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Posts Tagged ‘Wemby’

2023 Warriors: Game 74 Win (Record: 40W-34L)

Posted in Basketball, General Comments, Sports, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 31, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Game 74 (75) is in the books…  The Warriors defeat the San Antonio Spurs (18W/57L) and are still clinging to their chance to make the play-in tournament.  The Warriors have climbed to 6 games over .500 after a 4pt win over the Spurs.  Based on team records, I had predicted a Dubs blowout win of 15+pts.  LoL!!  We didn’t quite get there…  In fact, the game was almost a loss.
The final score in this game:  117 to 113 in the Dubs favor.  The Warriors played an okay offensive game and a surprisingly good defensive game against a team which they over-matched.  We were missing one of our better players:  Jonathan Kuminga, who is still out with knee soreness.  They were missing two of their “better” players.
Regular Season Record – (40 Wins – 34 Losses)
Game 74 (75):  Warriors 117 / Hornets 113
Initial Observations:  The game projected (by me) to be a near blow-them-off-the-court win for the Dubs.  The Warriors lost three quarters 1 (27-34), 2 (25-26) and 4 (28-32), but won the 3rd quarter by enough (37-21) to carry the game.
Draymond Green played a superb game:  21pts, 6 of 7 – 2pt shots and 2 of 2 – 3pt shots, 3 of 4 free throws, 11 assists and 6 steals!!  (This game film could be a high-light reel for his Hall of Fame presentation.)  The Spurs Victor (“Wemby”) Wembanyama continues to look better each game I see him.  If they add a “great” guard or two otherwise good players to fit their puzzle, Wemby will start leading them deep into the playoffs starting next year.  Barring injuries, Wemby’s career looks to be the best thing since sliced bread AND night-time baseball.
Conclusion:  Curry got 33pts and four other Warriors got double figures (see D. Green above).  Wiggins regressed on offense, but was (just) ok on defense.  Fortunately, we were playing a team which was simply not very good.
Again, it is very difficult to judge the effectiveness of a middle of the pack team (the Warriors) when you are watching them play bottom of the pack teams.  The good news is the Dubs have won four of five on this road trip and they were able to finish off the teams they should have been able to beat.
Game 75 (76) is Tuesday against the Dallas Mavericks (45W/29L) in SF…  This is the second of the two games which were postponed due to the sudden death of one of the Warriors’ assistant coaches earlier in the year.  Based on the teams relative won-loss records, the game promises to be a high single digit loss by the Dubs to the Mavs.  The Mavs are 9W/1L in their last 10 games and are currently on a seven(7) game winning streak.   Again, a lot of this “guess” is presupposing there are no significant injuries AND the Dubs take the game serious.  Strangely, this season home court has not been the advantage it normally is for the Warriors.
With only 8 games remaining, the Warriors are one game below the Los Angeles Lakers in the loss standings and are still clinging to 10th place in the conference.  We face the Lakers one more time this season (in five games).  The Houston Rockets are right on our tail at two games behind us and we also have to face them again (in the game after the Mavs) before the end of the season.  Houston is 9W-1L in their last 10 games and have already lost their game today.  Given the two teams recent playing record (Dubs are 6W-4L), it is still now “just” a possibility (downgraded from a near certainty) the Rockets will overtake us for the 10th playoff (“play-in”) position.  The slight edge the Warriors have is we hold the tie-breaker advantage so the Rockets need three more wins than us (in the final 8 games) to over-take and pass us for that last playoff position.  Bottom line:  if we close out playing .500 ball AND beat the Rockets, we are in the play-in at 10th place.  If either of those don’t happen, we’ll need a bit of luck to hold on and slip in.
The scheduling of the second postponed game has been announced and is reflected on my season summary page…   Golden State Warriors 2023 Season Record
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Click here (31 March) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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2023 Warriors: Game 73 Win (Record: 39W-34L)

Posted in Basketball, General Comments, Sports, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 29, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Game 73 (74) is in the books…  The Warriors defeat the Charlotte Hornets (18W/55L) and are still clinging to their chance to make the play-in tournament.  The Warriors have climbed to 5 games over .500 after a 18pt win over the Hornets.  Based on team records, I had predicted a Dubs blowout win of 20+pts.  We didn’t quite get there…
The final score in this game:  115 to 97 in the Dubs favor.  The Warriors played an okay offensive game against a team which over-matched.  We were missing two of our better players:  Jonathan Kuminga and Klay Thompson – both out with knee soreness.
Regular Season Record – (39 Wins – 34 Losses)
Game 73 (74):  Warriors 115 / Hornets 97
Initial Observations:  The game projected (by me) to be a blow-them-off-the-court win for the Dubs.  The Warriors looked to be in control of the game from the early going, and although the Hornets were able to close to 5pts at several points in the game, it never really looked like the Warriors would choke this game away.
Trayce Jackson-Davis and Kevon Looney double-teamed in the middle as rim protectors and rebounders and Jackson-Davis was particularly effective in rolling to the basket for close in points including one spectacular left handed smash through dunk.
Conclusion:  Curry got 23pts, Wiggins got 20pts – and was “surprising” because he got them every-which-way:  3pt’ers, driving 2’s, and shooting 4 of 5 from the free point line.  Again, it was nice to see Wiggins doing it going both ways.  I said in my last game review that on offense, the “key” seemed to be getting Wiggins the ball earlier in the shot clock and allowing him to see the defense and “make or create”.   That did not seem to be an issue in today’s game.  He shot well early in the clock and late (ie. winding down to “0”).  Again, the Warriors had five players in double figures.
It is very difficult to judge the effectiveness of a middle of the pack team (the Warriors) when you are watching them play bottom of the pack teams.  The good news is the Dubs have had three straight wins against teams they’ve managed to keep under 100pts.  While that may not be a “big” deal against the Hornets, it’s a pretty big thing against two teams (Heat and Magic) which both seem to be playoff bound.  And, we beat them all on their court(s).  The old saying is:  “Defense Travels…”
Game 74 (75) is Sunday against the San Antonio Spurs (17W/56L) in Texas…  Based on the teams relative won-loss records, the game promises to be another blow-out win for the Warriors, with us winning by 15+pts.  Again, a lot of this “guess” is presupposing there are no significant injuries AND the Dubs take the game serious.  Victor “Wemby” Wembanyama will get his points for the Spurs.  The question is:  can the Dubs shut down the other Spurs?
With only 9 games remaining, the Warriors are one game below the Los Angeles Lakers in the loss standings and are still clinging to 10th place in the conference.  We face the Lakers one more time this season (in five games).  The Houston Rockets are right on our tails at one game behind us and we also have to face them again (in three games) before the end of the season.  Houston is 10W-0L in their last 10 games and are currently leading in tonight’s contest (as this is being written).  Given the two teams recent playing record (Dubs are 6W-4L), it is still almost a certainty the Rockets will overtake us for the 10th playoff (“play-in”) position.  The slight edge the Warriors have is we hold the tie-breaker advantage so the Rockets need two more wins than us to over-take and pass us for that last playoff position.
The scheduling of the second postponed game has been announced and is reflected on my season summary page…   Golden State Warriors 2023 Season Record
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Click here (29 March) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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2023 Warriors: Game 17 Win (Record: 8W-9L)

Posted in Basketball, General Comments, Sports, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Game 17 is in the books…  The Warriors have bounced back into the win column with a win over the San Antonio Spurs…
The Golden State Warriors managed to hold on for a victory against a team coming into this game with a 10 game losing streak (now 11).  The game was back and forth with the Warriors pulling ahead only to see the Spurs close to within “nerves” range (10pts in the last 2 minutes).  LoL.   The final score in this game:  112 to 118 (winning by 6pts).  A lessor team gets nerves and chokes when a team they should beat handily manages to close to within striking distance.  The Warriors steadied and then won out.
Regular Season Record – (8 Wins – 9 Losses)
Game 17:  Warriors 118 / Suns 112
Initial Observations:  Steph Curry (35pts w/ 7 of 13 three’s) was clearly trying to show the last game was an aberration and he is still a star player.  Klay Thompson was again steady at scoring (15pts w/ 3 of 7 three’s) and while he seems to be out of his shooting slump, he is yet to show his offensive dominance.  The big news is that the second string continued to play hard and contributed 43 points.  Not as good as the Spurs’ bench 48 points, but ours looked the better bench.
San Antonio played an okay game despite coming in off a 10 game losing streak…  They didn’t feel like a terrible team – despite being last in the Western Conference and among the bottom four in the entire NBA.  Of course, the team’s destiny will rest on the long term effectiveness of Victor Wembanyama (22pts).  It looks like the Spurs are one point guard away from being an elite team again.  Do they have that player now?  Devin Vassell (24pts) on the second string looks like a possibility, but there has to be a reason the Spurs coach (Gregg Popovich) has him not starting…  I don’t follow the Spurs very closely, so I can only surmise Vassell is a pure shooter and “Pop” prefers a starter who also looks to include his teammates with assists.  Vassell is not yet there.
My biggest concern / frustration was (again) the turnovers 24 to 19 (-5 net).  Normally, having in excess of 20 turnovers in a game means you’re going to lose.  Fortunately, the Spurs were almost as bad, so the net was more or less a wash.
Conclusion:  This was a mixed game for the Warriors.  This was (on paper) a bad team, which the Warriors should have beaten going away.  If for no other reason than to pad the score differential for the “In-Season” criteria.  We won, but not convincingly, so we still need another In-Season game win to ensure we get past the group stage.
The Warriors won this game on maturity and overall team strength.  Advantage:  Warriors;  game:  Warriors.
Game 18 is Tuesday against the Sacramento Kings…  We are still in last place in the Pacific Division, but at least we are not yet eliminated from the “In-Season Tournament”.
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Click here (24 November) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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2023 Warriors: End Of Pre-season

Posted in Basketball, Sports, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »

So, the pre-season is over and tonight the Warriors start the “real” regular season versus the Phoenix Suns.
Pre-Season Record – (4W-1L)
Game 1: Warriors 125 / Lakers 108 (1 Win – 0 Losses)
Game 2: Warriors 129 / Lakers 125 (2 Wins – 0 Losses)
Game 3: Warriors 121 / Kings 115 in OT (3 Wins – 0 Losses)
Game 4: Warriors 116 / Kings 115 (4 Wins – 0 Losses)
Game 5: Warriors 117 / Spurs 122 (4 Wins – 1 Loss)
How am I doing on my “viewing” every game?  I watched games 1, 2 and 5 live action.  I watched games 3 and 4 on tape.  Life got in the way…  The main starters didn’t start games 3 and 4 and my wife said she didn’t want to watch the games if our best players weren’t going to play.  Happy wife;  happy life.
Over all impression:  YAWN…  (It’s pre-season!)
It was nice to beat the Lakers both games;  even if they didn’t count.  The OT win was entertaining (enough).
Game 5 was “really” the only interesting game because it was my first chance to see the Dubs go up against “Wemby”  (Victor Wembanyama).  Believe the HYPE!!  HE is phenomenal!!  If he can stay healthy / uninjured and if he can keep his ego in check (positive work ethic), he looks like he is the real deal.  He looks even more unstoppable than Kevin Durant on offense and a taller and longer combined reincarnation of Russell and Chamberlain on defense.  Physically like a young (“skinny”) Chamberlain and defense / jump timing like Russell.  IF Wemby can stay healthy, we are looking at the NBA Finals MVP for the next 10 – 15 years.  Yeah, it sounds like hyperbole, but he has the perfect coach and a great organization to fit pieces around him.  So, while it may “sound” like exaggeration, it’s my honest to God opinion.  We have never seen anyone like this young man (he’s ONLY 19 years old)!
The only question in my mind is if the basketball health and ego (work-ethic) gods are on his side…  Stay tuned to the NBA.  We’ll find out…
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Click here (24 October) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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