Warriors Seem To Be Running Out of Gas

I went to Chicago to cook my mom a Mother’s Day dinner, and over dessert, she gave me today’s column idea.My mother is a basketball junkie who watches more NBA than most hoops bloggers (she considers it a perk of retirement), and we were watching the first half of the Golden State–Utah game when she said, as if thinking out loud: “They have no legs.” Initially I let the remark pass. Mom’s a basketball fundamentalist who feels the game should be played between opposing halfcourt offenses. She’s the only person I know not from either San Antonio or Detroit who is rooting for a rematch of the 2005 Finals.Thus, she doesn’t waste an opportunity to be critical of the Warriors’ uptempo style, which is what I figured her utterance was about until I realized what she really meant, the wheels were falling off the Golden State mobile. Their athleticism was abandoning them.The Warriors started out Game 4 on fire from behind the arc, hitting five of their first eight 3-point shots; then they went cold. They bricked eight of their next 10 from downtown, and in the second half, that cold turned arctic; the Warriors shot five of 21 from behind the arc and even began missing free throws, shooting only four of eight in the fourth quarter.The problem, according to Mom, was the Warriors’ blistering pace, and her point is well taken. At an average of 97.6 possessions a game, the Warriors are playing faster than any other team in the postseason. And this is consistent with their regular season tempo when, at 101.6 possessions per game, they were a possession a game faster than the next fastest, Denver (Phoenix, the current archetype for a fast team, was third at a comparatively moderate 98.1 possessions per game). Golden State played 10 possessions a game faster than the league average of 91.1. In the fastest game during the Golden State–Utah series, Game 3, which had 101 possessions, the Warriors routed the Jazz 125–105.The problem isn’t with the pace alone; the real problem is with personnel usage. Teams tend to shorten their rotation in the playoffs. Warriors coach Don Nelson spoke of going with only six players at one point in their first-round upset of Dallas. While NBA players may well be among the best-conditioned athletes in the world, a fast paced game, particularly in the playoffs when games typically occur every other night, overtaxes them. And the fatigue shows up in 3-point shooting and free throws (even a tired player can hit a layup).The best solution isn’t a slower pace, which would be suicidal for a team like Golden State that has only one player in its rotation taller than 6-foot-9, but using its bench more. Nelson often acts as if the end of the Warriors bench were populated by a mix of aging hippies and retired professors from nearby Cal-Berkeley, but in fact, the periphery of Golden State roster includes guard Sarunas Jasikevicius and swingman Kelenna Azubuike, each of whom has had a run of productivity during the season.The Warriors’ experience isn’t new either. Last season, Phoenix ran out of gas in their Conference Finals series against Dallas. In the Suns’ case, it wasn’t a caprice that shortened their rotation but injuries. Most of the players at the end of their bench were broken down already, so when key players like Raja Bell suffered injuries, the Suns were forced to rely solely on their starters and sixth man supreme Leo Barbosa. After two seven-game series and several hard-fought early games with Dallas, the Phoenix tank was empty.With the continuing success of Phoenix and the newer success of Golden State and Denver, more teams are likely to adapt an uptempo style of play. As the boisterous, NCAA-like crowds at Oracle Arena demonstrate, the style galvanizes fan support. However, GMs are going to need to stock the bench, and coaches will need to make full use of it, even in the playoffs.***It may be too early to write a post mortem for Golden State, teams have rallied from 3–1 deficits (though those teams usually have home-court advantage for Game 7 and the Warriors, a poor road team, will have to win twice in Utah, which is undefeated in the postseason at home). And the Warriors’ task may get even harder due to possible suspensions for guards Jason Richardson and Baron Davis.Both took out Jazz players during the fourth quarter. Richardson took a hard foul on Jazz center Mehmet Okur as he drove for an “exclamation-point dunk” in the final minute. Richardson was whistled for his second flagrant foul, which included an ejection. I don’t think any more punishment is warranted.But I’m not sure Davis should escape a fine or suspension for his hit on Derek Fisher. Both players were casually heading upcourt after a missed Golden State shot when Davis nailed Fisher in the head with an elbow. The blow left Fisher, whose 14 fourth quarter points helped nail the Warriors coffin, lying on the floor motionless for a couple of minutes. Hard fouls are part of the game; cheap shots are not.mjohnson@nysun.com

Warriors Seem To Be Running Out of Gas

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