The Mind of Mullin: POSTGAME: HEAT

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

POSTGAME: HEAT - 12/23/08

Watson was the best shooter tonight but
needs to act like more of a point guard on the break

MVW: C.J. Watson

The Good
C.J. Watson: 39 min, 7-15 fg, 2-4 3pt, 2-2 ft, 1 to, 18 pts
Kelenna Azubuike: 40 min, 2-2 ft, 9 reb, 3 ast, 16 pts
Andris Biedrins: 30 min, 9 reb, 2 ast, 5 stl
Anthony Randolph: 20 min, 4-9 fg, 2-2 ft, 6 reb, 2 bs, 10 pts
Brandan Wright: 18 min, 4-7 fg, 4-4 ft, 2 stl, 12 pts
Ronny Turiaf: 18 min, 2-4 fg, 5 reb, 2 ast

The Bad
Kelenna Azubuike: 40 min, 6-19 fg, 4 to
DeMarcus Nelson: 16 min, 1-5 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 to, 6 pts
Anthony Morrow: 27 min, 3-11 fg, 1 ast, 2 to, 8 pts
Andris Biedrins: 30 min, 3-8 fg, 0 bs, 6 pts
C.J. Watson: 39 min, 2 ast, 1 reb, 0 stl

The Ugly
Marco Belinelli: 32 min, 3-11 fg, 3 ast, 1 reb, 7 pts

Best and Worst +/-
Ronny Turiaf: +7
C.J. Watson: +5
Andris Biedrins: -15
Marco Belinelli: -15

Team Statistics
Warriors : Magic
pts - 88 : 96
fg - 33-89 (.371) : 38-74 (.514)
ft - 17-19 (.895) : 14-25 (.560)
3pt - 5-15 (.333) : 6-15 (.400)
reb - 41 : 48
oreb - 16 : 9
ast - 14 : 20
to - 16 : 19
stl - 16 : 19
bs - 3 : 7
fastbreaks - 7 : 13
points in the paint - 42 : 46

Boxscore
Highlights
Popcorn Machine's GameFlow

Azubuike is making an effort to not be such a ball-hog

Notes

starting 5: Watson/Belinelli/Azubuike/Wright/Biedrins
inactives: Ellis/Jackson/Maggette
Wright has nice block on driving Chalmers; Warriors' inability to stay in front of their guys (particularly at PG and Belinelli) will need the bigs to clean up - small ball with their current roster does not work
Wright's length causing turnovers
Randolph in for Wright, 5:10 left in 1Q
Warriors crashing the offensive boards
Biedrins can't get a call - getting played physically, but not getting to the line
Warriors driving and kicking consistently
Randolph with blocks, a bucket, and takes a charge; very effective stretch of minutes
shooting 38% but lead 24 to 21 after the 1st Q
Turiaf/Morrow/Anthony/Azubuike/Watson start the 2nd Q
Azubuike continues recent trend of dishing off the drive and not forcing up the difficult contested shot
Randolph with a ferocious put-back dunk!!!!
Warriors have a new defensive grading system? You don't meet the grade or put in a good effort, you sit. I like it!
Azubuike with another offensive board and score; 8 pts and 7 reb
Warriors young guys are fairing better than if the stars were active; a lot more ball movement, better quality shots, and the use of Randolph or Wright at PF instead of a SF or SG
Cooke bringing back Heat with 4 three pointers in the 2nd Q
24-5 run for Heat, Warriors down 37 to 45
GSW 41 MIA 47
leaders: Azubuike 10 pts, Azubuike 7 reb, Watson/Biedrins 2 ast, Biedrins 3 stl, Randolph/Wright 1 blk
stats vs. Heat: .347 to .474 fg, .125 to .545 3pt, 23 to 24 reb, 5 to 12 ast, 6 to 4 stl, 2 to 2 stl, 6 to 7 to, 7 to 10 pf
Daequan Cook 17 pts in 14 min, 5-7 3pt
Watson/Belinelli/Azubuike/Wright/Biedrins
Watson is awful dealing with the fast break; gives up ball too late
first bucket of 2nd half for both teams comes w/ 8:30 left in 3rd
finally, Biedrins given the ball deep in the paint; dismal shooting cured by Bigs taking close shots
Wright is so smooth going to the basket; give him space and he could easily get to rim on his man
Watson proves he is the worst PG on the break once again; stuffed by Watson when he should have dumped it off to Azubuike on the left or Randolph down the middle - PLEASE TRY MARCUS WILLIAMS!!!!!
DeMarcus Nelson replaces Watson....damn
both teams struggling to put points on the board; lots of turnovers and sloppy play
Randolph follows awful offensive possession with great block on Beasley
Watson/Belinelli/Morrow/Randolph/Turiaf start 4th Q
Watson's 3 brings Warriors to within 9 pts; Azubuike drains a 3 to cut it to 6 pts
Wade makes drives look so easy
DeMarcus Nelson misses wide open 8-foot jumper, gets the offensive board and lays it in; does Nellie really believe he has a better shot at positively impacting this franchise than Richard Hendrix?
Warriors start to hit perimeter shots in the end, but too little too late
GSW 88 MIA 96 - Final
Warriors go to 8-22, good for 5th best chance in 2009 Draft Lottery

Brandan Wright has a strong 2nd half

Postgame Quotes

Don Nelson
On Tonight's Game:

“I actually thought we competed and did a pretty good job. We didn’t shoot the ball well enough to win but I thought we made the right plays. And we would expect that with some of the young guys playing that we would have some turnovers and we did, but I thought they hung in there pretty well. I was happy with the way we played today.”

Kelenna Azubuike
On Playing Short-Handed:

“We didn’t want to use that as an excuse. We didn’t get the win so we just have to learn from it and move on to the next game. It’s been an interesting year so far. We’ve had a lot of injuries and a lot of guys are banged up. The younger guys have to step in and learn quickly. I don’t think they’re doing a bad job, but we’re just young right now. Losses are frustrating and hopefully we can get better and turn it around.”
“I think we have to try and find the positives from this. It’s tough when you’re losing but hopefully we’re getting better as a team. We’re giving it everything we have and I think that’s all you can ask for. I think we’ll get smarter as a team as the games go on.”

Golden State Warriors @ Miami Heat 12/23/08
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