The Warriors have found the big man they've always wanted.
Chris Hunter, formerly of the D-league as of earlier yesterday afternoon, started the second half of the Warriors win over the Portland Trailblazers and shutdown Greg Oden. This definitely secured the win as without Hunter's defensive presence in the paint, the Warriors might have been down by as many as a dozen or more like the first quarter where Oden dominated and helped the Trailblazers race out to an early lead.
The Warriors haven't had this stellar of a debut by a big man since Marc Jackson, jokes Atma Brother #1.
Hunter's defensive presence, however, reflected a larger team effort from the whole dubs squad where defense might have been as important, for once, as scoring.
For more, see what the good folks at Blazers Edge have to say about the game!
RECAP: Warriors 108, Blazers 94 - Great way to start a weekend
GSoM Preview/ Game Thread (1690+ comments)
Trail Blazers vs Warriors coverage
Trail Blazers vs Warriors recap
Trail Blazers vs Warriors boxscore
Jump for some pre-GSoM Recap links and videos!
Prepare to have nightmares of Brandon Roy
Warriors: 3-8
Blazers: 9-4
Tip-Off: 7:30pm
TV: CSN Bay Area
Radio: KNBR 680
Blog Buddy: Blazers Edge
The big, bad Blazers come to Oakland with their big, oft-broken center, Greg Oden, and big star Brandon Roy. This is a very good team and they're going to be good for a long time. In a few years, perhaps next year, this team could challenge for the title. Jealous? Yes. They just have guys that are easy to root for.
On the other side of the floor, the Warriors are, well, the Warriors you know and love. But, Warriors basketball post-Jax has been much more team oriented, slightly bearable to watch. Even though both games ended in losses, there were definitely some encouraging signs for the team moving forward.
This week in the mothership:
1. Six Feet And Under: The Lightning Bug Era
2. Chris Paul, Injured
3. Ron Artest Is Nic Cage; Wizards Fans Are Dr. Stanley Goodspeed
4. Gilbert Arenas Reminds Us He's Awesome
5. A Nuggets Fan Meets George Karl
6. Chinese Trading Cards: This Is Why Globalization Is Good
7. A Perfect Quarter Of Basketball
8. Lebron: The Anatomy Of Douchebaggery
9. Captain Jack, The Bobcat: Sometimes You Get What You Deserve
10. The NBA's Dock Ellis
Fine-art Friday: The breakup of "We Believe" as a Mike Meezy slow jam. [Fear the Beard]
GSoM friend Mike Meezy of the mighty FTB crew drops the smoothness to accompany some Warriors highlights.
This past Tuesday's matchup between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers was selected by hoops fans worldwide to be televised on NBA TV for Fan Night. I never knew so many hoops junkies were so hyped about watching new Warrior Valdimir Radmanovic!
RECAP: Warriors 108, Cavaliers 114 - A Victorious Loss
1993-1994: Good times in Dubs land.
Anyhow CWebb and the Celtics eternal employee Kevin McHale had some interesting things to say about the Dubs and Nellie. Jump for a video and some quotes.
I'll take a Bud Light!
Blog Buddy: Celtics Blog
The final outcome was pretty much what we all expected, a blowout win for the Celtics. The Warriors hung tough for the first half, but when that 3rd quarter came around, boy oh boy, that was rough. The Celtics didn't put the Warriors away, they just let the Warriors hang around for most of the 3rd. When the Warriors didn't take advantage of the Celtics early on in that quarter, the Warriors were doomed because once the Celtics found their groove, the Warriors never did, and that's all she wrote. The 1 point halftime lead ballooned to 13 and the Celtics pretty much coasted to victory extending their lead to as much as 16 and never lower than 10. The Warriors put forth a solid effort but that just wasn't good enough.
On a side note, amazingly, my prediction, Warriors by -14 was right on point. Crazy. That's never happened before. Come to me for all your gambling needs.
Hit the jump for some thoughts:
