The good news is the Warriors scored 135 points last night in Memphis against the Grizzlies. Bet you can't see where this one is going. Yup. The bad news is that they gave up 144 points.
As the score indicates, the game was a track meet. It was also a tug-of-war match, with exciting bursts of alternating runs all night. Back and forth the entire game, both teams made runs, then got run, then made more runs. This was not the usual NBA game where one team jumps out to an early lead only to blow it in the fourth quarter and lose, with everything in between just dead air. Tonight there were 18 lead changes and 10 ties. Maybe it was the ball.
But in the end, the Warriors shooting abandoned them at the critical point in the game and the Griz made the final, close-out run.
Inconsistency is a maddening and fatal side-effect of the up-tempo game, whose prolific numbers are just a siren's call. Ask Peyton Manning. If you can't control the game, then you're left to suffer the vagaries of fate.
No doubt about it, this was an exciting, fan-friendly game in which the Dubs gave it all they had. But up-tempo small-ball is not the right strategy for long-term and consistent success, and last night's stand-in for the NBA All-Star game was yet more confirmation: you can't win in this league just by scoring -- you must rebound and play D (man D, not zone D).
Matt Barnes is playing head and shoulders above everybody else right now, but the Warriors need defense and rebounding more than they need points. Photo from Warriors official web site.
The Dubs looked good against the Griz last night, shooting 47.5 percent from the field. However, they allowed the Drizzlies to outshoot (55.8%) and outrebound (50-42) them. We don't care how many points you score, that's not going to get it done.
An up-tempo game relies on lots and lots of shots, with little emphasis on defense or rebounding. Quantity over quality. It works great when the shots are falling from outside or when the fast break is working. At times, when everything is clicking and all the shots are falling, this Warriors team looks unstoppable. Even SFist has felt a twitter of Belief a couple of times this year. But in crunch time, when the opponent clamps down on D and/or the outside shots aren't falling . . . . Last night, the Warriors scored 36 fast break points, but missed their last three shots and six of their last eight. Did we mention they lost?
Warriors emerging center Andris Biedrins seems to have the problem with an up-tempo style figured out: "Our shots are going in and their shots are going in and both teams are just scoring and making shots . . . And then our shots stop going in, and that's how you lose."
That is indeed how you lose.
And that brings us to lack of frontcourt presence. The Warriors cannot eschew the structured half court game and expect to win consistently. Frontcourt presence gives you control of the paint, which puts you in better position for closer, high-percentage shots and rebounding. And that gives you control of the game. Unfortunately, the Warriors are soft inside. Last night the game completely changed when Biedrins fouled out with 3:40 to play and the game tied at 127. The Drizzlies poured it on after that with a 17 to 8 run to close out the game. Rudy Gay's offensive rebound with 30 seconds to play, a rebound made possible by the Warriors' failure to block out, highlighted the glaring problem with up-tempo small-ball and sealed the game at the same time.
Up-tempo is a failed strategy for long-term victory, and the sooner the Warriors figure this out, the better. Games in the 130s should not be considered progress, let alone excellence. Especially when you lose. Maybe we should organize a joint intervention for Bush and coach Don Nelson.
If they had won tonight it would have been the latest in a season that the Warriors have been two games above .500 since 1993-1994. But they didn't win.
The team appears to be in the one-step-forward, one-step-backward phase of the season. On Tuesday night, they pulled out a gritty 97-89 win against a wounded but still dangerous New Orleans/OK City Hornets team. Defense, rebounding, and shooting were all questionable, but the Warriors really fought for the win. On Tuesday night, the shots were there for them in the last two minutes. A heartening effort, especially on the road.
But Wednesday night, the shots didn't fall when the Ws needed them, and on defense they couldn't stop a toilet, let alone the Grizzleds. Inconsistency = Bad. Up-tempo = Inconsistency. You do the math.
Regarding the up-tempo game, Memphis coach Tony Barone said it best:
"There's no magic in coaching."
Based on the play-by-play of Warriors radio announcers Jim Barnett and Bob Fitzgerald, last night's game must have been as fun to watch as it was to play. By the end of the game, both were nearly speechless, dazzled by the spectacle before them. Tonight's high-speed, high-performance game really tested their announcing skills, and they met the challenge. Their call made the game that much more entertaining. These guys are total homers, but if you get the chance, we highly recommend the aesthetic pleasure of listening to an NBA game on the radio.
Records were falling by the wayside last night faster than Republican supporters of the war. Matt Barnes tied the Warriors team record for three-pointers made and attempted (7/16). Second time he's tied that mark already this year. The team set a new franchise record for threes taken and made (18/46). The Grizzlies' 144 points was the most in team history, and the 279 total points were the most in a regulation NBA game this season. The second-highest-scoring game of the NBA season? The Warriors 140-129 loss to Denver on November 24.
Keep an eye on this: Baron Davis played 88 of 96 minutes on the two-game, two-day trip, including all 48 in the Hornets game.
Also keep an eye on recently signed guard Kelenna Azubuike. Azubuike was the leading scorer in the NBA Development league this year, and played his first game with the team on Tuesday against the Hornets. He had 15 points last night and looks to have a pretty nice shooting stroke. Azubuike definitely looks like a keeper, but at 6'5", Nellie will probably want him to play power forward.
add to digg
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
add to facebook
add to del.icio.us
Post a comment (Comment Policy)