By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

Your (back from the New Year’s break) daily guided tour through the national and local media coverage of the always-entertaining Golden State Warriors.

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San Francisco Chronicle (John Shea): I wonder how this Don Nelson quote from Shea’s piece on the wretchedness that is Oakland sports in general is going to go over at 1011 Broadway: “You don’t have a 20-year reign in which you’re going to win titles and contend unless you’re a team that functions over the cap, like the Lakers and other big-market teams. When you can’t function over the cap, you’ve got to do a better job managing your cap and money and selection of players that fit.”

So, basically, Don, you’re saying that until Chris Cohan coughs up more cash (which won’t happen), the Warriors have no hope of contending? Yeah, that’ll sell more tickets.

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By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

OAKLAND — In 568 career NBA games, Warriors guard Jamal Crawford has only gotten to five fouls on 16 occasions. He has not fouled out once.

Keith Smart, Golden State’s defensive coordinator, doesn’t see those facts in a positive light.

“If you don’t get in foul trouble, there’s a reason,” Smart said. “You’re probably not close enough to get a foul. So we’ve got to get him thinking about those things.”

Crawford is thinking about it. He’s an avid film watcher, and Smart has used those sessions to point out Crawford’s flaws on D since his arrival in November.

“I definitely could get better,” Crawford said when asked if he was playing up to his potential defensively. “I think my whole overall game could get better, though. I think that I could be a better player. And that’s the way I work, what I’m striving towards.”

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By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

It’s too bad the Warriors had a chartered bus ready to usher them out of AT&T Center on Saturday after Golden State’s dismal sleepwalk through a 123-88 defeat at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs.

It would have been fascinating to count up just how many cabs were needed to deliver them back to the team hotel.

Thanks to two championships in the last five years, the Boston Red Sox have shed their decades-old label of a team that requires 25 cabs for 25 different players due to a lack of unity and camaraderie, both on the field and off.

Based on what took place Saturday in San Antonio, it looks as though that mantle has been taken up by the Warriors. Things seem like they’ve gotten to the point where it’s time to declare “every man for himself” on the S.S. Nelson, which is taking on water at a frightening rate.

Check out what transpired over one 6-minute stretch of the first quarter, during which time the Spurs raised their lead from 8-6 to 28-16.

Golden State had 17 possessions during that timeframe:

** On one possession, the Warriors made three passes, going counter-clockwise around the perimeter until the ball reached C.J. Watson in the right corner. Watson used his agility to change direction quickly enough that Matt Bonner was forced to concede the non-shooting foul.

** On 11 possessions, the Warriors made only one pass in the frontcourt before the receiver would either make a move to the hoop or hoist a jumper. As a team, the Warriors went 3-for-9 from the floor on those possessions, with one trip to the foul line (two shots converted by Jamal Crawford) and one non-shooting foul drawn (Andris Biedrins on Tim Duncan).

** The remaining five possessions involved no passes at all. Twice, Crawford took an outlet pass and called his own number on jumpers, going 0-for-2. Twice, Corey Maggette collected rebounds and dribbled the length of the court, once getting fouled (he knocked down both FTs) and once missing a pullup jumper over Michael Finley. The fifth possession came about when Biedrins grabbed an offensive board and was whistled for knocking over Fabricio Oberto while trying to score the putback.

All told for those 17 possessions: 3-12 FG, 4-4 FT, 1 TO, minus-10 on the scoreboard.

And the good times were only beginning.

It was shortly after that hideous stretch that Maggette corralled a loose ball in the…