In Game 4, Jazz pick on the bullies
Charley Rosen / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 2 hours ago
Golden State may have been on the short end of the 115-101 score Sunday,
but the Warriors did succeed in outdoing Utah in at least one category.
Cheap shots.
Here the score was three-nothing, with the culprits being:
# Al Harrington, for clubbing Carlos Boozer's head in lieu of making a play
on the ball.
# Baron Davis, for a gratuitous body block on Derek Fisher that wasn't seen
by the refs.
# And Jason Richardson, for his potentially career-threatening take-down of
Mehmet Okur.
Despite their stupendous skills and their exciting brand of play, these
uncalled-for assaults by the Warriors reveal what these guys really are:
Bullies and front-runners.
In any event, the Warriors did have plenty of excuses for being frustrated.
The shots that were falling in Game 3 were mostly missing in Game 4. However,
many of their misses occurred because too many Warriors took too many quick
shots. For example, the trey that Stephen Jackson unleashed while his team
was on a 4-on-2 fast break. Firing up quick-draw bombs is a short-cut for
buckling down and working for high-percentage shots and also getting to the
foul line.
Baron Davis was outplayed by Deron Williams. The latter outscored the
former by 20-15, had more assists (13-7), and held his own in one-on-one
confrontations. The only fly in Williams' ointment was his seven turnovers,
several of them unforced and caused by his lack of focus.
Indeed, the Jazz had 20 turnovers to the Warriors' 15, and the home team's
quickness was the reason. Utah's methodical offense repeatedly created open
spaces and undefended lanes, but the foot- and hand-speed of the Warriors
enabled them to close those openings in a flash. The Jazz were often too slow
in making the appropriate passes (especially Williams and Gordan Giricek) and
didn't deliver the ball until the openings were already being shut down.
Knowing how speedily the Warriors could zip into passing lanes also caused
the Warriors to be a bit cautious, which was another contributing factor in
their loose passwork.
Another source of angst for Golden State was its impotence in the rebounding
department. After controlling the boards in Games 1-3, the Jazz reasserted
themselves with a 52-36 advantage in Game 4.
Richardson and Davis shot a combined 9-28 and neither was able to sustain any
kind of rhythm. The Jazz tweaked their defense against Richardson by chasing
him off the 3-point line and sending him to the basket with his left hand.
What Richardson wants to do is either shoot set shots or dribble, pull and
fade. By denying him open triples and forcing him to finish on his off-handed
dribble, the Jazz took Richardson out of the game.
As for Davis, he simply looked tired.
The Warriors were further aggravated by the latest instance of Jackson's
career-long habit of over-handling. Time after time, Jackson insisted on
trying to slice his way through a crowd ─ hence his six turnovers.
Still another botheration was their poor performance at the stripe ─ 21-34.
Worse, except for Jackson's hitting 2-2 in the last minute when the outcome
was already decided, Golden State missed all three of its free throws in the
last five minutes while the game was still up for grabs. (Davis missed a
pair, and Matt Barnes botched the other one.)
Whereas in Game 3, the Warriors' defensive swipings mostly connected with
leather, in Game 4 they connected with flesh. That, and Utah's determination
to drive instead of settling for jumpers, enabled the visitors to shoot 43
free throws (making 37).
At the other end of the court, the Jazz rediscovered Carlos Boozer, who
finished with 34 points and 12 boards. Early on, Utah got Boozer the ball in
the paint after he had made some kind of dive- or diagonal-cut. But for the
duration, they mostly cleared the weak-side and dropped entry passes as he
stationed himself on one box or the other. For some reason (fatigue?),
Boozer's guardians had more trouble than before in sustaining a frontal
defensive posture.
The Warriors were also scorched by the Little Man With the Big Game, Derek
Fisher ─ 21 points, five assists, plus a steal. Fisher, of course, has
demonstrated his clutch-ability many times during his tenure with the Lakers.
Now it was the Warriors' turn to feel the sharp edge of his timely treys and
his fearless forays to the hoop.
Another source of grief for Golden State was the energy that it wasted in
constantly hassling the referees. Every call that didn't go their way stoked
their righteous indignation. There was Jackson, pausing in the backcourt to
complain to the refs that his latest misdribble was really created by a foul.
Meanwhile, the Jazz were off on a 5-on-4 advantage. Fortunately for Jackson
and the Warriors, Utah committed a turnover so his self-serving self-defense
wasn't costly.
Still, Utah's patient, poised and disciplined game plan required the full
attention of all the Warriors. It's okay to have a beef with the refs, but
not while the other guys are off and running.
So, then, what can we expect as the series returns to Salt Lake City?
Any team that relies on its home crowd for energy as much as the Warriors say
they do, is in trouble on the road. Besides which, the most meaningful source
of energy has to come from within each player and not from an external source.
That said, it's also true that the series is not over. But Game 5 will
certainly test the courage of the Warriors.
The bottom line, though, is that bullies can only intimidate and beat
cowards, i.e., the Dallas Mavericks. And there's nothing cowardly about any
team coached by Jerry Sloan.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/6808498
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