Most of the action was in the mid-range with a few of those deeeeep jumpers; I’m not even showing the misses. It’s not like the Suns are super deep in the front court or anything, getting one or two of their guys who open up the paint nice and wide, but no, didn’t see any of that; shoot the ball against a weak defensive team, makes sense to me…

I reached out to my man, J.M. Poulard from Warriors World about the game tonight:

We were big fans of Ekpe Udoh (got him on a podcast) before the draft; gotta love big, athletic forwards who defend like champs. What’s your take on him?
Imagine a game in which the Los Angeles Lakers are playing and then suddenly they pass the ball to someone wearing a Celtics jersey; that would be weird right? In a nutshell, that’s Udoh. On a team that is so concerned with scoring, his defensive contributions just stand out when watching the Warriors play.

He does a good job of always playing hard and sprinting up and down the court to beat his man to the spot. He does not yet have the strength to match up with most power forwards and centers, however he does little things to try and throw off the timing of players he defends. For instance, he’ll shade his man to one side and dare him to drive to other, and then on the following possession he’ll shade to the opposite side or simply send the offensive player towards his help.

He always stays active and makes sure to get a body on someone once a shot goes up. Ekpe Udo is learning on the job, but he is doing a good job of doing so.

If you could take back the David Lee transaction from the summer, would you?
Initially, I was not a big fan of the David Lee move given the steep price the Warriors paid for him.  But the important thing is to look around the league and compare him to other players with relatively similar games and ages, and then it’s easier to gain some perspective on the move. Have a look below:

Player	Age	2010-11 Salary*	PPG	RPG	FG%
LaMarcus Aldridge	25	$10.7	22.2	8.7	50.0
Andrea Bargani	25	$8.0	22.0	5.4	45.0
Carlos Boozer	29	$14.4	18.0	9.3	52.3
David Lee	27	$10.8	15.9	9.5	49.1
Paul Millsap	26	$6.2	17.2	7.8	53.2
David West	31	$8.0	18.7	7.6	50.8

*Salary figures obtained from Hoopshype.

We are all aware of Lee’s shortcomings on defense, but he is still able to score efficiently and rebound the basketball, which is what teams ask their big men to do. Furthermore, you could even make the case that he should get more touches than what he is currently getting. With that said, I do feel as though he is a bit overpaid, but not necessarily by that much; his market value should be right around $8.0 million per season.

So to answer your question, I would probably still have made the transaction; although I would have tried to sign him for a bit less.

So there’s always been the perception that Curry and Ellis wouldn’t work well together, what do you have to say to that?
Stephen Curry helps out Monta Ellis immensely on the offensive end with his playmaking ability as well as his ability to stretch the floor. Monta benefits from some driving lanes just by having Curry on the floor and also does not always have to handle the ball to get his points since Steph can lead the break and feed him once he gets a full head of steam.

On the flip side, the former Davidson star defers far too much to Ellis and I’m not sure that Monta would have it any other way. At times, Curry is asked to just stand in the corner and wait for the ball, which isn’t really his strong suit.

Also, both players put the word defense to shame; which is kind of relevant when teams traditionally seek to keep players out of the paint. Ellis and Curry struggle in that department, thus opposing backcourts usually have good scoring nights against them. For the time being, the perception seems to be true, but to be fair I would like to see them play under a head coach that stresses defense. That’s when I feel like we’d get a better indication of whether they are truly doomed to fail.

The front office and coaching staff could look very different come next season; barring any lock out. Have they earned their keep? If not, who could be there replacement?
Although I do not have any insider info to confirm this, it seems to me that management wants a team that gets out and run and puts points on the board. As a result, Smart was brought in to have the team do just that. However, the defense has been atrocious which has made for several high scoring games, but a lot of losses.

Management has done a semi-decent job with the personnel, bringing in Dorrel Wright and David Lee last summer. Mind you, the rest of the roster does not seem to fit. There are several offensive minded players on the team, none of which are exactly fans of passing the ball. At times, it’s as if there are four J.R. Smith’s out on the court.

I would love to see Kevin Pritchard get a shot in Golden State. Save for the Oden over Durant draft move, he’s been very good at acquiring talent on the roster through the draft and also through trades. He was behind the drafting of Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge (this happened with team president Steve Patterson serving as interim general manager but Pritchard was credited with much of the negotiation of the trades to acquire the picks that made the moves happen), he also acquired Rudy Fernandez and Nicolas Batum through the draft, signed Andre Miller in free agency and acquired Marcus Camby via trade.

As far as a head coach, Jim O’Brien would be my pick. He has figured out ways to overachieve in the past (think of the 2002 Boston Celtics) by instilling a good (not great) offense but a solid defense that managed to keep his teams in games.

How do the Warriors match-up with the Raptors? What are you expecting to see tonight?
Dunks, lay ups and more dunks. The Raptors allow the most shots directly at the basket in the league while Golden State allows the fourth most; so we should expect to see some highlights in this one. Furthermore, the Warriors 3-point shooting should be a huge factor in this game given the fact that Toronto surrenders 37.3% shooting from deep on the season. If the Warriors settle for outside shots while the Raptors keep getting attempts directly at the rim, expect the Raptors to roll at Oracle Arena.

Mind you, if the Dubs can blend their shooting from deep with their interior scoring, the Raptors might be in trouble. I would have to think that the Dubs should be able to hit shots at home while the Raptors will stay close in this one.

Injury Report

Toronto
Linas Kleiza – Out
Reggie Evans – Day to day
Amir Johnson – Day to day
Joey Dorsey – Day to day

Golden State
Andris Biedrins – Out

Player Report

Jose Calderon
He’s going to get raped by Stephen Curry tonight. Yea, he will get  some of it back, but he wont match Curry’s production (34pts 5rebs 4ast 3stls from the last time they played). In all fairness, Curry did that damage against Jack, but I’m pretty sure it’s safe to predict the same result.

DeMar DeRozan
Ellis has seen a recent dip in his production, 15pts 4.6rebs 5.4ast over the last 5, but the Raptor defense should revive him. He dropped 28 on 59% shooting the last time out, and wont be an easy check. DeMar has size and strength on him, but Ellis is a freak off the dribble, and will prove too much.

James Johnson
Both James Johnson and Dorell Wright escaped a bad situation with the team that drafted them, and have gone on to much better things where they landed on. In Dorell’s case, the improvement has him as one of the favourites to win the Most Improved Player award. Johnson is a better defender, and has more hop to his step, but Dorell will keep him on the perimeter and away from help as much on defense.

Power Forward
Amir starts, Reggie gets more minutes, and Ed throws in his contribution. However, all three stank up the place against the Suns on Wednesday, so I’m lumping them in together now. They got Ekpe Udoh, and we get our first glimpse of the kid against the Raptors. This should be a lame match-up.

Andrea Bargnani
He’s gonna score 30 on Lee; Lee will drop 24, but add 19 rebounds.  I think that about covers it.

The Line

The Warriors are 7 point favourites with an over/under of 215. Like J.M. said above “Dunks, lay ups and more dunks.” Expect an exciting game, but this one smells as though things can get out of hand.

After putting up a big fat donut after four pretty tough games out West, the Raptors return home to face the Warriors in a game that folks wil be anxious about who’s on the other team: Stephen Curry. I really love this kid, and that sentiment is shared by many of you. We miss him until we realize that he’s a murderer, averaging 32pts 11ast 7rebs against the Raptors.

I checked in with Jim Del Favero from Warriors World the team:

Ekpe Udoh was one of our favourites at RR, we even got in a pre-draft interview with him, I know he’s been injured, but what were your thoughts of him before he went down?
Unfortunately we didn’t get to see anything of Udoh before he was injured. We had heard that he injured it while lifting weights at the practice facility. There were some rumors that he did it before the draft, but nothing confirmed. He has been traveling with the team recently so there is hope that he will be in playing shape soon. Ethan Sherwood Straus did a piece on Udoh before the season to project where he would rank amongst the other picks in that range. Matt Steinmetz was a little more positive about Udoh’s post game and shot blocking abilities.

Warriors fans have a direct comparison that leaves them wary of investing too much hope in Udoh’s prospects. Adonal Foyle, a defensive shot blocker from a second tier program, who left the Warriors as their all time leader in blocked shots, but didn’t make much of an impact on the floor. Udoh certainly has a better NBA body than Brandan Wright, but it remains to be seen what impact he will have in the NBA. Monroe has looked like an awful pick so far, so that takes some pressure off Udoh.

A big coup this summer was landing David Lee, who will be a great pick-n-roll partner with Stephen Curry when he gets back. How has he fit in so far? Was too high a price paid to land him?
Lee’s offense has been worse than advertised but his rebounding is where we thought it would be. Defensively he is still a liability, but playing with Andris Biedrins is benefiting both players. They combined for over 30 rebounds against Utah last week, and are challenging shots, and cleaning the boards on both ends. Against teams with only a dominant center, or dominant power forward the tandem is perfect. When playing teams with 2 quality front line players Lee’s defensive challenges are more apparent. With Curry back in the lineup Lee is going to get more easy looks on offense, and his numbers should improve.

A bigger move was getting new ownership. What does geting out from under Chris Cohan’s hands mean for this team going forward?
New ownership is huge for this team, but only if the team organizes to win. Cohan and his ownership is remembered for extracting maximum value with minimum investment. Lacob and Guber talk a good game, and some decisions like letting Don Nelson and his 6 million this year go in favor of new blood and a focus on defense and coaching is a good sign. New ownership still isn’t approved and that may be due to the additional partners being added to the ownership group. The group may end up with 2 majority partners and as many as 8 minority owners before it’s approved. Certainly fans would rather see Larry Ellison, his billions, and his willingness to spend what it takes to win. Lacob will be a hero if he can build a team that gets into the playoffs and wins a championship.

4-1 to start the year with impressive wins over Houston and Utah, and without Curry. What’s been the secret sauce?
Strange I know, but it’s defense and rebounding. The Warriors are playing some scrappy defense with steals, significantly better offensive rebounding, and playing with discipline. Last season you had Biedrins with his worst season, and an undersized power forward and lineup. There was no help defense at all, so Biedrins would be saddled with fouls, and the warriors would go to an undersized lineup with no rebounding. With Lee in there it takes the pressure off Biedrins, and is providing plenty of second chance points. Ellis had 7 steals Friday night, and the Warriors are more active on defense, hands up, hands in the passing lane, contesting shots, stealing passes. They aren’t going to be a lock down defensive team, but they are playing better more active team defense which will result in fewer blowout losses and more wins in close games.

What happens with Ellis when Curry gets back?
The myth that those two can’t play together is busted. They play well together and there aren’t that many point guards with a strong post up game to take advantage of Curry, Ellis’s speed offsets any size disadvantage he has against larger 2 guards. Ellis has also shown a lot of maturity and leadership this season, improving his defense, and understanding when he isn’t getting his shot off to work on other aspects of his game. When they are both on the floor they each get easier shots. Curry can get the ball to Ellis where he wants it to take advantage of a seam in the defense, Ellis can penetrate and dish to Curry. Curry being out has exposed the Warriors lack of bench depth. We went from CJ Watson coming off the bench doing a reasonable job of managing the team to Charlie Bell who hasn’t shown anything so far. Lack of depth at the point is something Larry Riley needs to address soon.

I would be remiss not mentioning Dorell Wright and what a great pickup he has been for the Warriors. He has been an excellent fit, better than advertised. Corey Magette may fill up a stat sheet but Dorell makes a difference in the W-L column. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some discussion of Dorell Wright as most improved player if he keeps up this pace.

Injury

Toronto
Ed Davis – Out (still can’t remember what’s wrong with him)

Golden State
Brandan Wright – Day-to-day (Flu)

Match-ups

PG – Jack vs Curry
This might have been a total rapage until you remember that Curry is just getting back from an injury, so he wont be in full form; although he dropped 20pts 6ast Friday in a win over the Jazz. I’m erring on the side of him having a standard game against the Raptors and lights things up. Neither Jack nor Calderon has the chops to stop this guy, but you can take him out of his comfort and just play up tight on him. I’d make him put it on the floor and hope to Jah the defense rotates and you contest a shot; just don’t double him. He will find his man.

Edge: Curry

SG – DeRozan vs Ellis
Apply what I said about Ellis, but realize Ellis doesn’t like (want, feel the need; the list goes on) to pass the ball, can score in more ways than Curry, and is even more devastating on the offensive end this year than the past. DeRozan is coming off a brutal game against the Blazers, and it wont get much easier. Ellis is quick, strongish, has good hands and is a thief (7 steals against the Jazz who are awesome at protecting the ball). Not going to be easy, but DeMar did a good job on Kobe and Batum (not Roy so much) over the the weekend.

Please note the different areas on the floor that both Ellis and Curry shoot AND score from; bloody scary.
Edge: Ellis

SF – Kleiza vs Wright
All it took was a change of scenery to not speak about Dorell as an afterthought. Since getting here, the kid is shooting 54% from behind the arc, lighting up the boxscore and playing some really good defense. Gotta say, he got some hype in Miami, but is really living up to it now on the left coast. Kleiza will have his hands full, and if he plays like he did against Batum, will be in for a long night. His shooting has been pretty bad (40% FG 27% 3FG) and he doesn’t get to the rack like he can. I’d be happy if we didn’t see Wright get open threes all night.

Edge: Wright

PF – Evans vs Lee
The forward match-up can be interchangeable for the Warriors, but they play Lee at a 4 for the most part, so I’ll base it on this comparison. Lee’s offense hasn’t been at the same levels as years past, and much of that has to do with playing with Ellis and Curry (not as many shots to go around), since he’s getting about 4 less shots than last season. He’s also not shooting the ball as well as he was in New York, but a lot of that has to do with going into a new system. He gets the benefit of the doubt, since he’s playing the best team to come out of a funk against; the Raptors. If history has taught us anything about this team, it’s that players always have career games against us. While Evans has done a bang up job on the glass, his energy and hustle hasn’t made up for his weakish defense (which to his credit is much improved). Reggie is in for a tough night since he can go toe-to-toe with Lee on the glass, but wont put up the same scoring numbers.

Edge: Lee

C – Bargnani vs Biedrins
I’m going to be honest, don’t know a whole lot about Biedrins other than he’s a beast on the boards. He wont give Bargnani much problems on defense, but will really challenge him on the glass. Bargnani should win this duel, no questions asked; there’s really not more to this match-up than that.

Edge: Bargnani

Keys to the Game

Protect the Glass
Lee and Biedrins combined for 35 rebounds against the jazz, and are averaging about 20 for the season between them. It’s a 1-2 combo that could prove a bit too much for Andrea to fight against. While Bargnani’s rebounding has started to come around, it will need a kick start tonight since these two have made careers rebounding the crap out of the ball

Energy and Hustle
The Warriors have got out to a great start to the season with their rebounding (4th 46.5/game) and playmaking (4th 24.2/game). The things that made the Raptors successful against the Lakers should be adopted here: athleticism, crashing the boards, as well as defensive rotations.

Play Big
The Warriors have long athletes, but the Raptors have bigger/stronger cats to throw at them. They didn’t come at the Blazers with their size effectively, and it cost them. The Warriors don’t even have a post presence like Aldridge to throw the ball into. This has to be an area of the game where the Raptors have to dominate; from 1-5 we have a stronger team that has to take advantage of what we have.

Protect Home Court
It was a long week, and there would be no other way to put it behind us than to stop the four game losing streak; gotta play with some hide and a sense of urgency. That’s all their is to it.

The Line

The degenerates have the Raptors as 2 point favourites at home, which is as close to a push as you can get without actually saying so. What we can expect is a close game that will come to the wire. Three of the next seven are against the easts elite (Orlando, Miami and Boston), need to handle business and stop some of the bleeding now. End of story.

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