Gee, that stunk.
That was an attempt at a toned-down, G-rated version of what
Golden State fans shouted on Wednesday night after the gunning
Warriors dropped what coach Don Nelson said was
”
the biggest game of the season.
”
Not good.
Gee, that stunk.
That was an attempt at a toned-down, G-rated version of what Golden State fans shouted on Wednesday night after the gunning Warriors dropped what coach Don Nelson said was “the biggest game of the season.”
Not good.
Golden State lost to Dallas 111-86 Wednesday, supplying the Mavs with their first win against an above .500 team since Jason Kidd joined the squad. Dallas is now 1-10 against, well, good teams with Kidd.
Yikes.
The Warriors failed to record 100 or more points for the second straight game Wednesday after they lost to San Antonio 116-92 on Tuesday. Golden State had previously recorded 100 or more points for 37 straight games entering this week, and it hadn’t dropped two consecutive games since Jan. 4.
Uh-oh.
Golden State, which had the eighth-seed for the better part of the season, now suddenly finds itself one game behind No. 8 Denver, two games behind No. 7 Dallas and out of the playoffs. There are seven games remaining.
We believe, right?
Not to play with people’s emotions in these trying economic times, but has anyone ever seen an actual panic button?
Those remaining seven games are what will make or break (officially) this season. Tonight the Warriors visit Memphis.
Aside from Dallas having the toughest remaining schedule compared to the Warriors and Nuggets, it owns any head-to-head tiebreaker with Golden State, making that somewhat slim two-game lead a pretty scary three-game deficit.
Denver, on the other hand, will have four common opponents with the Warriors – Memphis, Sacramento, Seattle and the Clippers; a game at Golden State on April 10 (the new biggest game of the season?), and then at Utah and home to Houston.
The problem is that Denver’s two games to Utah and Houston are toward the end of their schedule, where Utah and Houston will perhaps be resting its starters for the playoffs.
While Golden State will play at Phoenix in its second-to-last game of the season, it plays at New Orleans Sunday.
If this season does go south for Golden State, it would be hard not to look at the first six games of the season when Stephen Jackson was suspended; additionally, it’d be hard not to look at the lack of movement at the trade deadline.
I applauded the Warriors for not making a panic move at the deadline – mortgaging the future by trying to follow suit with Dallas (Kidd) and Phoenix (Shaq) – but they did need to do something.
They didn’t, and now they’re feeling it.
Since Nelson refuses to play some of his younger talent, I can only think that fatigue is setting in for a team that runs an up-and-down, run-and-gun offense.
There has to be some reason why Dallas had a 44-16 advantage on fast-break points on Wednesday, right? Golden State’s transition defense against Dallas was abysmal, and when the offense isn’t clicking, 25-point blowouts happen.
In one instance, I watched Matt Barnes run down the floor with Dallas, almost as if he was on the fast break with the Mavs; while in another, I saw Baron Davis pull off from guarding Dallas’ Jason Terry in the paint to instead get in position for the rebound.
Terry, meanwhile, was left wide open from about five feet out. Chances are, you’re wasting your energy by trying to get in position for a rebound from that distance, and Davis was; Terry hit the jumper.
It’s certainly not comforting that Golden State is playing some of its worst basketball at the most important time of the season, but would oh-crap mode be necessary if Golden State decided to play defense?
A big win at Memphis could actually go a long way, and would perhaps wake the Warriors from their ninth-place slumber. If not, well, where the heck is that panic button?
