Golden State Warriors x Chicago Bulls recap, stomped out

By: Billy Hoyle @wwnetbillyhoyle

Well the excuses started early during the Warriors broadcast in the well intoned, and overly practiced fashion that has become part and parcel of a Bob Fitzgerald broadcast game. According to Mr. Fitzgerald, it is impossible to win on the tail end of a back to back. He didn’t actually say that but that’s what the implication was. There really isn’t any excuse in the world for the beating the Warriors suffered, it just would be nice not to be patronized the entire 48 minutes of the game. At some point the excuses need to end and some accountability needs to be leveled. Yes the Warriors played one of the top teams in the East and possibly the NBA as a whole, and they did so without their workhorse big man, David Lee, but losing by 30 is just not acceptable.

The Bulls are a fantastic defensive team and they broke the Warriors spirit early. This game was lost in the first quarter and the Warriors really never showed any fight at any point. There were mental mistakes and fumbled passes aplenty. Derrick Rose exerted himself in a way that the elite players do with an application of suffocating defense and warp speed offense. The guy’s speed is other-worldly, he can harass you up and down the court as he did to Steph Curry and then on the other end dive right down your gut before you’re ready for him. Talented is an understatement. He will be the class of the NBA for a long time.

Monta Ellis and Dan Gadzuric were the only Warriors players who had any type of fire to them, especially Gadzuric. I am very impressed with the pride that guy plays with every time he steps on the court.

There was no structure to the Warriors offense. In the first quarter, there seemed to be a concerted effort to drop the ball down low to Andris Biedrins and Brandan Wright but that was abandoned when the Bulls stymied the warriors dynamic guard duo.

The game was over six minutes into the first quarter but the dismal outcome of the was clearly evident when the Warriors were down 28 to end the second quarter.

This was the game Jeff Adrien needed to gain Keith Smart’s confidence in. Unfortunately for Jeff, he really didn’t do much of anything while he was on the court. If anything he made the case for himself to sit on the bench. If I’m Larry Riley, I get the Mad Ants GM on the phone and get Chris Hunter on the first plane to Oakland.

Disappointing  effort by the Warriors but I understand that they are fighting through some early adversity and are working on team cohesion. I’m not down on the Warriors prospects this season at all, just disappointed in the character of the team at this point.

I’m still waiting for the well executed win that I know this tremendously skilled team is capable of. I know tonight wasn’t an opportunity for this team to come together in that fashion but I’d expected a much better showing than what we saw Thursday night. There is plenty of reason to cheer the 6-3 Warriors, their performance tonight was not one of them.