48minutes.net

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

The Warriors zoned. The Timberwolves just zoned out.

Thanks to a 9-0 run at the end of regulation — fueled by a 2-3 zone that took Minnesota star Al Jefferson completely out of the game — Golden State managed to come back Tuesday for a 113-110 victory.

After surging ahead by double-digits in the second half behind a frontline featuring three of the players expected to carry them into the next decade — 22-year-old Andris Biedrins, 21-year-old Brandan Wright and 19-year-old Anthony Randolph — the Warriors squandered that lead and then some in allowing the one-win Timberwolves to take command in the fourth quarter.

But with Minnesota holding a nine-point lead and less than four minutes remaining, Golden State clamped down with a zone that was designed to keep Jefferson in check.

Jefferson never even touched the ball. The Timberwolves missed their last eight shots. And perhaps most importantly, Minnesota — which had 20 offensive rebounds on the evening — only got one during the final 4:30, and that was on an ineffectual tip from Craig Smith with 30 seconds left.

Wright finally secured that rebound, fed the ball to C.J. Watson, who zipped a cross court lead pass to Stephen Jackson, who tallied the game-tying layup with 22.2 seconds left, part of his season-high 30 points.

“It was kind of hard for Jefferson to get the ball and make plays when we collapsed on him in the zone,” Jackson said. “We got rebounds, got out and ran, so I think the zone was very successful tonight.”

** This was the first time all season that the Biedrins-Wright-Randolph trio was on the floor together. The unit had stints in each of the first three quarters. The first was a move made out of desperation; Randolph came on in place of an ineffective Watson and Jackson took over at the point.

But the last one was a deliberate choice on the part of coach Don Nelson, who sent them out to start the third quarter together. That group helped Golden State reel off a 9-4 run to build an 11-point lead 3 minutes into the half.

“There are so many young guys on the floor, but it’s kind of fun because everybody is playing with such energy,” Biedrins said. “Everybody is running, defending, blocking shots.”

The Warriors were able to make the big and young lineup work because the Timberwolves weren’t equipped with the kind of point guard who could make them pay. Sebastian Telfair was fast enough to get by Jackson, but not when Jackson — knowing that Telfair can’t shoot accurately from outside of maybe 12 feet — could hang way back, giving himself a cushion of three or four steps with which to work.

** The Warriors were certainly helped down the stretch by some idiotic shot selection on the part of Minnesota. (Memo to Rashad McCants: when you’re up by eight points with 3 1/2 minutes to go and you get the initial pass of your team’s possession, hoisting up a 3-pointer is not, actually, the generally preferred option.)

** Nelson’s mixing and matching got the most out of the combination of Anthony Morrow and Marco Belinelli in this instance (a combined 4-for-6 from 3-point range).

** Kelenna Azubuike should not, at this point in time, be a team’s primary ballhandler.

** One problem with the Warriors’ outstanding shot blocking across the frontline is that when an interior player leaves their post to provide ball help, it opens up all kinds of second-chance opportunities for opponents left open on the other side of the rim.

** That the Warriors won despite a rare off night for Biedrins made it all the more memorable. Biedrins continued his string of double-doubles but fouled out again, with three of them coming on offensive screens.

** Hey, Randy Wittman: For the love of God, stop playing Rashad McCants.

** Mark Madsen lives!

** I didn’t talk to Wright on Tuesday, but Sunday in Sacramento, he was going without the familiar braces on his upper teeth, which had to be removed so a dentist could fix a chip in his right front tooth.

The injury occurred when Memphis rookie Darrell Arthur caught Wright across the face with an inadvertent forearm in Friday’s game. The damage was exacerbated because Wright doesn’t usually wear a mouthpiece. Or at least, he didn’t used to.

“I’m going to start wearing one now,” Wright said. “Got to.”

** Larry Harris, hired Wednesday to fill out the Warriors’ coaching staff in the wake of Larry Riley’s promotion to assistant general manager, has spent 19 years in the NBA — but this is his first time sitting on a team’s bench (or behind it; Harris has a spot in the second row, alongside assistant Russell Turner).

“I think I can bring something to the table on the coaching side of it,” said Harris, who worked his way up the front office ladder in Milwaukee and served as the Bucks’ general manager for almost five years until his dismissal in March. “It’s still about communicating with players and getting them to play to their maximum. And I think you do strengths and weaknesses when you’re evaluating the draft, and I certainly think I can bring some of that to the table, and hopefully some of what I’ve learned from my father (longtime NBA coach Del Harris) can rub off in that area as well.”

Also, there’s a funny aside regarding Larry Harris and Riley: “Ironically, when I came into Milwaukee, he was the video guy for my father. And then when (then-Bucks assistant) Mike Dunleavy went to the Lakers, my father elevated him to the bench, and that’s how I got the video job in Milwaukee. So I guess Larry’s kind of set the path for me.”

** From here, it certainly looks like Al Harrington — now on a week of bed rest and another week of rehab for his sore lower back — has played his last game with the Warriors.

Asked if he thought Harrington would suit up for Golden State again, Nelson said yes, then took a shot at Dan Fegan, Harrington’s agent.

“I’m assuming (so), yeah, if we don’t make a move, if we don’t trade him,” Nelson said. “I heard in the paper today (Harrington is going to miss) two weeks. From Doctor Fegan.”

Contact: geofflepper@48minutes.net

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

OAKLAND — As her only son languished in professional purgatory, Michele Williams kept imparting messages of encouragement.

“They pay you all this money to be professional,” Warriors point guard Marcus Williams recalled his mother saying. “So even if you are frustrated, you really can’t be.”

Williams had reason to disregard Mom’s advice. When he was acquired from the New Jersey Nets in July, it looked like a perfect opportunity for the UConn product to shed the labels he’d earned for being a less-than-stellar defender and not-very-active worker

Instead, Williams performed so poorly during training camp that he not only stayed firmly planted behind incumbent C.J. Watson but also dropped behind rookie off-guard DeMarcus Nelson on the depth chart.

“You’ve just got to be professional,” Williams said. “You’ve got to take the good with the bad.”

Some good finally came Friday, when Williams was resurrected from the inactive list by coach Don Nelson. He made his Warriors debut in Golden State’s 109-104 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies and finished with four assists in 10 minutes.

Nelson said before the game that Williams was being activated because he reached the appropriate levels in terms his contract’s weight clause — 10 percent body fat or 210 pounds.

But Williams isn’t sure that’s the whole story.

“I don’t think” it was all about the weight, Williams explained. “Coach said my work ethic was kind of bad.”

There was a simple way to change that view, which is why Williams started showing up an hour before practices and shootarounds for extra workouts with rookie guard Anthony Morrow under the supervision of Mark Grabow, the Warriors’ fitness guru, and staff member Rico Hines.

“It’s non-stop continuous running and getting shots up,” said Williams, who figured, “I’m not playing anyway, so I might as well get some extra work in, some game speed work in, just so when my name is called, I can step in and play and not be out of shape.”

Friday, Williams kept pace with his teammates. He had three assists during a 5 1/2-minute stint during the second quarter, the prettiest being a cross-court, 40-foot dish to Kelenna Azubuike for a layup as the Warriors attacked after a made Grizzlies basket.

Williams came on in the third quarter as part of a smallball lineup for Nelson — the first time Williams had played with that group, even including practices — which did not lead to great results at the defensive end. Memphis rookie O.J. Mayo pulled up for an easy jumper over Williams, and Williams was caught on a switch trying to front Darrell Arthur, who converted a lob pass into a layup.

Offensively, Williams did not get into the lane as often as Nelson was hoping (“I thought he was just OK,” was the coach’s assessment). But he remains the Warriors’ best option for a pass-first point guard.

“I think I could have done a little more,” Williams said. “I think the first two jump shots I probably forced. With those two plays, I could have maybe probed or tried to get into the paint to create a shot for someone else. I’m just trying to get a lot of reps in practice so when I get into games, it’ll be natural, getting into the paint.”

** DeMarcus Nelson came off the bench Friday — for the first time this season — and played only 9:31. The way Don Nelson was talking Saturday, it sounds like that be a relatively permanent condition, at least until DeMarcus Nelson makes defenses take his jump shot a little more seriously.

“You see the way they’re playing DeMarcus now: They’re not guarding him,” Don Nelson said. “That makes it harder for him, when teams start keying on him. As a starter, you’re more of a focal point than you are coming off the bench. That’s another reason I brought DeMarcus off the bench. They don’t know when he’s coming in the game; some players might forget how they’re going to play a certain guy, or all sorts of different things. It’s the same for any young player. They’re going to be tested.”

** Watson is gamely trying to play through a torn ligament in his right elbow, but it seems to be clearly affecting his shooting. Watson went 7-for-11 from the free throw line Friday (including three misses in the fourth quarter). So when was the last time you missed four FTs in a game, C.J.?

“Probably in the D-League,” Watson said. “I was 20 for 24.”

** On the injury front: Corey Maggette (strained left hamstring) is officially considered “doubtful” for Sunday’s game in Sacramento. The team had no update on Al Harrington (back spasms). And Don Nelson revealed that Stephen Jackson is having another painful bout of turf toe in his always-tender left foot. Jackson did not practice Saturday, although he’s not, at this point, expected to miss any game time.

Contact: geofflepper@48minutes.net

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

OAKLAND — Warrior fans were treated to a tantalizing glimpse of the future Friday — at least until a couple of deficiencies dredged up from the past blotted out the landscape.

The sight of second-year player Brandan Wright and rookie Anthony Randolph holding down the power forward slot in the absence of veteran Al Harrington (sore back) was a welcome one to fans who want to see the team build around those two potential stars.

But a 55-41 rebounding deficit and 13 missed free throws — hallmarks of Warriors losses from throughout the 2000s — cost Golden State in a 109-104 loss to Memphis.

“That’s a game we could have won,” guard Kelenna Azubuike said. “We’ve just got to take care of the little things down the stretch. We’ve got to knock down free throws, play defense. You can’t win like that. It’s that simple.”

Fourteen offensive rebounds and 11 second-chance points in the first half served as a lifeline for the Grizzlies, who shot 37.5 percent from the floor but still were down just 50-48.

That half nevertheless featured the first significant playing time for Randolph, who made his NBA debut Monday in Memphis with a meaningless 87 seconds. He came on with 4:24 left in the first quarter in place of Wright. He missed his first shot, a 19-foot jumper, and was called on the next possession for a foul trying to push Hakim Warrick off the block.

“I was over excited,” Randolph said. “I’m not even sure how to describe it. It was more than excited. . . . I was probably having a little panic attack.”

Randolph calmed down enough to collect eight points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes. After struggling with his outside shot for much of the exhibition season, it was gratifying for Randolph to gather all four of his buckets between 17 and 21 feet from the basket.

“I thought he looked pretty good tonight,” Warriors coach Don Nelson said. “He had some nice moments, and he definitely has a presence to his game. . . . He got some consistent minutes and made his presence felt a little bit.”

Wright, making the first of what’s expected to be many starts as the Warriors hand him the keys at power forward, finished with only six points, two rebounds and one chipped tooth in 21 minutes.

Nevertheless, the framework was laid in place for a Wright/Randolph partnership.

“I think once me and Brandan grow as players, we can be great defensive players, because we’re both so long and athletic,” Randolph said. “We complement each other. You take one out, it’s not like you’re losing anything.”

** Nelson said he went small in the third quarter in response to the Grizzlies’ shorter front line of Warrick, Rudy Gay and Darrell Arthur. And while Memphis did outrebound Golden State 16-11 in the period, that was more a byproduct of the Warriors’ inability to create any offense outside the paint. They were 1-for-9 beyond 10 feet, shot 39.3 percent total and collected only two assists as a team.

** Nelson has said for weeks that he doesn’t want the Warriors to take as many 3-pointers as they did last season. Now we see why. With Stephen Jackson’s 0-for-6, Golden State wound up going 2-for-12 from distance. That drops the Warriors’ season totals to 34-for-119 (28.6 percent), putting them squarely in the bottom third of the league.

** So much for the idea that Warriors rookie Richard Hendrix might provide some beef to bang with Memphis’ Marc Gasol: Nelson said that Hendrix will be making the Patrick O’Bryant Memorial Pilgrimage to Bakersfield, and soon.

“I don’t think that he’s ready yet, and I’m going to put him in the D-League, probably for most of the year,” Nelson said. “I think that would be good for him, and then we’ll take a look at him. I don’t see that he’s going to be NBA-ready for quite a while.

** Corey Maggette is still hoping to play Sunday in Sacramento, but it sounds like Nelson would rather err on the side of caution after letting him back into the game at Memphis on Monday with negative results.

“I think what I learned from the game in Memphis was that if he’s suffering in the first half, it’s better for me not to play him,” Nelson said. “Because first of all, he doesn’t play worth a shit when he’s trying to play hurt. And then it probably keeps him out an extra game afterwards, so it’s a lose-lose. So if he’s tender in those areas at halftime, and he wants to give it a go, I’m going to say no, let’s wait. I think that’s better for him and better for us.”

** As posited in this space earlier Friday, C.J. Watson did indeed start, although it was such a late change that rookie DeMarcus Nelson, who started the Warriors’ first five games at the point, was announced on the main scoreboard with the other four starters.

Watson finished with eight assists, eight rebounds and no turnovers, but shot 1-for-7 from the floor and had three of the Warriors’ six misses from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

** Larry Riley, the former assistant coach who was booted upstairs Thursday to replace Pete D’Alessandro as assistant general manager, will miss the creature comforts of traveling with the team in its chartered Northwestern jet. All except for one, that is:

“I won’t miss those doggone card games with Nellie,” Riley said. “He’s killing me. He’s just killing me. So that’s something I can give up.”

Said Nelson, a bit wistfully: “I don’t know who I can find to be that bad at gin rummy.”

Contact: geofflepper@48minutes.net