Erick Blasco

Stephen Curry's pretty good!

Ditto.

You don't think I was the original founder of the Erick Dampier fanclub? Us Ericks are like a brotherhood. We roll deep.

It was the first time I've ever seen him play, and my goodness he's athletic. He shuffled his feet on a Luol Deng drive and was right in front of him. After missing several seasons, and only playing a few games back, that's super impressive for a guy who is over 7-feet. He looked like he wanted to make plays and be unselfish on offense, but he hasn't been with the team long enough. And he crowded players on the perimeter and they were able to drive past him. I'm impressed though. Physically, he looks like an exciting player. I hope he finally is able to stay healthy.

The New York Knicks’ 88-81 victory over the Chicago Bulls was a tale of two halves. In the first half, the Knicks passed and cut with alacrity, were remarkably unselfish, pushed the tempo, and walled off Chicago’s drives to the paint on the way to a 53-31 halftime lead. In the second half, the Knicks still passed the ball, but without the purpose they displayed in the first half. Cuts and drives were executed at half-speed, they didn’t run as eagerly, and their defense was a half step slow. The Bulls outscored the Knicks 50-35 and had chances to overtake them on numerous occasions. Why such the bipolar performance? A number of reasons: A mediocre rosterNo interior offensive presenceNo shot blocker or shot contester on defenseMediocre shooters in a shooting-based philosophyThe relative youth of so many key performers.The lack of mental toughness after jumping out to a huge lead. Instead of focusing on the half-to-half differences, it would be best to focus on who consistently did what. David Lee is the Knicks best player and came through with a monster game—8-13 FG, 21 REB, 5 AST, 1 TO, 18 PTS. Offensively, Lee has worked hard on his mid-range jump shot, and it was his baseline springer with just over five seconds remaining that put the Bulls away for good. He also completed nifty bounce passes from the high post, stayed in front of Noah’s clumsy drives, and sank a spinning, turnaround one-handed push shot from 12 feet out. Lee’s always been an exceptional rebounder, boxing out, hustling, and showing an incredible first and second jump to beat opponents to loose balls. His efforts on the boards—especially against Chicago’s own rebounding dervish Joakim Noah who also pulled down 21 rebounds—and particularly his quick outlet passing helped the Knicks establish easy scoring opportunities in transition and early offense. Lee isn’t an All-NBA player. He doesn’t have enough of a consistent impact offensively, and his defense is adequate at best. It wouldn’t be a stretch, though, to call Lee the second best rebounder in the game. Wilson Chandler is a dynamite scorer in transition, in the post, and when New York’s spread offense generates lanes for Chandler to curl, weave, or drive to the hoop. Chandler—8-18 FG, 16 PTS—looked to post any smaller defender stuck on him in early offense, and indeed generated most of his points on broken plays. In the halfcourt, his pet moves were to drive with his right hand, and spin back to his left for a layup, or to weave from the left side of the court to the paint and shoot a short jumper. He has long strides, a powerful body, and is built to score and score often. Defensively, Chandler can occasionally block a shot, and did a decent job of keeping Rose, John Salmons, and Luol Deng in front of him. Chandler still makes inexperienced mistakes on both ends, and doesn’t have a consistent jump shot. Still, the sky is the limit for the future standout. Danillo Gallinari didn’t shoot well—2-13 FG, 1-8 3FG, 11 PTS—and was repeatedly burned off the dribble by Deng. His only saving grace was that twice after being beaten, he recovered well enough to block Deng’s shot. While Gallinari has more ups and strength than meets the eye, he has no lateral mobility, limited foot speed, and is slow off the dribble. In other words, Gallo needs to hit his jump shots to be effective, something he failed to do against the Bulls. Chris Duhon missed two layups, only connected on one of his four triples, made numerous intelligent backdoor cuts, made good decisions with the ball, and for the most part, did a respectable job defending Rose and Salmons. Duhon would be best served as a backup on a better team. He gets worn out easily and isn’t a difference-making talent. But he understands how to run screen/rolls and drive-and-kicks, plays above average defense, and will drop a trey. And he takes the game more seriously than his childish teammate Nate Robinson. Usually, if Duhon’s playing well, the Knicks are playing well, and if he’s not, then the Knicks are not. Jared Jeffries recorded countless deflections, discouraged Rose the entire first half, defended all five positions exceptionally, showed great awareness and anticipation when double-teaming or defending off-the-ball, sank two critical jump shots in the end game, missed two equally critical free throws with under a minute to go, and had two of his shots at the rim blocked. Despite his offensive limitations, Jeffries is a perfect fit for Mike D’Antoni’s team because he fills their defensive niche. He’s the team’s only ace defender, and has shown enough accuracy on his jump shot to not be a total offensive liability. However, when Lee and Duhon aren’t scoring, Jeffries’ lack of punch becomes more pronounced. Therefore, his rotations should be monitored so that the Knicks don’t go extended stretches without scorers on the floor. Larry Hughes made a number of excellent passes on screen/rolls, made several careless decisions, was below-average defensively, and missed his three shots from beyond the arc. Hughes’ main problem has been his shot selection, a problem which curtails his effectiveness as a backup point guard. Still, he plays with more maturity than Robinson which is cause alone to keep him in the rotation. Jonathan Bender forced a shot, showed good lateral quickness on defense, and looked like he’d taken the past several season off. Al Harrington can score from here, there, and everywhere—8-16 FG, 2-7 3FG, 20 PTS. Decision making has never been his strong suit—late in the game he forced a drive into five Bulls defenders and was promptly rejected at the rim—nor has playing disciplined at either end. While Harrington has shown the ability to play lock down defense, he simply doesn’t focus enough. D’Antoni has Harrington in the best possible place—a sixth man off the bench. Here, Harrington can wreak scoring havoc when he comes into the game, and plays against more scatterbrained opponents than the usual starters. Also, his rope is shorter in case his cold stretches become polar in nature and/or his brain freezes up. The Knicks played with tremendous unselfishness for the majority of the game, particularly the first half where extra passes were the norm and the ball and players never stopped moving. The Knicks sagged off of Rose and dared him to shoot, a challenge Rose couldn’t overcome. Nearly all of Chicago’s second half success came in early offense by Rose, or when Deng abused Gallinari on isolations. When the Bulls did beat their man off the dribble, the Knicks had no shot-blockers waiting at the rim. Only when the Knicks offense settled down late, did their defense follow suit. As a team, the Knicks have too many inconsistent, unfocused players to put together serious winning streaks and stretches of good basketball. They also have enough firepower to challenge all but the best opponents anywhere, anytime. Rarely are they playing up to their full capabilities, and usually they cap out at 50 percent. They’ll play outstanding for one half, but not the other. They’ll do a terrific job of attacking the rim, rebounding, and defending the paint, but they’ll shoot 19 percent on threes, which they did against the Bulls. Or they’ll shoot the lights out, but get no points in the paint. It’s that inability to play a complete game that leaves the Knicks as only half of a good team. With the sorry state of the Eastern Conference, and the fact that the Knicks have won seven of their last nine games, half good may be good enough for a playoff berth.

I think Monta's leading the league in turnovers and he's defenseless. With all the uber point guards out West playing for better teams, I don't think this is Ellis' year. Nash, Paul, Williams, and Kobe, Roy, and maybe T-Mac if he gets enough votes will be guaranteed. That's 6 players. Then, Duncan, Dirk, Durant, Anthony, and Gasol will also be locks. After that, Bynum, Boozer, Aldridge, Parker, Artest, Evans, Ariza, Randolph, Jefferson, Landry and Ellis will be battling it out for the final spot. I don't think a player on a seven-win team deserves to win it with that kind of competition.

Harden's more of a two. Maynor will slide into the backup role, or at least will bump ahead of Kevin Ollie.

I'm pretty sure his name doesn't have the "K" at the end. I should know. As someone who spells his name with a "K," I pay attention to these things. And Matt Harpring on Oklahoma City? Go Thunder! Though I wouldn't be shocked at all if he's waived outright.

They haven't tuned him out and they play hard for him on defense. He needs to find some way to get John Salmons going though. He has no spacing on the floor though because Salmons hasn't been able to make the transition to shooting guard. I'm all for criticizing Vinny D, but don't say things like they don't play hard for him when they are playing hard for him.

I appreciate the well-thought out response Poe, and don't sweat the Wright comments too much. Half of it is said in jest. I just think it's strange how he's not a player who plays a lot, yet he has your utmost admiration. Then again, my favorite player is Matt Harpring so I guess I'm the pot calling the kettle black. I can see what you're talking about with the bench lineup; maybe Spoelstra assumes that Beasley should be good enough to handle the load by himself against backups? Or that O'Neal wouldn't get many touches anyway, so playing him is unnecessary with Beasley since Beas won't do much without the ball either. With Wright, can he initiate an offense? Can he break surprise traps? Can he tell players where they should go in specific sets? Can he defend opposing point guards? Making good decisions on screen/rolls are one thing, but a lot goes into being a point guard. Wright hasn't played a single second at the point this season (according to 82 games), can he suddenly play the point without a hitch? And James Jones is a player who won't make mistakes. Remember, Spoelstra's from the Pat Riley school where he wants to minimize as many mistakes as possible. Jones is a smarter defender than Cook and a very accurate shooter. Cook is shooting 30% this season and 32% on threes. Still, I think the Heat are maxing out their talent as well as anyone in the league and a huge, huge testament to that is Spoelstra.

For all the guys here killing Spoelstra and coming with solutions to what the Heat "need," can someone provide definitive context for Spoelstra's poor rotations besides something like "this guy's hot, he should play all 48 minutes of a game?" The Heat have 2 guys who can create their own offense, or can adequately set up other players. Wade is 1. O'Neal is 0.5. Beasley is 0.5. O'Neal can't bring it every night. He's too soft when he's healthy, he's too often not healthy, and he's probably playing the best defense of his career right now anyway. Beasley can't pass, can't defend worth a lick, and only knows how to be a scorer against defenses that aren't doing anything exotic. I already have faith in Spoelstra based on the fact that he's benched Beasley late in a number of big games and either won, or almost won in nearly all of that. The rest of his players lack talent (Anthony, Maglorie, Cook, Jones, Haslem), court intelligence (Arroyo, Cook, Jones, Chalmers), or experience (Cook, Wright, Chalmers). When you don't have talent or experience, your best bet is to slow things down, max out every possession, and try to max out the roster---ALL of which Spoelstra is doing. Aside from Wade doing more than he already is, there seriously is almost no way for the Heat to be better than they are right now. Go put Beasley in---the Heat have awful +/- numbers with him on the floor as opposed to off---and teams can score at will on the Heat, while Beasley jacks up bad shots. Chalmers makes too many rookie mistakes for a second-year player to be reliable in his own right. The only players who have been reliable have been O'Neal, Haslem, Richardson, (guard/wing of the moment), and Wade. Who is going to throw accurate passes and make good decisions for the Heat to run? Where are the layups coming from with Daequan Cook and Q-Rich running the floor in transition? And you like Wright way more than any of his non-family should. He's a decent prospect who works hard on defense and hasn't found an offensive niche. He's not a point guard. There's no "problem" with the Heat aside from the fact that they lack offensive punch up front, their future is still too inexperienced, O'Neal is still brittle, and the youngsters are mostly mistake players. Assuming Wade stays in Miami and James Jones' option is picked up, the Heat have 5 players retained for next year and only $24 million committed to those players. That should become 6 players and $30 million when Haslem is figured in. That's enough for another stud free agent and depth, to go along with Chalmers and Beasley having a year under their belt. The "problem" with the Heat is that 2010 can't come fast enough.

The sad part is that when they play with some discipline, they aren't half bad, at least on offense. They can score when they try to get good shots on offense. They have some tough players on their roster. But too often, they play a game of my shot, your shot. They don't even need too much besides a backup banger and a point guard. Their whole roster is set up so that they can run a set designed to lead to Arenas scoring as a first option off execution and Butler and Jamison as secondary options with Haywood screening. But instead of running a play, Arenas will come up the court and shoot, or pass it to somebody who'll stand in place and shoot. They've always been like that, and thankfully, the NBA has caught up. The quality of teams is so much better today than it was even three years ago. But Washington is still Washington, and they're a losing team because they can't adapt.

Because they keep proving that spending money brazenly hasn't been working. Plus none of the free agents are core guys except maybe Haywood. With all the shooting guards the Wizards have, why would they bring back Miller? And the other free agents aren't that good. They thought Miller and Foye would help them this year, but it hasn't worked out. They basically sold the fifth pick for cash flexibility.

That's a nice find with the video. His explosion isn't back yet. However, he's in midseason form in the sense that it takes him two seconds before he makes any decision. He also missed the rotation with Kristic and was lucky to poke the ball away. He got better as the clip went on though. He made a nice drive and kick late in the clip and Houston's ball movement found him again wide open. He was rewarded with the open jumper. He needs to be quicker with his decision making if he's going to play second halves under Adelman. Houston scores in the halfcourt with execution and continuity. T-Mac isn't going to help that by taking so much time before passing or driving.

The Wizards will have $53 million committed to their team next season. They'll need to shed salary. Miller won't be back, James is an obvious goner, and if Haywood asks for too much, he won't be back either. Oberto's also too old and won't return. Stevenson's not a free agent and will be back. Boykins might be back because he's cheap enough, or the Wizards can look to groom a backup in the draft. With Nick Young on board, Crittenton isn't necessary. If a team makes an offer to Foye, he'd probably be let go too. Are you sure McGuire's a restricted free agent? I think he's unrestricted. Basically, for better or worse, the Wizards are set with 10 people for next season unless they do something creative. They have Blatche, Jamison, Butler, Stevenson, and Arenas with McGee, Foye, Young and whatever two draft picks the Wizards pick up. They'd probably offer Haywood a contract too, but Washington won't have much flexibility next season.

After surprisingly challenging the Los Angeles Lakers for about 30 minutes or so, the New Jersey Nets reverted to their familiar place as losers, this time 103-84. Truthfully, little that happens on the court for New Jersey matters this season. With all the expiring contracts and cheap, young talent on the roster, the Nets will be major factors in free agency next season. So while the Nets are atrocious, at least they aren’t a middling veteran team that might miss the playoffs, but has long expensive contracts—say the New Orleans Hornets. In fact, if this is a throwaway year, the Nets should focus on developing the young players that might stick. However, the embarrassment of being the worst team in NBA history not only dulls the lure for free agents to go to New Jersey, but also may stick in the minds of their young players for years to come. Because of this, the Nets also must field a roster that can grab eight more wins. Let’s use the game against the Lakers to see which players have long-term staying power, who can provide a boost in the short term, and who needs to be dumped ASAP. Devin Harris Harris—7-11 FG, 1-4 3FG, 6-6 FT, 3 AST, 1 TO, 21 PTS—is easily the Nets most talented scorer. He’s among the quickest players in the league, is a clever finisher, and has a nifty right handed push shot which he used with success against the Lakers. Harris is much more of an attacking scorer than a playmaker. He forced several drives, tended to overhandle, and threw two awful lob passes. He also misfired on four of his six jump shots, and only went 1-4 from behind the arc. He’s a career 30 percent shooter from behind the arc and is a non-factor spotting up. Defensively, Harris offered little resistance to the machinations of Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar, Kobe Bryant, and Shannon Brown. Harris at his best as a drive-and-kick point guard, but with a dearth of shooting on the roster, he has nobody to kick it to. For Harris to be at his best, he needs to be surrounded by shooters all over the floor to provide the space he needs to go one-on-one. Without those shooters, Harris frequently is forced to crash into the paint against multiple defenders and create something out of nothing. Brook Lopez Lopez—6-16 FG, 6-7 FT, 11 REB, 4 AST, 2 TO, 2 BLK, 18 PTS—is supposed to be the next great post player, but his flaws are more pronounced on this sad-sack bunch. For starters, while Lopez is big with broad shoulders, he has no quickness. If he can’t get his shoulder past his defender on his initial move, he’s forced into lumbering turnaround hooks, or fade away jump shots. Also, while Lopez is a decent passer on simple give-and-go’s, he doesn’t read double teams well and misses open teammates. Lopez’ defense is capable when he doesn’t have to move, but he’s a slow jumper, and even slower laterally. His ineffective interior rotations led to a slew of layups for the Lakers, and his leaden feet allowed the Lakers to have their way on the offensive boards. Lopez has a soft jumper and touch around the hoop, but he’s essentially a stiff. He too needs shooters around him to create space, or playmakers to feed him cookies. Defensively, he needs a power forward with pogo sticks for legs. Lopez is good enough to be a keeper. Even so, he doesn’t have the athleticism to become what people think he’ll become. Josh Boone Boone had an uneven game against the Lakers—3-8 FG, 0-4 FT, 9 REB, 1 AST, 2 TO, 4 BLK, 6 PTS. He ran the floor, set solid screens, boxed out, blocked shots from the weak side, and played with admirable effort. He also may have the most limited offensive game in the league (aside from Ryan Bowen), and is a psychological mess from the free throw stripe—you can see how he gets disgusted with himself and loses confidence with every missed freebie. Boone isn’t a bad counterpart to Lopez, and has a place as a potential banger for the future Nets. For a team that needs more explosion though, he shouldn’t play more than 20 minutes per game. Courtney Lee Lee—3-11 FG, 0-2 3FG, 1-2 FT, 2 AST, 7 PTS—was the main chip brought back in the Vince Carter trade , but he’s been a major disappointment. The majority of his shots were uncomplicated—layups or open jumpers—but he bricked most of his looks. Perhaps his injuries have held him back? Perhaps he’s still psychologically scarred from the abuse he took at the hands of Kobe Bryant during last season’s NBA Finals? Or perhaps he’s simply not as good as expected to be? Whatever the case, Lee hasn’t come close to replacing Vince Carter’s production, and doesn’t look to be a player on any good future Nets team. Chris Douglas-Roberts Douglas-Roberts—8-20 FG, 0-1 3FG, 4-4 FT, 20 PTS—is a fearless slasher and high riser who can get into the paint and finish at the rim. Confident and aggressive, CDR’s held back by an ineffective jump shot and inexperience. He forced several assaults against a fortified rim, and carried the ball twice attempting a hesitation dribble. Because his jump shot isn’t up to snuff, CDR doesn’t project to being a starter with the Nets, but he’s certainly a keeper as a sixth-man scorer off the bench. Rafer Alston Alston—2-8 FG, 0-1 3FG, 1 AST, 4 PTS—has taken his inconsistent shooting, layup-missing game to New Jersey. Of Alston’s eight attempts, one was a running clanger off the backboard, and three were bricked layups. In Orlando and Houston, Alston could afford to miss layups with Dwight Howard and Yao Ming hovering around the basket, but he doesn’t have that luxury in New Jersey. Alston has no place in Jersey’s future, and he isn’t doing much for their present. He should be traded or waived whenever the Nets get the chance. Trent Hassell Hassell—0-4 FG, 0 PTS—is an above-average defender and extremely limited offensive player thrust into a role that’s too big for him. Hassell should only be playing spot minutes throughout the season as a defensive specialist. This will keep his body fresh, and give him an offensive spark when he does see minutes. Being the only good perimeter defender on the roster, it’s understandable why Hassell gets minutes, and he did a commendable job defending Kobe Bryant. But given the ineptitude of New Jersey’s perimeter scoring, the Nets need as many shooters as possible to space the floor. Hassell doesn’t provide that, though he should be kept around for spot minutes and as a hard-working practice player. Bobby Simmons Simmons—1-2 3FG, 3 PTS—is ordinary in every category, but he’s a 40 percent career shooter from the outlands. That alone is reason to play him this season. Keyon Dooling Dooling is a streaky scorer on offense, and a decent defender with quick hands on defense. He’s a useful fourth guard in a four-guard rotation. Sean Williams Williams has slow on-court reaction times, isn’t a hard working practice player, and doesn’t appear to have any real passion for the game. He should be banished to the D-League, except the time he was sent there last season, he was such a disruption, the Nets were forced to recall him. He has no future on the Nets, or in the NBA. Terrence Williams A major project, Williams has no court IQ, and no real offensive skills. It says a lot that for a team playing for the future, it’s first round draft pick’s minutes have diminished over the course of the season. Williams’ potential is supposed to lie in his defensive prowess, but for a team thirsting for offense, drafting a defensive specialist looks like a mistake. Regardless, Williams is a keeper for better or worse. This leaves the Nets with a starting caliber center (Lopez) and point guard (Harris), a fourth guard (Dooling), two backup wings (Douglas-Robert and Williams), and a backup big man (Boone). This means the Nets will need to acquire a starting shooting guard, two starting forwards, and one more bench player. The Nets should have a high enough draft pick where whoever they select will come in and start. That leaves two starters that the Nets will afford with their cap space, and a bench player to fill out in free agency. All things considered, that isn’t a horrendous place to be. Perhaps they can pry LeBron with their Jay-Z connection. Perhaps they can pony up the cash for Amare Stoudemire or Joe Johnson. Or perhaps, they’ll be stuck with wads of cash and nobody who wants to play in the Jersey swamp. Which means the Nets’ future could be bright, or it could be desolate. There’s no pondering over the Nets’ present state. They’re one of the most impotent teams in NBA history.

I think it would be great if every team had their own D-League affiliate though. Maybe every few home games for a D-League team could be in the parent team's arena. It would create a place for players who aren't good enough or aren't experienced enough to stay on the main roster to play, without having that player be buried from the conscious of the parent team's fan base.

I feel bad for you. It can't be easy rooting for the Warriors right now.

Based on the letter of the law, from that angle that's a charge. Whether or not refs are usually too in awe of Kobe to call it on him is a different story, but that's a charge.

Offensive talent throughout the roster? Speedy guards who can push the tempo? Talented isolation scorers? Quick handed defenders who can generate steals? The Golden State Warriors have the players tailored to executing Don Nelson’s run amok gameplan. Therefore, after Golden State’s 118-109 home loss to the Washington Wizards, the problem isn’t with the players, it’s with the philosophy. Less than five percent of Golden State’s shot attempts were taken after four or more passes were made in the half court. Instead the Warriors were contrite to have the player bringing the ball up sprint into the frontcourt and jack up a shot, or make one pass to a player who then put up a shot attempt. Specifically, the Warriors shot 10-22 for 20 points when the player who first caught or dribbled the ball in the frontcourt didn't make a pass. They shot 13-29 for 28 points when the player made one pass. That's 51 out of 83 shot attempts taken where no more than one pass was made on a possession, and that doesn't even take into account offensive putbacks (where the Warriors were 4-7 for 8 points). Those 51 shot attempts led to 48 points for a ratio worse than one-to-one. Ususually an NBA team should average around 1.1 points per shot attempt, so Golden State's early offense philosophy was statistically ineffective, especially compared to how they did after making just one or two more passes. When making two passes, the team's shot 9-16 for 21 points, an excellent ratio. On three passes, the team went 3-7 for 8 points. Golden State did misfire on a four-pass possession and a five-pass possession, but the numbers show that Golden State was more effective when they moved the ball. Defensively, the Warriors flashed quick hands attacking loose dribbles, swarmed to double team any poor ball handler, and gambled brazenly into passing lanes. However, while the gameplan did seduce the Wizards into abandoning their own discipline for stretches, and while the Warriors did create open looks in transition and early offense, they were no match for Gilbert Arenas’ own dazzling offensive display. Plus, whenever the Wizards attacked the Warriors in the paint, generating layups was a piece of cake. Golden State’s interior and baseline rotations were completely ineffective. Sometimes, this was the case of Anthony Randolph not being aware of what was happening on the court, but mostly it was because the Warriors often entrusted pipsqueak Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, or C.J. Watson to be the player sliding along the baseline to meet penetrators. Twice Anthony Randolph was so intent on stripping Brendan Haywood that Haywood put the ball on the floor from 18 feet out on the way to a dunk. The Warriors decided to defend the struggling Caron Butler with either Ellis, Watson, or Anthony Morrow. Butler just took his time in the post and either shot over or went through the overmatched Warriors on his way to a 13-22 shooting performance and 28 points. Golden State also switched every screen not set by Brendan Haywood. As a result, guards were often stuck defending Butler and Jamison in the post. Golden State was habitually late in their transition defense. The Warriors were also punished on their defensive backboard. While they only gave up 10 offensive rebounds, they knocked a number of missed shots out of bounds while getting shoved around under their basket. The Warriors pathetic lack of size is best illustrated by the points in the paint they afforded the Wizards: 58. Plus another 21 from the free throw stripe. And while Ellis scored 30 points with seven assists, he was destroyed by his counterpart Gilbert Arenas for 45 points and 13 dimes, the majority in head-to-head confrontations. If Golden State’s defense was even competent, they might have had a chance to win the game. While Arenas, Haywood, and Butler decimated them inside, the softer, more impatient, and less talented Wizards were flustered by Golden State’s extreme pace. Deshawn Stevenson shot 0-3, Nick Young 1-4 with two turnovers, Andray Blatche 4-12 with three turnovers, Antawn Jamison 4-14 with two turnovers, and Dominic McGuire didn’t attempt a shot while committing a turnover. Plus, the Warriors pilfered 11 steals which they converted into 39 fast break points. Anthony Randolph showed the electrifying talent which excites every Warriors fan in existence, with the maddeningly low basketball IQ which has him in Nelson’s permanent doghouse. While Randolph can run and jump with any forward, and has guard-like handling and passing skills, he often passes into double teams or at the pass-target’s feet. Since Randolph’s rail thin, Brendan Haywood stole his lunch money in the post, and on an inbounds play, he dribbled the ball inbounds before making the pass, on a turnover Jeff Van Gundy incredulously labeled as “stupidity.” Stephen Curry is an excellent shooter when unpreserved defensively, has good passing skills, above-average lateral quickness, and has a nice touch around the basket. He’s also physically puny and soft. Corey Maggette is the only muscle man on the Warriors, and he put his guns to good use against the Wizards, barreling his way to the hoop on his way to 12 free throws (making 11) and a 6-10 day from the field. Anthony Morrow is a shooter who shot too many blanks (2-8) and who played no defense. Chris Hunter played effective interior defense, but he was abused when defending in early offense, and laid bricks when shooting his mid-range jumper (0-3). C.J. Watson is small and quick, but he too is defenseless. Vladimir Radmanovic looked to make the extra pass, finished on the break, but was absent in his rotations. Sadly, the way the Warriors are set up, the only way they can play is by forcing opponents to try to play a 200 mile-per-hour basketball game. Supposedly, against soft, undisciplined, opponents, the Warriors can force other teams to play at a pace they aren’t accustomed to and run them out of the building. But if the Warriors can beat a Wizards team that isn’t high on discipline, nor are incredibly talented, who can they beat? At least when the Warriors had Stephen Jackson, Baron Davis, and Jason Richardson, the Warriors had three players who were incredibly strong for their position. Each of those players on select occasions also could play effective defense. That’s why the Warriors team from two seasons ago was almost affectionately known as a circus. All that remains from those circus teams are the clowns, Don Nelson and Chris Cohan whose power trips and incompetence make them the laughingstock of the league.

Triano is a nice guy but he's a patsy of a coach who is in over his head with the nuances of coaching in the NBA. He can't motivate his team to play defense and the longer the team floats through mediocrity, the higher the chance they'll tune out his offense too.

The fact that simply enough, they aren't a very good team. But as long as they build confidence from winning at home, they should begin to be at least competent on the road.

If I could add the arrows, circles, and highlights I would. Believe me, I know what you're saying in how they make it look much better. I just can't use them because AVS Video Editor doesn't have them. Is there anything you think would work that doesn't involve highlighting and arrows and stuff?

You are very, very right. My editing software doesn't have the gimmicks other software has, like arrows, circles, etc. I can't even add a blank black screen, or freeze the frame. I have to manipulate the credits to add black title screens or take a picture of the screen and reinsert it for a freeze frame. It's pretty much, cut, paste, or do weird things to the screen like make everything blue. Believe me, I'd LOVE to be able to highlight Casspi because I know viewers sort of get lost not knowing where he is on a given play. I think that's why I repeat. The first time I show the play and once people know where he is, I repeat it so they can really see what's going on. I'm still open to the presentation style. I guess I'm in this mode where I want to show EVERY relevant clip of a player if it matches what I'm talking about. So I showed virtually everything Cassp did, and I think 14 of the 16 shots Rose took in the game. Apparently it isn't working. Thanks for the advice, I'll see what suggestions other people make and go from there.

It took me long enough but I finally uploaded my 2nd episode of NBA Gameplan. I got a new notebook after I uploaded the first episode and Vimeo has problems with 64-bit operating systems. I wanted this uploaded last Saturday, and it took me a while to figure out another place that hosts videos that are over 100mb and 10 minutes long, until I discovered Veoh. Plus two final research papers and a take home final were all due within the last 8 days for me. Anyway, this episode is about Omri Casspi, Derrick Rose, and the Wizards offense. Enjoy! Erick Blasco's NBA Gameplan Episode 2