Jannero Pargo is a quintessential Nellie backup point guard, quick as a dart, nice three point shot (35%), great at the free throw line (86%), good handle.

He is also a savvy veteran, and a clutch shooter, who had a great playoff run backing up Chris Paul with the Hornets a couple of years ago.

Here are three possible ramifications of this deal off the top of my head:  

1) If this is a cheap domino that frees up reserves to sign Anthony Tolliver I would be ecstatic.  I really, really want the Warriors to re-sign this hustle player with a nose for the ball, who averaged 7 rbs in a reserve role, and who never took a play off.  And who has enough of an offensive game to dump 34 points on Kevin Love’s head in his home arena.

2) Doesn’t this make it highly unlikely that the Warriors will keep Jeremy Lin out of training camp?  He is now the 5th point guard, or at least the 5th player 6-3″ and under that the Warriors have under contract.  Monta, Curry, Bell, Pargo, Lin.  Will the Warriors carry all of them?  Although it is possible that they view all of these players as combo guards who can play the two as well. Nellie is certainly not averse to playing a small backcourt, but historically he has favored 6-5″ or bigger two guards who are defensive stoppers.  Only Monta and Bell in this group have the ability to guard NBA twos, and they are obviously undersized.

If Lin is to be kept, I would guess that either Bell or Pargo would be moved again before the season starts.

3) Or Monta Ellis.

It was appropriate that Nellie got his 1,332nd NBA coaching win — tying him with Lenny Wilkens for the most wins in league history — in this game. A game that featured a short-handed team of scrappy underdogs, playing for nothing but him, on the road against a superstar-led playoff team, fighting for its very life.  A game which required Nellie to play his patented small-ball right from the very tip.  A game which required every ounce of his creativity and savvy right down to the final seconds.

In short, a game that no NBA coach in history was likely to have won, save Don Nelson.

If Nellie had matched up conventionally in this game, as the legion of small-minded and convention-bound Bay Area scribes led by Tim Kawakami and Adam Lauridsen have been bleating for since time immemorial — if he had played  Turiaf/Hunter on the 7′-foot tall Bargnani, and Tolliver/Turiaf on Chris Bosh, and Corey Maggette at small forward — the Warriors would have gotten slaughtered. Slaughtered.  Bargnani makes his living dragging conventional centers out of the lane (a Don Nelson invention, of course).  And matching up Tolliver on Bosh would have been simply conceding the most important matchup in this game.

If there is a hallmark to Don Nelson’s coaching, to his “system” as some would have it, it is this:  never concede a matchup.  NEVER.  If the other team has a superstar that simply cannot be guarded, then Don Nelson will make sure to match him with a player that he himself cannot guard on the other end.  And that is just what Nellie did in this game by starting Corey Maggette at power forward. Chris Bosh can’t be guarded?  Well neither can Corey Maggette. Chris Bosh goes for 42?  Corey Maggette goes for 31.  Big deal.  Let’s see what the rest of your team can do.

Here’s what the rest of Toronto did:  Andrea Bargnani shot 7-23 trying to force the action inside, which is NOT his game.  Toronto’s guards were taken completely out of their rhythmn, because their front-line was a black hole: Bargnani and Bosh combined for 2 assists.  The Warriors packed the paint, but Toronto’s shooters were no match for the Warriors’.  Game, Set, Match, Don Nelson.

We’ve seen it before:  Maggette on Aldridge.  Harrington on Dampier and Yao. Jackson on Nowitzki.  I can’t guard you?  Well, you can’t guard me.

But it’s deeper, if you really think about it, than just small ball.  Its Dirk Nowitzki on Malone, Duncan and Garnett.  Its Monta Ellis on Brandon Roy and Kobe Bryant.  It’s the quick three.  The first available shot.  The fast break after a made basket.  The point forward.  The point guard who can drop 30.   The power forward who shoots threes.  Five shooters on the floor.

I can’t guard you?  Well, you can’t guard me.  Now lets play some basketball.

If Don Nelson has a “system,” it is this:  Winning.  Don Nelson finds a way, any way, to win basketball games.  You have big men and he has little, he will beat you.  You have superstars, and he has D-Leaguers, he will beat you.  No one in NBA history has ever found more ways to win, or had more courage to actually go ahead and do it, when playoff glory and careers were on the line. That is Don Nelson’s greatness.

But it starts and ends with this:  Don Nelson wins because, like Winston Churchill, he never surrenders.

Notes:

The end of the game: The Warriors’ near collapse can be ascribed to many factors.  A rookie point guard.  A lack of a go-to player.  A center who can’t shoot free throws.  An excess of D-leaguers who can’t run the plays yet (Reggie Williams struggled).

And then there’s the important reasons:  First of all, fatigue.  Once again, the Warriors were running with seven players, on the road.  And Curry is playing on two flat tires.  Hit the wall?  Curry’s hit it as many times as Wile E. Coyote.

But the most important reason I think is this:  when the Warriors got up 16 mid-fourth quarter they started trying to run clock.  This was not a mistake, exactly, it was the sound thing to do.  But it completely took them out of their game, and they couldn’t get it back.

The final 10 seconds: Fitting that it seemed to last as long as Nellie’s whole career, isn’t it?  I think Nellie went early to the fouling strategy because he couldn’t trust his young D-leaguers to execute on defense.

Stephen Curry: Another incredible performance from a kid who has next to nothing in the tank.  2 rebounds short of a triple-double?  Engineering a win on the road against a desperate playoff team, with a short-handed team of D-leaguers and absolutely no go-to men?

I have friends — rabid, knowledgeable basketball fans — who are still comparing Curry to Mike Bibby.  It just makes me want to laugh.  Why can’t they see the greatness that is right in front of their faces?

The highlight sequence: at 6:10 of the first quarter, Curry nails a three, blocks Calderon on the defensive end, and slings a touchdown pass to Reggie Williams.

Just a thought:  Which made a greater impression on you, Curry choking the first two free throws, or icing the last two?

One other fitting thing about this game:  if the wins record is what it takes to get Don Nelson in the Hall of Fame, it’s perfect that Stephen Curry is getting it for him. One Hall of Famer is nearing the end; another is just beginning.

Corey Maggette: As has been his wont throughout this season, Maggette shouldered the nightmare assignment on defense, took the pounding, and then delivered on the other end.  A class act.  And a hell of a basketball player.

He has his weaknesses.  A propensity for sick turnovers at sick moments. But he has greatness in him as well.  Was there any doubt he would hit his last two free throws?  He had no doubt, as he shushed the stands before he even shot them.

Signature moment:  After Bargnani steam-rolled him for a dunk, Maggette looked questioningly to Nelson with his arms outstretched.  What to do? Nellie answered with a vigorous hand signal:  RUN.

Anthony Morrow: Nice to see him hitting shots again.  Its one of the mysteries of this season that he and CJ Watson never seem to be hitting in the same game.

His greatest contribution, however, may have come on the boards.  Signature moment: at 9:00 of the fourth quarter, Morrow takes a board away from Bosh.  Now why couldn’t Brandon Wright ever do that?

Reggie Williams: All of a sudden he’s struggling with his shot.  It’s a good thing for him this happened after he got his contract.

He’s a heck of a ballhandler, though, who can only get better. 6 assists against 0 turnovers?  I see special things ahead for Reggie, if Nellie sticks.

Rony Turiaf: We saw a bit of everything from Turiaf in this game, from good to bad to disastrous.  But two plays stand out for me.  The defense on Bosh at :40 of the fourth quarter.  And the quick challenge of Bosh’s last shot.

That’s Rony Turiaf.

At 6:05 of the fourth quarter, Stephen Curry received the ball under his own basket, looked up court and threw a 70 foot chest pass that hit a double-covered CJ Watson in the hands for a layup.  This sensational play capped a 16-0 Warriors run that tied the game at 95, and sent the Oracle into delirium. And thanks to the good folks at Golden State of Mind, the Thaiblonde and I were right in the midst of the madness.  We were eight rows back behind the backboard jumping up in joyous disbelief as Watson caught the ball over his shoulder and layed in the reverse.

Stephen Curry said after the game that if he had thrown that pass away he would have spent the rest of the game on the bench.  He was joking, of course. Curry is fortunate to play for a man that not only coaches that pass, but game-plans it and demands it.  It was one of several long passes that beat the ferocious Hawks defense down court in this game, and it occurred by design.

But oh, the execution…  and the moment!  It was the play of the game, and for me, the play of this Warriors season.  Not least because I was near court-side to see it.  A giant shout-out to my golden friends at GSoM for this great experience!

This was a great game for a lot of reasons.  Let’s start with the way it was coached:

Coach Don Nelson:  Defensive genius Mike Woodson is the odds-on favorite for coach of the year.  Well, the old, washed-up coach of the Warriors spanked little Mikey Woodson’s bottom in this game.  When faced by a vastly superior team — which the Atlanta Hawks are — a coach has two weapons at his disposal: 1) the creation and exploitation of mismatches; and 2) the element of surprise.  Nellie deployed both masterfully last night.

The Hawks had mismatches all over the court. Nellie had to work hard to find his.  It began at the point guard position, and specifically, Mike Bibby and Jamal Crawford.  These players are the soft underbelly of the Hawks’ fearsome defense.  And Nellie went right at them from the opening tip. If you’re looking for a reason that Curry’s assist total was so low in this game, this is it.  Curry was instructed to attack, and to get his own shot.  So far this season, Curry has rarely looked to break his man down off the dribble and penetrate the lane.  That wasn’t the case last night:  Curry attacked his man relentlessly.  A perfect example came on the play at 5:13 of the fourth that put the Warriors ahead 97-95.  Curry split the trap at the top of the key, and drove the lane for a layup. How often have you seen that from Curry this year?  That play has largely been the responsibility of Monta Ellis this season.  But in this game, Monta Ellis was used almost exclusively off the ball.

Curry’s 32 points in this game came by design.  Don Nelson’s design.

Nellie had one more mismatch in mind for this game, but he held it in reserve, as a surprise.  At 8:47 of the fourth quarter, Nellie put Biedrins back in the game, to play alongside Chris Hunter at power forward. Biedrins guarded Josh Smith, whom the Warriors had no answer for up to this point in the game.  Nellie sprang this matchup on Mike Woodson as a trap, and Woodson fell into it with both feet.  Woodson stubbornly continued to have his team pound it inside to Smith down the stretch, and Biedrins turned Smith away again and again.  Smith went 0-5 in the fourth quarter.

I’ve seen Nellie successfully pull this trap before, against David West and the Hornets at the peak of their power a couple of years ago.  Biedrins shut West down and the Warriors got a great win in New Orleans.  For short bursts, Beans is a terrific defender of power forwards.  His defense on Smith was instrumental in the Warriors’ 16-0 run to take the lead.

But Biedrins wasn’t the only trap that Nellie pulled in the fourth.  Another was his defense on Joe Johnson down the stretch.  At 6-7″ 240, Johnson presented quite a mismatch for Monta Ellis.  Or so Mike Woodson thought. Nellie had been content to let Monta guard Johnson without help all game long, and Johnson had eaten Monta up on continued isolations in the low post.  But when Nellie brought Monta back to guard Johnson at 4:07 of the fourth, he changed his defensive strategy.  The Warriors started trapping Johnson on his isolations.  Woodson and the Hawks were completely unprepared for this.  Not only did the Hawks fail to find their open shooters (check out Hunter’s perfectly executed trap of Johnson at 0:25, with a wide-open Jamal Crawford waving his arms in the corner), but a distracted Johnson had the ball stolen from him twice by Monta Ellis down the stretch. Ballgame.

Focussed on the mismatches that had carried the Hawks to a big third quarter lead, Mike Woodson completely forgot about the one player he had whom the Warriors simply could not guard: Jamal Crawford.  Crawford is having a great season as the Hawks sixth man.  He has won several games for the Hawks by taking over in the fourth quarter, with Mike Bibby on the bench.

But Bibby wasn’t on the bench in this fourth quarter.  Woodson felt he needed him on the floor. Why?  Because in addition to going with two centers up front, Nellie was playing three point guards, with Watson joining Curry and Ellis. Woodson matched up with Mike Bibby, and used him to initiate the offense to the stymied Smith and Johnson.  Big mistake.  Fatal mistake.  Jamal Crawford, one of the great closers in the NBA, barely touched the ball in the fourth quarter, going 0-4.

Thank you, Don Nelson.

Stephen Curry: Curry has had an interesting five game stretch, hasn’t he? Three absolute masterpieces, interspersed with two total stinkers.  And an all-star game and three-point shooting contest thrown in.

Scoff all you like, haters, I am going to keep putting out there what I have been putting out there since the preseason:  Stephen Curry is a basketball genius.  I can count the players I have seen with a comparable basketball IQ on the fingers of one hand:  Magic, Bird, Stockton, Kidd, Nash.

We are unbelievably fortunate to be watching this phenomenal talent blossom in a Warriors uniform.  Thank you, Don Nelson.

Monta Ellis: I wonder, will this performance do anything to quell the media bleatings that Ellis and Curry can’t play together?  Ellis stated when he came back that he had been impressed by the Warriors ball-movement, and that he wanted to fit his game into that.  If this game is any evidence, he meant what he said.  He willingly deferred to Stephen Curry, and accepted his role off the ball.

And for those of you who wanted Monta traded for OJ Mayo and a giant stiff, ask yourself this question:  Does OJ Mayo come up with those two steals against Joe Johnson?

The Centers: It says a lot about the current state of Biedrins and Turiaf that Chris Hunter is the best finisher on the Warriors. 3:11 of the second. 1:30 of the second. 9:47 of the fourth. 9:09 of the fourth.  Chris Hunter can catch the ball and slam it through with authority, against one of the toughest front lines in the league.  The Warriors are desperate for this ability.  In Curry and Ellis, they have two of the best pick and roll guards in the league.  Their talents are going to waste without big men to finish for them.

Andris Biedrins has completely opted out of the pick and roll this year.  At least twice last night, I saw him set the pick and refuse to roll.  Why?  He doesn’t want the ball back.  If he gets it back, he knows he’s going to get fouled and have to go to the line.  This is truly a revolting development in a player who two years ago was one of the Warriors’  best finishers.  Sad to say, but if he doesn’t fix his free throw problems, he’s gone.  The Warriors need partners for Curry and Ellis in the pick and roll.  If Biedrins can’t do it anymore, Nellie will trade him.

Chris Hunter was great in this game, and not just in the pick and roll.  His fourth quarter defense alongside Biedrins was spectacular.  Nellie stated post-game that this was Hunter’s best performance as a pro, and that he was proud of him. Surprising comments from a coach who, as we have been told repeatedly by the media, doesn’t get along with young big men, and doesn’t know how to develop them.

Can Chris Hunter be this good on a regular basis?  Is he good enough to earn a place in the rotation?  Sadly, Andris Biedrins’ failures have me contemplating these questions.

CJ Watson: I am never again going to snidely predict that CJ Watson will get a layup blocked.  The lightbulb has suddenly gone on for CJ.  In the span of about five games, he has gone from a player for whom finishing layups was a considerable weakness, to a great finisher, with no in-between.  He is taking it strong, he’s taking it into the contact, he’s taking the hit, and he’s still finishing. The number of “And One’s” he’s picked up in the last few games is incredible.  I think he had three or four in the Kings game alone.  I don’t know what happened, but I love it.  I’ve felt for some time that CJ is one of the best backup point guards in the league, but with this development, he may be playing himself not merely into a big contract, but into a starting role on another team.  If that happens, I’ll be sad to see him go.

Devean George: DG can play D.  Still, on one leg.  He can play it against power forwards (11:39 of the second against Josh Smith).  He can play it against shooting guards (8:31 of the second against Joe Johnson).  He is giving the Warriors good, effective minutes.  Its strange that a coach who doesn’t care about defense would have traded for him, isn’t it?

Almost as strange as that a coach who doesn’t care about defense could have devised a trap that held the Atlanta Hawks to 5-22 shooting in the fourth quarter.

Random Observations from Court-Side:

• Raja Bell worked out in a shooting and conditioning drill before the game.  He looked pretty good running key to key and hitting 8 straight shots.
• CJ Watson beaned Jamal Crawford in the back with a ball during warmups, by way of initiating a warm reunion.
• Zaza Pachulia has a gigantic head.  You could fit two Andris Biedrins heads into one Zaza Pachulia head.
• It costs $11 for a Fat Tire.  What’s even sicker is that I paid it.  For me, Fat Tire is the Lagavulin of beers.  Who laid this nefarious trap for feltbot?
• As I was standing and cheering, I noticed that the Curry to Watson bomb got Don Nelson out of his seat, too. Like a fan. The old man who’s lost interest and is only in it for the money. The old man who’s a terrible fit for this young team. I would be willing to bet a lot of money that Nellie sticks around to coach Stephen Curry’s second season.  How about it, Matt Steinmetz?

The core of this team, as currently contructed, is Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, Corey Maggette, Andris Biedrins, Rony Turiaf and Kelenna  Azubuike.  Is there a quitter in that bunch?  Anyone who dogs it?  It is not only the talent, but also the heart of this Warriors team that gives me hope for the future, and sustains me during this bleak period.  I continue to believe that if Cohan and Rowell give Nellie room to operate, and this team ever returns to full strength, winning is around the corner.

It begins, of course with Monta Ellis.

Monta Ellis: The superstar returned in the last two games.  And for all the current discouragement, a team that has a superstar is never very far from winning.  As this game showed.

The Mavericks are currently third in the Western Conference.  Simple question: What would the score of this game have been if the Warriors were playing with Anthony Randolph and Kelenna Azubuike, and Biedrins and Turiaf were healthy and playing like they did at the start of last year?

Whatever the poison-mongerers like Tim Kawakami and Adam Lauridsen keep writing, that’s how far the Warriors are from winning.  In Dallas, against the three seed in the West.  On a back-to-back.  With a dead rookie.

Something to keep in mind.

Stephen Curry: If you’ve ever wanted to see what the rookie wall looks like, you’re looking at it.  I’m guessing this was brought on by the spate of 48 minute complete games Curry played when Monta went out.  Curry simply can’t feel his legs right now.

Take another look at the end of the game last night.  Nellie brought Curry off the bench in the final seconds to practice getting a last second shot.  Curry drove the lane and picked up the foul.  But before he shot his free throws, he stood for a long time under the basket, bent over and grabbing his shorts. I was thinking, is he that tired after 3 seconds back on the court?  Then it hit me: he can’t feel his legs.  He’s looking at them like they’re impostors. Check it out.

Corey Maggette: Not one of Maggette’s best games, but what doesn’t show up in the boxscore is how hard he had to work for his shot.  The Warriors showed none of the ball-movement that has created wide-open looks and layups for Maggette in the past.  I thought that was the chief difference in Maggette’s game and Marion’s.  Kidd repeatedly found Marion under the basket for easy lay-ins.

Devean George: His defense on Dirk Nowitzki was pretty impressive last night, and easily as important as Monta’s scoring in allowing the Warriors to creep back into this game.  He held Nowitzki to two free throws in the third quarter.  Nowitzki did come back to score 9 in crunch time, but George made him work for those shots, and also turned him over twice.

George has now shut out Carmelo Anthony in a fourth quarter in Denver, and Dirk Nowitzki in a third quarter in Dallas. On one leg. He is something on one leg that Marco Belinelli is not on two: a bonafide NBA player.

The Centers: It may be wishful thinking, but I think Biedrins is starting to look a little more like himself.  It helped, of course, that the Mavericks played small ball all night, with Dampier out.

One unspoken casualty of his free-throw shooting has been the high pick and roll.  The Warriors almost never run it, which I can only attribute to Biedrins’ fear of going to the line.  That might also be the reason he always rolls the wrong way.  This play should be a staple of the Warriors’ offense.  I’ve been very disappointed to see it missing in action.

The Warriors started the game with a big line-up of Biedrins and Turiaf.  The line-up worked about as well as could be expected, which is not at all.  The Warriors out-rebounded the Mavs, but couldn’t put the ball in the hole.  They wound up with 21 points for the quarter.  I’m guessing that by using this line-up in the first quarter, Nellie was buying time for Devean George in the second half. He knew he couldn’t use Anthony Tolliver.

CJ Watson:  With Curry missing in action, Nellie went to Watson down the stretch. It wasn’t one of his better games. He looked unsure down the stretch, failing to create open shots, and committing a couple of turnovers.  The one big shot he should have taken, a momentarily open three with 1:54 left, he passed up, resulting in a Warriors’ loss of possession.

The D-League All-Stars: As Nellie would put it, they looked like D-Leaguers. There was no one on this Mavs team that Tolliver could guard.  He works against the big dudes, not so much against the athletes.  Nellie played him only in the second quarter. Coby Karl needs to hit threes to be effective.  His drives remind me of Belinelli’s.

And the Warriors lack Monta Ellis, superstar.  Monta is back, but he has not been the star of any of the three games he has played since his return.

Monta Ellis: It was a theme of mine earlier this season, while Monta was struggling to get into game shape, that the Warriors as presently constructed cannot win unless Monta is the best player on the floor.  On this night, he was very far from the best player.  His mid-range jumpshot was flat and short, and he seemed a step slow.  His handle was uncertain, and he had a tough time creating for his teammates. 2 assists against 5 TO’s.  In short, Monta looks a lot like he looked to start the season.  Either he’s rusty, or his surgically repaired left ankle, errr… his sprained right foot, is still bothering him.

He also got his fingerroll blocked twice from behind. Perhaps he needs to either start dunking those, or take a page from his below-the-rim rookie teammate and finish them off glass with the rim for protection?  Just a thought from a guy who’s always played below the rim.  Way, way below.

He nearly redeemed his game with two big crunch-time threes.  But I think he made a bad decision with 1:00 left and the Warriors down three.  On the fast break, he had an open three to tie, but he also had a wide open CJ Watson 12 feet from the hoop.  A pass to CJ there sets up a layup for either CJ or himself on the give and go.

Corey Maggette: Looked more like himself in this game, with an efficient 26 points on 14 shots.  He also assisted nicely in the first half.  Unable to guard Durant, and perhaps unwilling to guard Green, Maggette was matched up for the most part on Sefolosha and Harden.  The problem with that was that the Warriors’ missed his presence on the boards.

Stephen Curry: Had a very poor game.  Like Monta he was turnover prone against the quick defense of Westbrook and the Thunder team.  His legs also seemed to desert him in this game.  He had a tough time keeping Westbrook out of the lane and off the boards.  But a lot of that had to do with the fact that Nellie used him to give help on Durant and Green, and Biedrins was ineffective. In the second half, Curry came up short on most of his shots, going 1 for 5.

Nellie pulled him down the stretch, going with CJ Watson and Coby Karl.  Matt Steinmetz tried to make a stink about that post-game, which is his predilection. I think it was simply a case of going with the hot hands over a rookie who was out of gas and struggling.

The Centers: Turiaf was very good in this game, tying his season-high for points with 8 in the first half, and pulling 8 boards.  Biedrins was another story, once again failing to show up to start the game. He had 0 rebounds in 9 first half minutes. He started the third quarter just as poorly, getting a quick hook from Nellie after getting beat down court and giving up a silly foul. He finally began to play in the fourth quarter, helping to trigger a last-gasp Warriors run with his defense.

But it’s clear that Biedrins is still a long, long way from the player he was at the start of last season.  Stamina issues, rust, or continued injury are slowing him considerably.

The Little Three: CJ Watson played a very solid game.  Its nice to see him start to hit his open shots again.  He also finished some tough layups, which is uncharacteristic.  Progress or anomaly?

Vlad Rad is completely lost in space.  Nellie went to him in desperation in the second half. After a particularly Vlad Radian turnover, dribbling into a half-court trap, followed by an airballed 15 footer, he got the quick yank. That’s three games in a row in which the inactive Anthony Morrow has outplayed Vlad Rad.

The D-League All-Stars: Anthony Tolliver didn’t make much of an impact in this game.  We’re beginning to get a picture of what he can and can’t do. With his sound defensive fundamentals and strong body, he is quite effective against bigger players.  But he will struggle against the quicker and more athletic power forwards in the league.  Jeff Green made him look slow, as will Carl Landry in the next game, I’m guessing. His poor rebounding totals (3) weren’t all his fault. Green is a stretch four, and pulled him out of the paint.

On offense, Tolliver is turning into an interesting player. Nellie is starting to use him in the high post, and he has proved to have nice vision and a nice passing ability. He had three assists feeding slashers to the basket.

Sadly, Cartier Martin is no longer with the Warriors, resuming his lonely exile in the D-League.  The Warriors are not allowed by rule to sign him to another 10 day contract, and don’t have the roster flexibility to sign him for the season. They could have really used his defense on Durant in this game.

His D-League replacement, Coby Karl, had a nice game in his place, though. Karl is a player with a terrific basketball IQ.  He moved the ball quickly, decisively and beautifully. So well in fact, that Nellie was comfortable letting him run the team down the stretch in place of the struggling Stephen Curry.

Karl’s problem, of course, is a pronounced lack of athleticism.  Which is why the crafty Don Nelson will be playing him at small forward, rather than his natural position of point guard. He appears to be a smart and decent defender on bigger players, although naturally Durant dipped him in cheese and ate him like fondue.

6 points, 6 assists, 6 fouls.  The mark of the Karl?

A mid-season back-to-back.  Monta’s rustiness. Don Nelson’s game plan. Corey Maggette’s disgruntlement. Pick a reason, any reason. The fact of the matter is that the Warriors gave very little effort in this game.  Don Nelson didn’t make too much of it, and neither will I. The woefully undermanned Warriors have played their hearts out this season for very little reward. They deserve a pass on an off-game. Let’s hope it doesn’t continue.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that this game says something about the New Orleans Hornets.  It doesn’t.  They are a very mediocre team, going nowhere.  They happen to have one completely transcendant basketball player, Chris Paul, who at 6-0 175 lbs. might be one of the top 5 players in the league.  He has put the Hornets on his back, just like Lebron James has put a very mediocre supporting cast on his back the last few years. Lebron has enough to make a run in the playoffs; Paul will not get out of the first round, if indeed he makes it that far.

Don Nelson: Nellie made himself a major player in this game by choosing to go small from the start, with Maggette at the four and CJ Watson at the three. He stated post-game that he thought that strategy gave the Warriors the best chance to win.  But for whatever reason, his player’s didn’t buy into it.

I pride myself on calling things like I see them.  I’m a  Don Nelson fan, but in this game he was out of tune with his unit.  The small-ball Warriors just didn’t have the energy or the will to compete in the paint.

Corey Maggette: I’m giving him pride of place among players, because he was the chief dog in this game.  Whether out of fatigue, frustration with Nellie’s game plan, or lingering annoyance with Nellie from the previous game, Maggette simply did not show up to play defense or rebound.

Monta Ellis: Played the distributor beautifully to start the game, picking up 6 assists in the first quarter.  Unfortunately, it seemed to take him out of his game.  He never tried to take the reins of this game. Did the game plan slow Monta down, or did a slowed-down Monta require this game plan?  Nellie attributed Monta’s poor game to rust.  Let’s hope that’s the case.

Stephen Curry: Curry looked like he was running in mud, and not all of it was due to Chris Paul. Back-to-backs have proved very tough for Curry in his rookie season.

After the Sacramento game, I thought to myself that Stephen Curry might be the most cerebral player to enter the league since Magic and Bird. I was forgetting one player: Chris Paul. What he does on the court has very little to do with athletic talent.  It’s about intelligence.  He is amazing to watch.

CJ Watson: Helped by being left wide open by Stojakovich and West due to Nellie’s small ball tactics, Watson’s dead-eye returned.  It’s another irony in a season full of them that this performance occurred in this game.  There have been at least 5 games this season which the Warriors might have won if Watson had been able to hit a shot.

The Centers: Once again their combined line didn’t look too bad, but the fact remains that Beans and Turiaf are making very little impact. Emeka Okafor is not this good.  Randolph did a much better job on him in the previous game.

The D-League All-Stars: Perhaps relieved of the pressure of starting, perhaps helped by stepping in a few feet, Tolliver got his jumper to fall in this game. And then he actually hit a 3, his third in 24 attempts.  Unorthodox style or not, I think it’s clear Tolliver can hit shots.  He just needs to get his confidence and his rhythmn.

Martin had a poor game.  It’s clear that Nellie wants him to be aggressive on offense. But games like this may indicate that his game isn’t up to it.

Vlad Rad: Who?

He’s still shooting a high percentage from three, though, so I’m guessing Curry will have to chase him over the screens.  Or maybe Monta will pick him up.  The Bucks recently lost Michael Redd to a season-ending knee injury, and don’t have any other scoring threats at the 2 or 3 positions.  Unless you count Luke Ridnour.

Despite their struggles in the backcourt, the Bucks will be a difficult matchup for the injury-depleted Warriors. Turiaf, Radmanovich and Watson are all doubtful for this game. Which leaves the Warriors without a true power forward.  The Bucks have a couple of young athletic power forwards who are really coming on, Ersan Ilyasova, from Turkey, and Hakim Warrick. Luc Mbah-Moute is also a very tough inside player.

The Warriors will be matching up at the four with Corey Maggette and Cartier Martin.  This is, to put it mildly, cause for concern.  Remember what the athletic Thaddeus Young of the Sixers did to the Warriors?  I fear we could be in for a replay.

Biedrins will also have his hands full, going against Bogut and Thomas.  Bogut is a favorite target of Jennings in the paint.

The Warriors are -3.5 home favorites.  The Bucks, like the Heat, are on the fourth game of a West coast road trip.  They lost the previous three, and are slipping in the standings.  You can be sure they have circled this game, and will be bringing their A game.  The Warriors find themselves once again undersized and shorthanded.  They have responded well in these circumstances so far this season, but are wearing down.  I would be tempted to pick the Bucks, if I weren’t a homer.

And that was before I got to watch Devean George at center.

Barely two weeks after they finally got their big men back in some semblance of action, the Warriors have been hit with a new wave of injuries.  Randolph out, probably for the season.  Turiaf, never completely right this season, now too banged up to play. Vlad Rad, who has been struggling with an Achilles tendon problem, unable to answer the bell in the second half.  And then CJ Watson, 5 stitches to his shooting hand when Dwyane Wade spiked the ball off him? Ridiculous.

Fully healthy, I think the Warriors are better than this Heat team.  Last night’s skeleton squad was stripped of rebounders, and thus unable to execute their game plan, which is to get out on the break.  Most of the game was played at the Heat’s excruciatingly slow tempo. Which is why Jermaine O’Neal had so much left in the tank in the fourth quarter.  Watching him prance and smirk and give the “Shhh” to the Oracle crowd made me ill.  I’d like to see the kind of fourth quarter he’d have after 20 minutes against Turiaf, and with Randolph igniting the fast break against the soft Michael Beasley.

Alas, watching the full Warriors roster play is something for fantasy only.

Monta Ellis: Nate Thurmond said after the Cavs game that Lebron James made Corey Maggette look “like a junior.” That thought returned to me when I watched Dwyane Wade matched up against Monta Ellis. Monta is a very similar player to Wade, but so much smaller and less powerful.  He’s Dwyane Wade lite.

This comparison of course isn’t completely fair to Monta.  Monta had no defensive frontline behind him in this game. That made it easy for Wade to dominate in the paint. Monta, on the other hand, couldn’t get to the rim against the Heat’s triple-teaming. Also, with the Heat dominating on the boards, Wade was able to get out on the break far more than Monta.

But Dwyane Wade is an amazing player.  Did you see the play in the fourth quarter where Wade ran down Monta on the fast break to steal the ball from him?  Wade is Monta Ellis quick in a 220 lb. body.

His struggles against Wade notwithstanding, I saw a lot that I liked about Monta’s performance. One game after a complete mental meltdown against the Cavs, Monta was determined to take only what the defense gave him against the Heat.  Since the Heat were determined to keep him from driving (did he make even one layup in this game?), Monta was a frequent and willing passer.

Rewind and take a peek with me at three plays that Monta made in the fourth. The first was a pick and roll with Biedrins at the 5:00 minute mark.  Perfect bounce pass, convincing slam. This is the play that I have been predicting since pre-season would be a staple for the Warriors. To say that its been a long time coming would be an understatement.

At 4:10, Monta ran pick and roll with Hunter.  This time he rose up for the shot, but fired the pass to Hunter over the top of the double-team. Hunter made a nice catch and finish while getting fouled.

Then at 3:45, Monta made a beautiful spinning drive and dish to Hunter.

This is how Monta played most of the game.  A nice step forward in his evolution as a player.

Corey Maggette: 25 points on 11 shots. Ho hum. Standard. He also did a remarkable job distributing, even off penetration. One drive and dish to Biedrins stands out in my memory. 4 assists.

Maggette is now shooting 60% over something like his last 17 games. At what point does his season start to get some national recognition?

Don’t hold your breath. He’s still getting booed by idiots on his home floor, not to mention ripped by bloggers like Adam Lauridsen.

Stephen Curry: Curry had a disastrous first half, in which he turned the ball over several times, and couldn’t hit a shot. He rebounded nicely in the second half, picking up some nice assists and burying three threes.  I like the resiliency.

Cartier Martin: Martin reminds me a lot of a player named Adrian Griffin that Nellie had in Dallas. A terrific, smart defender. You may have been surprised to see him so aggressive on the offensive end.  That’s Don Nelson at work.  Nellie’s philosophy is to attack the other team’s worst defender. On the Heat, that’s Michael Beasley.

Even before Vlad Rad went down, Martin filled a huge hole for the Warriors. Now he’ll probably wind up guarding power forwards. I expect him to continue to get 30 minutes a game, to get a second 10 day contract, and then signed for the rest of the season.

The Centers: Good to see Biedrins work for 32 minutes.  Good to see him complete a couple of pick and rolls.  That’s progress.  Unfortunately, we saw little of his old dominance on defense and the boards.  Jermaine O’Neal owned him.

Hunter gave some nice minutes at the end of the game. He’s a smart player, has picked up the plays and the rotations quickly.  He’s got good hands, and a good shot. I could easily see Nellie keeping him next year.

Devean George. Need I say more? I wouldn’t mind seeing a healthy George play some power forward.  But watching a semi-healthy George forced to play center makes me cry in my Lagavulin.

The Little Three: Chocolate Rain made a long overdue appearance in this game. One game after the arrival of Cartier Martin threatened to slash his playing time, Morrow got it right back due to the injuries to Vlad Rad and Watson. Morrow was extremely aggressive and hitting his shots. Can he sustain this performance?

Vlad Rad’s sore Achilles got the better of him in this game. The Warriors last chance of competing effectively limped off the court with him. It’s a good thing I knew about his injury. Because if I had watched him short arm all those finger rolls that he should have dunked without knowing, I would have smashed my flat-screen.

How bad are things going for CJ Watson? I wouldn’t quite say Tiger Woods bad.  Maybe Brittany Spears bad.

Or Golden State Warriors bad.

In the fourth quarter, the teams finally matched up small.  And then…. Pound, Dribble… Pound, Dribble… Pound dribble.  Lebron James took over in the post, eating up the much smaller Corey Maggette and Cartier Martin.

The Warriors were hit with a steam-roller in this game.  And yet, despite a Monta Ellis meltdown in the third quarter, and a brutal stretch in the fourth quarter which saw the Cavs take a 14 point lead, the Warriors never quit. The Warriors locked down defensively, with newly called-up Cartier Martin drawing an offensive foul, Stephen Curry making a huge block on Delonte West under the basket, and the entire Warriors team forcing the Cavs into missed jumpers.  On the offensive end, Maggette continued his assault on the basket, getting to the line for four free throws. Curry buried two huge long-range jumpers.  And then, down 6 with 0:58 left in the game, the Warriors came up with a sensational play: Monta stole the ball in the backcourt, Curry retrieved it and in one motion lasered a left-handed behind-the-back pass back to Monta for a three-point shot. Warriors down 3 with 0:57 left.

After Lebron and Curry traded buckets, the Warriors made one last beautiful defensive stand, forcing Lebron into a bad three-point attempt.  Monta got the rebound with 0:06 left, and…

Hesitated.  He made a motion to call timeout, then saw Don Nelson frantically signalling for him to push the ball up court.  He took off, but with the time now perilously short, he failed to see a wide open Vlad Rad, and dumped the ball to Curry for a desperation heave, which Curry missed as time expired.

An unfortunate mixup, one I discuss in more detail below.  But to me, this play was not the story of the game.  The story of this game was how the continually injured, undermanned, and undersized Warriors fought through adversity to keep this game close.  The same way this Warriors team has fought throughout this entire snake-bit season.

They never quit.

Is that worth something in an 11-25 season?  Is it worth watching?  Worth rooting for?

Where does this heart come from? This fierce desire to compete in every game, against all odds? This unquenched will to win? This belief that they CAN win?

Does Don Nelson deserve any credit?

Monta Ellis: One game after I rhapsodized ecstatically over the progress and promise that Monta has shown in his game recently, Monta laid an egg. Isn’t that the way it always is?

He struggled running the offense right from the start.  Pick and roll was clearly Don Nelson’s initial game plan to attack the Cavs tenacious half-court defense. Monta got a few jumpers from this play, but was terrible at hitting the rolling big men: he turned the ball over several times on the pass.

In the third quarter, Monta suffered a complete melt-down.  He began to take his repeated frustrated forays to the basket personally, and stubbornly continued to take the ball into the teeth of the Cavs double and triple teaming defense, without ever looking for his open teammates.  He got 5 of his attempts blocked in this quarter, including, I believe, 4 in a row. He went 1-12 in the quarter, at one point missing 11 straight shots.

As an example, take another look at the play at 8:10 of the third. Monta has the ball at the left key. Curry is wide open at the right key.  So wide open that he is jumping up and down and waving his arms to attract Monta’s attention. Monta looked him off, drove into three men, and got his shot blocked, for the third straight time. Monta suffered a terrible loss of composure in this game, that as much as anything was responsible for this loss.

This doesn’t mean I’m now down on Monta.  One glance at the rest of his line will tell you how great a player he is, even in an off game. 5 steals, including the one in crunch time that led to his clutch three. 3-4 from three, 9-11 from the line. 45 minutes.

I’ll stick by my opinion that Monta is the next superstar in the league. He learns from his mistakes, and he will learn from this game.

Corey Maggette: Maggette had a tough time guarding Lebron. The size difference between the two is simply mind boggling.  I mean, Corey Maggette is a big dude, but as Nate Thurmond put it, Lebron made him look “like a junior.”  Lebron put up 37 and 8.

But he needed 23 shots to get his points. Here is Corey Maggette’s line:

32 points on 7-14, and 17-18 from the line. 7 rebounds.

32 points on 14 shots. Ridiculous. Elite. Corey Maggette put the Warriors on his back in this game, as he has done so often this season.

Attention must be paid.

Stephen Curry: Curry stepped up big time in this game, continuing to cement his status as one of the Warriors big three. 21 points (on 8-15), 7 and 5.  That’s getting it done. And he got it done in crunch time, with 10 points in the final 6 minutes.

He is also simply dazzling.  Monta Ellis could learn something from his clever cross-overs, and the soft high finishes off glass against the Cavs’ monsters in the paint.  He could also learn something from the way Curry sees his teammates.  I can’t help but think that if Curry had been bringing the ball up instead of Monta in the closing seconds, he would have spotted Vlad Rad wide open and waving his arms.

That play that Curry made at 0:58, retrieving the loose ball, and in one motion flicking it behind his back, with his left hand, to hit Monta in the hands at the three point line.  Could any of the other point guards in this draft have made this play? How many other players in the league could make this play? I think you could count them on the fingers of one hand.

The Centers: Turiaf played a beautiful game, until his ankle went out.  Take a look at that +6. The size of this guy’s heart is incredible. Think the Warriors missed him in their first 30 games? I sure hope he’s not out long.

Beans on the other hand, was simply miserable.  I have a theory: I think he’s still hurting. I saw him sneak in a little ab stretch that made me say “uh oh.”

Hunter was game against Shaq. He got run over on one possession, but on the next he blocked Shaq’s shot.  Loved that.

Vlad Rad: Vlad got the start in the place of Anthony Randolph, and had a huge game, with 18 points and 9 rebounds, including 3-3 from three.  What was equally remarkable was his defense.  Take a look at his defense on Big Z at 3:00 of the third quarter, that resulted in one of his 3 steals.  Then watch his defense on Lebron at 0:20 of the third.

Tantalizing.  But we’ve been here before with Vlad.  He needs to get his Tantalizing/Enigmatic ratio over 2.

The Little Three: With Vlad Rad’s ascension to the starting lineup, Cartier Martin now joins Watson and Morrow in this group. And as this game indicates, I expect him to get the most minutes of the three.  The Warriors desperately need his size and defensive ability at small forward.  Watson and Morrow will be reduced to backing up Monta and Curry.  There aren’t a lot of minutes there.

Martin looked pretty good on defense.  And Nellie went to him more than I thought he would on offense. He seems to have a jump shot, with three point range.  I’m looking forward to watching him play.

Morrow and Watson continued to be invisible.  Morrow just can’t get himself open.  Watson can, but his jumper is still vacationing off the Bermuda coast.

The Last Play: I’m sure this will be a topic of much discussion among the Nellie haters, so I’ll write a pre-emptive “Crazy Nellie” postscript here.  Nellie has always believed that it is easier to get a good last second look by pushing the ball up court against a scrambling defense, than it is to attempt a last second inbounds play against a set half-court defense.  This is particularly true, as Nellie explained post-game, when that defense is Cleveland’s small-ball unit, capable of switching at every position.

And if you go back and watch this play unfold, and see Vlad Rad wide open and waving his arms at the three point line, I think you’ll understand Nellie’s point. Monta Ellis’ confusion cost him 2 seconds in pushing the ball up court, and may have also cost him a look at Vlad Rad.

Perhaps Nellie can be faulted for not communicating his intentions more clearly. I think it’s more likely that Monta, who has played under Nellie for several years now, simply had a mental lapse. But whatever the case, I don’t think he’ll make the mistake again. He, and this team, are making strides every game.

Monta Ellis: Monta was clearly exhausted in this game, which may be one of the reasons he did such a great job running the team.  Monta ran the Warriors plays to perfection, had great court vision, and nailed every pass. He would have gotten more than 6 assists if his teammates had the legs to finish their open shots.  This is one of the best games I have seen from Monta as a point guard.

And, he was clutch in the fourth quarter.  Hit a key turnaround J, had a beautiful soaring putback of a choked Morrow open three in the last minute to ice the game.  Never forced anything, ran the plays down the stretch.  Has Monta made a mental leap?  Here for your pondering is one of his post-game comments:

“That’s what we’ve been lacking this season, the fourth quarter, closing games. We’ve got to continue to run our plays….”

Stephen Curry: Curry looked like an accomplished veteran next to Jonny Flynn last night.  Here’s how Jim Barnett put it during the game:

“Jonny Flynn is a different type of point guard than Stephen Curry.  He just doesn’t have the skills, or the basketball knowledge that Curry has.”

Here’s how Corey Maggette put it after the game:

“Curry is going to be a wonderful, wonderful player in this league.”

I continue to pinch myself that we have this player on our team.  A player that simply radiates basketball intelligence.  Always moving to the perfect spot, always seeing the open man, always one step ahead.  As a rookie.

And those skills.  The incredible ambidextrous handle. The crossover. The reversal of direction with the live dribble.  The money J.

Has this kid studied tape of Steve Nash?  I would bet my bottom dollar that he has, even before Nellie gave him his library.  Because he looks more and more like Nash with every passing day.

Don Nelson stole the draft.

Corey Maggette: A gutsy 28, 9 and 4 performance from Maggette, on a night in which his legs deserted him.  Like Monta, he was unable to hit his outside shot, and even had trouble finishing his layups. But he got himself to the line 14 times. And he unflinchingly took up the challenge of guarding the much bigger Kevin Love in the fourth quarter, and once again led the Warriors in rebounds. Maggette has simply put the Warriors on his back.

Feel like booing?

Anthony Randolph: Randolph got absolutely eaten alive by Kevin Love last night.  Randolph got 5 rebounds, Love got 16.  Randolph got 3 defensive rebounds, Love got 7 offensive rebounds.

Why is Anthony Randolph in the game?  You know the answer.  Don Nelson has said it to the press, with regard to both Randolph and Brandan Wright, over and over and over again.  Rebounding.  They are in the game to rebound, and if they refuse to rebound, Nellie might as well play a player with more offense.

The Warriors were outrebounded in this game by 9.  Anthony Randolph was outrebounded by Kevin Love by 11.

The Play That Got Him Yanked: Tonight’s play occurred in the fourth quarter.  Nelson, no doubt to the shock of many, was attempting to play a big lineup of Turiaf, Randolph and Maggette.  And Randolph had just finished making a beautiful soaring putback slam at the offensive end.  Do you know what play I’m referring to, home-gamers?  Did you watch the ensuing play on the defensive end?  If not, cue it back up at 3:15 of the fourth quarter, and follow along with feltbot:

The Warriors, for once, played 20 seconds of great defense on Al Jefferson. And Jefferson, for once, missed his shot.  But there was Kevin Love, slipping inside Randolph, for another offensive rebound and easy tip in.  The ever-eloquent and understated Jim Barnett:

“Randolph had no other job on that play but to block Love off.”

Anthony Randolph has been the biggest disappointment of the season for me so far. Last year it looked to me like he had a ferocious heart to compete at the defensive end, and rebound.  This year, he is repeatedly getting run over. He has looked, dare I say it…?

Like a ragdoll.

Beans and Turiaf: Beans took a big step forward in this game, with 8 points, 8 rebounds and 5 BS.  Great to see.  Turiaf didn’t do much statistically, but he was the only man standing between Jefferson getting 50, and Love 40. I pray to Buddha daily for his knee.

The Little Three: Who?

Paging CJ Watson.  Your jumper is needed on aisle 3.

Vlad Rad: What’s the next level of invisibility after invisible?  Is it possible to be enigmatic when you’re invisible?  Vlad Rad is inspiring me to new levels of metaphysical inquiry.

Anthony Morrow: Made a few shots.  But once again choked the one that counted, the wide open corner three with 1 minute left that would have iced the game.  Fortunately, Monta’s putback covered up for him. This late game choking has become a theme for Morrow this season.

In the pre-season, Morrow challenged Reggie Miller to a shooting contest in a post-game interview. Miller responded: “I’ll be your huckleberry.”

Who would you like to have your money on when the chips are down?