Jeckyll & Hyde

Boy did I pick a bizarre Warriors game to go to last night against the Pacers. By the time the game was over, I felt emotionally drained and a bit giddy. The game was really a tale of two halves.

The first half was all about Monta. If not for him, we would have been too far behind to even think about catching up. Monta was insane – hitting jumpers, driving to the lane, taking it strong right at Roy “Old Mother” Hibbert. He looked like a legit All-Star, no question. However, besides Monta, I saw some of the worst basketball I have ever seen, courtesy of Mikki Moore, Corey Maggette and Stephen Curry especially. It was BRUTAL to watch.

Then, halfway through the third quarter something happened. CJ Watson stepped up as a spark plug, Anthony Morrow started hitting his shots and everyone started playing defense.

When Monta fouled out with six minutes left in the fourth quarter I thought we were done. But, Maggette rebounded (no pun intended) from his first half disaster and newest D-League sensation Chris Hunter helped extend the lead and the Warriors ended up winning by 19.

What was even more satisfying was Troy Murphy laying an egg on offense and Mike Dunleavy’s critical turn-overs in the 4th quarter. It was also nice to see Danny Granger come back down to earth against the Warriors (he previously averaged 38 points against us).

Final five thoughts on the game from being there live:
1. Monta Ellis is without a doubt the Warriors best player and has the potential to be our first all-star representative since Latrell Sprewell.

2. Chris Hunter as our Center looked WAY better than Mikki Moore and Ronny Turiaf. WAY BETTER. I know Moore has an injury and Turiaf is getting back into game shape but let’s just say I was very pleasantly surprised.

3. Anthony Randolph (before the ankle injury) was not impressive whatsoever. Even though he had 10 points in limited time, I thought he forced shots and was invisible on the glass. Disappointing to say the least.

4. Despite all of the curses and frustrations I had directed at Corey Maggette, once he realized his shot was not falling, he started passing to the open player, hitting the glass and playing defense. He was one of the main reasons why the Warriors won. I give him as much credit as I laid blame on him.

5. Finally, when the Warriors are hitting their shots, they actually play defense too. The energy must be contagious because Maggette, Ellis and the others were playing tight defense and making the Pacers miss. So now we know, they can play defense so there’s no excuses.

Good win, though. Good win!!

Tags: Anthony Morrow, Anthony Randolph, C.J. Watson, Chris Hunter, Danny Granger, Latrell Sprewell, mike dunleavy, Mikki Moore, Monta Ellis, Ronny Turiaf, Roy Hibbert, stephen curry, Tory Murphy