By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

According to Chris Broussard over at ESPN.com, the Warriors’ one-game experiment with starting Ronny Turiaf at power forward is over, with Anthony Randolph set to move into the lineup tonight in Phoenix.

Somebody cue Jim Nabors, and be sure to employ the “sarcasm” HTML tag:

Surprise, surprise, surprise!

Don Nelson used Turiaf on Wednesday because the Rockets were a small, depleted team that looked like a good matchup. It didn’t turn out to be so, but even if it had, Turiaf would still be heading back to the bench, for a multitude of different reasons. The biggest is this one: With Amare Stoudemire and Channing Frye, the Suns have two legitimate big men on the floor, negating any perceived matchup advantage Golden State might get with a Turiaf-Andris Biedrins combination at the start.

Frankly, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if Nelson puts Corey Maggette into the lineup for Game 3 against Memphis next Wednesday, looking to create a mismatch with either Marc Gasol or Zach Randolph.

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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…