Riley said the next week, starting with Monday's home game against the Los Angeles Clippers, is crucial. Golden State, which has lost three straight, needs to start showing some results.

The fact that the Warriors have been knocking at the door in several of these games warrants some leeway. Golden State is six games under .500 and ranks 12th in the Western Conference. But in nine of the Warriors' 17 losses, they were tied, led by a point or trailed by a point with 90 seconds left.

That seems a pretty thin line between rebuilding and contending. But even though the Warriors have been "right there," and are still just 41/2 games behind the eighth and final seed in the Western Conference, Riley said wins need to come now. The pressure is on.

If the Warriors don't turn things around quickly, Golden State will be forced to turn its attention away from the playoffs and to developing the young talent. That probably means more time for rookie swingman Klay Thompson and even more minutes for second-year big man Ekpe Udoh. Maybe even rookie big man Jeremy Tyler gets into the rotation.

It could also mean Riley will turn his attention to the trade deadline and potentially revamping the roster. Riley said he's not quite ready to start looking toward the future.

"But the clock is ticking," Riley said. "No question."

GSW Hoops Fan wrote:

Riley said the next week, starting with Monday's home game against the Los Angeles Clippers, is crucial. Golden State, which has lost three straight, needs to start showing some results.

The fact that the Warriors have been knocking at the door in several of these games warrants some leeway. Golden State is six games under .500 and ranks 12th in the Western Conference. But in nine of the Warriors' 17 losses, they were tied, led by a point or trailed by a point with 90 seconds left.

That seems a pretty thin line between rebuilding and contending. But even though the Warriors have been "right there," and are still just 41/2 games behind the eighth and final seed in the Western Conference, Riley said wins need to come now. The pressure is on.

Sounds like he has been listening. The thing is, I bet nothing is going to happen before All Star break because of Orlando and Howard. Every team is waiting to see what happens there. After that the ball will be moving quickly. If we are way out of the race by then it will be interesting to see what we do. And if we go on a winning streak between now and then, I doubt we do anything. But that last line about 9 of 17 of the loses we were within 1 point with 90 secs to go is amazing. The fact that we haven't been able to close out games has been our Achiles heel.... oh, and the fact we need a real center.

I really don't want to see the team "blown up", because we have a lot of great pieces, but getting a Starting Center has to be first and foremost. It doesn't have to be an all star center, but someone who can hold their own and play 25+minutes.

Many Warriors fans already have given up on this season and started looking toward building for the future. Warriors general manager Larry Riley has not reached that stage. But he's getting closer. "That'll be a decision we will make pretty soon here, probably in the next week or so," Riley said in a phone interview Sunday. "But we have a little more time to look at things." Riley said the next week, starting with Monday's home game against the Los Angeles Clippers, is crucial. Golden State, which has lost three straight, needs to start showing some results.

Second-year Warriors big man Ekpe Udoh will make his first start of the year, plugging in at center in place of Andris Biedrins, who has come down with flu-like symptoms.

shalik wrote:EKPE UDOH IS BEING HUGE SO FAR: 8 PTS ON 4-4!!!

hobbes wrote:I think this is the last we see of Biedrins as the starting center. We should have used the amnesty on him. He's stealing money either way.