The Punch has been out of commission the last few weeks for three main reasons: First, I'm lazy. Second, believe it or not I actually put a lot of thought into what I write, so it takes a lot of time to write some of these posts. And because things outside of my blog realm have been busier of late, I've had less time available to post. And third, I haven't really found anything worth really writing about lately. And then the NBA season started... which meant a new year for the Warriors... which meant a new level of dysfunctionality. (By the way, dysfunctionality isn't actually a word. That's how absurd this team is-- you need to create words to describe them.)
Anyway, I don't need to give you a breakdown of the stuff that's gone down recently. If you follow basketball even remotely, you already have a good idea. At this point, it's just comical how incapable this team is at doing anything right. And that goes beyond just things on the court. If the players and their ineptness to play sound basketball brought the franchise to its knees, then coaching and management provided the knockout blow.
Okay, I changed my mind. It bothers me so much that I have to breakdown what's gone so wrong for this team so far...
There was the whole Stephen Jackson saga. This guy went from being one of my favorite players on the Warriors to public enemy number one pretty much overnight. I seriously felt like I was reliving that whole T.O. fiasco when he was with the Niners years ago. Like T.O., Jack thinks way too highly of himself. He sees himself as a franchise player, someone like a LeBron or Kobe. So when things start going bad, he thinks he can demand anything he wants like a star player normally does. The problem, though, is that he's just... well... Stephen Jackson. At the same time, though, the Warriors have been so bad recently that he's been the team's best player which has given him an ego bigger than Kanye West. Anyway, the Warriors finally traded him for a guy who needs season-ending surgery and another guy whose name sounds more like a hockey player than a basketball player. And somehow, the Warriors can actually feel good about the deal. Yes, it's been that kind of year.
Then there's the injuries. Andris Biedrins has played in a grand total of four games this year, killing the Warriors and my fantasy team at the same time. Ronny Turiaf is hurt. Brandon Wright is hurt. CJ Watson has the freaking swine flu. And (my favorite Warrior) Kelenna Azubuike is done for the season with a knee injury. And we all know it's only a matter of time before Corey Maggette gets hurt. (By the way, I actually had a dream the other night that Kelenna Azubuike was playing again. I'm not sure what it means, but it's probably not a good sign when you start dreaming that slightly above-average players aren't injured anymore.)
And then there's Don Freaking Nelson. I don't get this guy. I really don't. You know this team is going absolutely nowhere. Wouldn't you see that as all the more reason to mix things up, put your young guys in there, get them some experience, and allow them to start meshing together for the future? Apparently, that's not in the Don Nelson coaching handbook. (Neither is defense.) Instead, Nellie likes to play mind games by giving the youngsters big minutes one night, then less than 10 the next. And this is even more confounding when you consider he has two of the best young players in the league in Anthony Randolph and Stephen Curry. They've both shown they have the skills to play in the NBA and yet Nelson seems to refuse to believe it. Look, I appreciate what Nellie has done for this team and the success that he was able to generate. But coaches have been fired for much less than what he's done lately. It's time to leave Don Nelson behind.
So where do the Warriors stand now? Well, after nice wins over Portland and Dallas, the Dubs followed by getting smacked down by over 30 points to the Lakers. Apparently the six man rotation isn't the best way to run a squad. Look, this is still a fun team to watch. They score like nobody's business and they have some really talented players. But when I watch them play, I never feel comfortable. When they're winning, they sort of lull you into believing they have the game in control. Instead, they manage to let the other team go on a massive run and get back into the game. Then the Dubs start jacking up desperation threes every possession, fail to rebound, and wind up getting destroyed down the stretch.
It's like watching a horror movie. The stupid teenagers think they've finally killed the axe murderer. They think they're safe.. but of course he's not dead! He comes back to life (sometimes several times over the course of many sequels) and eventually kills them all.
And you know how you can see the killer coming up from behind the victim and you want to yell at them to run away? I have a similar experience when watching the Warriors...
"No, Corey! We're only down one point! We're still in this game! You don't need to take that three from halfcourt! NO!!!!!"
It makes the days of "WE BELIEVE" seem so long ago....
But look on the bright side, fellow Warriors faithful: at least we're not the Nets.
