The Golden Opportunity: Taft Article (No more updates)

[dsigns]

Why is your record 0-2 if you won the second game?

[Its_asdf]

Very good recap. You covered pretty much everything.

Yep really nice reports Nice writing.

Thanks.

Nice report, but I'd say you shud give White a C with thouse stats!

I took into account that White is a mid second rounder in my draft, so obviously the expectations are lower for him. He's also leading the team in free throw percentage, so I think that overall he performed up to his standards which warrants a B for me.

that sucks, nice report cards keep it up

Yeah Hanson's free throw rating is like 40 something which is why I think he's rated so low and that's how I signed him for cheap...

Why is your record 0-2 if you won the second game?

That's a really good question, and I was just about to go into detail about that, but then I realized that almost no one gave a shit.

Well, basically I won the game and I wrote up the recap, took all of the pictures and whatnot for the Seattle game, but then I forgot to save the game. So anyway, since the Seattle and Indiana games were back-to-back, so I didn't really realize that I had not saved the game. As a result of that, after I played my Pacers game I realized that the Sonics game was simulated and I had already saved it.


Oh yeah, and expect a trade soon... Not a big one, though.

[z50bo]

Oh yeah, and expect a trade soon... Not a big one, though.

wonder what it is, cant wait to know

[Mark.]

Nice player reports

[hova-]

Loved the recap ! You wrote a lot and thats cool

[Its_asdf]

Players/Rookies of the Month

Western Conference Player of the Month: Carmelo Anthony
Eastern Conference Player of the Month: Richard Jefferson

Western Conference Rookie of the Month: Josh Boone
Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month: Andrea Bargnani

MVP Candidates

Leading Candidate: Carmelo Anthony

Other News
*Click to read text

[Its_asdf]

Oh yeah, and expect a trade soon... Not a big one, though.

wonder what it is, cant wait to know

Heh, it took a while, but here it is.

I was joking about it being small.

Nice player reports

Thanks

Loved the recap ! You wrote a lot and thats cool

Thanks, I guess... for cool people that write a lot!

[z50bo]

ehh i gues its a pretty good trade but kinda tough to c BD leave from your dynasty, i think he was worth a little more then what you got. Good update keep it up

[nets4life]

this dynasty has great recaps and depth, i like it alot . I agree with z50bo, you should have gotten more for Baron

[Its_asdf]

ehh i gues its a pretty good trade but kinda tough to c BD leave from your dynasty, i think he was worth a little more then what you got. Good update keep it up

Baron and Troy were relatively decent, but I just couldn't shrug off the fact that they had such gigantic contracts. Crawford and Richardson dont' have the prettiest contracts either, but they are certainly a lot more easier to shop around.

this dynasty has great recaps and depth, i like it alot . I agree with z50bo, you should have gotten more for Baron

Thanks, you're probably the very first person to every say that you "like" my dynasty. I know I could've gotten a lot more for Baron and there were many, and I mean many different combinations to play around with but most of them didn't really interest me since none of the trades I could do really got what I wanted.

I also want to point out that I'm a Crawford/Richardson fan and I hated to see them rot on a team like the Knicks and since they're rated quite decently in the game I wanted to make them blossom again. C'mon, lets face it, Chris Mullin isn't the smartest guy in the world and he'd probably make that trade anyway, hence making it more realistic.

[Cornerthree]

That's cool, I like Crawford, especially that he saved NY a cuople of times this year...

[Mark.]

Yeah I like the trade, getting Frye is probably the biggest plus for you

[Jing]

wow. thats certainly a big trade considering murphy and davis have been the face of the warriors in recent years... crawford. never been too keen about. but Q and Frye I like. therefore a good trade

[Jugs]

Great trades, but both crawford and Q have huge contracts, but so does b-diddy and T-Murph. Q-Rich, J-Crawf and C-Fry are gonna be great

R-Jug thinks I-asdf is hawt.

[hova-]

Good trade, gettin some Knickers in there
I like B-Diddy very much though.

Good luck in the next games !

[Its_asdf]

New Warriors Unimpressive in Debut Against Denver (87-74 Nuggets)


Warriors Boxscore
Nuggets Boxscore

First Quarter: 14-12 Denver

Both teams got off to a terrible start, shooting only 22% from the field. However,
both Quentin and Jason Richardson showcased their scoring ability early, and
both of them showed a glimpse of dynamic chemistry that would not be showcased
later on in the game. Overall this quarter was quite dull except for a few hustle
plays that kept the game close for both teams. Jamal Crawford looked a bit
lost on the court and settled for a few too many perimeter jump shots while
Channing Frye was smothered by Kenyon Martin whenever he got the ball.

Second Quarter: 39-33 Denver

Kenyon Martin snapped Denver out of their offensive woes during the middle
of the second quarter. Martin was a beast rebounding the ball and making
life for Golden State a living hell in the paint. Martin ended the quarter by scoring
11 points and also grabbing 6 of his 8 rebounds. The Warriors looked like they
had missed Baron Davis on the court since no one on the team could step it
up on the offensive end. Jason Richardson disappointingly scored only 6 points
by halftime to lead all Golden State scorers.

Third Quarter: 61-54 Denver

The Warriors had managed to keep the game close throughout the entire game
because of Denver's low field goal percentages, but Carmelo Anthony, who
only scored 6 points by halftime, began to roast the Warriors. He scored 8
points in the third quarter (which is a lot considering how low scoring the
game was) and the Warriors were down by as many as 13 in the quarter, but Golden
State caught a few breaks and Quentin Richardson hit two consecutive three pointers
to narrow the gap back to single digits by the end of the quarter.

Fourth Quarter: 87-74 Nuggets

With the Warriors ending the third quarter on a somewhat positive note, it looked
like Golden State would go back to its up-and-down style of offence that the
fans were accustomed to seeing when Baron Davis was running the show.
Instead, the Warriors constantly fumbled the ball and turning it over (8 times
to be exact), and Carmelo Anthony made them pay on every mistake they made
by scoring 13 points in the fourth quarter and putting away the Warriors, by
the final 2 minutes. The main source of the turnovers were new-comers Channing
Frye and Quentin Richardson, combining for more than half of the Warriors'
16 total turnovers. Despite all of the disappointment, Monta Ellis stepped up
his play after he recieved a substantial amount of playing time in the fourth
quarter when Jamal Crawford was bench for his poor play. Ellis had 8 points
and 5 assists all in the final quarter and gave some hope that the Warriors
might actually win the game when he helped lead to cut the deficit down to 6 with
a minute and a half remaining, but it was too late.

Post-Game Comments

"It was different, playing with Jamal. I think I just need more time to adjust to how he plays." - Jason Richardson on the team's amazingly poor performance

"Not all of the practices in the world can fully prepare you for an actual NBA game. We just need to give it a little more time. Oakland fans will not be dsiappointed next game." - Jamal Crawford on his poor performance despite having two weeks of practice with the team

"When 'Melo got hot for us, we knew we had this game in the bag. You can tell that their minds were still on the fact that they lost Baron Davis." - Kenyon Martin

Pictures


'Melo's mid-range game dashed the hopes of a successful debut for the new players

Turnovers cost the Warriors dearly in the final quarter
Mike Montgomery trying to get his team together with a timeout
Nearly every shot Kenyon Martin flipped up near the basket went in
Julius Hodge showcasing some leaping ability that he was never really known for
Channing Frye's long arms helped him slam in this beautiful alley-oop
Monta Ellis was superb in the final quarter running the offence
Crawford played some good defence despite his poor offensive performance
Maybe Crawford was a little too cocky in the starting lineup introductions...
Because he got blocked by Camby on the very first play
Camby was a nuisance on the inside and on the boards

[Its_asdf]

That's cool, I like Crawford, especially that he saved NY a cuople of times this year...

I also thought Crawford improved a lot as a basketball player last season as well. He's become more defensive minded and his shot selection has gottten somewhat better. Plus, he's 6'5. I can't resist acquiring combo guards.

Yeah I like the trade, getting Frye is probably the biggest plus for you

Frye suprised me quite a bit with his stats, I never expected him to be as good as he is right now in the game.

wow. thats certainly a big trade considering murphy and davis have been the face of the warriors in recent years... crawford. never been too keen about. but Q and Frye I like. therefore a good trade

Glad to see you like Q and Frye as well. Like I said earlier, I didn't like the salaries they had and I really wanted to free up some cap space.

Great trades, but both crawford and Q have huge contracts, but so does b-diddy and T-Murph. Q-Rich, J-Crawf and C-Fry are gonna be great

R-Jug thinks I-asdf is hawt.

I think I'm pretty attractive myself.

Crawford and Q both combine to make around the same amount as Baron Davis' contract alone, so it really isn't too bad. Plus, Crawford or Q's contract (I think Q, I don't remember off the top of my head at the moment) expires the same year as Davis'.

Good trade, gettin some Knickers in there
I like B-Diddy very much though.

Good luck in the next games !

I was hoping you'd like the trade, especially since you seem to be a Knick fan.

[kibaxx7]

I like the trade man, but a loss against Denver wasn't the best debut for the players you acquired

[z50bo]

tough loss man, lots of pics..i like that

[Jugs]

74 points, that sucks anus. At least Monta Ellis was a bright spot in that game, 5 assists and 8 points in 9 minutes

[Anthony15]

Didnt think you'd beat the Nuggets, nice try GL next game tho

[Its_asdf]

Q and Crawford Carry Warriors Over Cavs (100-92 Warriors)


Warriors Boxscore
Cavaliers Boxscore

First Quarter: 26-20 Golden State

After a horrid debut and a loss to the Nuggets last game, Jamal Crawford that he would not disappoint Warriors fans again and he was on the right
track in the first quarter, dishing out 3 assists and distrubting the ball to Quentin and Jason Richardson, who combined to score all 16 of Golden
State's early 16-6 lead. The Warriors continued their energetic play when Terrell Hanson came off the bench and gave the Warriors a huge lift off
the bench, running wild on the glass and grabbing 4 of his 7 offensive rebounds by the end of the quarter. After a few missed shots and a couple of
three pointers by Cleveland, the Cavaliers were right back into the game by the end of the quarter. Not only was Richardson getting it done on the
offensive end by scoring 9 points in the quarter, he also contained LeBron James to only 1 assist. Larry Hughes easily picked up the slack though,
as he scored 8 points.

Second Quarter: 48-45 Golden State

The Cavaliers continued to slowly creep back into the game, as Larry Hughes continued to spearhead Cleveland's offence by scoring another 9 points
in the quarter, but not before key reserve Donyell Marshall injured his leg with 5:56 remaining in the first half as soon as he subbed into the game.
Marshall would come back though, but he was a non-factor in the game and only scored 2 points. The Warriors started the game off with a quick, energetic
pace, but as the game wore on they began to fall into bad habits of taking too many jumpshots. Thankfully, the second quarter would end without too
much momentum shifting to the Cavaliers' favour.

Third QUarter: 76-72 Golden State

Immediately after half-time, the Warriors seemed to have gotten a wake up call and were clicking on all cylinders again. Ronnie Brewer hit a tough
acrobatic layup and was awarded a free throw as he was fouled almost immediately after the second half began, prompting a 7-0 run for the Warriors.
Larry Hughes was resting at this time, but Aleksander Pavlovic scored 7 points to keep the Cavaliers within striking distance and to buy more time.
As soon as Hughes returned to the floor, another run was made to end the quarter, this time by the Cavaliers.

Fourth Quarter: 100-92 Golden State

Hughes once again continued to lead his team to a frantic push to take the lead for the first time in the game, narrowing the lead to a 2 point 80-78
deficit. The Warriors would bend, but not be broken as Jamal Crawford and Ronnie Brewer led the team the rest of the way. Brewer hit back to back
jump shots in the paint and Jason Richardson would have an open run-way for a nasty windmill dunk to re-extend the lead to eight points with only a
minute remaining. Crawford would deliver when his team needed him to close out the game as well, scoring 10 points in the final quarter off 8 free
-throws, including the final four to ice the game for the win.

Post-Game Comments

"A lot of credit should go out to the rookies off the bench, Ronnie (Brewer) and Terrell (Hanson). Ron was an amazing scorer for us down the stretch and Terrell gave us a lot of second chances with his offensive rebounding. We got a lot of energy from those two that we fed off of" - Jason Richardson on Hanson and Brewer

"I think the main thing was that Crawford, Frye and Q all played great. Crawford shot only 25% from the field, but he remained agressive and kept attacking all nighth long, which is something we lacked before the trade and everyone played great team defence against LeBron." - Mike Montgomery

"Everytime I got the ball, they would double and triple team LeBron. He was able to set me up on a lot more plays that way but we need LeBron to score for us." - Larry Hughes on LeBron James' mediocre performance

Pictures

Terrell Hanson was an unsung hero this game, grabbing 7 offensive rebounds.
Ronnie Brewer benefitted from the Warriors' fast-paced style of play by hitting all 7 field goal attempts
Jamal Crawford shot poorly to say the least, but if you keep attacking the basket, good things will come
Channing Frye had a double-double performance tonight
Gooden swoops in for the jam
Larry Hughes with the acrobatic lay-in
Everytime LeBron touched the ball, he was forced to pass it out
Q-Rich was money from the paint and from three
Snow gets lost as Crawford shakes him off with a cross-over
Big Z blocks the highflying J-Rich

[Its_asdf]

I like the trade man, but a loss against Denver wasn't the best debut for the players you acquired

Yeah, I think the main thing was to just get a feel for how those three players played.

tough loss man, lots of pics..i like that

Thanks.

74 points, that sucks anus. At least Monta Ellis was a bright spot in that game, 5 assists and 8 points in 9 minutes

It is hard finding time for Ellis because even though I like Ellis a lot in the game, but I like Ronnie Brewer and Crawford that much more.

Didnt think you'd beat the Nuggets, nice try GL next game tho

Those guys are seriously overpowered. Camby is way too abusive on the boards. If it weren't for the retarded AI in Live and the FSS, I probably would be 11-0 by now.

[z50bo]

good win...give Diogu some minutes

[Its_asdf]

Late Run Lets Warriors Blast Off From Houston (114-101 Warriors)


Warriors Boxscore
Rockets Boxscore

First Quarter: 32-21 Golden State

The game started off very competitive from both sides; especially in the guard positions. Luther Head and Rafer Alston led the Rockets in scoring
with 5 and 12 points respectively in the opening quarter, while Jason Richardson and Jamal Crawford countered with 6 and 10 points of their own.
The score was a deadlock for the first few minutes, but an 11-2 run led by the "big 3" of Q, Crawford and Richardson helped the Warriors eventually
pull away by the end of the quarter. A noticeable Golden State trend for the opposing teams would normally be that their starting foward would get
off to a slow start. This was the case for Tracy McGrady, who was scoreless throughout the entire quarter. One of the highlights of the quarter was
when Ike Diogu, a second year power foward that had not played at all this entire month and usually saddled on the bench, finally got some playing
time when Channing Frye got into foul trouble. Diogu did well for playing just a few minutes, scoring a basket and grabbing one offensive rebound.

Second Quarter: 49-49 tie

The Rockets guard-play continued to flourish in the second quarter when the Rockets out-scored Golden State in the second quarter 28-17 to tie the
game up by halftime. Mardy Collins, Luther Head and Rafer Alston all scored 3 points to start the quarter to give the Rockets their first lead of
the game, 34-32. This was immediately followed by a Chuck Hayes layup to cap off an 11-0 run by the Rockets. Despite falling behind, J-Rich managed
to keep the Warriors from digging themselves a deeper hole by scoring 9 points in the quarter. The Warriors also commited 7 turnovers, which really
limited the effectiveness of their star players.


Third QUarter: 82-79 Houston

The third quarter was full of ups and downs by both teams as they both continued to fight for the lead. As soon as one team would get a few points,
the other would answer back with a tiny spurt of their own. Jamal Crawford, who was perfect from the field so far, reeled off 5 straight points for
the Warriors to reclaim the lead in the second quarter. This was short-lived though, as the Rockets rallied behind Luther Head's 9 points in the
quarter to snatch back the lead. The numerous amount of lead changes finally ended when Mickael Pietrus hit his only two free throws of the game to
tie the game up with only 3.2 seconds left in the quarter, but Mardy Collins hit a near half court shot to give the Rocketsa three point lead. Diogu
once again saw some action this quarter, scoring another 4 points but was no where to be seen on the glass. The Rockets collected 8 offensive rebounds,
allowing them to collect a numerous amount of second chance points which fuelled most of the Rockets offence and helping them compensate for their 42%
shooting in the quarter.

Fourth Quarter: 114-101 Golden State

Jamal Crawford immediately made up for the buzzer beating three pointer at the end of the third quarter by nailing a three of his own and dished out
two beautiful passes to Channing Frye in the paint, which he easily slammed home on consecutive posessions to get the home crowd back into the game.
By the final three and a half minutes of the quarter, the Warriors were still holding on to a four point lead, but Nene had an easy dunk and Rafer
Alston hit a three pointer to give the Rockets a one point lead. After calling a brief timeout, the Warriors simply outworked the Rockets on both
ends of the court with stifling defence and perfectly executed offence, as the Warriors trampled all over the Rockets with a 14-0 run to end the game.
First, Jason Richardson hit a three pointer and immediately stole the ball back and fed Jamal Crawford for an easy layup. After a McGrady miss, the
Warriors ran the fast break down the ROckets' throats on the last four posessions. Andris Biedrins hit a reverse layup, followed by a pull-up J-Rich
three ball and the downpour continued as Crawford and Magloire ran from coast to coast for easy layups to end the game.

Post-Game Comments

"We just trusted each other and helped each other in the end of the quarter and I think that we're finally learning how to play with one another." - Jamaal Magloire on the amazing fourth quarter run

"Me, Crawford and Q are really understanding how to read each other. If either one of us is having trouble, we know where to find each other on offence and each one of us can put the ball in the basket." - Jason Richardson on Q and Crawford

"They really countered our zone defence by scoring in transition. The zone was working quite well in the third quarter, but when we tried to use it in the fourth it backfired because they knew that they needed to score in transition before we set up our defence." - Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy

Pictures


Jamal Crawford was too quick for the Rocket's defence

Alston throws a no-looker to a team mate
Suprisingly, Ike Diogu finally got some playing time after many DNP-CDs
Monta Ellis explodes out of no where to throw it down
Frye had 4 dunks in the fourth quarter that impressed the crowd
Luther Head celebrates scoring two of his season-high 19 points
Jason Richardson exploding over the top of Sura
Swift doing what he does best
Swift also had 4 blocks to go with his team-high 7 offensive boards
McGrady blows by Q on this play, but he still had a tough time scoring