No focus, no brooms - Starters get blown out, but bench comes back to make it interesting
No focus, no brooms - Starters get blown out, but bench comes back to make it interesting
Bad vibes and poor shooting swing that series back towards San Francisco
Nope, not tonight.
The Golden State Warriors are shipping their brooms back to the bay area after the Dallas Mavericks woke up to deny the sweep. The starter for Golden State got blown out of the water, to the point where coach Steve Kerr just pulled everyone but Poole and went with a full bench unit.
…and it worked?
Personally, I would have let the unit that caught up just continue to fight for the win, but at least it was close enough to make it interesting as the Warriors closed to within ten and brought the starters back in the 4th.
What a weird game. The tragedy that unfolded earlier in Texas, the Mavs suddenly all found their shots at the same time, and then the double rookie bench unit that struggled early in the game coming back to win it was all very surreal. Plus, the extended rain delay as the roof leaked in Dallas? Weird.
That’s a 39-20 run in the 4th quarter that may cause Kerr to look a little bit harder at his bench. With no Otto Porter, Andre Iguodala, or Gary Payton, it was feeling like the cupboards were painfully barren, but maybe that new ramen is okay after all.
The Warriors will travel home and try again on Thursday. Good game, good effort.
I usually am semi- "proud" of "my team" in a way that sports fans will recognize. Sure I'm a fan, but it's not really a personal matter so I work hard to make it one. You sort of have to do this mental jiujitsu to really pretend that the Dubs are "my" team. But in reality, they don't know me, I don't know them, and so it's not exactly accurate to say that I'm super proud of their character as human beings whom I know. Mostly it's more being pleased that they outscore the opponent or show hard work and grit in a sporting event, flashy play, or maybe determination in the face of injury, and so on, and let it add up to pride in my team. So I *say* I'm proud of my team -- but it's not like the pride I have in my children or something.
But Kerr's speech is different. Makes me truly proud to be a Warrior fan. It's not just that he's right, it's not just that he is using his platform when he could choose not to, it's that, like all of us, he gets emotional and vulnerable. I'm sure a part of him said, "I don't want to share that vulnerability with the world." But then he did it anyway. It's an inspirational reminder to all of us that speaking up for the things we believe in is the right thing to do. As Maggie Kuhn said, "Speak your mind -- even if your voice shakes."
Let as all remember that the players are gentlemen!
So let's crush them on Thursday.