Ins, outs & an interview with Sam Amick about Warriors-Spurs

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Steinmetz

Another “NBA This Week” show is in the books, and today’s show was a fun one. We were joined by USA Today NBA writer Sam Amick, who is in San Antonio for tonight’s Warriors-Spurs game.

This is Biggest Game of the Year, Part II for both of these teams. The Warriors hammered the Spurs 120-90 at Oracle back on Jan. 25. The Warriors are 62-6 and the Spurs are 58-10. Enough said.

Here’s the link to the “NBA This Week” show on 95.7-FM The Game.

We touched on all the aspects of tonight’s game, so I figured I’d post this format or run-down of today’s show. This is, essentially, what John Dickinson and I come to the table with every Saturday morning:

“THE NBA THIS WEEK,” sponsored by First United Services Credit Union.

10:00-10:15: Warriors coming off another impressive offensive game on Friday – beating the Dallas Mavericks 130-112. Warriors go 22-for-38 from 3-point range. Game over. How much analysis do you need when that happens?

—All sets up tonight’s game in San Antonio: Warriors have lost 32 consecutive games in San Antonio in the regular season.

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With playoffs looming, Barnes’ struggles get more concerning

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Steinmetz

If there’s been a backdrop to this wonderful Warriors’ season it’s been this: What’s going to happen with Harrison Barnes when it’s all over? Barnes, if you don’t know, is a restricted free agent and there are questions about whether he’s part of the Warriors’ long-term future or not.

Before the season began, Barnes turned down a four-year, $64 million contract extension, a move that left many Warriors’ fans scratching their heads. How could a player such as Barnes, the fourth or fifth option, turn down that kind of money?

Barnes, of course, knew what he was doing. With the salary cap poised to jump in a big way this offseason with the influx of television money, Barnes was betting on himself. One solid season and he was going to be able to make more than that.

Problem is, Barnes’ season hasn’t been solid. It’s been barely OK. After starting out the season well, Barnes missed 16 games because of an ankle injury. In his absence, Golden State went 14-2. Fair to say, Barnes hasn’t been the same player since returning. And lately, he’s been closer to awful than good.

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Good things happening for Warriors and Speights is latest

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Steinmetz

When you win 67 games, an NBA championship, then follow that up with 60 wins in your first 66 games of the next regular season you’ve had quite a run, that’s for sure. Every once in a while you have to take a look at some numbers and realize how extraordinary they are: The Warriors are 143-26 since the start of the 2014-15 season. Unreal.

When you’re doing something that farfetched, it’s not just a few things that are going right … It’s lots and lots and lots of things going right. One of the latest examples of something going right for the Warriors is Marreese Speights.

Speights has been terrific for the Warriors in recent weeks, interjecting himself into the rotation in a big way – with, of course, some nudging because of the injury to Festus Ezeli. Nevertheless, Speights has been a potent scorer for the Warriors off the bench in Ezeli’s absence, and it’s something they’ve never really had before this stretch. When Ezeli does come back, who knows how the minutes will be divvied up among the big men, but Speights will be considered.

Speights has scored in double figures in nine of his past 16 games, compared with just seven double-figure point games in his first 40. But it’s not just that, it’s how explosive Speights has been while doing that. His past three double-figure scoring games have looked like this: 14 points in 18 minutes; 25 points in 18 minutes; 16 points in 15 minutes. That, my friends, is called scoring in a hurry.

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