By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

My first paying gig as a sportswriter, as an intern at the late, lamented Peninsula Times Tribune, found me covering the 1992-93 Warriors. I haven’t saved a lot of the press materials I’ve used over the years, but I kept the media guide from that season as a remembrance.

I pulled out that media guide this morning because of the cover, which features a stylized illustration from local artist and graphic designer Larry Hausen (who would later provide the Warriors with their current logo). In Hausen’s composition, you can see some of the tools of a journalists’ trade — the corner of an old Mac keyboard, an NBA press release, a Styrofoam cup of Diet Coke and a few of the blank notebooks the Warriors were giving out that year, featuring images of Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway and Billy Owens on the cover.

There is a point to this whole shaggy-dog story, so just hold on. . . . Right in the center of the frame, one of the notebooks is flipped open, and you can read the reporter’s notes, presumably from Don Nelson’s latest postgame press conference. Here’s how it reads:

NELLIE: WHAT CAN I SAY ABOUT OUR EFFORT TONIGHT? OUR GUYS NEVER QUIT!

Our guys never quit. Heh.

If you watched either of the Warriors’ last two games — back-to-back thrashings at the hands of the Clippers (at home on Friday) and the Kings (in Arco on Sunday) — then you know why that fictitious quote stuck out in my mind.

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By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

According to Chris Broussard over at ESPN.com, the Warriors’ one-game experiment with starting Ronny Turiaf at power forward is over, with Anthony Randolph set to move into the lineup tonight in Phoenix.

Somebody cue Jim Nabors, and be sure to employ the “sarcasm” HTML tag:

Surprise, surprise, surprise!

Don Nelson used Turiaf on Wednesday because the Rockets were a small, depleted team that looked like a good matchup. It didn’t turn out to be so, but even if it had, Turiaf would still be heading back to the bench, for a multitude of different reasons. The biggest is this one: With Amare Stoudemire and Channing Frye, the Suns have two legitimate big men on the floor, negating any perceived matchup advantage Golden State might get with a Turiaf-Andris Biedrins combination at the start.

Frankly, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if Nelson puts Corey Maggette into the lineup for Game 3 against Memphis next Wednesday, looking to create a mismatch with either Marc Gasol or Zach Randolph.

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Not much to add this morning, so it’s straight to the linkage:

BLOGOSPHERE

Golden State Warriors/San Francisco Chronicle (Rusty Simmons): Don Nelson goes on the offensive in The Jackson Affair, spinning in the masterly manner of C.J. Cregg: “How sad can a guy be making $36 million over four years? To this day, I really don’t know why (Jackson) wants out. We’re trying to win here, and he can be a big part of that.”

Also, after reading Nelson’s quote about how, “I don’t fall out of love with people. I understand that people get divorced and everything else, but, if you have affection for people, I think it lasts a lifetime,” I have to admit, all I could think of was Jake Gyllenhaal in “Brokeback Mountain.”

Inside The Warriors/Contra Costa Times (Marcus Thompson II): Q: Is it worth worrying about Stephen Curry’s early shooting woes? A: Maybe.

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PRINT MEDIA

Orlando Sentinel (Brian Schmitz, Josh Robbins): Orlando Magic GM Otis Smith told the Sentinel that “I think it got personal” in talking about the Magic’s failed attempts to acquire C.J. Watson from the Warriors this summer via a sign-and-trade deal.

Smith played with the Warriors for a season and change before being selected by the Magic in their expansion draft. After his playing career ended, Smith returned to the Warriors and spent three seasons working in Community Relations before becoming Executive Director of Basketball Operations in 2002-03. He left after that season to rejoin the Magic as Director of Player Development.

My first thought was that Smith is suffering collateral damage from the fallout between Chris Mullin and Robert Rowell, but Smith worked under Garry St. Jean in ‘02-’03, not Mullin, who back then was just a special assistant learning the ropes in preparation for taking over. So who knows. Maybe the Warriors just really, really like Watson.

(BTW, in researching Otis Smith’s time in the Warriors’ front office, I stumbled across this account of Mullin’s ascension to power in 2004:

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By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

For more than a half century, the Serenity Prayer has been a cornerstone of the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.

The Warriors accepted the things they cannot change about themselves Friday night, and in doing so become something greater than they previously had been.

By forcing Chris Paul to shoot, shoot and shoot some more, the Warriors were able to control the Hornets’ All-Star point guard in a 111-103 victory.

At first blush, the fact that Paul went off for 43 points and nine assists doesn’t look like a victory. But seven of Paul’s nine dimes went to David West, who finished with 31 points. That’s a nice number, but what the Hornets need from Paul is to get the rest of the roster involved with some spoon-fed buckets, especially since Peja Stojakovic is battling through a bad back and James Posey and Tyson Chandler are on the bench with injuries.

Instead, Hornets not named Paul or West shot 10-for-38 on Friday.

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