The Warriors: Now we're cooking with gas!

The loss to the Suns last week could have gone either way but ultimately offered plenty of things for Warriors fans to feel good about. The Warriors led most of the game, played intense and focused basketball, and were beaten only by a last-second three-pointer from two-time reigning MVP (and Santa Clara alum) Steve Nash. Phoenix is the premier small-ball, up-tempo offense in the Western Conference, and the Warriors hung right with them. Combined with their victory earlier this season over the Dallas Mavericks, another up-tempo team, the Warriors run-and-gun style seems competitive with teams that run a similar game plan, for whatever that is worth.

Both losses to the Nuggets hurt because Denver is a Western Conference playoff team, the type of team the Warriors need to start beating if they are going to elevate their standing in the NBA and make any kind of run at a playoff spot. Denver is beatable, but the Warriors had the bad luck of playing a home-and-home doubleheader with the Nugs while they are smoking hot. Our hometown hoopsters played spirited ball in the Oracle, but absolutely laid an egg up in Denver.

The Nuggets blowout raised some concerns about the team's mental toughness. Sure, the game was on Thanksgiving eve, was the lone game on a quick one-game road trip, and came against a team the Warriors had just played two nights earlier, but the team's effort was absolutely pitiful. Andris Biedrins and Matt Barnes looked like All-Stars but the rest of the team forgot to make the trip. A bad, bad loss that speaks volumes about the maturation of the team. That is, they ain't there yet. Teams looking to step up cannot take games off, and that is exactly what the Warriors did last Wednesday in the Mile High City.

Put some of the blame on coach Don Nelson for not properly motivating his players, but blame the players too. They didn't really care about this game and it showed. Remember back in April when the Detroit Tigers sleepwalked through a getaway game with the Cleveland Indians? Tiger manager Jim Leyland immediately called the team out for its lack of professionalism and focus. Paraphrasing Leyland: every game counts and every game deserves everybody's best effort; they all count the same in the standings. If anybody has Leyland's cell phone number, could they please give it to Nellie. This team is just not good enough to start taking nights off -- that goes for the coach, too.

But back to the Utah game. Damn, what a great game. Utah has a very, very strong front line -- Ivan Drago, er, Biedrins' role model, Andrei (AK-47) Kirilenko, Jerry Sloan reclamation project Mehmet Okur, and Carlos the big lush Boozer -- the kind of front line that should give a small team like the Warriors fits. And in fact, the Jazz easily beat down the Warriors earlier this month in Utah. Saturday night was a whole different story though as the Warriors, even with Baron Davis and Mickael Pietrus holding down their all-too-familiar spots on the Injured/DNP list, dominated the game -- with defense! Specifically, a relentless 1-2-2 zone defense that absolutely dissolved the Jazz guards and their offense, forcing them into 23 turnovers and Warrior-like 32.5 percent shooting. The B&B boys, Biedrins and Barnes, again led the way, combining for 38 points and 24 rebounds and anchoring the zone D. Troy Murphy also performed admirably, especially on defense, racking up five steals and three blocks.

Giving credit where credit is due, the players performed admirably but coaching was the real star in both games. Against Utah, Nellie and his staff came up with the perfect zone defense. "We were totally confused" Jazz coach Jerry Sloan understated. Last night, against one of the premier teams in the league, Nellie's courtside presence gave the team both gravitas and hope. And that timeout, wow. The Spurs had ripped off six straight points to cut the lead from 13 to 6 and everybody in the Oracle had that old familiar feeling. But when Nellie immediately called timeout, the tension passed and the Warriors finished out the remaining three minutes strong. Game balls to Nellie and his staff.

If anything, the last week proves that this Warriors team has heart. Well, that's the positive spin on it. They lost some close games they probably should have won, got drubbed on the road, then came back and beat the Western Conference leaders. A realist/cynic/pessimist might characterize the Warriors' last week of play as inconsistent and immature. Yeah, sure, OK, we can buy that argument too, but this team is showing resiliency and it is showing that it can play with the best teams in the league on any given night. Just not quite yet on every given night.