• An 82games update has come down the pike. These stats are updated through the morning of the 26th, so consider this a snapshot of the team at (what will hopefully be) its nadir:
Corey Maggette is finally the proud owner of a positive net plus-minus... no Warrior has done more to earn one. Other than that, and the pandemic tinge of extra crappiness four additional losses will add, there haven't been many big changes since the last time we looked. The on-court plus-minus numbers are getting pretty scary here, with only CJ and Hunter still in the black as of this update, and every other player rating -3.0 per 48 or worse. Monta's net number is a bit less horrifying than previously, but only because we've played less scorchingly well without him; we still (even factoring in the last two games) play like a 60-loss team when he's on the floor.
• But while Monta isn't having a monstrously effective season, there's no doubt that he's having a monster season: sixth in the league in scoring, second in steals, first in minutes per game and turnovers. His 25.6 points per game is higher than any Warrior has averaged since Mullin in his prime. His Usage Rate would be the highest of any Warrior in the 32 seasons for which the statistic has been kept. He's on pace to record more turnovers than any player in the last 30 seasons. And he has gone all 48 minutes seven times already. Only three other NBA players have done that more than once thus far... Kobe's done it three times, and Gerald Wallace and (amusingly) Anthony Morrow have done it twice. "Not For Lack Of Trying" will be the epitaph for Monta's year.
• C.J. Watson is the eighth Warrior to record at least seven points, seven assists and seven steals in one game, joining Baron, Speedy, Mookie, Winston Garland and all three legs of Run- TMC. (Where are you on this one, Monta, you lazy bum?!)
• Corey Maggette's current .617 TS% would be the seventh-best showing by a Warrior in the three-point era; Anthony Morrow's .613 TS% would be the tenth-best. In light of this, our desire to add a small forward with our second hardship exception seems a little arbitrary.
• The Warriors' wackiest stat keeps holding up: Anthony Randolph is still 35th in the NBA in free-throw percentage.
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5 comments:
"Where are you on this one, Monta?"
I can't believe that Monta's race for the turnover record of the modern era isn't getting more play in the media. Thanks for being apparently the only ones keeping this incredible story alive. Could "Can he do it?" be another possibility for a fun P.R. campaign to get us through this season?
Imagine: with two games left Monta has to commit 14 turnovers to take home the crown. Those games will be full, or should be, if Nellie's replacement is handling it right. It's definitely my favorite story on the Warriors this year. Where do I get my "Throw it away, Monta!" T-shirt? I want to see a headline on the front Page of ESPN on the last day of the season: "Monta turns it over... to the historians."
ps where do we post requests? Can we get an analysis of Bill Simmons's new analysis of the Warriors? Someone in your offices must have a take.
"Monta turns it over... to the historians."
Love it. And yes, I'm with you: this Monta situation could get awfully exciting. Artis Gilmore is the all-time single-season leader, pissing away 366 Bulls possessions in '77-'78 (the first season for which the stat was kept). Monta is currently on pace for 358 turnovers... if he keeps playing 43+ minutes per as he did in December, the record should be his. He'll need to stay healthy, and Nellie's continued presence is probably the only way he gets there, as another coach might actually find this to be, y'know, a problem.
"ps where do we post requests?"
A good question. Perhaps we should list some type of e-mail address so folks can contact us... that seems like a thing a blog would have. I'll get on that. In the interim, we're happy to take requests in the comments section. We'll have Simmons reax for you in the next day or two.
Do we have any numbers on which type of turnover Monta is looking for most often, especially when the shot clock is running down? Does he generally throw it away? Travel? Airball? Dribble off his foot out of bounds? I haven't seen all the games, but against the Celtics he was relying pretty heavily on the bad pass, especially in traffic.
I agree that the key will be keeping him healthy. Nellie will take care of the rest.
Amazing that Artis Gilmore's first number has never been topped. He was like, "You're keeping this stat now? Watch THIS." Saw an opportunity and knocked the door down. Six years later a small baby named Monta was born. He ripped out his umbilical cord, leaped wildly into the air, and threw it out of bounds.
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