Golden State Warriors x Utah Jazz recap, Grind Time

By: Billy Hoyle @wwnetbillyhoyle

One sixteenth of the way through the season and the Warriors are in second place in the Pacific behind the Lakers. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but a 4-1 start after defeating the Utah Jazz last night is the best they’ve started in… well since the first time Don Nelson was in The City and a young Chris Webber was grabbing boards.

Don has since left the Warriors for a second time and Keith Smart, long-time assistant to Nelson, is the man on the sidelines. Keith Smart has FAR exceeded expectations, changing this Warriors club, who was known for playing a break-neck, seemingly undisciplined, helter-skelter type of basketball, into one that is far more conventional and disciplined. He has converted the team into one of creating match-up issues, typically by having smaller and faster players on the court, to one of competing position to position. It’s a welcome change in the Bay where “Nellie-Ball” had long been both the reason for unexpected wins and the excuse for unanticipated losses.

The Warriors have very clearly been constructed without “Nellie-ball” in mind despite some of the moves having been made while Nelson was still, ostensibly, the head coach. This led me to believe that General Manager Larry Riley long has had an idea in mind to what kind of a team he wanted to play and that he also had an idea that Don would be on his way out of town. Larry and Don have long been friends so it would be no surprise that Don would give Larry a heads up as to his tenure.

The Warriors have been changed from a team of electric, get up and down the court, scorers and jump shooters, to one with a strength in rebounding and defending, two long time weaknesses of the Warriors. These changes have not been more evident, or welcome, than they were on Friday night in Oakland.

Finally, our big men have come to play and it couldn’t have been on a better night. The Utah Jazz are a seasoned and veteran team who feature two of the league’s best big men, Paul Milsap and Al Jefferson. The Jazz big men are tough scorers who rebound very well. The duo of Andris Biedrins and David Lee met the challenge however and out-rebounded the two jazz big men by a total of 9 with Andris grabbing a season high of 20 by himself.

It was an exceptional performance but one that has to be expected if the Warriors are to have any amount of success this year. I have been very hard on both Andris and Dave this year and with good cause. Last night they played above expectations and out-skilled, hustled and fought a very good Jazz front line. David Lee had a very similar line to the one he had against the Grizzlies which I called “one of the hollowest double doubles I have ever seen”. Well last night his was in the flow of the game and he earned every point and rebound. This is the David Lee I had been very excited about trading for and this is the one who deserves every penny he is being paid. Both bigs played fantastic defense and Andris managed to stay on the court the whole game picking up only 3 personal fouls. It was a fantastic game by our bigs.

The Jazz have another weapon aside from their world-class front line that make them one of the best teams in the NBA. His name is Deron Williams and he is the only player in the game who could possibly usurp Chris Paul’s strangle hold on the title as the “League’s Best Point Guard”. Deron Williams epitomizes the term “beast”. He is big, fast, very strong, very smart and he can see the court as well as anyone. On Friday Stephen Curry dueled him to a draw and that is a feat unto its self. Some might say Curry’s flash, his daggers in the fourth and being on the winning end of the competition should give him the advantage in the competition. I am willing to hear that argument but I won’t decisively say Curry played better than Deron, Deron is too good. It is accurate enough of a compliment to say Curry stepped onto the court with possibly the best point guard in the game and fought him to a standstill. His was as gritty a performance as that of the Warriors bigs but just so pretty to watch. It makes me laugh when people “accuse” Curry of being a 2-guard in point guard’s clothing. Sure, Curry is a dead eye shooter but he sees the floor like a point guard. If you saw his behind the back pass to Lee in the third quarter for the flush, you would never again debate his position on a basketball court. Let’s not forget that Curry, our second year floor general from some backwater college, performed this majestic dance with a bum wheel. He sat out the game two days ago against the Memphis Grizzlies because he had sprained his ankle three times in two weeks. To sum his night up, it was one hell of a performance by one hell of a player.

Monta Ellis is a revelation. To the untrained eye and almost everyone who casually watched the Warriors last year and this year, they would see no discernible difference between with Monta. That would be very incorrect. The Monta of last year was a player without a team. He thought he was on his way out after the Warriors had seemingly drafted his replacement in Stephen Curry. Monta said as much towards the beginning of last season in his much repeated, “We can’t play together, it can’t work” speech. That wasn’t Monta condemning the pick of Steph Curry, that was Monta expressing what he believed to be a precursor of his dismissal. If he and their top draft pick can’t play together, who is it that’s going to be leaving? So Monta set about doing what he does best, scoring the basketball. Day in and out Monta would play almost the entire game, filling up the stat sheet with point after point on shot after shot. He ended the season averaging 25.5 points, the most of his career, on almost 45% shooting. You can clearly see the ability was there but his performance was based on the thinking that his time with the team was short. What he hadn’t counted on was the ability of Steph Curry. The way the two player’s games mesh is uncanny. Where conventional logic tells you two small guards is a mismatch, seeing these two play together is another story entirely. Monta doesn’t need to worry about playmaking with Curry on the court, although he does possess some playmaking ability, so he can do what he does best, score the basketball.

Last night Monta had very timely scoring and some very crafty steals, he ended the night with 23 points and 7 steals. On the season he is putting up 28.6 points, 5.2 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 3 steals per game. If the season ended today he would be a top contestant in the All-star balloting and no one would question why. His attitude is team first and he may be the most exciting player in the NBA. He is the reliable constant that the rest of the team is able to build on. Curry may be the star and the leader but Monta is the foundation.

Dorrell Wright came back to earth last night but still played some outstanding defense and a better than average floor game. What separates a mediocre player to one who is exemplary is the ability to contribute even when his shot isn’t falling. Dorrell had 7 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. This is the type of glue player that play-off teams have and nights like last night are really the way to ensure a good season. He has been a rock of a player and I cannot say enough positive things about him.

The surprise of the season, aside from the 4-1 start and such quick team chemistry, has to be the play of Dan Gadzuric and Rodney Carney.

I love rooting for Rodney Carney. He plays tough defense and it’s very easy to see how much he loves to compete. He only had 2 points but they came on an insane dunk down the middle of the court that put the Warriors over the top in momentum and probably helped carry them to the win. I wish he would stop shooting the 3-ball from anywhere but the corner though. It’s not going in, it never goes in, Rodney just pass it, please. Other than that knock, he’s a solid role-player and was a great signing by Larry Riley.

Dan Gadzuric has been playing like a man. He came to the Warriors under the auspice of an expiring contract and that generally means “don’t expect too much”. He has some tough injuries though with the Bucks after receiving his big contract so the knocks on him may not necessarily be fair. In fact, I would be surprised to see him NOT get another deal next year, although for much less money. Dan dropped 6 points and 6 rebounds and a block in 12 minutes and that is EXACTLY what you want from a back-up center. Dan has played great, he is much more than an expiring contract, and he is another gold star for Larry Riley.

It was a fantastic win for the Warriors, who out-toughed a team that prides themselves on their toughness. As the Jazz announcers mentioned when the game was wrapping up, “Well, it looks like the Warriors are for real. The rest of the league is going to have to take them seriously.” I couldn’t agree more.