So I’ll admit it, I was dead wrong. In my last NBA blog piece on thebleachercreatures.com, I wrote about the “scrappy bunch of players” that make up the Golden State Warriors. I wrote about how they lack a definitive super star and how Stephen Jackson cannot carry the team to victory. And up until watching the 111-85 massacre of the #1 seed Mavericks I would have stuck to my opinion. These facts though didn’t comprise the main point of my piece. What I tried to get across was how this team showed more heart than anyone else I had seen in recent memory, including playoffs or regular season. And on that point at least, I was right. This group played their hearts out and came away with the greatest playoff upset in NBA history. But why didn’t we see it coming?
Think about it, what was not to love about these guys? Baron Davis is truly a star in this league. Despite missing 20 games of the regular season due to injury, he still put up twenty points, eight assists, and two steals per game. He gained the team’s confidence while on the floor and controlled the tempo of every game in the series against Dallas. Stephen Jackson proved all the critics wrong. When Davis’ hamstring was giving him trouble in the game 6 clincher, he let Jackson carry the team. Jackson responded with 33 points and team record seven three pointers.
The Warriors starting small forward Matt Barnes, who makes under the average $750 thousand this season and averages six points in his career, dropped 16 points while Dirk Nowitzki attempted to guard him. Let me tell you that there is no greater joy for a true NBA fan then hearing Marv Albert in the background of a Sports Center highlight screaming: “Matt Barnes for 3....YES!” Jason Richardson gave an average of 40 quality minutes and has found a true role on this team.
Head coach, Don Nelson, is the best match-up coach in the league right now. From game 1, Nelson outcoached Avery Johnson and made the Mavericks play down to his team. He varied him lineup by switching the big men up front, and the small men around the arch. This victory bought much joy to all Golden State fans in Oakland. How can any team be expected to walk into Dallas and think they’re going to beat the best team in the league? The series was simply electrifying.
Even right now, the Warriors continue to be a mislabeled team. In the ESPN.com recap of the game Thursday night, it read “[Baron] Davis and [Stephen] Jackson shot the ragtag Warriors right into the second round...” Note the word ragtag. Implying that Golden State is bunch of utility guys who didn’t have a shot whatsoever in winning a game let along the series. On that note, everyone that assumed this, including myself, was wrong. We all should have seen this coming, and the fact that we didn’t boggles my mind!
So sure, the Mavs won 67 games this season, hold the likely MVP (only because voting takes place before the playoffs), and are better players overall. But we all should have seen this coming, and we didn’t. Golden State will ride their heart and SKILL through the second round and beyond. I believe they can match up with any other team thrown at them the rest of the way, the only question is: Will we get to hear the immortal Albert scream “Sarunas Jasikevicius from the elbow...YES!!” along the way?
