Golden State Warriors (5 - 10) @ Cleveland Cavaliers (12 - 3)

Start time: 4:30 PM PST @ The Quicken Loans Arena
Local TV: CSN Bay Area

Probable starters for the Golden State Warriors:

C - Andris Biedrins
PF - Brandan Wright
SF - Corey Maggette
SG - Stephen Jackson
PG - Jamal Crawford

Probable starters for the Cleveland Cavaliers:

C - Zydrunas Ilgauskas
PF - Ben Wallace
SF - LeBron James
SG - Delonte West
PG - Mo Williams

Team leaders:
PPG - S. Jackson (21.5) | L. James (28.9)
RPG - A. Biedrins (13.2) | L. James (7.5)
APG - J. Crawford (7.0) | L. James (6.6)
SPG - S. Jackson (1.4) | L. James (1.9)
BPG - R. Turiaf (2.1) | B. Wallace (1.9)

That Washington game was a tough one to swallow. I think its still affecting the team. Tonight's loss isn't going to help either. I don't think this road trip is going to end favorably. When it rains it pours. The reunion with Al on Saturday is the one I think we have the best chance in.

The games we "should" win are killing us. IE the memphis games, Sacramento, Chicago, and Washington. That's five games right there. 5 games under .500. Do the math, but it's all hindsight. Just hope for the best one game at a time.

speaking of Al, he shot the ball 24 times tonight. nellie was right, he really does think he is a superstar.

lebron is the best player in the nba and it seems like he's getting better every game. the dude is physically the most imposing player since the young shaq. when his jumper is dropping, he's unstoppable on the offensive side of the ball.

if we're playing up to our competition and if lebron is not hitting his jumper and if we're hot, we can win.

So whos guarding Lebron tonight.

andrew7744 wrote:So whos guarding Lebron tonight.

Most likely Jackson. Though, I wouldn't be surprised to see Maggette on him too.

Cavs by 12. Lebron gets a triple-double and we, once again, lose because of rebounding and bad defense.



Although this team plays so out of control that it might even win there... so, who knows?

This should be our line-up every game until Monta comes back with the rest off the bench (Buike, Randolph, Ronny, and Morrow). Wright needs 30+ minutes consistently—and she should be our starter from this point on. Get your hand out of your crotch: no dicking around anymore with your small balls, Nelly!

And, am I the only person who would like Marcus to play more? He should be backing up Crawford, since Marcus is our only real play-maker. If Nelly is not happy with his outside shot results, just have him purely make plays and take the rock to the hoop. Man, I hate to see needed talent acquired just to rot on the bench.

On that note, I still think we can pull this off tonight.

CjR wrote:Wright needs 30+ minutes consistently—and she should be our starter from this point on.

She???

CjR wrote:And, am I the only person who would like Marcus to play more? He should be backing up Crawford, since Marcus is our only real play-maker. If Nelly is not happy with his outside shot results, just have him purely make plays and take the rock to the hoop. Man, I hate to see needed talent acquired just to rot on the bench.

I don't know about that. It's hard to tell without being present in practice. But he's a much better playmaker than Watson, so there's gotta be something, because that's exactly the kind of player this team lacks.

TMC wrote:

CjR wrote:And, am I the only person who would like Marcus to play more? He should be backing up Crawford, since Marcus is our only real play-maker. If Nelly is not happy with his outside shot results, just have him purely make plays and take the rock to the hoop. Man, I hate to see needed talent acquired just to rot on the bench.

I don't know about that. It's hard to tell without being present in practice. But he's a much better playmaker than Watson, so there's gotta be something, because that's exactly the kind of player this team lacks.

Werent some/most of us saying that exact thing about Brandan last year?.............I mean, we were all saying that we need a PF, a guy who can block shots, rebound, and were miffed as to why he just couldnt get any decent time...........and they only thing we could think of was that it must be "something" else, off the court.

But the simple fact............it isnt, and it wasnt.

So with Marcus, it could be the same situation............although I have more doubts about his ability to contribute than I did Brandan last year...........still, a guy who can ACTUALLY penetrate, make THAT pass that others cant, is what we lack sorely.

Also, the whole "hes not good in practice" thing is a little annoying for me...........I know, when your trying to make the league its important but some guys are just game time players, and dont necessarily do it in practice............Im sure we will never know until we see him being given a real chance by another team.

bigstrads wrote:Werent some/most of us saying that exact thing about Brandan last year?.............I mean, we were all saying that we need a PF, a guy who can block shots, rebound, and were miffed as to why he just couldnt get any decent time...........and they only thing we could think of was that it must be "something" else, off the court.

But the simple fact............it isnt, and it wasnt.

So with Marcus, it could be the same situation............

There's a difference. If we were talking only about Nellie coaching a young kid, I'd agree, but the Nets had no kind of regrets about getting rid of Marcus for almost... nothing. And they were really high on him when he was drafted.

Something smells fishy.

I like this starting line-up, though I am not as sold on Wright as some on this board. Interesting how stats can lie. Except in points, the Ws leaders are better in every statistical area listed here, and the Cavs are 12-3, we are 5-10. The real story of the season so far is just how ridiculously good Lebron is, to have a team that is less talented than 75% of the teams in the league at 12-3 and undefeated at home. Leaving Lebron out, who would you trade straight up for on the warriors (and Belli for Mo Williams is not a straight up trade!)

James is doing the same thing he did a couple of years ago, dragging a pretty mediocre team to the top of the East.

TMC wrote:

bigstrads wrote:Werent some/most of us saying that exact thing about Brandan last year?.............I mean, we were all saying that we need a PF, a guy who can block shots, rebound, and were miffed as to why he just couldnt get any decent time...........and they only thing we could think of was that it must be "something" else, off the court.

But the simple fact............it isnt, and it wasnt.

So with Marcus, it could be the same situation............

There's a difference. If we were talking only about Nellie coaching a young kid, I'd agree, but the Nets had no kind of regrets about getting rid of Marcus for almost... nothing. And they were really high on him when he was drafted.

Something smells fishy.

I agree...Nellie is desperate for a PG and his problem seems to be with playing youn big men, as from CJ to Morrow to Azu to Monta, he has played young guards plenty. I am pretty sure that if Williams had something he would be playing and Jersey would not have let him go in the first place for nothing.

lock down D on on LBJ, we should do fine..... I hope.

bigstrads wrote:

TMC wrote:

CjR wrote:And, am I the only person who would like Marcus to play more? He should be backing up Crawford, since Marcus is our only real play-maker. If Nelly is not happy with his outside shot results, just have him purely make plays and take the rock to the hoop. Man, I hate to see needed talent acquired just to rot on the bench.

I don't know about that. It's hard to tell without being present in practice. But he's a much better playmaker than Watson, so there's gotta be something, because that's exactly the kind of player this team lacks.

Werent some/most of us saying that exact thing about Brandan last year?.............I mean, we were all saying that we need a PF, a guy who can block shots, rebound, and were miffed as to why he just couldnt get any decent time...........and they only thing we could think of was that it must be "something" else, off the court.

But the simple fact............it isnt, and it wasnt.

So with Marcus, it could be the same situation............although I have more doubts about his ability to contribute than I did Brandan last year...........still, a guy who can ACTUALLY penetrate, make THAT pass that others cant, is what we lack sorely.

Also, the whole "hes not good in practice" thing is a little annoying for me...........I know, when your trying to make the league its important but some guys are just game time players, and dont necessarily do it in practice............Im sure we will never know until we see him being given a real chance by another team.

TMC, I don’t usually make typos in my posts, but you got me there. And just checkin’ if you’re awake.

Bigs, agree, and Nelly is strange. First it was his weight, then Marcus worked hard, lost it, and Nelly said he “made weight” so now he would play him. He never said he didn’t have the skills, only his weight. But, still, hardly a sniff, even though Jax is turning it over like he’s barbequing kabobs and has no clue how to run an offense, and neither does Watson.

I know we’re not in practice to see, but Nelson can be such a biased and stubborn old man, at times, and so myopic. He even admitted this oversight with Wright last year whom he saw in practice everyday. And I don’t think I really need to see anymore when I see enough of Jax in actual games to know he shouldn’t be handling the rock, but Nelson lets/insists on him doing it anyway, or the fact that his small ball (and a disorganized one, at that) is consistently getting slaughtered on the boards and D. Oh, the hypocrisy.

Mullin seems to think highly of Marcus, that he has something to offer and not willing to trade him.