Daaaaaamn!
Fantastically fun game, with actively strong play from all six Warriors who got real minutes. I’m not gonna jump on the “trade Monta” bandwagon because of one hot-shooting game, but it sure was nice to see how well the ball moved tonight.
The Warriors' centers need a ton more props than they’ve been getting lately. Biedrins and Turiaf combined for 23 points on 11 shots, 11 boards, 2 blocks, 7 assists, 0 turnovers and a quiet Chris Kaman tonight, and it’s not like this is the first time they’ve combined for elite production in the last couple weeks. These guys are assets. It was great to see Tolliver’s shot finally fall… you really had to feel happy for the guy. And CJ was low-profile but effective in his 48 minutes, which is really hard to do.
Curry was, needless to say, spectacular. There’s no reason to pretend that he played a perfect all-around game, because he didn’t — six turnovers from Curry are every bit as harmful as six turnovers from Monta, and he got beat a good bit on D even before he was trying to avoid fouls — but the things he did well, he did reeeaaaally well. The kid should be getting 15 shots a night, and should be getting the ball in transition situations whenever possible.
The other guy who needs more shots, more minutes, more credit, more everything? Anthony Morrow. For while it’s true that the offense flows better with Monta off the floor, it’s also true that the offense flows better with Morrow on it… he stretches a defense, he passes willingly, and he’s starting to become a bit of a scrapper near the basket. He’s been an enormous factor in these last couple games, and if he keeps rebounding, passing and creating offense like this, things could get really damn interesting around here.
Nellie coached a fine game, for the same reason that he usually coaches better when the Warriors are short-handed: he doesn’t have the leeway to make stupid decisions. When all he’s able to do is play guys at their normal positions for long stretches, he doesn’t get in the way nearly as much with counterproductive mismatches. It’s sad that it takes injuries to stop him from being a terrible coach, but at least something does the trick.
It’ll be very interesting to see what happens when the two big scorers come back after the All-Star break.
Posts
2 comments:
When you're ready to hop on the "trade Monta" bandwagon, I'll save you a seat.
Much obliged. For now, though, the "fire Nellie" bandwagon suits me just fine.
Post a Comment