‘Warriors WrapUp’: Grizzlies storm back, stun Golden State in overtime 128-119; offense awful down the stretch; Randolph, Gasol too much for Green, other Warriors’ bigs

Posted on January 6, 2017 by Steinmetz

The Warriors’ offense on Friday night was absolutely spectacular. They were moving the ball, not turning it over and converting time and time again mostly inside the 3-point line. In short, they looked like an offensive machine against Memphis — for three quarters.

And then, it all just stopped. Just like that.

The Grizzlies rallied from a 24-point second-half deficit and from 19 down to start the fourth quarter and beat the Warriors 128-119 in overtime. Golden State completely bogged down, scoring just 13 points in the fourth quarter on 2-for-13 shooting from the field. In overtime, the Warriors were 3-for-9 from the field with two turnovers.

Link to “Warriors WrapUp,” the postgame radio show on 95.7-FM The Game.

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The Draymond Green-Marc Gasol matchup; Andre Iguodala’s offensive timidity; down the line with Lillard and McCollum; Isaiah Thomas’ growth from Sacramento to Boston

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Steinmetz

Tons of basketball talk Wednesday on 95.7-FM The Game. We had on Warriors’ television analyst Jim Barnett, the USA Today’s Sam Amick and Tim Roye, the voice of the Warriors. Here are the links to the audio of those interviews. Then, after the links is a rundown of some of the things we discussed with each guest.

Link to interview with Jim Barnett, Warriors analyst, on 95.7-FM The Game.

Link to interview with Sam Amick, USA Today, on 95.7-FM The Game.

Link to interview with Tim Roye, the voice of the Warriors, on 95.7-FM The Game.

–Barnett: Jim brought up a very interesting point about the Grizzlies’ Marc Gasol and the Warriors’ Draymond Green. The last time these two teams played — a 110-89 Grizzlies blowout in Memphis on Dec. 10 — Gasol controlled the game. He finished with “only” 19 points but during those times the Grizzlies couldn’t get out in transition (I can’t believe I just typed that), they put the ball in Gasol’s hands and everything slowed down.

Gasol also had eight rebounds and six assists in his 31-plus minutes. Gasol likely would have played more but his team was in control the entire night.

Green defended Gasol for stretches in that game and didn’t have a lot of success. First off, it’s not fair the 6-foot-7 Green should have to guard Gasol, the lumbering vending machine. Secondly, Gasol is so skilled he gives even the best defenders trouble — bigger or smaller. The dynamic, though, between those two players is interesting.

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What’s wrong with Stephen Curry? Not a darn thing

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Steinmetz

What’s wrong with Stephen Curry?

Here’s an answer: Nothing.

Nothing is wrong with Curry. He’s doing everything he needs to do and he’s doing it very well. And he’s doing it on a team he’s still getting used to. The bottom line is that Curry’s playing exactly like a point guard should be playing — at least the point guard on this team, with this many weapons.

For most of his career, Curry has tried to embrace the role of point guard, and at times, it’s taken away from his No. 1 talent and God-given gift: Scoring. But last year, it all came together for Curry in a magical season. He scored more than he ever scored before — and in a big, big way, while also playing the role as primary ball-handler and assist man.

He averaged an eye-popping 30.1 points per game in 2015-16, more than six points higher than the 23.8 points he averaged the year before. His assists were fine, too, averaging 6.7 per game. This year his scoring is down, but what did you expect with Kevin Durant joining the Warriors? And he’s only averaging 5.8 assists per game, which figures because coach Steve Kerr has made Draymond Green the primary playmaker.

If Curry didn’t have the season he had last year, we’d be talking about how he’s averaging 24.2 points per game, the most in his career, and how he’s doing it with Durant as a teammate. My point is that if you’re looking for something to worry about as it relates to the Warriors, it shouldn’t be Curry.

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