By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

I have to admit, I didn’t think much of all the praise being lavished upon the Warriors in the wake of their two “close” defeats in Cleveland and Boston earlier this week. I thought the only things missing from all the happy chatter were some freshly-sectioned oranges and homemade Rice Krispie treats, because it all had that air of youth-soccerdom: Good job, way to go, you tried hard and that’s what matters.

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By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

Your daily guided tour through the national and local media coverage of the always-entertaining Golden State Warriors.

PRINT MEDIA

Contra Costa Times (Marcus Thompson II): Eons from now, when they sing songs of the Warriors’ greatness in Valhalla, the Ballad of Raja Bell will ring forth and be heard.

(Of course, that’s not going to help Golden State in the here and now, as Bell is still set to undergo wrist surgery that probably, knowing this club’s luck, will cost him the rest of his season.)
Also: Ronny Turiaf’s bad knee would be in great shape if only the NBA were played on a straight line, kind of like this game.

San Francisco Chronicle (Rusty Simmons): Everybody feels good about losing because they’re close losses. We’ll see how long that lasts.

WEB MEDIA

NBA.com (Couper Moorhead): Kevin Garnett tries his hand at creating his own Yogism: “Nellieball is something different. It’s always been effective when it worked.”

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By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

Your daily guided tour through the national and local media coverage of the always-entertaining Golden State Warriors.

BLOGOSPHERE

Talking Points/San Jose Mercury News (Tim Kawakami): Setting the stage for Thursday’s potential showdown between Jeff Fried, Monta Ellis’ agent, and Warriors brass.

(Perhaps the NBA can hold a special “non-expansion dispersal” draft next summer to help the Warriors out after they sell off everything of value.)

Inside The Warriors/Contra Costa Times (Marcus Thompson II): This was from Monday, before Tim’s post, but now serves to amplify the depths of Ellis’ frustration.

Plus: Wrapup from the Cavaliers game.

Fast Break/San Jose Mercury News (Adam Lauridsen): Taking Ellis to task for not being willing to fill the void left behind by Stephen Jackson’s departure.

I don’t share his optimism, but Adam likes what he saw from the Jackson-less Warriors against Cleveland on Tuesday.

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By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

I didn’t see the game live (hence, no live blogging last night) but quickly watched the tape this morning. As Rusty Simmons pointed out, it’s the Warriors’ third victory against an opponent with only one win of their own. So while the 121-107 outcome against the Knicks is nice enough, it shouldn’t be used to prove anything other than Golden State can properly beat one of the four teams that definitely rank below it in the NBA firmament.

** On the one hand, Don Nelson deserves credit because the supersmall lineup with a frontline of Corey Maggette, Stephen Jackson and Kelenna Azubuike paid handsome dividends. Now, the fact that it was against a frontline of Danilo Gallinari, Al Harrington and David Lee probably should be taken into account, but when you’re 3-5, you don’t argue with what works.

This was an instance where the absence of Andris Biedrins and Ronny Turiaf actually helped the Warriors; those were the guys who simply couldn’t defend the high S/R in last season’s debacle of a loss to the Knicks, and without them as targets, the Knicks weren’t able to turn Chris Duhon into a Steve Nash clone. In a callback to the 2007 team, with the true centers off the floor, the Warriors were able to either switch or at least show hard on every S/R the Knicks did run, limiting the damage New York could do.

** One reason why the Knicks are so horrible right now: In one first-quarter sequence, Danilo Gallinari leapt over Kelnna Azubuike to secure an offensive rebound, then took two dribbles to the right wing, turned on the second one, went up at a 30-degree angle to the hoop, finished twisting in midair to square up to the basket and let fly from 18 feet.

The fact that Gallinari made the shot should in no way absolve him from the fact that it was a ridiculous decision, emblematic of the Knicks’ shot selection right now.

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By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

It’s hard to imagine things can come more unglued for a Warriors team that is universally derided as the NBA’s most dysfunctional, but there it is: star guard Monta Ellis and head coach Don Nelson got into it after practice Thursday in New York.

Blow-by-blow accounts by Rusty Simmons and Marcus Thompson II are already up and available for viewing. The distillation: Monta is aggrieved at being blamed for all the problems in Warriors-land, and Nelson, already dealing with an angry and benched (and allegedly “injured”) Stephen Jackson, doesn’t want to hear about it from another player.

Tim Kawakami, who has been the trailblazer on the Ellis-is-pissed-off-at-the-Warriors storyline, already weighed in with the assertion that “Ellis’ mood is at a boiling point” and that he’s just about to (if he hasn’t already) vented to management about his frustrations.

Tim mentions Anthony Randolph (who is proving once again that he can put up big numbers, if Nelson is forced by injury or foul trouble into letting him play through a mistake or two), Andris Biedrins (who didn’t do much at Media Day to hide how much would have enjoyed playing with Steve Nash this season) and Ronny Turiaf (one of a very select group of Warriors who consistently give 100 percent) as guys who are also getting close to the edge.

Let’s not forget some other names, players who are not going to speak out but still could benefit from change: Stephen Curry would undoubtedly welcome relocation to an organization where passing the ball to the open man is considered typical, rather than a once-a-week occurrence. C.J. Watson sees his future earnings vanishing into the distance with every game where he either doesn’t play or gets slotted as the fourth-string PG, behind Ellis, Curry and Acie Law.

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