From his Monday bits:
"I got a good look at Golden State on Friday when the team came to Atlanta, and the Warriors appear to be just as much of a mess from up close as they are from afar. You have to start wondering aloud whether Don Nelson is trying to get himself fired so he can take his guaranteed money back to Maui. Between last week's reported practice confrontation with Stephen Jackson, his dismissive stance toward rookie Anthony Randolph and his bizarre public handover of the defense to assistant Keith Smart after the loss to Atlanta, the team seems completely adrift.
"Fortunately for the Warriors, Jamal Crawford is no stranger to teams that are adrift. In similar circus environments in Chicago and New York, he proved he could tune out the noise (as well as the defensive instructions), and he appears to be doing it again here. Saturday's 50-point effort in Charlotte made him only the fourth player to score that many points in three different uniforms.
"One big positive for the Warriors is the play of Marco Belinelli. He's starting while Stephen Jackson and Corey Maggette are out and has averaged 20 points and five assists in his past four games while shooting 32-for-61 from the floor. Nelson said a recent switch to a more drive-and-kick-oriented offense has benefited Belinelli, but an even bigger reason to smile is that he's making shots.
"For all the compliments Belinelli's smooth stroke received in Italy, he always shot a poor percentage there and made 38.7 percent of his shots as a rookie in the NBA. This season, his percentage is up to 50.4 percent; time will tell whether that's a permanent shift or a temporary fluke. But he needs to keep shooting well. As well as he's been playing, he has made only 15 free-throw attempts this season and has relatively weak secondary numbers, plus he's a below-average defender. His career success will hinge on whether he continues to knock down shots."
*UPDATE: Belinelli went a Baron/Jackson-esque 4-13 from the floor last night and played some breathtaking matador, I-don't-know-what-the-fuck-to-do-on-an-NBA-floor Keith Smart "defense,"
just for good measure.
And in other Hollinger stat geek nerd news no one who follows a shitball chuck squad of D-League/Euro gimmick incompetence and high school social cliquing like the Warriors can possibly consider without having a Bandwagon-sized Aneurysm:
Warriors PER rankings (AVG NBA player: 15.00)
Biedrins 21.27
Wright 18.95
(Baron 16.85)
Morrow 16.57
(Fernandez 16.51)
Crawful 16.33
Belinelli 15.68
Maggette 15.64
Watson 14.00
Kurz 13.75
Jackson 13.50
Randolph 13.49
Azubuike 13.34
Turiaf 11.99
Nelson 6.71
Williams 3.39
The only one I give a pass to is Turiaf.
Tell me why I shouldn't.
Eff you.
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This squad is unwatchable. I blame you.
ReplyDeleteYou should.
ReplyDeleteTuriaf probably surrenders two rebounds for every block shot *attempted*, let alone blocked. He's not so bad but he needs someone coaching him, so we're f'ed.
ReplyDeleteI agree that he's not the fiercest rebounder.
ReplyDeleteI tend to like how disruptive he is on defense and he's really the only legitimate NBA beef we've got now that we axed Hendrix to play Roberta Kurzgnani. Hendrix was solid beef and he did some things at a high level that no Don Nelson team has used in over 20 years. You get what you pay for.
He can be used much more effectively, I agree. Check our Geoff Lepper's stuff to read more about this, he's been on the case all year in a couple of different ways.
The warriors are pretty much a bunch of pussies this year. No toughness whatsoever. Turiaf is the only enforcer we have. I sure miss Barnes attitude and flagrants. Anthony randolph has some crazy in his eyes and I sure as hell hope he will see a future here.
ReplyDelete