Makes Love to Pressure

Stephen Jackson’s injured hand is obviously affecting his play on the court, but whether it be bravado or pride, Jackson will not take himself off the court. It is times like these where the coaching staff has to step in and tell Jackson to shut it down until he’s healthy. His poor shooting has taken the team out of the last few games. Since the team is not going to the playoffs, more youngsters should be playing. And by youngsters, I mean our draft picks. Not the Rob Kurz of the world. Kurz had an awesome game, but he is not part of the future.

Stephen Jackson's Line:

Tags: 2008-2009 Season, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, NBA
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The Denver Nuggets were running on adrenaline early in the first quarter, dunking every other shot. A blockbuster trade for a premier point guard in Chauncey Billups can do that for a team. On the other spectrum, the Golden State Warriors had just come off an abysmal loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. The first half of the first quarter showed a sluggy, uninterested team. Midway through the 1st, a switch was flipped and the Warriors came revving back from an 18-point deficit to make the game close by halftime.

The switch came in the form of Brandan Wright. Wright’s length and athleticisim on defense forced Denver’s 2nd unit into costly mistakes. Stephen Jackson was there to turn those mistakes into points for the team, hitting a number of jumpers and taking the ball to the hole.

The second half was a showcase of the Warriors’ big men potential. Wright had a career night with 18 points, 13 boards and 3 blocks. Near the end of the game guarding Kenyon Martin, Wright jumped high in the air and used his 7′5″ wingspan to block Martin’s jumper. Wright’s play officially demoted Al Harrington to the bench.

Andris Biedrins did not have an efficient night as he is known for. He did show off a few impressive post moves though. Chris Anderson could not stop Biedrins in the block; his spin to the center of the lane for a fingeroll showed off his nice footwork and uncanny nose for the hoop. Biedrins foul trouble did not slow down his aggressiveness. In fact, he became even more aggressive on defense and offense. A showcase of his potential came in the 4th quarter as well, when he took a handoff from Jackson at the elbow, dribbled around Jackson’s screen and slammed it home over Nene for an and1. On the trip down to the defensive end, Biedrins was there once again to deny Denver from an easy layup. Biedrins finished the night with 13 points, 11 boards and 5 blocks to continue his double-double streak to 12 games. Not since Nate Thurmond has there been a player on the Warriors to average a double-double for that amount of games.

Throughout all this, Jackson remained as the steady hand guiding the teams’ reins. Setting an example for the younger players, Jackson took it upon himself to harrass Carmelo Anthony into a poor shooting night. Jackson played excellent defense on Anthony, denying him the ball at every turn and keeping him out of his comfort zone. When Jackson sat down, Anthony proceeded to demolish Kelenna Azubuike and CJ Watson on the low block.

The player I am most impressed with this season is Ronny Turiaf. I can’t get enough of this guy. He started his first game for the Warriors and defended the post very well. He was able to body up against the larger players that give Biedrins difficulty. His all-out abandon in blocking shots is always fun to see. He also has a pretty effective jumper out to 15-feet. Jackson better watch out, Turiaf-fandom may very well take over this blog.

Photo by Don Smith/NBAE via Getty Images

Stephen Jackson's Line:

Tags: 2008-2009 Season, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, NBA
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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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This was one game where Stephen Jackson should have taken more shots from behind the arc. Having gambled with small ball early on, Coach Nelson allowed the Denver Nuggets to get in a rhythm on the offensive end with an array of inside moves over the small Warriors’ front line. Kenyon Martin practically had a field day with Al Harrington as the only post defender on the floor.

With the Nuggets on overdrive, the Warriors dropped down to a double-digit deficit. For as much as the Warriors could score, the Nuggets was able to match on the other end.

The Warriors don’t have any quit in them though, so it was not surprising to see them climb back to take the lead on the superb inside play by Andris Biedrins and Jackson’s hot shooting from the outside.

But, when the 4th quarter rolled around, the Nuggets jumped ahead by 10 as the usually focused Monta Ellis had a couple sloppy turnovers and the Warriors settled for tough fadeaways.

Taken by Garrett W. Ellwood (NBAE/Getty Images)

Stephen Jackson’s Line:

Tags: 2007-2008 Season, Denver Nuggets, NBA
Posted under On the Court | No Comments »