Warriors 108, Suns 96 RECAP

What a game! Even though it was only a preseason game, the fireworks were going off. With a flurry of 3's and fast breaks, the Warriors came out firing, dropping 38 in the 1st quarter. After poor shooting in the 2nd quarter, they came out firing again with 41 in the 3rd quarter to put the game away for good with a comfortable 24 point lead. The Arena was jumping tonight even though it was just a preseason game and all the empty seats.
Check out the Boxscore

POSITIVES
- Dunleavy went nuts. 30 in 3 quarters. He shot the lights out. He received a nice ovation as he left the game in the 1st quarter for a break. He finished with 16 in the quarter.
- Baron once again put up a nice stat line with 17pts, 11asts, 6rebs, 3stls
- Baron threw this absolutely nuts alley-oop to Pietrus. He was at the top of the key and Pietrus was running along the baseline. Baron looked away and then suddenly flicked the ball from his hip towards the hoop. Pietrus caught it 2-handed on the baseline and threw it down ferociously and the crowd jumped to its feet.
- Another Baron highlight. On a break, he caught the ball on the left wing, spun with his back to the basket, and without looking, threw a bounce pass between his legs to Zarko running the lane for an easy layup.
- Biedrins started out slowly, but got some energy late to surge with a couple putbacks and boards. Incredibly he stayed out of foul trouble. In related news, Brian Grant fouled out in 10 minutes of action.
- The Warriors offense was clicking on all cylinders in the 1st and 3rd quarters putting up a combined 79 points.
- I believe in Aaron Miles. He plays hard and runs the offense nicely when Baron is sitting. He gets after his man defensively as he's always nose to nose with the guy. He should make the team and be a valuable asset when Baron needs a rest.
- Monta Ellis came to play tonight. He came in during the 4th quarter and showed some heart with a big rebound over some bigs and also a driving layup to score.
- TMurph put on his hardhat and recorded another double double.
- The lineup of BD, JRich, Pietrus, Dun, and Center played very well. Athletic enough to keep up with the Suns.
- JRich put up a solid but quiet 18 points. He came crashing down on one of his layups and caused a scare, but thankfully was not hurt. He had a breakaway dunk but other than a few failed alleyoop attempts, he was pretty quiet.

NEGATIVES
- After being up 19 in the 1st quarter, they gave away the lead by only scoring 11 in the 2nd quarter.
- Milk Carton: Adonal Foyle. Boy was he slow tonight.
- Zarko Cabarkapa: Again I don't understand why everyone thinks highly of this guy. This is the 2nd time I've seen him and he looks super slow and lost on the court. Twice he brought the ball up the court on a fast break. One time Baron was even running right next to him and he doesn't give the ball to him. The first time ended up in a missed shot and the 2nd time, a turnover. Message to Zarko... You are NOT a point guard.
- Some of Baron Davis's decision making is questionable. He threw A LOT of bad passes. Ones that got deflected or picked off. He ended the game with 6 turnovers.
- Derek Fisher got injured, but before that he just looked awful. He's slow and doesn't seem to fit well with the offense. He was on the court with Baron at times and running the 2nd team othertimes. He seems to stand on that 3 point line just looking for his shot. Not moving without the ball, just standing. Then when he gets the ball, he looks for his shot or tries to run a pick and roll. Trade him, let Baron take the big shots and Dunleavy or Miles run the 2nd team.
- The interior of the Warriors looks so unathletic it's ridiculous. Marion was running circles around these guys. They gave up easy layups, missed easy shots inside the paint, and just did not move well. One time Murphy was posting up Raja Bell, spun middle of the lane for a wide open 2 footer and missed. Another time, Biedrins received a nice pass, spun middle for a wide open dunk, but missed. These are opportunities that these big men cannot give away.
- Transition defense is atrocious. How many open three's are they going to give the Suns? Is it that hard to find your man and play defense? These shooters run to the corners, spot up and wait for Nash to get them the ball. C'mon, just run at them, put a hand up, do something!
- As a fan, if you're going to be drunk and loud, unless you're funny, it's really really annoying. So practice your lines at home and bring them to the game to be funny. "Kurt Thomas go back to New York" is just annoying considering he didn't have a choice to come to the Suns. "Brian Grant, you suck!" just doesn't carry the same effect it used to. Not that I'm anal or anything, but if you want to be an ass, at least be a funny one.

Anybody else go to the game or hear it on the radio? What did you think?

The WARRIOR WONDER OF THE NIGHT GOES TO:
Mike Dunleavy
30 points in 3 quarters, 10-14 shooting, 5-8 on 3's, 5-5 FT's, 7 rebs, and one nice block on The Matrix.

Props to Dun, that was about the best I've ever seen him play. He looked confident and wanted the ball on offense as he simply could not miss. He boxed out and grabbed tough rebounds. His boxout of Brian Grant was nice to see, as it was just the two of them in the paint and he muscled his way to the rebound. I'd love to see him be as aggressive and confident as he was today. If he can do that, it will take a great load off of Baron's shoulders.