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…

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…

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…

The changes for the Warriors aren’t just limited to the front office.

Brandan Wright will start this evening at power forward, replacing veteran Al Harrington, who was set to see a doctor Friday afternoon for an MRI on his sore lower back, which he said has been hurting him since training camp.

And Kelenna Azubuike will open on the wing in place of Corey Maggette, who still holds out some hope that he might be able to go Sunday in Sacramento. Maggette’s right hamstring, which he originally hurt in China, is now healed. The left one, which he strained in Memphis last week, is still questionable.

(As a funny aside, Maggette can practically qualify as an M.D., at least in hamstrings, after injuring them twice last season and twice more this season. “I’ve learned how to read my own MRIs,” Maggette said. “The doctors come in, and I say, ‘Those white lines (micro-tears in the muscle fiber) don’t look good.’”)

Harrington said he tried to keep his own injury quiet early on so it wouldn’t jeopardize any potential trade opportunities, but “since the trip to Toronto (Oct. 31), it’s been killing me.”

It also wouldn’t shock me to see C.J. Watson, who played 42 minutes in the 111-101 win over Denver on Wednesday and provided 14 points, five rebounds and four assists, replace DeMarcus Nelson in the starting lineup, although coach Don Nelson has declined to discuss any potential changes there.

Don Nelson did allow that guard Marcus Williams has “made weight” and will suit up, so the inactive list looks like it will be Maggette, Harrington and mostly likely either Richard Hendrix or Anthony Morrow.

After the 7-1, 265-pound Marc Gasol just toyed with the Warriors in the paint on Monday, this seems like the right time to finally deploy Hendrix. After all, if you’re going to have a (team-high) 255-pound plodder on a high-tempo team and you don’t use him in this situation, then why on Earth is he here?

– Geoff

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

OAKLAND – On a night chock-full of revelations at Oracle Arena, second-year Warriors forward Brandan Wright supplied the exclamation point to Golden State’s 111-101 victory over the Nuggets.

With 1:12 remaining and Denver trailing and desperate for a hoop, veteran Denver forward Kenyon Martin tried to sneak an extra step closer to the basket. That was all the chance Wright needed to spring forward, bat Martin’s jumper into the air and eventually tap it to C.J. Watson to help seal the victory.

It was one of three blocks on the evening for Wright, who also tallied a career-high 18 points and 13 rebounds.

“I just wanted to be a spark and do positive things and hope we get more Ws like tonight,” Wright said.

Wright was active and assertive on the offensive end, hitting his first seven shots and grabbing six offensive boards. But it was those blocks that stood out the most.

The Warriors reached double digits in blocks only twice last season, a deficiency they hoped to address by seeing improvement from Wright and signing free agent Ronny Turiaf.

Andris Biedrins finished with five blocks and Turiaf had two of his own, although they were all upstaged by Kelenna Azubuike, who simply laid waste to a fast-break dunk attempt by Dahntay Jones in the second quarter.

“Their length inside really allows them to help us out on the defensive end,” said Azubuike, who played the entire second half and finished with 22 points, eight rebounds and four assists. “When we get beat, they are always there in the middle to block or change a shot.”

Combined with the Nuggets’ almost pathological desire to pass the ball out of bounds — I understand Denver was down to one true point guard (Anthony Carter) while awaiting the arrival of Chauncey Billups, but this was ridiculous — the Warriors showed signs of being a potentially dominant defensive team.

“They blocked 11 shots, with 20 turnovers that they created,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “That’s a lot of shots and possessions that they had control over.”

** While Wright was setting all kinds of personal bests, fellow 2007 first-round draftee Marco Belinelli and this year’s first-rounder, Anthony Randolph, were put on notice by Nelson that they won’t see significant playing time until their work improves in practice.

Watson, who set a career-high Wednesday with 14 points and tied another with four assists, rookie starter DeMarcus Nelson and even recently re-signed Rob…