GSW @ NJN 12/9/09: PreThoughts

1) Randolph flew home to Arkansas yesterday for a family emergency, but is back with the team in New Jersey. MT2 speculates that Keith Smart may give him the night off, as AR may still be torn up about whatever happened; given the speed with which he rejoined the team, though, I'm guessing he wants to play. And I hope he does, because...

2) ...I think we'll lose if Randolph doesn't play. There, I said it. The Nets are nowhere near as bad as their record -- Brook Lopez and Devin Harris is a pretty salty top two when healthy, and Courtney Lee and CDR are useful guys. They have nothing in the frontcourt beyond Lopez, especially with Yi sitting, but against us, that might not be a problem. Mikki is not going to stop Lopez, and Vlad might not even be able to stop Josh Boone. We need a Frontcourt Grownup™ tonight. Randolph and Hunter are the only possibilities, and Hunter is unlikely to see sustained minutes, and far from a sure thing, to boot.

3) Really nice to have Morrow back... our offense only really functions properly when he's on the floor. Interestingly, we've also defended much better with him on the floor thus far. That may not hold up, but he's certainly not the defensive liability he was a year ago. The case for Anthony Morrow being our best player, while still weak, gets stronger by the month. And with apologies to Li'l Monta, Morrow definitely feels like our heart and soul, as Keith Smart indicated yesterday. There's nothing like the A-Mo fist-pump tiny-mouthed yelp.

4) Yikes, I forgot the Nets signed Eduardo Najera through 2012... that's a long time, considering he already looked like a corpse when we had him five years ago. Just the prospect of seeing that pallid face every day should be enough to keep LeBron in Cleveland.

5) Monta, I am not as down on you as some. I think you're trying very hard to help us, and given that fans were ragging on you just three weeks ago for not caring enough, I can't be angry at you for caring too much. But, friend, it is time to settle down a little. Let's don't drive into double-teams, let's don't forget to look for Anthony Morrow, and let's don't complain if Keith Smart is actually sane enough to want to rest you at some point. Thanks, buddy.

Warriors Player To Watch: Randolph. Will he play? Will he play well? Is he okay?

Nets Player To Watch: Chris Douglas-Roberts... I really like this guy. Unheralded, not afraid to shoot, fun personality, horrible defensive results. He is a Warrior in the making, without question.