Game Thread: 12/10/14 Rockets @ Warriors, 7:30 tipoff

[GregWarriorsfan]

I cannot believe you guys haven't started a game thread here! It's obvious that all of you have conspired to force me to do it! I will survive this punishment, though.

I see this as the Warriors being at their worst in a good number of games given Bogut's injury. He is out, right? Whoever fills in for him, Speights and FE, will be taking on more than they have all season long. As each game goes by, they should get better and better (with emphasis on FE), but tonight is the trial run. Sure, it's great that D. Howard is out, and maybe this more than makes up for Bogut's absence. But, as our offense has been using Bogut a lot these days to facilitate, this might make it worse on the Dubs than the Rockets.

It's a home game and we've got the team with the second best record coming to town. Both teams will be fired up. The intensity level might lead to some tense encounters.

I see a game that goes down to the last minute, but the Dubs win with both teams scoring over 100. Speights needs to turn in a solid game and Curry needs to get out of his 3-point shooting rut, or else!

If we do lose this game, my "Game Thread" privileges should be taken away from me as I will be responsible for 2 out of the 3 losses for the year.

 

[NBKLee]

I think you just jinxed it, shouldn't you be in surgery or recovering from surgery?

Dubs win this one , hopefully with better Shooting. Dubs need a bounce back night from Steph.

Bogut should rest. IF D12 and Harden aren't playing, no reason to rush Bogut back on the court.

 

[Montalban]

The Dubs still have a shot at this one without Bogut but they are going to have to shoot extremely well as Houston will dominate the boards and the paint on offense.

 

[GregWarriorsfan]

I think you just jinxed it, shouldn't you be in surgery or recovering from surgery?

Dubs win this one , hopefully with better Shooting. Dubs need a bounce back night from Steph.

Bogut should rest. IF D12 and Harden aren't playing, no reason to rush Bogut back on the court.

Oops, didn't know about Harden. Well, they still have Parsons and that big guy, Olajuwan, right? Kidding (about both!).

I had arthroscopic surgery, which is fairly non-invasive and not at all traumatic. I just have 2-3 very small (1/4 to 1/2 inch) incisions on my knee to put the "scope" in, clean things up and from what I understand, drill some small holes, which is the "microfracture" part of the surgery. My doctor told my brother I could "do whatever I felt like doing." The next 1-2 weeks will be telling for me, but I digress.

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

I had 2 tix for tonight's game but traded them to a friend for his 2 tix to the Dallas game on Feb 4th, because he'll be overseas on business.

 

[koblix]

I'm sure that the Rockets marked this game on their calendar. Revenge is on their mind. This is the game they WANT to win so bad. I guess us Warriors will see how good Kerr is tonight.

 

[NBKLee]

Harden is apparently going to play tonight. I'd still take Klay anyday vs Harden, Klay is the best SG in the league bar none.

Harden may get the stupid ref calls and go to the FT line 80x a night, but Klay's defense > Harden all day long.

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

14

GS 105 - Hou 93

Warriors Win 14th Straight - ESPN Video - ESPN

Impressive win, even with both team's big men out.
The Warriors' bench outscored the Rockets' bench 26-5

 

[GregWarriorsfan]

I'm not sure if my lack of sleep had any affect on my viewing of the game, but it seemed like both teams were all on adderall. Both teams seemed like they were going 90 mph, and both had a lot of out of control playing. I thought the refs just took the night off. I mistakenly taped the Rockets' broadcast. Not too bad compared to other team's announcers I've heard before, but when you're used to your own announcers you (or I) find myself getting mad at them when they start to complain about their guys (like Harden) not getting calls, etc.

I realized what Harden's "get fouled" move is when he's driving. After dribbling to the basket and picking the ball up, he brings the ball way out in front of him and gets fouled when his opponent swipes for the ball thinking it's going to be close to his body. Klay got him on one of those.

The Warriors really were tough and determined tonight. Houston really did play good defense on them. I think they lead the league in 3-pt defense, or else they're in the top 4. I'm all current on Rockets' stats from listening to their announcers. Festus had an okay game, especially early, but Kerr decided not to play him too much in the latter parts of the game. I guess that was a good move given the Dubs 4th qtr surge, 32-17. I've not wanted a win this bad for a while. I think those announcers got me riled up, and I did not want those Rockets to beat my Dubs at home.

Okay, back to the "tough and determined" point. They stayed close but mostly behind for most of the first half and 3rd quarter. We may have just ended up running them ragged since they were playing with 9 players. Also, it seemed to me like the Dubs just played much more under control in the 4th, passing the ball really well. Speights had some nice shots and put-backs in the second half. HB was really awesome. He got mad a few times during the game because he felt he was being clobbered on his shot a few times. He made 2-3 3's and had some really nice finishes, giving some really good fakes to end up with easy baskets. Klay stayed confident despite a rough first half. His FIBA experience really instilled a huge amount of confidence in him. His driving ability is 200% better than it was 2 years ago and 100% better than last year.

AI was lost the entire game on offense. I think he had 1 point unless I'm forgetting a layup.

Steph rarely looked for his shot in the second half. Beverly is a very good defender. I was happy when Nick Johnson was on Curry. But, Curry hit some bombs at the end of the first half and with a minute left in the game. Each was about 32 feet deep.

 

[NBKLee]

Haven't watched the 2nd half yet, but 1st half was butt ugly, no flow to the game, Rockets went scoreless for a 5 min stretch and the Dubs followed by going scoreless for 4 mins?

Great to see the Dubs pull this one out in the boxscore, even better to see Barbosa didn't launch any 3pt shots. Cue Dennis and Greg, go to your separate corners and coming out swinging.

Dubs are legit, I don't care if HOU was missing D12, we were missing Bogut and haven't had Lee all year, so the excuses don't work for this game for HOU.

 

[GregWarriorsfan]

NBK or whoever else wants to jump in, I noticed that Terrence Jones (KY) was injured. I really think this guy is going to be a good play for a long time. Does anyone know if he's been out for much of the year? I can't say that I've seen his name much in the box scores. Of course, they basically have the same team this year as last, besides the addition of Nick Johnson and the departure of Parsons. I think that Houston might be better than LAC.

Oh, did anyone see 2 pretty big upsets recently? SA lost to Utah at Utah, though Parker has a bad hamstring. Also, Portland lost to Minnesota at Minn last night and Portland had their full team from what I remember.

I believe that Memphis is the second best team right now behind the Warriors, and I think that these 2 teams could meet in the WCF unless SA returns to form and knocks off one of us

 

[JustOneDennisBergkamp]

A good finish after reverting back to some sloppy habits for the first three quarters. Barnes played real well and is starting to look every bit the number seven (?) pick used to get him. It looked for a while like Harden and Ariza might shoot their team to victory, but the defense was tough down the stretch while the Dubs were money at the other end.

Of real significance for me is the indication that Livingston has moved up past Iguodala in the pecking order. Coming into the season, I would imagine that Kerr was thinking of Iggy as the man to replace the center when going small, but it was the new guy who got the nod at crunch time last night. Iggy hasn't just been missing shots, he has been making poor decisions at both ends of the court as well. Livingston, on the other hand, has found his game that was lost on the flight out here and plays real smart, too.

 

[NBKLee]

NBK or whoever else wants to jump in, I noticed that Terrence Jones (KY) was injured. I really think this guy is going to be a good play for a long time. Does anyone know if he's been out for much of the year? I can't say that I've seen his name much in the box scores. Of course, they basically have the same team this year as last, besides the addition of Nick Johnson and the departure of Parsons. I think that Houston might be better than LAC.

Oh, did anyone see 2 pretty big upsets recently? SA lost to Utah at Utah, though Parker has a bad hamstring. Also, Portland lost to Minnesota at Minn last night and Portland had their full team from what I remember.

I believe that Memphis is the second best team right now behind the Warriors, and I think that these 2 teams could meet in the WCF unless SA returns to form and knocks off one of us

Don't think its injury, but I haven't followed HOU as closely as the Dubs, I think Montejlunus (or however you spell his name), gives that team better size and defense possibly.

I find it funny to read, Green and Speights got "unofficial warnings" for flopping after the game, but Harden is allowed to flow nightly

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Don't think its injury, but I haven't followed HOU as closely as the Dubs, I think Montejlunus (or however you spell his name), gives that team better size and defense possibly.

I find it funny to read, Green and Speights got "unofficial warnings" for flopping after the game, but Harden is allowed to flow nightly

Because the refs get distracted and hypnotized by that goofy beard of his, they lose sight of what he's actually doing.

 

[GregWarriorsfan]

Don't think its injury, but I haven't followed HOU as closely as the Dubs, I think Montejlunus (or however you spell his name), gives that team better size and defense possibly.

I find it funny to read, Green and Speights got "unofficial warnings" for flopping after the game, but Harden is allowed to flow nightly

I don't recall seeing Speights' supposed flop, but do remember seeing HB's. I didn't at all think it was a flop. The guy rammed his body into HB, and then fully extended his arm. This is a stupid rule, warning people not to flop. Refs need to learn when the offense is ramming their body into the other guy and call charging. The onus is being put on the players rather than on the refs.

 

[NBKLee]

I don't recall seeing Speights' supposed flop, but do remember seeing HB's. I didn't at all think it was a flop. The guy rammed his body into HB, and then fully extended his arm. This is a stupid rule, warning people not to flop. Refs need to learn when the offense is ramming their body into the other guy and call charging. The onus is being put on the players rather than on the refs.

Although what Harden does should be called an offensive foul each and every time, most charge/blocking calls should be blocking calls.

Once a player jumps and makes his move towards the basket, they don't really have body control. Players who try to jump underneath to try to draw a charge are liable to cause major injury.

I wish more refs would call blocking calls versus charges, i.e the stupid "Pass and crash" foul calls. It has nothing to do with basketball and stops the flow of the game. How many charges did real big men take back in the day? Ewing, Smits, Morning, Mutumbo, Hakeem, Wilt, Shaq, Eaton, did they try to jump underneath and try to draw a charge? No, they manned up and tried to play defense.

 

[GregWarriorsfan]

Although what Harden does should be called an offensive foul each and every time, most charge/blocking calls should be blocking calls.

Once a player jumps and makes his move towards the basket, they don't really have body control. Players who try to jump underneath to try to draw a charge are liable to cause major injury.

I wish more refs would call blocking calls versus charges, i.e the stupid "Pass and crash" foul calls. It has nothing to do with basketball and stops the flow of the game. How many charges did real big men take back in the day? Ewing, Smits, Morning, Mutumbo, Hakeem, Wilt, Shaq, Eaton, did they try to jump underneath and try to draw a charge? No, they manned up and tried to play defense.

That means that unless you fall into this category (Wilt, Shaq, Hakeem, etc.) you don't have a way of defending a player driving to the bucket. Is Curry going to jump up and block a 6'8" player driving to the bucket? When you see a guy simply out of control going to the bucket, getting position is the best choice. If he's not out of control then he'll go around you and make the bucket or maybe get a blocking call. Also, what happened to HBs in the call the other night was basically what Shaq used to do...bull his way to the basket but using his 300 lbs to overpower smaller people, of which everyone was smaller. I don't think that people should be able to plow over someone who is trying to guard them and not get a charging call. The game then becomes a simple matter of who is stronger. Then you have no Stephen Currys in the game because he couldn't play defense when bigger players are trying to back him down to the basket. There should be some level of skill on the part of players on offense to be able to score. Thankfully, gone are the days when you could just bull your way over your defender the way Shaq did. Also, Shaw went to the same college that I went to, so it's not an issue of me not liking him. I actually think he's a great person, just a very unfulfilled pro career, in my opinion.