48minutes.net

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

Warriors center Ronny Turiaf has an easy fix for Golden State’s problems when it comes to securing defensive rebounds:

“Plain and simple, go get the ball,” Turiaf said. “That’s it.”

Except that hasn’t been it, of course. Not by a long shot.

Including last night’s horrific 20-offensive rebound performance for the Indiana Pacers in their 127-210 victory, Golden State has chalked up a defensive rebound rate (DRR) of just 67.0 percent through its first 26 games.

The DRR — a team’s defensive boards divided by the sum of a team’s defensive boards and the opponents’ offensive rebounds — is a rough ratio of how many defensive rebounds a team gets (it doesn’t include team boards, so it’s not as exact as you would want).

At 67.0, Golden State ranks last in the NBA by a wide, wide margin. There’s a chart to illustrate that point below, but here’s some specifics as well: The Kings are 29th in the league at 70.5 percent and the league average is 73.1. The top-ranked Spurs are at 77.8.

Consider: Even if the Warriors closed half the gap between their DRR and the league average . . . they’d still be the league’s worst, at 70.05. So the data begs the question:

How bad are the Warriors, historically speaking?

Well, how about this: They’re the second-worst defensive rebounding team this century.

OK, I realize the 21st century is only in its ninth year, but still, the last time a team posted a DRR lower than 67.0 was in 1999-2000, when the Dallas Mavericks — put together and coached by familiar, white-haired adherent of small ball by the name of Don Nelson — pulled down 66.1 percent of their opportunities.

In an attempt to solve that team’s failings — both on the floor and at the ticket office — Nelson and new Mavericks owner Mark Cuban brought in a 38-year-old Dennis Rodman. Though the Worm helped somewhat — Dallas’ DRR in 12 games with him was about 3.5 points better than in the 70 without — it wasn’t enough to make it worth dealing with his particular brand of crazy.

I’m sure that Rodman would be game to pull down more NBA coin, but let’s assume for the moment that a washed-up, 47-year-old ex-husband to Carmen Electra isn’t the answer for Nelson & Co. this time around.

What can the Warriors do to solve this problem, which keeps biting them at critical junctures (such as the possession Wednesday where Jeff Foster simply bulled over Jamal Crawford, collected his own miss and allowed Stephen Graham to give the Pacers a second-chance layup for a five-point lead)?

“Well, it’s a very complicated thing,” Nelson said last week. “It’s not just one thing. There’s lots of different coverages, there’s lots of different assignments. It takes a while before it’s a natural thing for young players.”

It’s interesting to look at the Warriors’ individual DRR numbers this season compared to last season, when Golden State still ranked last but had a 70.3 mark that was at least within hailing distance of the rest of the league.

In 2007-08:

In 2008-09:

A few things that stand out: Harrington’s dramatic slide (-5.2) reiterates just how little he cared to toil in a Warriors uniform this season.

That was just one piece of the across-the-board decrease for returning players, such as Wright (-2.7), Azubuike (-2.3) and Jackson (-1.1).

Turiaf attributes some of the team’s problem to a habit of standing around and watching Biedrins (third in the league at 12.0 rpg): “Because Goose gets so many of them, sometimes we’re like, ‘OK, Goose, just go get it.’ We become somewhat complacent; ‘You average 13 a game, so we’ll just box out for you.’”

Yet even Biedrins is down 1.3 percent.

It’s been fun to watch the Phoenix Suns play this season and witness, even as they’re disintegrating because of Steve Nash’s disenchantment with new coach Terry Porter, Matt Barnes having a career year. Much like Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi,” where you “don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone,” Barnes’ tenacity on the glass has become so much more noticeable now that it’s not here, replaced by the pale imitation that has been Corey Maggette’s work as a “power” forward.

Watson deserves praise for his concentrated effort on rebounding, which has been rewarded with greater numbers, and so to a lesser extent does Belinelli. And, not to beat on a dead horse, while Randolph may have his problems in making the transition from teen-ager to NBA pro, going up and securing loose balls is not one of them.

But Crawford is as bad as he was advertised to be. And Turiaf, the Warriors’ alleged answer to such bangers as Utah’s Paul Millsap (20.4 career DRR) and Dallas’ Brandon Bass (17.4), is at a career-low number, continuing a slide that has not stopped since his rookie year: from 19.0 to 18.3 to 15.4 to 13.6.

There are a number of factors that lead back to different causes. That Golden State’s guards are doing a remarkably poor job at keeping opposing ball-handlers from turning the corner seemingly at will means that Turiaf and Biedrins are constantly pulled out of prime rebounding position to provide last-line-of-defense help around the rim. Nor is it helping that wings are supposed to be heading downcourt, seeking out early offense in Nelson’s system, rather than dealing with the heavy lifting of defensive rebounding.

Turiaf claims it’s all mental, and doesn’t blame even the Warriors’ near obsession with a small-ball setup that the coach keeps saying didn’t work because the opponent’s small squad was just flat-out better.

“It has nothing to do with not being strong enough, being small, blah-blah-blah,” Turiaf said. “It has nothing to do with that. . . . Regardless of what happens, just go get the ball. I’d rather have a turnover — I don’t think coach is going to agree with me on that one — but I’d rather have a turnover with two guys going to get the ball than not getting it. That’s pretty much it.

“Just go get it.”

Hendrix goes, Williams stays
The Warriors couldn’t bring themselves to pay Marcus Williams almost $1 million not to show up for the rest of this season, so they cut rookie forward Richard Hendrix instead to make room for Monta Ellis’ move off the suspended list. The decision saved the team costs the team roughly $600,000 less than losing Williams and makes sense from one perspective: There is no way Don Nelson was going to use either of those two players the rest of the way, so the team simply chose the option that represents less wasted money.

The Lineup Project
I don’t want to give anyone a stroke, so I’ll just point out that the 7:15 in the Medium line encompassed Brandan Wright’s entire evening.

Without Monta. . .
So it’s 7-19, then. I thought I was being pretty good at tamping any optimism when I wrote that the Warriors would be 9-17 by the time Ellis’ suspension ended. Guess I was wrong.

Contact: geofflepper@48minutes.net

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

When the Golden State Warriors put together Stephen Jackson with Matt Barnes and Baron Davis almost two years ago, skeptics wondered how long it would take before three players with those kind of combustible on-court personalities totally lost it in an emotional outburst.

As it turned out, the triumvirate worked surprisingly well. Certainly, there were hiccups in the playoffs — the ejections in Dallas, the bitter ending in Salt Lake City — but in general, when one of the three started to have his blood boil because of a blown call or a cheap shot, the other two were there to turn that fire into constructive motivation, rather than destructive rage.

Sixteen games into the 2008-09 Warriors season, it’s becoming clear: Jackson needs an equal to provide him the leadership he’s being asked to give the rest of the team. There is no calming factor in place when Jackson starts to get his dander up, and that helps neither him nor the Warriors.

Without someone to talk in Jackson’s ear and focus his indignation, it seems like whenever he feels wronged by the referees, the next possession is practically guaranteed to come down to him going mano y mano, as if to say to the officiating crew, “You think I didn’t get fouled last time? How about now?”

The Warriors’ 112-97 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday gave us yet another example.

With the Warriors holding a 38-34 lead, Jackson dribbled into traffic, created contact but didn’t get a call. The next time down the floor, Jackson went on what I described in my notes as “a frustration drive,” although this time it worked out in his favor, with a foul called on Anderson Varejao.

It didn’t stop there. Jackson dominated the next possession, posting up Mo Williams and drawing another foul. The next time down, he posted up but found Corey Maggette for a 3-pointer. (Maggette promptly airballed it, but that’s a whole other topic.)

Finally, Jackson posted up Daniel Gibson and, while working with his back to the basket, had the ball stolen by LeBron James, who went coast-to-coast for the dunk.

After Andris Biedrins missed in the lane, Jackson deliberately hacked James. Then he yapped at a referee (I believe it was Tom Washington, but can’t be sure) on his way to the bench after being pulled for Jamal Crawford.

I can empathize with Jackson’s frustration. I don’t think this isn’t just about one missed call; it’s about being unable to change the direction of a Golden State team that is now 5-11 and will probably go 0-for-this-road-trip. But it’s up to one of Jackson’s teammates to take on that role of keeping Jackson focused on the task at hand. Or else the cycle will just keep repeating.

Biedrins’ blahs
Marcus Thompson wrote earlier this week about the added attention that Biedrins is drawing from opposing defenses. And the situation is only becoming more and more pronounced.

Biedrins’ favorite post move — coming from the right block and moving into the lane with a left-handed dribble or two — is consistently being taken away. (Witness last night in the second quarter, when Biedrins rolled to the hoop but had been pushed so far out by Zydrunas Ilgauskas, that what was drawn up to be a 3-foot flip shot became an 8-foot and neither Biedrins nor Warriors have been able to change that fact.

Additionally, Biedrins’ hands haven’t been the same as last season; the first pass that came his way was a zipped deal from Jackson, but it was the same type of ball he caught all the time a year ago. This one, however, went off Biedrins’ mitt and out of bounds. His turnovers have jumped from 2.0 per game through the first 12 contests to 3.0 per game on this trip, including a season-high-tying five in Washington.

The bigger problem, however, was on defense. Biedrins is still undersized when banging against a larger player such as Ilgauskas, and Z had his way with Biedrins on Friday. And when Biedrins tried to use his quickness to get around Ilgauskas — the way he would attack a bigger player in past seasons — it didn’t work. We’ll see what kind of adjustments Biedrins makes in the upcoming days.

The Lineup Project
Continuing our look at the Warriors’ use of small (one big man), medium (two) and large (three) lineups. For Friday:

Lineup Score Time
Large 2-2 1:06
Medium 62-56, GSW 25:48
Small 54-33, CLE 21:06

That’s a point-a-minute deficit with the small ball group, which endured a 32-22 run bridging the first and second quarters and then went on a 22-11 slide to finish the third period.

Without Monta . . .
The loss in Cleveland was not unexpected, so the Warriors didn’t fall any farther behind. But they’re still on pace for an 8-18 record come the middle of December.

Contact: geofflepper@48minutes.net

Without even a pretense of having something at the top, here’s today’s installment of your faithful reporter’s quest to prognosticate all 1,230 NBA regular-season games this season:

76ers (2-5) at Raptors (4-3), 4:05 p.m.
Pick: Raptors -6
Kevin Garnett? Pfffft. Now, if Jose Calderon can get the ever-placid Elton Brand to wag a finger in his face, that’d be something impressive.

Hawks (6-0) at Celtics (7-1), 4:35 p.m.
Pick: Celtics -10.5
If Atlanta really can be this good for 82 games, I might have to seriously revise my opinion of Mike Bibby.

Pacers (3-3) at Nets (2-4), 4:35 p.m.
Pick: Nets +1.5
I shouldn’t fall into this trap, but I’m going to anyway.

Lakers (6-0) at Hornets (4-2), 5:05 p.m.
Pick: Lakers +1
L.A. is 5-1 against the spread this season, and the only loss was by one point (they beat Denver by 7 while laying 8).

Trail Blazers (4-3) at Heat (4-3), 5:05 p.m.
Pick: Heat -1.5
Greg Oden comes back, but for how long? Three games? Six?

Spurs (2-4) at Bucks (3-5), 5:05 p.m.
Pick: Spurs -2.5
So, was that win over New York an aberration, or a return to form for the Spurs’ shooters?

Magic (4-3) at Thunder (1-6), 5:05 p.m.
Pick: Magic -7
Nick Collison should get paid double for the abuse he’s about to take.

Jazz (6-1) at Wizards (0-5), 5:05 p.m.
Pick: Jazz -4.5
Has a team gone from splashing out huge wads of cash to fighting to keep from falling into inevitable rebuilding mode faster than the Wizards?

Knicks (4-3) at Grizzlies (3-5), 5:05 p.m.
Pick: Knicks +4.5
I hadn’t realized until right now that the Knicks really don’t have a single legitimate shot-blocker. They’re still in single-digits as a team (9), through seven games. Makes me wonder if Mike D’Antoni told Chris Duhon on the day he signed, “Welcome aboard. Don’t ever, ever, EVER, EVER, EVER let your man get by you.”

Kings (3-5) at Clippers (1-6), 7:35 p.m.
Pick: Clippers -7
The Kings disappointed me last night by kicking away what should have been a sure cover in the final minutes. I’m not sure if this is the right response, but so be it.

Rockets (4-3) at Suns (6-2), 7:35 p.m.
Picks: Rockets +3.5
This is one of about four games I’ve flipped back and forth. I’ll be fascinated to watch Matt Barnes and Ron Artest, two of the league’s more combustible personalities on the floor, going head-to-head.

Yesterday: 6-2
Season record: 50-54-1

– Geoff

One of my favorite pieces from any NBA writer last season came from ESPN’s J.A. Adande, sizing up the Suns in the wake of their February acquisition of Shaquille O’Neal, and what it meant for Phoenix.

Under Mike D’Antoni’s theory of basketball, a team should need only 7 seconds to get a shot off. Under Shaq’s theory of basketball, 7 seconds is the bare minimum to creep his way past the half-court line. The two views were patently incompatible, a fact Adande — spinning off the revolution once promised by D’Antoni’s system — wryly noted by saying, “La revolucion esta muerta.”

There’s a little bit of that same “end of an era” vibe to the Warriors’ decision not to pick up the fourth-year option on point guard Marcus Williams.

It’s not that Williams is likely to blossom into an All-Star next season for another team. But ridding themselves of Williams in this fashion, with no regard to salvaging even the slightest hint of value, highlights the fact that the apparent tug-of-war between team president Robert Rowell and executive vice president Chris Mullin for control of the franchise’s direction is threatening to take the team on a road to nowhere.

It’s one thing to have a coach come in and decide that he doesn’t like a certain player. Happens all the time.

To decide that a player whom you’ve just acquired a few months earlier — at the probable cost of a future first-round pick — is not worth a single season at $2.1 million is unusual.

To decide that without seeing the player participate in a single regular-season game on your behalf is just ludicrous.

Even Patrick O’Bryant, whom Nelson had no use for from the jump — and vice-versa — had a full season to prove himself before the team decided to deep-six him by similarly declining their option.

It’s kind of astounding to look back at the volume of players who have failed, in two short years, to live up to Nelson’s standards. One item from Al Harrington’s various pronouncements on Tuesday that I really do believe is something he told Marcus Thompson II:

“We all know how Nellie is. We all know his history. If you’re not one of his dudes, you ain’t never going to be one of his dudes.”

O’Bryant can back that up.

So can Ike Diogu.

And Troy Murphy.

Or Adonal Foyle.

Even Sarunas Jasikevicius.

And Kosta Perovic.

Heck, even some guys who started out as Nelson favorites — hello, Matt Barnes — ended up buried. Williams is just the latest victim on Nelson’s discard list.

The coach has consistently derided Williams, even on the days when Williams played well in practice. A couple weeks ago, Williams was draining shots from all over the floor, busting up DeMarcus Nelson, and the coach responded with: “I don’t need him to score.”

OK, but — even though Williams has played poorly on defense — he’s the one healthy point guard on the roster who can fill some of the scoring void left by Baron Davis and Monta Ellis, so why not take advantage of his strengths? Isn’t that the point of Nellieball, to maximize and exploit mismatches?

When the Warriors made their best move of the past three years – the January 2007 trade of Murphy, Diogu, Mike Dunleavy and Keith McLeod to the Pacers for Jasikevicius, Harrington, Stephen Jackson and Josh Powell — it came about from the confluence of three competing drives:

** Rowell’s desire to shed the big-money extensions that were threatening to hamstring the team for years to come.

** Nelson’s instant dislike for most everything Murphy and Diogu did on the floor.

** Mullin’s ability to wamboozle Donnie Walsh into giving him two shorter, cheaper contracts — and two better players at the same time.

The whiplash nature of Marcus Williams’ tenure in Golden State is a sign that members of that triumvirate are now pulling in opposite directions. And that ever-so-brief dalliance with relevance?

Looks like it’s esta muerta.

– Geoff

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

OAKLAND — If 3-pointers represent the fast food of NBA offenses, then last season’s Warriors were, collectively speaking, a cholesterol-choked, fat-filled heart attack waiting to happen.

Golden State’s gunners jacked up 2,185 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc in 2007-08, establishing a new all-time NBA single-season record in the process. The total would have probably been even higher if they hadn’t made a draft-day deal that sent Jason Richardson to Charlotte — where he launched 599 treys for the Bobcats, tops in the league.

This season, the Warriors’ attack looks like it’s on a double-strength regimen of Lipitor. And it’s Dr. Don Nelson who’s writing that prescription.

“Hopefully, (the 3-pointer) won’t be as big a weapon,” Nelson said. “I thought we fell in love too much with the 3 last year occasionally. The guys that can shoot it, when they’re open, they have a green light when they have a rhythm shot, but we’re not going to set up plays for it.”

Golden State – which has led the NBA for two years running in 3-point attempts — ranked eighth among NBA teams in terms of 3-point shots taken during this year’s preseason, more than 50 percent behind the league-leading Knicks of Mike D’Antoni.

Where the ‘07-08 team counted six legitimate 3-point threats among its eight regular rotation players, this year’s edition has only five in the top nine. And that math is misleadingly close, because this year’s crop of shooters includes Al Harrington (who detested his niche as a 3-point-shooting big man last season), Corey Maggette (who said Monday that he would rather drive than hoist from distance), and C.J. Watson (who’s taken all of 26 treys in his NBA career).

That leaves just Stephen Jackson and Kelenna Azubuike to uphold the traditions of the NBA’s most prolific long-range squad, which lost Baron Davis (525 3-point attempts last season), Matt Barnes (181) and Mickael Pietrus (182) this summer.

“I’m not really thinking about it like, ‘We lost a bunch of (guys who shot) 3s, so I’ve got to get some more 3s up,’” Azubuike said. “I feel like we can score in different ways. I feel like I can score in different ways. I don’t have to shoot 3s all the time. . . . Make the right play, take the right shot. Don’t force a 3 because you feel we need to get some up.”

Having taken a big jump to a career high 38.4 percent shooting on 3-pointers last season with the Clippers, Maggette would seem to be a good choice to take up some of the slack, but the man who took the sixth-most free-throw attempts in the league last season has other things in mind.

“I’ll shoot 3s if I’m open . . . but that’s just not my game,” Maggette said. “I can do it, but I prefer getting into the paint and hitting some mid-range jump shots. That’s just my game.

“I think Jack and Al have the opportunity where if they can come down and they have an open shot, they’re going to shoot it.”

So what does this all mean for Nellieball as we know it?

“I think the style is going to be different from what you’re accustomed to in the last couple of years,” Maggette said. “It’s going to be pretty much the same as far as the way Nellie wants to play, but it won’t be as fast. It’s going to be a slower pace. I think we will get faster when we get Monta (Ellis) back, but right now it probably won’t be as fast as what you guys expect it to be.”

NOTES: Maggette (strained right hamstring) practiced Monday, his first full-speed workout since the Warriors’ final exhibition game on Oct. 21, but is not yet certain of being able to play in the Warriors’ regular-season opener on Wednesday. He was able to run without feeling any pulling from the hamstring, but the next hurdle is whether he’ll be able to explode to the rim. Maggette expects to test that Tuesday in practice. “I take today as an improvement, being able to run up and down the floor,” Maggette said. “I’m not going to rush it. Hamstrings are about patience. I’m not a patient person, but in these situations, I have to be.” . . . Tickets are still available for Opening Night against the New Orleans Hornets. Visit www.warriors.com or call 1-888-GSW-HOOP.

Contact: geofflepper@48minutes.net