Sunday, May 13, 2007

making a statement

a little context. the warriors lost the first two games of this conference semi-final series in utah; — both winnable games. andrei kirilenko, the jazz defender in this video, blocked 13 shots in those two games; his defense was changing the warriors' offense, as they simply could not get to the rim.

this third game was largely decided in the second quarter, where the warriors opened up about a 20 point lead. but late in the game, there was still something that baron davis wanted to say — emphatically — to kirilenko and the jazz. and that was the last of several assaults on ak, who seemed to have basketballs raining down on his head in the warriors 125-105 victory in game 3.

ouch. that's going to leave a mark…

2 comments:

marguerite said...

hey barry -- what's your analysis of last nite's game?

gr8god said...

re: game 4. i ended up missing the audio broadcast until the very end, when i was obvious the warriors were going to lose. :-(

in brief, i would say that the warriors are being beaten by a well-coached, disciplined, and bigger team; and that was always the likely end to their playoff run. if not utah, then san antonio would probably beat them — badly.

i haven't heard a ton about the game, but if i had to guess, i'd say that the warriors' shortcomings are finally catching up to them:

- the lack of size and bulk (and thus, the inability to rebound consistently or get easy points near the basket)

- the relative lack of depth (with the result that a few key guys are getting tireder and more nicked up)

- the over-dependence on 3 point shooting (which gets worse given the first two problems)

there have been complaints about the officiating too, which is not a surprise, given that golden state is a playoff upstart and doesn't get much respect.

overall, i think the warriors should be at least 2-2 in the series (could even be 3-1), but it's hard to complain. these guys have surpassed all reasonable expectations, and it's fun to have a horse in the race in mid-may.