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On a weekend where the nation's eyes were on the NFL, the Warriors were busy taking a basketball tour of Charlotte and Detroit. On their second stop in as many nights they managed to pick up a nice souvenir. Mark Jackson and his team finally put it together for 48 minutes away from the energy of the Oracle to secure their first road win of the season! But can they keep it rolling into Cleveland and New Jersey? Jump for some observations from tonight's game, and...
Let's face it, the Warriors are spoiled. They play in front of the best fans in the NBA every night at home, and you almost can't blame them for coming to depend on the energy of that crowd to get them rolling and playing at their best. When you take them out of that environment and stick them in front of 10,000 empty seats, you just don't see the same passion and intensity on the court. It was painfully clear last night, and after jumping out to a quick lead it started to look like this was going to be another night where the Warriors were always a step slow, and a bit out of sync.
Bob mentioned on the broadcast sometime in the second quarter that it seemed like the Warriors were coming up short on all the 50/50 plays. They were slow to loose balls, and let some "up for grabs" plays slip through there hands. Usually when a team finds themselves consistently on the short end of these kinds of plays it's due to either a general lack of speed on the floor, or in this case more so fatigue and a lack of energy and focus.
Fortunately for the Warriors, when they came out for the second half they seemed to bring a little more fire with them. Their was a focus and intensity that just wasn't there earlier in the game. Wright started playing aggressively and Monta came to life with a 17 point second half after closing the first half with only five. Suddenly all those loose balls started finding their way into the Warriors hands, and those coin flip plays started going their way. Once Lee and Monta were both clicking offensively, and the team started playing good sharp defense it was lights out for the Pistons.
Looking back on tonight's game quite a few of the notable story lines came from the big men. Not the most significant of them, but my personal favorite was Ben Wallace chucking up a three point shot. For real? Yeah, it totally happened. Another fun note was Jeremy Tyler avoiding another DNP with a whopping 34 seconds of playing time. He was so happy to see some court time that as soon as he touched the ball he jacked up a turn around jumper, fading away from the hoop. Yes, it did miss the hoop by about two feet, but at least it wasn't a three. But let's get to some of the more important stories from the post.
Yes, David Lee is overpaid. Yes, David Lee is not going to carry this team to the playoffs. Yes, he is a bad defender. Now that we got that out of the way, can we all enjoy the fact that he is playing really well right now? This is the best post offense we've seen from a Warriors player since... Somebody help me out here. David Lee and the coaching staff have done a really good job of identifying when he has the right match up, and delivering him the ball in the right spot to make him pay. He abused Jerebko on the right block tonight, and despite getting his 5th foul less than four minutes into the fourth (and fouling out in a very brief stint later in the quarter), he finished with 24pts 6reb 3ast and... wait for it... 2 BLOCKS! The second one was pretty nice too. The last few games have definitely been his best as a Warrior.
This is a comparison that Warriors fans can't help but make, considering the fact that Riley chose to take Ekpe Udoh with the sixth pick in the 2010 Draft, leaving Greg Monroe to fall to 7th, and leaving many Warriors fans at the time to wonder what the hell he was thinking. Now, I'm a pretty big Udoh fan, which puts me somewhere between Evanz and the rest of the universe, but you can't help but watch Monroe and think that he would look pretty nice as our starting center right now. This season he is putting up a very efficient 18 point and 10 rebounds per 36 minutes, while chipping in 3 assists per game from the five spot. But even with Monroe dominating the career numbers comparison, I have to give Udoh credit for holding his own in the one on one match up tonight. Sure, Monroe finished with 25 and 8, but by my count Udoh held his own the times they went head to head. Udoh played nice D, blocking Monroe twice, and scored on him in the first half. I know Monroe scored on him at least once or twice, but it was clearly his toughest match up of the night. Udoh finished with a very well rounded 10 pts 6reb 3stl and 4blk.
I'm not going to question any coaching decisions that extend the lead and secure the victory, but I was surprised to see another game where Andris played very well in limited minutes and didn't get back on the court in the fourth quarter. I can understand that the Lee/Udoh combo was working late in the third and into the fourth, but with Biedrins being a significant part of grabbing that early lead, and the 12-2 run that put them ahead early in the third, you'd think Jackson would find a way to get him back on the court in the fourth quarter. Instead he chose to run with Wright and Udoh at the 4/5 after Lee was forced to sit with fouls. It worked, so I won't complain, but you have to wonder if there is anything Andris can do to play more than 20 minutes. It will be interesting to see if Jackson continues to feel more comfortable riding a small line up late in games if it continues to bring mixed results. As for tonight's game, you can mark another one down for small-ball.
I almost had to give this one to Monta for his tremendous second half performance, but Lee was aggressive all night long and put the team in a position to win. Even with his fourth quarter foul trouble, by the time he had to sit the momentum had already shifted in the Warriors favor. All in all, a great night of work in the post, and a few nice defensive plays to go along with it.
0 recs | 38 comments
My heart was in Foxborough...
but it got stepped on by Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski.. lol
Brownie13 - January 16, 2012
Tebow fan?
Oh PLEASE explain that to me….
tafkasam - January 16, 2012
Bronco fan.
So yes Tebow fan. But also a Orton, Cutler, Plummer, Griese, and Elway fan.
They’re been the only NFL team I’ve ever rooted for, and I doubt it will ever change.
Brownie13 - January 16, 2012
Biedrins short minutes, here's one possible reason
Ever since Nellie publicly complained about Biedrins “hiding” in the pick and roll, I’ve kept my eye on it. I saw another example of it in this game shortly before he was subbed out in the 3rd. And this time, you can watch it on the gumby highlights and see if my observations are correct:
gumby highlights: @3:20
game time: 3rd qtr, 6:38 to go, 56-56
Biedrins runs up to the 3 pt line to set a screen for Monta. David Lee has just cut into the paint. As Monta drives around Biedrins, Biedrins stays on the screen to slow down Gordon (Monta’s defender). After Gordon gets clear of the Biedrins screen, Biedrins turns and cuts towards the hoop.
At this point, the other Pistons guard, Knight, recognizes the play, and leaves Charles Jenkins and runs towards the paint too. David Lee, who’s still in the paint, moves back towards the perimeter, and in doing so, briefly cuts in front of Knight’s path, temporarily screening Knight from running towards the paint and Biedrins. In other words, Biedrins should have a clear path to the hoop at this moment.
The problem? Biedrins doesn’t run hard to the hoop. In fact, he starts slowing down when he reaches the top of the paint. Even worse, he doesn’t even get any distance from Gordon, the guy that Biedrins originally screened!
Since Biedrins is slow getting to the spot near the hoop, and with Gordon within arm’s reach of Biedrins, Monta is now caught in the air with 2 defenders on him and no one to pass to, and Monta is forced to throw the ball into an empty spot. Fortunately, DWright is there to go get it and save the possession.
This is in stark contrast to Kwame Brown. When Kwame was around, he would cut HARD to the hoop. And Monta would make the pass between or over his 2 defenders and Kwame would finish or get to the FT line.
On this play, I was very annoyed at Biedrins, because he was NOT a hard roller on the play like Kwame was, and he left Monta high and dry on the play.
I have no evidence yet if this is the reason why Mark Jackson doesn’t play Biedrins many minutes. But we’ve seen it before when Biedrins played for Nellie, and we’ve seen it again with Smart. And since Mark Jackson was a point guard, he’s GOT to see this too. So it would absolutely not surprise me if this was the reason why Biedrins isn’t getting many minutes this season.
IQofaWarrior - January 16, 2012
You may be right. Great work.
I still think what he provides defensively and rebounding wise is more important than anything like this.
GovernorStephCurry - January 16, 2012
The problem is
When one man doesn’t do when he’s suppose to do on a play it messes up EVERYONE.
Why do you think Monta was passing better and picking up more assists with Kwame and his stone hands?
Offensively their is almost no difference (97.8 v. 98.1 pp100p) with the two on the court, despite Andris possessing much better finishing ability.
tafkasam - January 16, 2012
Good analysis and that might certainly be a reason why Beans gets low minutes but...
there has to be other factors. I don’t believe failing the pick-n-roll is going going to get you benched consistently especially when you are the only “true” center we have at the moment. From what I’ve seen he’s been pretty efficient for the minutes he gets but I think foul trouble is a major issue for Beans. While he doesn’t foul out most games it always seems by the late third/fourth quarter he always seems to have 4 fouls if not more and at that time if it’s a close game like Orlando we keep playing him until he fouls out (I didn’t watch Bobcats game so I can’t make a comparison) or like today’s game where we got the win without Beans. Free throws and maybe some confidence issues may also contribute to his minutes. In the end, all this is just making me wonder why we amnestied Bell.
Darkness - January 16, 2012
Nice Post.
Thanks for pointing it out. Wasn’t aware of the the Nellie comments you alluded to but I’ll keep them in mind as I’m watching future games Being an ex-PG, I’d expect Mark Jackson to have a less tolerance for such an attitude.
srsrs - January 16, 2012
Sad thing is...
I can actually deal with him playing hard and bricking 2 FT.
Playing soft just sucks.
Critical Roach - January 16, 2012
Nice analysis.
To be fair, however, this is a far cry from what Biedrins was doing last year. While it’s not as aggressive as he needs to play, this is more garden-variety hesitation than the running and hiding act he did last year.
He does get to the paint, he does get his hands up. He could have received the pass where he ws and really only needed one or two more aggressive steps. Last year he’s pull up and actually turn away from the play. This looks almost like he’s not sure if he should be creating room for Monta or crashing, and what people who are unconfident do in that situation is make the decision that is less likely to test their confidence.
So there’s still work to do.
Also worth pointing out that Monta was trapped on the baseline for reasons that had nothing to do with Biedrins play, and he probably couldn’t have gotten the ball to Biedrins anyway. His back is to Biedrins, and it doesn’t look like he even looks that way. So another possible explanation for this is something we often see in basketball:
When people don’t expect to get the ball, they don’t push hard, particularly when they’re tired. And if you watch the replay again, you see that Monta is committed to going up before Biedrins starts to slow down. So while I agree with you that you want to see Biedrins roll harder, I’m not sure that it makes a difference on this play.
Ronaldinho - January 16, 2012
good observations.
I have to believe that his fear of getting to the line influences this.
Billy Frijoles - January 16, 2012
After those DISGUSTING FT attempts, he OUGHT to be embarrassed to go to the line. Seriously. Switch to underhanded, if that’s what you’re going to do. That was about as bad as I’ve ever seen him and that, as we all know, is saying something.
Naticus - January 16, 2012
Thanks IQ...
But I can’t say I agree with this take. For the most part I think you broke down the play pretty well, but there were a few key factors that you didn’t catch, or at least didn’t address.
This is what happened, but I think your mistake is assigning the blame to Biedrins, when there is plenty to go around.
1. Monta Drove hard into a baseline trap and left his feet with no where to go with the ball. He really didn’t leave himself an angle to make the pass to the front of the rim.
2. Most importantly, it was Lee’s man, Jerebko, who came over to trap Monta. Knight and Gordon weren’t the problem for Monta. It’s basketball 101 that if you are a big and your man leaves you to give help, you cut to the front of the basket with your hands up. Instead Lee cleared out all the way to the three point line. He was the one who was in better position to get to that spot, and basic offensive rule of thumb says it was his responsibility to be available for Monta.
3. By the time Monta is up in the air Andris actually is at the front of the rim, with his hands up, ready to receive the ball. He might have been a step slow, but that was likely because he was trying to find an angle to receive the ball with Monta trapped hard, or because he slowed for a moment to see if Lee was going to the hoop.
I don’t see this as the same kind of play we saw from Andris in the past. The kinds of plays he was being critisized for were the ones where he would never get below the FT line.
Yes, it’s debatable, but let’s not forget, this is only one play. There were plenty of times in the last two games where Andris clearly made himself available in the paint (including the play at the very beginning of the Gumby highlights). It’s easy to go back and find a bad play here or there. No one is saying he is playing perfect, but he has been giving the team positive contributions when he’s on the floor. The real question is does Jackson think he’s getting more value from Dominic McGuire, Ekpe Udoh, or Dorell Wright (at PF) over the course of the game. Like I said in my recap, I won’t argue with success, but with Kwame out I think Andris should be getting more minutes. His rebounding rates, blocked shots, and TS% are all among his career highs so far this season. So far it looks like he is once again playing some of the best basketball of his career, and still getting no respect. Yes, I want to see him get his fouls down, and keep up this performance over the course of an entire season, but let’s not let this kind of nit-picky analysis blind us from what looks to be some very promising early play from a guy who seemed to be lost to us forever.
olympicmike - January 16, 2012
+1.
Ronaldinho - January 16, 2012
Well said!
I’ve been watching for it myself. It’s frustrating because with his hands and athleticism he should get 12 easy points a game. It’s not about PG. He did it in 08-09 when we had StackJack running the show.
Both Monta and Curry can find him if he cuts.
tafkasam - January 16, 2012
There are many reasons
I don’t like football.
BeePill - January 16, 2012
Why doesnt Biedrins play more?
He still consistently gives bad fouls putting himself in foul trouble every night
He doesnt run the pick and roll well at least half the time
He refuses to try to score because…
He cant shoot free throws
Why would Jackson play him even if he has the size to rebound and defend? Jackson has to reduce his minutes and try to light a fire under him.
Biedrins might go down as one of the biggest busts we have even had when you consider how we all felt about him after his first couple years.
warriorsvictim - January 16, 2012
I'm curious if you have been watching the games this year?
GovernorStephCurry - January 16, 2012
i doubt it
a lot of people are still living in the last 2 years when it comes to beans
AJC3317 - January 16, 2012
He's still not a good offensive player
and he still does commit dumb fouls
he’s better, but that doesn’t mean he should be a teams’ starting center. Really though, we are without other acceptable options at this point, so he should be getting every minute he’s available to play.
Brownie13 - January 16, 2012
just surfin the net at lunch
saw these front-row pics apparently from Trey Kirby’s mom
Duby Dub Dubs - January 16, 2012
Udoh’s game wasn’t just well rounded. FOUR BLOCKS in 27 minutes along with his efficient scoring, rebounding and position defense? That was one of his best games so far.
Mad props to Lee for his improvements on defense, too. Two blocks tonight, and he’s definitely been moving his feet more this season.
Lastly, WOW Monta can SUCK so hard a times. Good thing he got back in it and played extremely well in the 2nd half.
Naticus - January 16, 2012
While getting blocks is a good thing it's tough to use that as the sole indicator for good defense.
Udoh in my opinion is a little undersize and can’t guard some like Dwight Howard. (He’s a 4 anyways but we drafted him over Monroe for defensive purposes which still makes it a little disappointing) But I will give him credit for doing some nice things against Monroe but in the end he still scored 25.
Darkness - January 16, 2012
Obviously it’s not a good overall indicator, but Udoh does a LOT of things well on defense. Consistently.
Naticus - January 16, 2012
Also, Monroe shot a LOT of FT’s to get that many points and Udoh only fouled twice in the game.
Naticus - January 16, 2012
Ability to guard Dwight Howard is not the standard for good big man defense or being undersized.
The number of guys who can defend HOward adequately without help is very small. Maybe five guys.
Howard is 6’11 240 (according to Basketball Reference) – where Udoh is 6’10 240. I don’t believe either of those heights – but the problem isn’t size. The problem that Howard’s post technique is really really good.
Ronaldinho - January 17, 2012
Not to mention strength. Biedrins is closer to quick enough and long enough to stay with Dwight but he had no chance either.
tafkasam - January 17, 2012
I completely agree that defending Dwight is not the standard.
But given the drafting of him over someone like Monroe is what disappoints me especially when he doesn’t impact the floor enough for him to get consistent minutes. I’d argue that his post technique isn’t “really really” good. He has a limited amount of post move but that limited amount was enough to dominate us, but it’s his strength and size that allows him to be a dominant center so him being 1 inch taller is surprising. I also would think that him being the same weight and one inch shorter would allow him to at least keep Dwight Howard somewhat in check because I know he doesn’t score 45 every night and a team has to resort Hack-a-Dwight every night either.
Darkness - January 17, 2012
my guess on Dre...
I think he’s out of shape.
the lazy roll, and stumbling jog he gets after about a quarter of play seems to be happening every game.
I think Jackson isn’t going to keep anyone out there who’s too tired to give full effort.
…except maybe Monta at the end of the 4th now and again.
dubwise - January 16, 2012
Forgot to mention...
I meant to put this in the recap, but I’ve been impressed at Jenkins’ play recently. I came down pretty hard on him a few games ago, but he’s been giving the team solid and consistent play since then. It’s a good thing too, because as much as I like Nate Robinson, he is all energy and zero decision making. Coach needs to use Nate in bursts off the bench when the team needs to pick up its energy. If Jenkins didn’t start playing well we could have been looking at Nate as the starting PG and that would not be a good role for him.
olympicmike - January 16, 2012
I'm very happy with the Jenkins pick up
There’s a lot of grumbling about drafting Klay, and I find that to be warranted, but Jenkins looks like a great decision to me. Low risk, and he’s contributed some to the team already.
ohcleverhansyou - January 16, 2012
OM, what you have to realize that Jenkins is a rookie in his 10th game and fourth start with a huge learning curve! He is doing just great and demonstrates solid PG capbilities, judgement, and, instincts!
dinohealth - January 16, 2012
Yeah, he is doing great.
In his first couple stints on the floor he looked passive, dare I say scared. He looks so much more comfortable and confident lately. I’m loving what I’m seeing from him.
olympicmike - January 16, 2012
That’s a truism.
Naticus - January 16, 2012
Olympic (I love that name) Mike: I think your assessment of Lee sucks! I think he is a baller and a heck of a leader! Otherwise, great post!
dinohealth - January 16, 2012
Dude, did you even read what he wrote?
I mean, seriously, first you flame Nate Parham for taking a “pathetic cheap shot at Monta” in a diary in which he said nothing remotely critical of Monta but apparently committed the mortal sin of citing his assist in rate form rather than “per game.”
Now you say Mike’s assessment of Lee “sucks” — presumably because he dared to mention Lee’s poor defense before giving him the Warrior Wonder and noting that he’s providing the “best post offense we’ve seen from a Warriors player since [he can remember].”
I also seem to recall you getting your undies in a bunch recently when I questioned your touting of Monta’s excellent rebounding this season — a claim you presumably still stand by, despite the fact that he’s currently averaging 2.7 boards per 36 minutes. (Or if you prefer … 2.9 per game).
In addition to being fantastic writers and contributors to this site, Nate and Mike both seem to have preternaturally good internet manners, so have taken less offense to your poor reading comprehension and/or lack of common courtesy than lesser mods might have. As the resident “lesser mod” here (;-)) I’ll throw in my two cents on the matter: I’m not sure you’re exactly trolling, but I will note that a couple of posters here have been warned and even banned from this board for a constant compulsion to confront or flame anyone who had the slightest unkind thing to say about anyone the team.
If you want to express a sunnier take than the average GSoMer, that’s totally cool. But when doing so, please make more of an effort not to (1) post blatant misinformation; (2) misrepresent what others have written; or (3) and give people crap simply for posting well-documented facts that happen to cast players you like in a less-than-glowing light. Thanks.
Sleepy Freud - January 16, 2012
Pshh...
Lesser mod? More like GSoM rock star. ;-)
olympicmike - January 16, 2012
Haha. Hey, I like Lee, and I’ve defended him when I feel like people are being too harsh on him, but I’m not going to pretend the guy doesn’t have any flaws because he plays on my favorite team. He has a huge contract, and he is not a naturally talented defender. He has been putting in better than usual effort on that end, while simultaneously playing some great offensive basketball. I’ve been enjoying his game, and I’ve been giving him respect. I’ll go ahead and say he’s ballin’ right now. ;)
Thanks for reading, as always.
olympicmike - January 16, 2012
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