(I originally had this meandering aside plopped down in the middle of the Warriors-Nuggets post, but it just killed the flow, no matter where I put it. So here it is on its own.)

Brief detour to discuss this topic: How much higher is Joey Crawford’s profile compared to every other NBA referee currently working? Maybe Dick Bavetta or Bennett Salvatore could give him a run for his money on the basis of longevity, or Bob Delaney with his Donnie Brasco backstory, or Violet Palmer as a female trailblazer, but I don’t think there’s anyone else as instantly recognizable in a gray addidas T right now than Crawford.

Here was a hilarious first-quarter exchange on the Altitude broadcast between play-by-play announcer Chris Marlowe and color man Scott Hastings:

Hastings: Joe Crawford just came down the bench and told the Denver bench that both ‘Melo and Kenyon Martin have both been warned.

Marlowe: For what?

Hastings: (Snorts.) It’s Joe Crawford, man. . . . Probably talking back, I guess.

Thirty seconds later, Crawford whistled Martin for a tech.

Hastings: I’m doing everything I can, folks, just to not say anything.

Remember when Steve Javie was the guy who was known for having a rabbit ears and a hair-trigger penchant for handing out T’s? Javie should share some of whatever he’s been using to mellow out, because Joey, you need to chillax, man.

– Geoff

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

It’s too bad that Spurs guard Manu Ginobili was afforded the courtesy whistle given to all visiting dignitaries in San Antonio’s 110-105 win over the Warriors on Monday.

Not too bad because it cost the Warriors a win. Too bad because it obscured the real reason why they lost.

“I have to be careful what I say because I don’t want to get fined,” Golden State coach Don Nelson said. “I thought we had the game won in regulation, but the late whistle (on Turiaf) cost us the game, really.”

All the grousing about Sean Wright’s personal Argentinean bailout plan is not without merit. (Fun fact: if you watch the play again on slo-mo, you can see that, at the disputed moment of impact between Ginobili and Ronny Turiaf, Wright’s line of sight from 30 feet out is completely blocked by the bodies of both Tim Duncan and Corey Maggette. That’s quite some vision Sean’s got there.)

But what cost Nelson and the Warriors the game wasn’t Wright’s call. It wasn’t even Stephen Jackson not getting a call when his last shot was defended tightly by Bruce Bowen.

Read the rest of this entry…

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

SACRAMENTO — Stephen Jackson realized a while ago that there’s a very basic problem at the heart of the Warriors’ struggles so far this season.

“Guys are going to have to understand that I can’t be the only guy out there making plays for other guys to get open shots,” Jackson said on Wednesday. “Everybody has to be accountable for that. And that’s what was a big part of our success last year. Baron (Davis) got guys open shots. Monta (Ellis) got guys open shots. I got guys open shots. Right now, it’s just me getting guys open shots. So until we figure out that everybody has to try to make the extra pass or worry about making a play for somebody else, then we’re going to be in the same position.”

Despite a change in location, the Warriors found themselves back in that same position Sunday. With Jackson effectively removed from the game by aggressive, early double-teaming from the Kings, Golden State’s offense once again fizzled, and Sacramento ran away with a 115-98 victory.

“We would expect that that’s going to happen,” said Warriors coach Don Nelson, who admitted that he “packed it in” after three quarters with his team trailing by 16 points. “When you’re limited as far as your star players go, that’s a pretty smart thing (for an opponent) to do, don’t you think?”

So what can you do in response?

“Then somebody else has to step up. It’s his job to make the proper pass, not try to fight it. And it’s up to the other players then to deliver.”

In that case, go ahead and rename them the Golden State Postal Service, because there were no deliveries made Sunday. C.J. Watson and DeMarcus Nelson combined for five assists and four turnovers in 51 minutes. (Marcus Williams had three assists and no TOs in 9 minutes’ worth of garbage time.)

The Warriors shot 41.1 percent, and even the shots they made had a much higher degree of difficulty than the open layups that Kings such as Kevin Martin (27 points before a third-quarter spill knocked him out for the evening.

“I think we just need to share the ball more,” said center Andris Biedrins, who had the team’s second-highest assist total with four. “We always just do one pass and shoot. You don’t really need to be a playmaker to get somebody open. Just drive, pass it out, next pass and…