Results tagged “jasonrichardson”

" . . . and with the 18th pick, the Golden State Warriors take . . . Marco Belinelli."

Uhhh, come again?

Improbably, almost impossibly, the Golden State Warriors' dream season continues tonight with game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal matchup with the Utah Jazz. The Warriors are into the semis by virtue of their historic six-game stunner over the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks; the Jazz eeked out a game 7 road win over the Houston Rockets.

The Jazz are the fourth seed in the Western Conference, but in our minds, its the Dubs that enter this series as the favorites. The Jazz are undoubtedly mentally and physically drained after their game 7 thriller on Saturday, while the Warriors are riding a wave of emotion that shows no sign of dissipating.

OK, so we've gotten some flak about picking the Warriors to take down the Dallas Mavericks in six games in the opening round of the NBA's western Conference playoffs. We'll be the first to admit it's a homer pick, because, well, we do really want the Warriors to win, and we'll be the first to admit it.

But our pie in the sky has an empirical basis. Here's five reasons why the Warriors will beat the Mavs in this playoff series.

Here's todays wrapup of sports news

49ers 26 Broncos 23: We dislike Mike Shanahan in the same way we dislike Tony LaRussa: two guys who've read one too many press clippings about their supposed genius and let it go to their heads. Shanahan totally over thought this season (starting Cutler) and over thought yesterday's game and as a result, the Broncos aren't in the playoffs. We watched just enough of yesterday's game to hear the announcers say over and over again how the Broncos need to run more and how woozy Cutler looked yet Shanahan still kept him out there throwing. The Niners should have been knocked out of the game early, yet proved they were just feisty enough to beat them.

New year, same crap. Actually, it's still 2006, so maybe the Warriors are just clearing their pipes of the last dregs of bad karma before starting a new year and a new franchise era -- one that will be known to future Warriors fans as The Warriors Decade. Either way, Saturday night in Sacramento, fate and bad planning teamed up to dish the Warriors a cosmic double-tap, with the Kings throwing in an unhappy ending, for good measure.

Jason Richardson broke his hand, first round draft pick Patrick O'Bryant was optioned to the minors, and the Warriors took a 116-97 facial from the Kings.

Memo to David Stern: Start the playoffs right now, baby, the Warriors are ready to make a run!

What is it with this team? Just when Warrior nation was about to write them off as the latest version of Chris Cohan's spectacularly unsuccessful basketball product, they up and beat two of the best teams in the league in consecutive games.

It's less than two weeks until the NBA draft, and the Warriors' game plan remains, uh what's the word we're looking for, undetermined? undeveloped? or just undisclosed? Quick to point out what others are thinking, the Warriors are mum about their own plans. Rest assured though, they are "currently prepping by holding individual workouts and scouring over scouting reports." Phew, and we thought they were just watching ESPN and getting ready for the party.

As the Warrior faithful wait with desperate anticipation for a draft day that finally turns the tide for this woebegotten franchise, Chris Mullin and his hoops junta might consider the following.

Have a plan. That's a plan, not a strategy. A strategy is something general and nonspecific like "pick the best player available," which is what the Warriors have been doing for about the last 12 years -- how's that been working out? During those 12 years, the team has had a top-ten pick six times and drafted some excellent players, but has never assembled a team (you know, the thing that is greater than the sum of its parts). A plan identifies two or three specific players that offer specific qualities or assets the team needs to improve. A big man. A pure shooter. A defensive stopper. None of the players the Warriors have drafted in recent memory (with the exception of Jason Richardson) have yet benefited the Warriors long term -- though many have gone on to participate in the playoffs for other teams. That's what happens when you don't have a plan.

Warriors Draft Party graphic can be seen in its full glory on the official Warriors website.

For perennial doormats like the Chicago Blackhawks, snakebit franchises like the Arizona Cardinals, and irrelevant standings stuffers like the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, hope springs eternal in the preseason. So it is, yet again, with this year's East Bay ballers. For about the fifth year in a row, the Warriors' marketing department is trying to hype us on the upcoming season as one of promise and playoffs. To quote Jim Mora, "Playoffs? Don't talk about playoffs. Are you kidding me? Playoffs?"

The San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons have Wednesday off, and the And1 Mixtape tour has come and gone. San Francisco basketball fans, though, have long needed to seek a June hoops fix someplace besides the NBA, and this week our ship comes in: the SF Bay Area ProCity Summer Basketball League tips off its 26th season at 8 p.m. tonight in Kezar Pavilion at Stanyan and Waller. They'll play most nights between now and the league championships August 8-12 (full schedule here), and everyone in the building should have a great time.

Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, the Warriors won last night, defeating the Denver Carmelo Anthony’s 107-97 at the Arena Nobody Can Sell the Naming Rights To in Oakland. The game ended the Warriors nine-game losing streak and also marked the return of Jason Richardson, who led the way with 42 points. Lest we get all over-excited about this, the Nuggets were down three major players last night due to various suspensions. They have also lost seven out of eight games.

to be lost here in the Bay Area, at least we can all take solace in the fact that the Golden State Warriors are opening their season tonight at the Coliseum, or whatever you want to call it, against the Portland Jail Blazers. The W's just signed two of their best players, Jason Richardson and Troy Murphy, to six-year deals totaling about $130 million and it's looking like the team playing tonight is going to be the team playing for the next million years, so let's hope they don't suck as badly as they have for the last 10 years.

For the next two weeks Kezar Pavilion will play host to the San Francisco ProCity championship tournament. The ProCity league is a summer developmental league for both professional and amateur players from the Bay Area to hone their skills and raise their profile amongst scouts. The league has featured hometown heroes such as Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Tim Hardaway, Robert Parrish, Steve Nash and one of SFist's favorite basketball personalities Kurt Rambis, among other accomplished NBA and international stars. It's a great chance for local players to show off in front of the friends and family they grew up with, and to play the kind of exciting, entertaining basketball that there just isn't enough of in the big show anymore. Plus the tickets are a whole lot cheaper - try free!