Makes Love to Pressure

On Stephen Jackson’s Day, Stephen Jackson scored 28 points to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 122-116 win over the Los Angeles Clippers and pulled the team into an 8th place tie with the Denver Nuggets for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Unfortunately for all the good done in the game, the implications amounted to nothing more than a little bit of pressure on the Denver Nuggets to beat a Houston Rocket team on the 2nd half of a back-to-back in Denver. With the Rockets loss, the Nuggets now only have to beat the Memphis Grizzlies in the last game of their season to get into the playoffs.

The only thing the Warriors can do is try for the empty consolation prize of becoming the only team to have 50 wins in a season and not make the playoffs. Hopefully, the Coach plays some of the young guys in the final two games so fans could see how the future will turn out.

In the Clippers game, Jackson’s defense was actually decent in the 2nd half of the game; most likely due to the rest he received in the 2nd quarter after getting chopped in the back of the neck. He played pressure defense on his man and was at times able to disrupt the offensive player’s dribbling. We can only second guess how the team would have responded in the later half of this year if the starters had received some type of rest in each game.

Stephen Jackson’s Line:

Tags: 2007-2008 Season, Los Angeles Clippers, NBA
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For giving back to the community and his involvement in various charities and programs, Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco, has declared April 12th to be Stephen Jackson Day.

Much deserved on Jackson’s part.

Tags: Stephen Jackson Day
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The season is all but over at this point. The Golden State Warriors were out-played and out-coached in the most critical game of season against the Denver Nuggets. After starting hot and taking a 16 point lead in the first quarter, the Nuggets went into a zone defense and the Warriors settled for jump shots. Coach Nelson also did not call a timeout during the Nuggets comeback run to emphasize to the players to break down the zone; instead, the team became more and more frustrated and chucked up shots quicker and quicker.

It didn’t help that the main chuckers, Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson, were a combined 14 of 42 including 3 of 15 from the three point line. The lack of bench play was also a sore point for the Warriors. While the Nuggets received 34 points from their bench with the athletic JR Smith and the scrapper Edjuardo Najera, the Warriors received 7 points from Kelenna Azubuike and Matt Barnes. The fact that Coach Nelson did not play the bench at all throughout the entire season may have attributed to the undeveloped bench’s play.

Since the Coach did not trust the bench enough to play them decent minutes through the season, the starters were forced to play a high amount of minutes. In some cases, the minutes played were a career high as can be seen by Stephen Jackson’s 39:23 minute average. The game against Denver was no different. The bench contributed nothing, the starters played almost the entire game. As the legs got tired and worn down, the drives to the basket ceased, the passes become lazy and the focus goes out the window.

The only chance left for the Warriors to make it into the playoffs is to win their last three games of the season and hope Denver loses 2 of their last 3.

Taken by Rocky Widner (NBAE/Getty)

Stephen Jackson’s Line:

Tags: 2007-2008 Season, Denver Nuggets, NBA
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Taken by Dino Vournas (AP Photo)

Tonights type of game against the Sacramento Kings was a good game for Stephen Jackson. Rather then having to shoulder the load offensively during the crucial moments, Jackson was able to coast through; taking shots within the flow of the game.

The ball was bouncing in the first quarter. Players moved without the ball and were rewarded time and time again. Biedrins had a field day with the lack of shot blockers on the Kings’ squad, chipping in another double-double performance with 17 points and 17 boards. Al Harrington was able to take Mikki Moore off the dribble in consecutive plays which led to him being wide open at the 3pt line; Harrington even had a nice behind the back bounce pass to Ellis in the open court. When Harrington places this well, its hard to beat the Warriors.

Baron Davis cranked up his play to the next level, hitting a few amazing off-balance shots reminiscent of the Dallas series in the playoffs last year. He also continuously made it a point to reward his teammates for their off the ball movement, dishing out a few nice passes to the cutters. When the team ran into a lull, Davis took the ball to the hole to draw fouls instead of settling for three pointers which is always nice to see.

Monta Ellis had another efficient floor game with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists! The development of his point guard skills and floor vision has grown tremendously from the beginning of the year. When he gets in the lane, he has three options now–drive in for a layup, shoot the floater, or pass it off to the man in the corner or the big near the basket. He is close to being unstoppable now. With the way the rest of the Warriors were playing, Nellie had the luxury of resting Ellis for the entire 4th quarter. Most likely, he didn’t want Ellis to wear down guarding the ultra-quick Kevin Martin.

The bench showed up in tonight’s game. Mickael Pietrus came back from his hamstring/groin injury to electrify the crowd in the 4th quarter with two monster blocks and a put-back jam. C.J. Waston gave Monta Ellis rest with his steady play including defending Martin well. Austin Croshere showed off his point guard abilities, running the break a few times and dishing it out for easy layups. Even Brandan Wright got into the mix early in the 2nd quarter, converting a couple baskets and generally bothering the Kings with his length.

The Warriors had control of the game pretty much from start to finish. The team scored 100 points before the 3rd quarter ended and at one point in the 4th, a peek at the box score showed Jackson with 20 points. With the constant motion and sharing of the ball, Jackson’s 20 seemed to have slipped on by. It was also nice to see him throwing an alley-oop to Biedrins in the 2nd half. That play use to be a staple in the game plan before the road trip. Jackson was also able to step into a lot of his shots which raises the likelihood of a success.

With four games left in the season, Thursday nights’ game against the Denver Nuggets is the most important game of the season. With a win, the Warriors could crush the Nuggets spirits and ride the momentum into the playoffs.

Stephen Jackson’s Line:

Tags: 2007-2008 Season, NBA, Sacramento Kings
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This time of the year is the worst time of the year for Stephen Jackson to be in a slump. With five games left, the Golden State Warriors are tied with the Denver Nuggets for the 8th spot in the playoffs. Each game is critical and when one of the main contributors on the team is in a slump, his play greatly affects the outcome.

The game started out pretty well for the Warriors. The players made a conscious effort to move without the ball with Jackson and Baron Davis finding them for open shots and point-blank layups. Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins especially were on their game that afternoon. Ellis had a 35 point game on 17 for 26 shooting along with 10 rebounds. Biedrins had another double-double with 17 points and 15 boards on an efficient 7 for 10 shooting. The rest of the team was 19 for 59 in comparison.

Midway through the 2nd quarter, the difference between the Hornets and the Warriors were painstakingly clear. With all the talk about the Hornets horrid bench, the Warriors have an even worse one. The players coming off the bench for the Warriors–Azubuike, Wright, Barnes–provided nothing. At one point, Jannero Pargo outscored he Warriors bench 15-0. With Pargo, Wright and Armstrong playing productive minutes for the Hornets, they had the luxury of resting their starters.

The Warriors did not. They were forced to go with the starters for almost the entire game and you could see them lose energy as the game progressed. By the time the 4th quarter rolled around, the team was spent and could not answer the Hornets offensive outburst.

It’s obvious the Warriors still need to improve in a few areas of their team in the offseason. They need a capable point guard to give Davis rest. They need a low post scorer to give the team easy buckets instead of having the point guards spend so much of their energy creating through drive and dishes. And they need a serviceable bench. If the Detroit Pistons can get five good players, there must be a way for the Warriors to get two or three.

Stephen Jackson’s Line:

Tags: 2007-2008 Season, NBA, New Orleans Hornets
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