598 plus court costs in an Oklahoma City repo auction.

4) Warrior fans make it through a broadcast without being reminded that they’re missing (insert number here) points per game.

5) Larry Brown quits the Bobcats out of sheer frustration with Sean May.

(Wait, that one could actually happen.)

6) The L wakes up to the fact that Kevin Garnett has crossed the line from “hard-nosed” to “wantonly overaggressive” and finally takes some punitive action.

7) Allen Iverson takes two weeks off from the Pistons, undergoes 274 laser treatments and comes back without any tattoos.

8 ) Jose Calderon misses a free throw. But only one.

9) Gilbert Arenas announces that he’s quitting the NBA to switch to blogging full-time.

10) Jamal Crawford starts to play lockdown defense.

11) Barry Bonds is named the San Francisco Giants’ new strength and conditioning coach.

12) Kobe Bryant drops 71 on the Suns, then tells a live ABC audience: “Shaq, your ass taste like chicken. At least, that’s what Steve Nash said.”

13) Al Harrington tells Jackson that he’d like to come back to the Warriors, too.

14) Erick Dampier acknowledges that he hasn’t played up to the seven-year, $73 million deal he signed in 2004 and gives Mark Cuban an oversized posterboard check for $30 million in a halftime ceremony at a Mavericks home game.

15) Cuban’s attorneys immediately take half as a retainer.

16) The San Jose Sharks turn yet another glittering regular season into a Stanley Cup title.

17) Stephon Marbury returns to the Knicks at the All-Star break, scores 22.8 points per game the rest of the way and leads New York to the playoffs.

18) Corey Maggette misses 17 games after tearing his lat during a particularly vigorous weight-training session.

19) Eric Gordon takes a rainbow jumper that gets caught among the banners at the TD Banknorth Arena and never comes back to the court.

20) Thanks to a general outcry from critics, “ER” gets renewed.

21) Newspapers in the United States report a 450 percent jump in readership for 2008 over 2007.

22) Dikembe Mutombo stays retired.

23) Dennis Rodman doesn’t.

24) Gregg Popovich promises to dress like Gandalf for the duration of the Spurs’ playoff run.

Will Pop . . .

. . . pick up pipe-smoking as well?

25) Derrick Rose actually breaks Andre Miller’s ankle.

26) Kerri Walsh announces that because it’s too hard to choose a new partner while Misty May-Treanor recovers from her torn Achilles tendon, she’s just going to play solo on the AVP Tour.

And she still wins every tournament.

27) The luxurious manes of Pau and Marc Gasol are revealed to be nothing more than wild wigs when Ron Artest yanks on Pau’s hair during one particularly intense Rockets-Lakers confrontation.

28) Kevin McHale goes 1-62 as a coach. AND STILL KEEPS HIS JOB.

29) No, really: Jamal Crawford starts to play lockdown defense.

30) The Clippers wake up on the morning after the trade deadline and find that not only is Davis still clad in red and blue, but they also still employ Zach Randolph, Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby.

Contact: geofflepper@48minutes.net

Just a quick note about Anthony Morrow as we await his chance to prove Saturday’s game wasn’t just a one-hit wonder of the highest NBA order.

In what I would like to call an “homage” to Kevin Pelton over at Basketball Prospectus (and don’t send me notes about how I’m ripping off ideas, since Kevin imported the original concept from Michael David Smith over at Fanhouse), I thought I’d dissect Morrow’s entire 37-point barrage against the Clippers, to try and glean if that performance will translate against a team that’s not on pace to go 8-74.

Type of play Points
Catch and shoot 14
Pull-up jumper 10
Layup off cut/fast break 6
Turnaround jumper 4
Driving layup 3
Tap in 2

(Yes, this totals 39, not 37, because there was one play where Kelenna Azubuike delivered the ball to Morrow on the baseline while he was facing away from the hoop. Morrow then wheeled and fired, all in the same motion, so I put it under “Catch and shoot” and “Turnaround jumper”. Also, I included a made free throw in the category that led to the FT — i.e., the one “Driving layup” was a three-point play.)

The catch-and-shoots coming off kick-out passes are no surprise given the range, accuracy and touch on Morrow’s jumper. (The Clippers’ inability to close out: Also no surprise, given the roster, the lack of motivation and the record.)

But Morrow’s ability to put the ball on the deck and get to an empty spot on the floor (such as when he ran Ricky Davis off a screen and popped up for two on the other side), up-fake his defender out of the way (as he did to Al Thornton) or just blow by someone with a swift change of direction (so long, Baron Davis) was very impressive.

One thing that really struck me was how many possessions Morrow was just a decoy, patrolling a station in either corner or in 3-point territory on the wings. Stephen Jackson mentioned at practice Monday how helpful that threat is:

“As you see, by him being able to shoot and score, that opened up the floor so much for us, as far as Corey (Maggette) getting isos playing the 4. Me and (Andris Biedrins), when we pick-and-roll, the floor’s wide open now. It helped us in a lot of aspects of our game.”

In other areas . . .

Morrow’s 11 rebounds are probably going to be tougher to duplicate than the 37 points. He had a couple of deflected rebounds that bounced right into his lap, and another three were long boards off early shots where there was little or no presence of offensive rebounders from L.A. to apply pressure. Morrow was able to gobble those up easily, but there’s no way to ensure those will come consistently.

He did do a solid job of boxing out — even drawing a loose-ball foul on Chris Kaman when the 7-footer tried to shove him aside and grab an offensive board in the third quarter.

I didn’t notice that much of Morrow’s defense on the initial viewing. I did this time. He held his own in terms of stopping ball penetration, but more importantly showed signs of being a potential playmaker in other ways.

Morrow fronted adequately enough so that Cuttino Mobley could not take much advantage of his post-up game, and also showed good instincts in knowing when and how to successfully dive down on a big man with his back to the basket in the paint. There were three Clipper possessions that went sideways because Morrow helped gum up the works, either be fronting or by coming in from an off-ball position.

Also, as a side note, Baron Davis keeps getting the lion’s share of blame for Morrow’s performance ladled over him by Tim Kawakami. While Davis did give up the most Morrow points of any Clippers defender, he was hardly alone in his guilt:

Player Points allowed
Baron Davis 15
Cuttino Mobley 5
Al Thornton 5
Ricky Davis 4
Eric Gordon 4
Team breakdowns 4

– Geoff

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

So, I trekked out to Stockton last night planning to sit down with Baron Davis before his Clippers played the Kings and discuss a few items, namely: how things are going with his new team, the departure from his former employer and his reaction to Monta Ellis’ remake of “Quadrophenia.”

Then I got to University of the Pacific and found out he’d bagged on the trip to stay home because of the flu.

That means you’ll be getting a story on the Kings and rookie forward Jason Thompson — the would-be Warrior, if you believe all the pre-draft talk — a little later today. But in the interim, some random thoughts from the Clippers’ 116-112 comeback win in the Spanos Center:

** Without Ellis, the Warriors are going to be hard-pressed to check Kings star Kevin Martin, who darted all over the floor en route to an extremely efficient 29 points (9-11 FG, 2-3 3FG, 9-12 FT). I like DeMarcus Nelson’s defense an awful lot, but I’m not positive he’s got the quickness to chase down Martin.

** Martin barely played in the second half (5:42) and not at all over the final 18 minutes, when the Clippers outscored the Kings, 55-34. Sacramento coach Reggie Theus rightly declined to bring a cold Martin back into the game to try and secure a meaningless victory, but it was kind of shocking to see how fast things slipped away from the Kings’ second unit.

** It would have been nice if Clippers rookie Eric Gordon would have passed the ball ONCE at some point during the proceedings (24 shots, zero assists). That being said, he proved he can fill it up in a hurry, with 21 fourth-quarter points and 33 on the night.

“The play sets we were running were designed to get him shots, because he had the hot hand, and we go with whoever’s got the hot hand,” Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. “You know, he’s been injured for us, so he’s only had about three practices. Guys were joking around in practice when he was blowing by people; ‘Well, it should be like that. He’s been off for two weeks. He’s got fresh legs.’ I don’t think that’s going to be the case (anymore). He’s really talented, he’s great off the dribble, he gets to the free-throw line and he makes 3s. And he’s a good defender. We were dying to get him in the draft, and he played well for us.”

** Gordon aside, the real rookie revelation for L.A. was point guard Mike Taylor, the No. 55 overall pick who spent last season in the D-League. He had 21 points, nine assists and three steals and looked exceedingly poised throughout the evening.

Given that they still had Baron and a healthy Monta on draft night, it’s hard to fault the Warriors for taking Richard Hendrix instead of Taylor or Chris Douglas-Roberts with their own second round pick at No. 49. But Taylor might very well be starting if Golden State had selected him.

Dunleavy was asked if Taylor has been playing like this throughout camp:

“Every night. Twenty against the Lakers, 14 last night against Oklahoma City but eight in the fourth quarter and made about four big plays down the stretch of the game: Picked a guy’s pocket in the backcourt, we get a layup off of it. Hits a jumper from 17. Goes down the middle and dunks on somebody on a pick-and-roll and then hits two free throws at the end of the game. . . . The question about him was, could he play point, and I thought he could.”

So, can you get Baron’s money back?

“I don’t think we’re ready to go there.”

** Chris Kaman (0-6, 5 fouls in 25 minutes) did not look spry, shall we say. Hell, he even made teammate Jelani McCoy (who I didn’t even realize had made it back onto a training camp roster) look good by comparison.

** I remember predicting the Warriors would take Donte Greene, who slipped to No. 28 before being traded twice and winding up in Sacramento. Based on last night (four fouls, two turnovers, two points in nine minutes), that would not have been the right call.

– Geoff