Warriors 103 Kings 96- Yawn, another day, another Warriors win. And when was the last time somebody said anything like that? The Warriors had to earn this game as they were down by two with a little over a minute left and rallied with Stephen Jackson nailing two three pointers in a 20 second span. He really does make a difference, doesn't he? Let's hope he stays away from the strip clubs. Anyways, Golden State is now .500 at 7-7 and now has more victories going than the Raiders and 49ers combined.

Kings 3 Sharks 2- Hey, look, the Sharks (remember them?) played a Kings too but the one from LA and not Sacramento. And unlike the Warriors, they lost, losing in a shoot out. The Kings may be a lousy, lousy team, but they seem to have a big enough boat as it's their third victory at San Jose's expense. That's about a third of their victories at this point. Ouch.

-Hey, using young pitchers as trade bait just ain't for the Giants either-- reports out there say that the A's Danny Haren and Joe Blanton are being dangled in front of the usual slathering big market teams, mainly the New York Metropolitans. ESPN's Buster Olney has actually been throwing out the idea that Haren is actually a better deal than Johan Santana. He's cheaper, younger, has years left on his contract, and has the makings of being almost Santana-like.

And on that note, the purported reason for why Beane is shopping around two of his aces is because after looking out and seeing the Giants, 49ers, and Raiders stink up the joint, he’s decided that he’s all in on joining them and is nipping at the bud to begin yet another rebuilding process. Sigh.

This November is a big month for all the teams in the Pacific division, as they spend the entire month playing their division opponents. The Sharks have shaken off their lackluster play to go 6-3-1 in their last ten games, three of which were against the Phoenix Coyotes. That includes Thursday night's 6-0 shutout, a game that they absolutely dominated. All told, in the three games against the Coyotes, they had two shutouts and only allowed one goal.

Douglas Murray, hero to college students everywhere and a Cornell grad himself, is now second in the league in plus/minus at +15. Woof.

Jeremy Roenick, of all people, is leading the league in game winning goals. 5 of his 6 goals on the year have been difference makers, including his 500th career goal. His signing, for minimal money, is looking like a genius move right now, as is the signing of Sandis Ozolinsh, who has put in quality minutes on defense, and has helped spark the Sharks power play with some good point play.

Captain Patrick Marleau is finally producing some points, and it's frankly about time. He, Milan Michalek, and Jonathan Cheechoo have been MIA for much of the year, and it's thanks to improved play by Joe Pavelski and Stever Bernier, some nice sniping by the Gooch (rookie Devin Setoguchi) and Torrey Mitchel that Sharks haven't been left behind by the rest of the division.

Image courtesy of Jon Swenson at Sharkspage.

Ah. the Sharks roster, chock full of the most unique, special, fragile snowflakes that ever graced a consistently good (regular season) team. And Mike Grier. I'll also grant an exception to defenseman Douglas "Crankshaft" Murray, crypto-Swede, inventor of the Ubertap, and capable of some of the most punishing checks
Sharks fans have ever seen. Too bad he's not faster, or he'd be more than just a 6-7 d-man.

Sharks fans have been spoiled recent years by spectacular individual performances by guys like Joe Thornton, Jonathan Cheechoo, Patrick Marleau, Milan Michalek, and Grier. As we mentioned in Part I, those feats didn't mean diddly in the playoffs, and so far this year the team has played even more inconsistently. Let's look at some of the key players, and what they need to do to help the team get over the team's mini-funk.

Reviews after the jump