‘Warriors WrapUp’: Blazers hang in without Lillard, lose 125-117; Kerr’s gutsy move with Green; Iguodala’s offense shaky; McCollum-Curry back and forth

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Steinmetz

Give the Blazers credit. They came into Oracle Arena without Damian Lillard and hung in for the duration. Portland didn’t get the win — losing 125-117 — but it was the first time this season they were competitive with Golden State.

The Warriors beat the Blazers 135-90 on Dec. 17 at Oracle and 127-101 on Nov. 1 in Portland. Stephen Curry had 35 points and Kevin Durant 30 in a game that wasn’t dissimilar from the last Warriors’ home game — a 127-119 win over Denver.

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

Among the topics that came up:

–It got lost in the shuffle, but coach Steve Kerr made  bold move, and it paid off on Wednesday. Draymond Green picked up his fifth personal foul with just 16 seconds gone in the fourth quarter, but Kerr chose not to sub. Instead, he kept Green in the game, and Green played just fine, playing the next five minutes both foul free and effective.

The idea of Kerr keeping Green in the game at that point has got to point to Kerr feeling at least a little vulnerable to getting beat.

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Warriors’ groundbreaking for new San Francisco Arena here; What will be the impact to Golden State’s fan base?

Posted on January 4, 2017 by Steinmetz

The Warriors announced on Tuesday that groundbreaking will begin on their new downtown San Francisco Arena on Jan. 17. It’s already been a foregone conclusion that the Warriors were leaving Oakland, but this is another nail and a fresh dose of reality that the time is coming sooner rather than later.

Make no mistake, the Warriors heading to San Francisco will have ramifications. Lots of ramifications. And nobody is impacted more than the the Golden State Warriors fan — wherever they live in the Bay Area. I had a chance to talk about the Warriors and their move to SF on the Joe, Lo and Dibs show on 95.7-FM The Game.

Link to interview on Warriors’ San Francisco Arena and its impact on team, fans, etc.

Here are some rough excerpts and more thoughts:

–How will the move affect the fan base?

I think it’s going to be huge and it’s going to be a huge wild card, not knowing how the dynamic will be impacted. When the Nuggets were in town on Monday, it struck me how the fan base already has changed. It’s already changed and it’s going to change even more when they’re in San Francisco.

The Warriors always have had a special relationship with their fans, unique. It felt small and close. For decades it was impossible to talk about the Warriors without also talking about their fans — their loyal fans, or long-suffering fans, or passionate fans or hard-core fans. All of those. There’s always been a bond and some of that has gone away and even more will go away in San Francisco.

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‘Sal and Steiny’: Jed York vs. the Bay Area media; A dissolving relationship between the Warriors and their fans, and now the delicate move from Oakland to downtown SF Arena

Posted on January 3, 2017 by Steinmetz

On the latest Sal and Steiny, two main topics emerge: The acrimonious relationship between 49ers CEO Jed York and the Bay Area media; and Warriors’ fans possibly being at a crossroads with their organization.

Link to Sal and Steiny podcast No. 86.

The 49ers went 2-14 and will be looking for a general manager and coach this offseason. Of course, that’s the big story. But an interesting sidebar is the open disdain York has for the Bay Area media and clearly vice versa, and it was on display during his press conference on Monday.

Sal Castaneda and I discuss this relationship — or lack of one — and try to explain how it got to this point and whether it’s impacting coverage. Of course it is.

–Topic No. 2: The relationship between Warriors’ fans and the Warriors’ franchise has always been a unique and special kind of one. Whether the Warriors have had success or failure, a subplot of it all is always the loyalty and support the fan base has shown the organization and team. This goes back a long, long way.

If you live in the Bay, you know what I mean.

But are the Warriors at a crossroads with their fan base? Maybe. Warriors’ fans have always been passionate and interested — even during some pretty lousy years back in the day. But with the Warriors now pursuing their third straight NBA Finals appearance and second title, it seems apparent that the relationship is changing.

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