The Warriors: Exposed
Oh good grief, Warriors.
Spurs 126, Warriors 89. And it wasn't nearly that close.
Coming off Sunday night's agonizing loss to their nemesis, the Lakers, the Warriors needed a strong showing. But last night the Spurs exposed the Warriors for what they are: a second-tier basketball club that's not quite ready for prime time.
Last night, the Spurs showed the Warriors what a real NBA team is like: balanced, fundamentally sound, and running a system that stresses defense, rebounding, and the half-court game. A team just like the one that "spanked the tribe like a teenager's monkey" back in December.
Last night's apocalypse was absolutely incredible. It was so bad it was captivating -- like a Steven Segal movie, we were horrified, but couldn't look away.
The lead was 36 by the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the O-rena was so quiet you could hear your car getting keyed out in the parking lot. Five dudes leaving a vasectomy clinic would have had more spunk than the Warriors did last night. It was hard to tell who looked more stunned, the Warriors or what remained of the crowd.
That's Francisco Elson and Tim Duncan showing Andris Biedrins, and probably the Warriors playoff hopes, the door. Photo from SFGate.com.
The box score says it all. JRich: 0-8 from the field, 0-3 from three-point land, 0-0 from the line, 0 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 0 points, in 29 minutes. Them's Zarko Cabarkapa numbers. The Spurs outrebounded the Warriors 46-33, which was actually an improvement over the 63-33 woodshedding the Lakers doled out to the Dubs on Sunday night. And the Spurs were throwing around dimes like it was Mardi Gras, dishing 33 to the Dubs 19. The San Antonio sidetracks shot 58.8 percent from the three-point line; the Warriors, 22.7 percent. The Dubs managed just 12 points in the third quarter. Mano Ginobli was literally laughing at the Warriors from the Spurs bench in the fourth quarter.
Oh sure, the Warriors have made this season exciting, and have won some huge games over the very best teams in the league, but last night's performance was as bad as any of the darkest nights of the last decade plus, because, for once, this game was important. Last night the Warriors had a chance to show that all the big wins this year over the league's best teams were not a mirage, that this team is different.
Instead, the Warriors were exposed as pretenders, with extreme prejudice.
Maybe, in years future, when the history of the Warriors franchise is written, last night's "game" against the San Antonio Spurs will be universally acknowledged as the turning point in team history -- the day the team had their fate in their own hands, but dribbled it off their foot and out of bounds. Such a day might even be given a colorfully descriptive nickname, maybe something like "Black and Blue Monday," "D(feat) Day," "The Night of Icarus," or "The Day the Nellie Died."
Maybe the absolute beatdown the Spurs pasted on the Warriors last night will convince owner Chris Cohan to sell the team to somebody who needs the validation of a really successful, high-profile toy. Somebody who would like nothing more than to pour unlimited amounts of money and resources into creating a championship sports team for his own glorification. Somebody like Mark Cuban, or say, you know who.
Or maybe it will shame Cohan into actually making an effort to get the best people in the business, instead of taking lazy, ill-advised shortcuts like hiring a completely inexperienced and unqualified Chris Mullin as VP of Basketball Operations (our very own Matt Millen) or lamely hiring the over-the-hill, retired, wasn't-that-good-in-his-prime, former coach from the glory years that was run out of town on a rail the last time he coached here after completely fucking up the Warriors best draft pick in 20 years and was in a protracted legal dispute with Cohan for years, just because the team's "brain trust" is so intellectually bankrupt they can't come up with anything better.
Maybe last night will be the night that broke the cash camel's back and convinces Warriors fans to stand up for their hard-earned money and emotional loyalty, and demand satisfaction from their basketball franchise. We can just see mobs of leather-clad, spiked and tattooed rogues with torches and pitchforks swarming in from the O-rena parking lot, overwhelming security, and storming the Warriors front office bastille -- oh wait, that's a Raiders game. Well, nonetheless, maybe last night will be the night that finally convinces Warriors fans to hold the franchise accountable.
Or maybe, after having their faces shoved into a pile of their own incompetence for so many years, maybe last night's drubbing was the thrown stone that finally awakens the Warriors' inner Balrog. Maybe the seeds of countless championships to come was borne in last night's disaster. Maybe it's now clear that fundamentals and execution win in the NBA, not entertaining and "fun to watch" up-tempo bullshit.
Because last night, not only were the Warriors exposed as a second-tier club, but Don Nelson and his mismatchup-based uptempo small ball were also exposed. Nellie's uptempo style is a fraud. When the Warriors are hitting their outside shots, they are a very good team, but when those shots don't fall, or the other team plays a little defense, the Warriors disappear like a paper trail in the White House. The Spurs are the blueprint the Warriors should be following. Big men like Tim Duncan are tough to come by, but with good scouting, a solid system based on fundamentals, competent drafts, and commitment, success can happen.
Maybe, but in the meantime, moral in WarriorTown is lower than the Warriors' three-point-shooting percentage. Despite our bold prediction last week, the Clippers and that last playoff spot are pulling away. The Warriors, eh, not so much.
With 10 games to play, the GSDubs are now 2 games behind the Clippers, 3 if you count the tiebreaker. Per Jason Richardson,"To me, it's (the #8 spot) too far right now . . . The way (the Clippers) are playing basketball right now, it's unbelievable." Ah, that's the old Warriors spirit.