Only the Warriors...

This happened in the Warriors/Blazers game last night. The Warriors ran out of guys and ended up having to put injured guys in the game so that they'd have enough players. Stefen Curry and Monta Ellis played all 48 minutes. So did 2 D-League guys. Chris Hunter (another D-League guy) started, but then got hurt early. So Devean George (remember him?) played the rest of the game.

The worst part about it is that the ended up winning! Now, instead of being tied for the 3rd worst record, they're tied for the 4th. This reduces their chances of winning the draft lottery by about 4% I think. They can't even lose properly!

Former Warrior

You know, it doesn't happen very often, but every once in a while, I see something that makes me a little bit sad that Mike Dunleavy Jr. is no longer a Golden State Warrior. Today, it was this...

For some reason, I just can't see Stephen Jackson wearing that outfit.

New Beginnings

Well, the Warriors are officially out of the playoffs. Which is a little sad because I've been looking forward to the Western Conference playoffs for a few months now. I was planning on watching all of the games. It was going to be like March Madness except much longer and way better...

Now with the Warriors out, I'm just not that interested. I'll probably watch a few games, but not that many.

But things are not that bad. As they say, when God closes a door, he opens...a boardgame!

That's right! Today, the FedEx guy will be delivering a 23 pound box to my door filled with all sorts of cardboard and plastic-y fun. Here's what I'm getting:

1) Formula De Mini - My boys have been enjoying playing the regular version of Formula De (with simplified rules). It's a car racing game and they loooooove race cars! Formula De Mini has some smaller tracks (which is good because sometimes it's hard for them to reach across the big boards) and streamlined rules.

2) 1960 - The Making of a President - I've been trying to get this game for a while. It sold out a few months ago and was just reprinted. It's a 2 player election game where one person is Kennedy and the other is Nixon. Sounds boring so far right? Well it did to me when I first heard about it. I'm not very into history and following elections and things like that. But I read some reviews on it, and it just sounds like a very fun, interesting card based game. I like playing high quality games no matter what the theme is (especially 2 player games, since it's usually just me and Mrs. BigKat), so I'm excited to try this one out.

3) Last Night on Earth -The Zombie Game - I've also been looking forward to this one. Again, it sold out before I could buy a copy and was just reprinted. This is a 2-6 player game where one player (sometimes 2) are the zombies and the rest are the people. The zombies try to get the people and turn them into zombies. The people try to get away from the zombies or find things to blow them up. Pretty simple, huh? It's basically a board game version of an old zombie movie. And they used actual actors to pose for the artwork which should add to the game experience.

4) Galaxy Trucker - Yet a third game that sold out before I could buy a copy and was recently reprinted! This game is kind of a puzzle game. All the players construct spaceships from a pool of various pieces. There are restrictions on what pieces can connect to what other pieces, so you have to think a little bit about how they're going to fit together. When everyone is done building, the ships are launched into outer space where they're blown apart by asteroids, space pirates, and other things. If you've built a good ship, hopefully you'll survive the trip and earn a few points. So basically a Star Wars/Tetris/Meat Grinder game. Fun!

So now, instead of my evenings being filled up with Baron, Captain Jack and Monta, they'll be filled with Zombies, Nixon, and little tiny plastic astronauts. And you know what? I'm OK with this!


Edit - You know, after I wrote this, I realized that I really need to thank God for my wonderful wife. She really is a great sport. She is always willing to try out any game I buy, no matter how goofy it is. Even if it doesn't sound remotely interesting to her, she always humors me and gives it a good honest try. Lately, I've been trying to get games that I think she would enjoy (because honestly, if she doesn't like it, it will probably not see very much play time). But I have a feeling that zombie games and games like Command and Colors: Ancients would not be her first choice of things to play. I love my wife. She's the best!

Kevin Durant

I love Kevin Durant. Why? Because he may have just SAVED my WARRIORS!

Watch this...



The Warriors lost badly yesterday. I assumed that the Nuggets would beat the Sonics, putting my Warriors out of the playoffs effectively by 2 games (since they lose the tiebreaker to the Nuggets). But thanks to my new best friend, Kevin Durant, the Warriors are still in the playoff hunt. They just need to beat Denver on Thursday...

GO WARRIORS!

Warriors

Last night, the Warriors beat the Suns. I don't get the game up here, so I had to 'watch' by sitting at the computer with the box score open and periodically pressing Refresh.

And it was still exciting! The Warriors are doing really well! They started out 0-6, but have won 6 of their last 7 since then. Last night, they snapped Phoenix's 8 game winning streak, officially making the Warriors the best team in the entire universe right now (yes, I said official! You read it on the internet didn't you? Official!)

Anyhow, no one but serious Warriors fans (and I am one of them) would enjoy this clip. The sad thing is that if I thought hard enough, I might've been able to win this contest...



By the way...Popeye Jones...

More on the Warriors game

A couple of other things that I forgot to mention about the Warriors game:

1) Deron Williams is very good. He is very, very good. He's big so he's a tough matchup for smaller guards. He's a very good passer. He can play a halfcourt game as well as an uptempo game. He's a good defender. And he makes clutch shots. Not much more you can ask for in a point guard.

2) Andre Kirilenko does not do much in the Jazz offense. But on defense, he blocks a lot of shots. There were several times when one of the Warriors would think they had a layup, and Kirilenko would fly in from out of no where to knock it away.

3) Boozer is also very good. He can put up a variety of shots from the post, and they all seem to go in. He's also very strong and gets a lot of rebounds.

The Jazz are a good team. They have a good young core. As guys like Duncan and Nash get older, the Jazz are in good position to become one of the elite Western Conference teams (right behind the Warriors!).

Warriors - Opening Night

Yesterday, I was very excited to watch the Warriors play the Utah Jazz on opening night. I don't get to see too many Warriors games, since I don't live in the Bay Area anymore, but this was going to be a nationally televised game on TNT...except that it wasn't. When I checked the listings, the TNT games were Portland/San Antonio  and Lakers/Rockets. I was very disappointed.

Well, for some reason, I decided to flip over to the Fox Sports Bay Area channel, just in case they were showing the game. There would be no good reason for me to have the game though since a) I don't live in the Bay Area and b) I changed my DirecTv package so that even if I lived in the Bay Area, I wouldn't have the game.

But when I changed the channel, I was NOT greeted by a black screen with the 'call 1-800-something-or-the-other to request this channel' message. There was an actual commercial! And after the commercial, there were Warriors! Playing basketball! I was so excited! I was going to get to see my game!

When I started watching, the Warriors were up by 3. That was the highlight of the game for me. It all went downhill from there. But at least I got to see it! The Warriors didn't look so good, but there were some bright spots.

Here's the good:

1) Baron Davis looked good. He got to the rim a lot, gave a bunch of assists, and drew a lot of fouls. He also played some good defense as well. On one fast break, he sensed his defender was right behind him, so he suddenly stopped and pulled up for 3. The defender ran into him, and Baron proceeded to sink the 3 free throws. He had a few sneaky plays like that.

2) Pietrus actually did a good job. He did the things that he's good at and avoided things that he's not good at. For a while, he was the only Warrior providing any offense. And he actually snagged a few rebounds as well. When he got the ball, he either took the open shot if it was there (3/5 from 3 point) or he passed it to someone who can dribble the ball without turning it over.

3) Monta Ellis had a stretch where he drew 3 quick fouls on Deron Williams. Monta is very quick and had some very nice moves to the basket. Williams couldn't keep up with Monta's speed.

4) Patrick O'Bryant only got in during garbage time, but he looks like he has the potential to be really good. He has really long arms. I think it's possible that he could guard guys like Boozer just because he is so tall and long. Boozer had trouble getting his shot of against him. And when POB was able to get in good position, his long arms helped him to get some rebound. He was much more aggressive than last year and looked like he was really trying hard on the boards. He also has a nice jump hook that is very difficult to defend.

5) Azibuike looked pretty good. He's got some development to do, but he can do things at the 2 position that Richardson couldn't do. He's better on defense, and he can actually drive to the basket.

6) Belinelli looks like he can shoot the ball pretty well.

7) Harrington looks like he's trying harder to get rebounds.

Now here's the bad:

1) Baron made it to the line a lot, but he missed a lot of free throws. Actually, a bunch of the Warriors missed their free throws. If they keep leaving that many points at the line, they're going to lose some close games.

2) Barnes was bad. You know how I said that Pietrus did what he was good at and didn't do what he was bad at? Barnes was the opposite. Horrible shot selection. Not much rebounding. Not very good.

3) Biedrins was not very effective. Boozer scored on him at will and easily outrebounded him.

4) Monta could not guard Deron Williams. The only Warrior who could stay with Williams was Baron.

5) Troy Hudson was a horrible backup point guard. He looks for his own shot way too much. And then misses them. If we wanted that, we would've kept Derek Fisher.

6) Too many missed open shots. Monta, Harrington, and Baron all had a lot of good open looks that they just missed. If the Warriors can't make their open 3's, it will be hard for them to win, especially without a good low post option. Also, when they're not making their shots, the defense can sag off of their man and swarm to Baron when he gets in the lane.

7) When they get outrebounded as badly as they did last night, it is hard for them to start their break. This really slows their offence down and takes them out of their game.

8) Monta is not a good point guard. He's got a long ways to go. He turns the ball over way too much to be an effective point guard right now.

9) They really need Steven Jackson back. I think they're much scrappier when he's in the game. That leads to them getting more loose balls, forcing more turnovers, and making the other team do things that they're not so comfortable doing. He also provides leadership when Baron is off the court.

10) It is hard for Brandon Wright to replace Jason Richardson's offense when he's sitting in a chair on the bench wearing a suit.

So yeah, the game was ugly, but it was fun to be able to see the Warriors again. I still have a bunch of the playoff games from last year on my Tivo. Hopefully the Warriors will get things figured out soon. I think right now, they're just trying to survive until Steven Jackson's 7 game suspension is over. If they go 3-4 over that stretch, that wouldn't be so bad. If they can start hitting some more of their open shots, get a few more rebounds, and start harassing people on defense, I think like they'll start to look like the team that no one wanted to play last year at the end of the season.