WE WANT RANDOLPH!!!!

An opportunity has openned up for Anthony Randolph with the ankle injury sustained by Andris Biedrins. If reports are true from Geoff Leppers entry on 48minutes.com, "WE WANT RANDOLPH" chants at the Oracle are the only way fans will be able to see him get decent minutes for real-game experience and evaluation. Nelson is determined to show Randolph and everyone in the organization who is boss. If he's going to give the extra big man minutes to Kurz and Davidson, two scrubs who have no future with the Warriors, then he's abusing his authority. If Nellie has no problem with playing Harrington at center, there's no reason this 'innovator' could throw in Randolph and surround him with the best offensive threats on the roster. Ellis / Crawford / Jackson / Azubuike / Randolph : all 4 playing alongside Randolph can hide some of the mistakes that Randolph may make as a center. Randolph is a far superior option defensively and on the boards than either Kurz or Davidson. Offensively, he's more potent than Davidson. He's also the best big that can insure the Warriors play at a fast pace with his superior ball handling and passing for a big. Randolph needs to get experience and the injury to Biedrins should open up additional time for the rookie.

Nelson played the same games with Wright and Belinelli last year and it only resulted in pissing off the young players, jolting their confidence, and having a tired group of overworked vets at the tail end of the playoff run. Someone needs to put Nellie in check. If he's not going to give Randolph time in a season with no shot at the Playoffs, then the fans have to take matters into their own hands and demand the petty political posturing ends. "WE WANT RANDOLPH!!!" Fans pay good money to see good basketball and improvement of the core. Randolph brings energy and excitement and is a big part of the core. If Nellie continues to try and break Randolph's spirit with his lame excuses of him not being ready, it will be the Chris Webber situation all over again.

HYPOTHETICAL TRADE: Stoudemire

Apparently, Amare Stoudemire is on the trading block. Can the Warriors put together a deal that the Suns would accept? The Warriors' roster is stocked full of young players with potential making them an intriguing trading partner. What they lack, however, are the large expiring deals that teams in rebuilding mode covet. Harrington was traded for a Crawford's long term deal and Jackson was extended by Rowell.

Here is a possible trade proposal that might pass. Compared to the one's proposed by Chad Ford in has latest article, it is very attractive.

Phoenix Suns

Incoming Players
	Anthony Randolph Salary: $1,709,280 Years Remaining: 2 PTS: 5.5 REB: 3.8 AST: 0.6 PER: 14.15
	Brandan Wright Salary: $2,497,320 Years Remaining: 2 PTS: 7.9 REB: 3.7 AST: 0.4 PER: 18.95
	Corey Maggette Salary: $8,275,862 Years Remaining: 5 PTS: 19.6 REB: 5.9 AST: 1.8 PER: 16.81
	Jamal Crawford Salary: $8,640,000 Years Remaining: 3 PTS: 19.3 REB: 2.7 AST: 4.6 PER: 14.94

Outgoing Players: Alando Tucker, Louis Amundson, Amare Stoudemire

Golden State Warriors

Incoming Players
	Alando Tucker Salary: $1,001,880 Years Remaining: 2 PTS: 3.6 REB: 0.8 AST: 0.3 PER: 12.34
	Louis Amundson Salary: $797,581 Years Remaining: 1 PTS: 3.4 REB: 3.1 AST: 0.3 PER: 13.82
	Amare Stoudemire Salary: $15,070,550 Years Remaining: 3 PTS: 20.9 REB: 8.2 AST: 2.0 PER: 20.40

Outgoing Players: Anthony Randolph, Brandan Wright, Corey Maggette, Jamal Crawford


Warriors Lineup:

PG: Ellis (23)
SG: Harden* (19)
SF: Jackson (30)
PF: Stoudemire (26)
C: Biedrins (22)
B: Azubuike (25)
B: Turiaf (26)
B: Morrow (23)
B: Belinelli (22)
B: Watson (24)

It's too bad we don't have a better idea of what Wright and Randolph look like in extended meaningful minutes, but I'd do this trade if we could extend Amare beyond 2010. I'd rather sub in Turiaf for one of the young guys, but Suns might see that as a worse deal.

* Tank to get as high a pick as possible. If you miss out on moving up to the top 3, make a trade to land James Harden. That's a championship caliber team. If you can manage to get to this point, you can attract a solid free agent PG....Kidd????

PROSPECT PERFORMANCES - 02/05/09

James Harden: Arizona St. 66, Oregon 57
40 min, 11-21 fg, 5-10 3pt, 9-10 ft, 1 off, 5 reb, 2 ast, 3 to, 2 stl, 3 blk, 2 pf, 36 pts

Austin Daye: Gonzaga 93, Portland 78
34 min, 4-11 fg, 1-3 3pt, 5-6 ft, 4 off, 12 reb, 0 ast, 3 to, 0 stl, 3 blk, 2 pf, 14 pts

Stephen Curry: Davidson 75, N.C. Greensboro 54
33 min, 10-24 fg, 4-12 3pt, 5-8 ft, 2 off, 8 reb, 3 ast, 1 to, 2 stl, 0 blk, 2 pf, 29 pts

Chase Budinger: Arizona 56, Oregon St. 53
40 min, 7-13 fg, 1-4 3pt, 2-3 ft, 1 off, 8 reb, 3 ast, 2 to, 1 stl, 1 blk, 1 pf, 17 pts

Jason Hill: Arizona 56, Oregon St. 53
40 min, 6-11 fg, 0-0 3pt, 1-2 ft, 1 off, 5 reb, 0 ast, 4 to, 2 stl, 1 blk, 4 pf, 13 pts

NO WARRIORS FOR ALL-STAR WEEKEND...AGAIN

For the 3rd year in a row, the Warriors don't have a single representative for the big weekend festivities. Watson, Wright, Belinelli, Randolph, and Morrow were understandably left out of the Rookie/Sophomore Game. Biedrins was understandably passed over by Shaq as backup center. But the Warriors best and most logical choice for representing the Warriors was Anthony Morrow for the 3-point shooting contest.

Instead of choosing the most accurate shooter from 3-point range, the NBA decided to field the group based on quantity instead of quality. The 5 competing in the contest include Reshard Lewis, Danny Granger, Mike Bibby, Daequan Cook, Jason Kapono, and Roger Mason. I've watched Morrow in pre-game and half-time shoot-arounds and he is a joy to watch. Swish after swish from 3-point land - effortless release with perfect form. His shot is a thing of beauty. If Morrow were to compete in the 3-point shooting contest, he would be the favorite to win.

It's too bad the NBA doesn't make it a point to have at least one representative from each team involved in some way in All-Star weekend. Three years of no representation (Monta Ellis' Sophomore game appearance was the last) should warrant some extra incentive to push a deserving player such as Morrow over the top and into the spotlight so that the Bay Area and Warrior fans all over the world have a reason to watch. I feel like Warrior fans were robbed just as Morrow has been robbed. I'm boycotting this year's All-Star Weekend and hope many others do the same to send a message to Stern and the NBA....this event is for ALL the fans...to leave hundreds of thousands of fans outside looking in is a shame.


Anthony Morrow - Rookie From Downtown MIX by MISIEK

PROSPECT PERFORMANCES - 01/31/09

Hasheem Thabeet: Connecticut 94, Providence 61
28 min, 6-11 fg, 0-0 3pt, 3-5 ft, 7 off, 11 reb, 0 ast, 2 to, 1 stl, 10 blk, 4 pf, 15 pts

JaMychal: Alabama 75, Georgia 70
28 min, 7-14 fg, 0-0 3pt, 0-0 ft, 7 off, 13 reb, 2 ast, 4 to, 1 stl, 3 blk, 4 pf, 14 pts

Chase Budinger: Arizona 66, Washington St. 56
37 min, 5-17 fg, 2-8 3pt, 7-7 ft, 4 off, 11 reb, 7 ast, 0 to, 1 stl, 0 blk, 0 pf, 19 pts

Jordan Hill: Arizona 66, Washington St. 56
39 min, 8-16 fg, 0-0 3pt, 0-0 ft, 4 off, 16 reb, 3 ast, 3 to, 0 stl, 1 blk, 2 pf, 16 pts

James Harden: Washington 84, Arizona St. 71
36 min, 4-9 fg, 0-4 3pt, 7-8 ft, 1 off, 4 reb, 5 ast, 2 to, 3 stl, 0 blk, 4 pf, 15 pts

Al-Farouq Aminu: Georgia Tech 76, Wake Forest 74
xx min, 8-15 fg, 0-1 3pt, 1-3 ft, 3 off, 11 reb, 0 ast, x to, x stl, x blk, 3 pf, 17 pts

Jeff Teague: Georgia Tech 76, Wake Forest 74
xx min, 6-14 fg, 3-5 3pt, 1-3 ft, 1 off, 3 reb, 2 ast, x to, x stl, x blk, 3 pf, 16 pts

Gani Lawal: Georgia Tech 76, Wake Forest 74
xx min, 7-10 fg, 0-0 3pt, 11-14 ft, 4 off, 10 reb, 0 ast, x to, x stl, x blk, 2 pf, 25 pts

Austin Daye: Gonzaga 64, San Diego 47
27 min, 6-9 fg, 1-1 3pt, 4-4 ft, 2 off, 8 reb, 1 ast, 3 to, 0 stl, 2 blk, 2 pf, 17 pts

Eric Maynor: VCU 66, Hofstra 62
40 min, 9-18 fg, 3-5 3pt, 12-13 ft, 1 off, 9 reb, 4 ast, 2 to, 1 stl, 2 blk, 2 pf, 33 pts

Evan Turner: Ohio St. 93, Indiana 81
39 min, 10-14 fg, 0-2 3pt, 9-10 ft, 0 off, 10 reb, 3 ast, 7 to, 3 stl, 1 blk, 2 pf, 29 pts

B.J. Mullens: Ohio St. 93, Indiana 81
11 min, 0-2 fg, 0-0 3pt, 0-0 ft, 1 off, 3 reb, 0 ast, 1 to, 0 stl, 0 blk, 2 pf, 0 pts

Blake Griffin: Oklahoma 78, Iowa St. 68
37 min, 10-13 fg, 0-0 3pt, 3-7 ft, 6 off, 15 reb, 3 ast, 5 to, 0 stl, 1 blk, 2 pf, 23 pts

Cole Aldrich: Kansas 66, Colorado 61
31 min, 5-10 fg, 0-0 3pt, 5-6 ft, 3 off, 13 reb, 1 ast, 0 to, 1 stl, 2 blk, 0 pf, 15 pts

Patrick Patterson: Kentucky 77, South Carolina 78
40 min, 10-16 fg, 0-0 3pt, 8-8 ft, 1 off, 7 reb, 2 ast, 3 to, 1 stl, 2 blk, 2 pf, 28 pts

Jodie Meeks: Kentucky 77, South Carolina 78
30 min, 5-11 fg, 2-5 3pt, 8-8 ft, 1 off, 3 reb, 2 ast, 3 to, 0 stl, 0 blk, 3 pf, 20 pts

Earl Clark: Louisville 69, West Virginia 63
35 min, 2-4 fg, 0-1 3pt, 0-2 ft, 1 off, 5 reb, 5 ast, 4 to, 0 stl, 4 blk, 2 pf, 4 pts

Samardo Samuels: Louisville 69, West Virginia 63
19 min, 1-3 fg, 0-0 3pt, 6-6 ft, 1 off, 1 reb, 0 ast, 2 to, 0 stl, 0 blk, 4 pf, 8 pts

Da'Sean Butler: Louisville 69, West Virginia 63
37 min, 8-18 fg, 2-4 3pt, 5-6 ft, 3 off, 8 reb, 0 ast, 5 to, 2 stl, 0 blk, 2 pf, 23 pts

Greg Monroe: Georgetown 82, Marquette 94
31 min, 5-7 fg, 0-0 3pt, 3-5 ft, 2 off, 4 reb, 2 ast, 5 to, 1 stl, 2 blk, 4 pf, 13 pts

DaJuan Summers: Georgetown 82, Marquette 94
36 min, 9-12 fg, 4-4 3pt, 0-1 ft, 3 off, 7 reb, 3 ast, 4 to, 1 stl, 0 blk, 1 pf, 22 pts

Tyreke Evans: Memphis 83, Houston 68
32 min, 5-13 fg, 0-3 3pt, 0-0 ft, 0 off, 7 reb, 5 ast, 4 to, 0 stl, 0 blk, 3 pf, 10 pts

Ty Lawson: North Carolina 93, N.C. State 76
31 min, 6-10 fg, 0-1 3pt, 4-5 ft, 0 off, 4 reb, 5 ast, 4 to, 1 stl, 0 blk, 3 pf, 16 pts

Tyler Hansbrough: North Carolina 93, N.C. State 76
33 min, 12-17 fg, 1-2 3pt, 6-7 ft, 2 off, 6 reb, 0 ast, 3 to, 1 stl, 1 blk, 2 pf, 31 pts

DeJuan Blair: Pittsburgh 93, Notre Dame 80
31 min, 10-18 fg, 0-0 3pt, 3-6 ft, 11 off, 22 reb, 0 ast, 2 to, 1 stl, 1 blk, 3 pf, 23 pts

Luke Harangody: Pittsburgh 93, Notre Dame 80
39 min, 11-25 fg, 0-2 3pt, 5-6 ft, 6 off, 11 reb, 4 ast, 1 to, 1 stl, 2 blk, 1 pf, 27 pts

Stephen Curry: Davidson 55, Samford 52
34 min, 6-20 fg, 2-11 3pt, 6-6 ft, 0 off, 2 reb, 4 ast, 4 to, 2 stl, 0 blk, 4 pf, 20 pts

Nick Calathes: Tennessee 79, Florida 63
28 min, 7-14 fg, 3-6 3pt, 4-5 ft, 0 off, 2 reb, 4 ast, 4 to, 2 stl, 0 blk, 4 pf, 21 pts

Tyler Smith: Tennessee 79, Florida 63
35 min, 5-14 fg, 3-8 3pt, 3-6 ft, 1 off, 9 reb, 4 ast, 2 to, 0 stl, 0 blk, 3 pf, 16 pts

Damion James: Kansas St. 85, Texas 81
39 min, 6-15 fg, 0-0 3pt, 7-10 ft, 3 off, 12 reb, 1 ast, 3 to, 2 stl, 1 blk, 4 pf, 19 pts

Jrue Holiday: UCLA 97, Stanford 63
24 min, 6-10 fg, 2-4 3pt, 1-1 ft, 2 off, 6 reb, 5 ast, 1 to, 2 stl, 0 blk, 1 pf, 15 pts

Darren Collison: UCLA 97, Stanford 63
26 min, 6-7 fg, 1-1 3pt, 2-2 ft, 0 off, 1 reb, 3 ast, 3 to, 1 stl, 0 blk, 1 pf, 15 pts

POSTGAME: ROCKETS - 01/31/09

MVW: Stephen Jackson

The Good
S. Jackson: 38 min, 5-6 ft, 5 ast, 16 pts
C. Maggette: 33 min, 6-13 fg, 1 stl, 17 pts
R. Turiaf: 32 min, 10 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 4 blk
A. Biedrins: 23 min, 4-5 fg, 7 reb
C.J. Watson: 21 min, 4-6 fg, 2-3 3pt, 2-2 ft, 3 ast, 12 pts
M. Ellis: 30 min, 6 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk

The Bad
S. Jackson: 38 min, 5-13 fg, 2 reb, 3 to
A. Randolph: 6 min

The Ugly
M. Ellis: 30 min, 4-12 fg, 2 to, 5 pf

Best and Worst +/-
C.J. Watson: -1
R. Kurz: -19

Team Statistics
Warriors : Rockets
pts - 93 : 110
fg - 34-81 (.420) : 40-84 (.476)
ft - 19-23 (.826) : 23-32 (.719)
3pt - 6-151 (.400) : 7-18(.389)
reb - 35 : 48
oreb - 8 : 13
ast - 17 : 21
to - 9 : 12
stl - 6 : 5
bs - 6 : 1
fast break points - 5 : 10
points in the paint - 48 : 22

Boxscore
Highlights
Popcorn Machine's GameFlow




Notes

1. Ellis / Crawford / Jackson / Turiaf / Biedrins vs, Alston / Artest / Battier / Scola / Ming; no Azbuike, Wright, Belinelli, Williams
   
2. Turiaf gets a nice weak-side block on Yao
3. Artest shooting 40% from 3, 37% from everywhere else
4. Crawford starts off with 2 straight jumpers
5. if Yao gets the ball in the paint, it's almost always 2 pts
6. Monta hasn't taken a shot yet with 7:25 to play; has he even touched the ball?
7. Monta collects rebound and initiates fast break; does not try to attack rim as he used to do before the injury; wonderful dish to Biedrins on drive
8. Warriors get 8 sec. backcourt violation
9. Biedrins finishing nicely tonight
10. Monta hits his first shot, 12 ft jumper
11. Kurz in for Turiaf; 3:24 1Q, GS 16 HOU 14
    
12. Crawford's jumper continues to fall
13. Brooks feeling confident vs. Ellis
14. GS 20 HOS 25 end of 1Q
15. Morrow and Crawford hit 3's
16. GS 28 HOS 31, 8:20 2Q
17. Brooks playing well; so well Biedrins passed out of the paint when matched up with Brooks - !?!
18. Jackson gets technical for hanging on rim; 2nd most techs in the league
19. Biedrins gets technical
20. no fast break points for Warriors
21. Warriors shooting 47%; GS 38 HOU 42; 4:14 2Q
22. Morrow has play called for him and scores easily on jumper off double screen; do it more often Nelli
23. Biedrins gets 4th foul w/ 2:32 left in 4th
24. Watson takes a charge on Artest and immediately drills 12 footer on following possession
25. Turiaf gets callef for foul when Yao slams into a stationary Turiaf; bigs in fould trouble; Kurz in, no Randolph yet
26. Crawford hits a buzzer beating half court shot to end the 1st half
27. GS 51 HOU 53 end of 1st half
28. Jackson starts off 3Q with long jumper after Maggette offensive rebound
29. Biedrins gets called for 5th foul on 1st HOU possession
30. Ellis drives and tries to score off Yao and Artest...surprise, he gets blocked
31. Yao with 18 pts 7 reb
32. Crawford hits back to back shots, 1 of which is a 3pt
33. Turiaf gets another spectacular block
34. Maggette looking great
35. lead changing back and forth
36. Crawford starting to feel it
37. Jackson hits corner 3 to give Warriors 1 pt lead
38. GS 69 HOU 68; 5:39 3Q
39. Crawford with nice block on Alston; good defensive potential but needs consistent desire
40. Monta gets 3rd charge called on him
41. Monta 3-11 fg
42. GS 75 HOU 81 end of 3Q
43. Turiaf and Biedrins with 5 fouls each
44. Morrow with nice assist to Biedrins; opponents have to respect his outside shot, allowing him to easily get by man most of the time
45. Warriors could use a player like Landry...or Richard Hendrix
46. Anthony Randolph enters at 6:00 4Q
47. Randolph with the defensive board seconds after checking in; I hate Nellie sometimes - why give all the minutes to Kurz when Biedrins and Turiaf are in serious foul trouble; Kurz was not much of a factor, especially on the defensive end
48. Randolph gets 3 pt play to cut deficit to 9
49. like the active hands on the Warriors defensive end
50. Ellis gets jobbed once again, getting 5th foul; all of them questionable calls
51. Morrow comes in and airballs 3 pt attempt
52. Warriors can't hit shots late and Artest caught on fire
53. Brooks w/ 22 pts off bench, 8 ast
    
54. GS 93 HOU 107 end of game
55. Warriors energy level tapered off at beginning of 4th; should bring in Randolph to inject energy

Postgame Quotes

Don Nelson
On Tonight's Game:

“We battled hard. We stayed around for a long time. I have no complaints. It was a hard game to play after playing last night and we didn’t play well enough to win. We didn’t have enough juice but we hung in there. If we could have made a couple of shots in the fourth quarter and cut it down to six, we might have won.”

Jamal Crawford
On Tonight's Game:

“They went inside and then that opened their 3-point shooting game. Brooks really hurt us. Ron Artest hit some tough shots and really got their fans into the game.”

On The Warriors' Recent Play:

“We’re having to adjust on the fly since we’re just getting some guys back into action. Sometimes it looks okay and other nights it doesn’t. I thought we had a rhythm going the last three or four weeks. We have a lot of scorers and that is just what we do.”

Related Links
Warriors lose in Houston - Mercury News Wire Service
Warriors still can't match up with Rockets' Yao - Marcus Thompson II
Warriors hang for three quarters vs. Rockets ... which is what you'd expect - Matt Steinmetz
Rookie Randolph fires his 'great agent' - Janny Hu
Rockets notes: T-Mac sits out vs. Warriors - Houston Chronicle

Next Game
San Antonio Spurs
February 2 - 7:30 p.m.
ORACLE Arena
TV: (HD)
Radio: KNBR 680