Anybody queasy?
I mean, besides me?
Why am I queasy, you ask? Well, it's because I am now convinced the Warriors are indeed a good team after winning their fourth straight last night, 113-106 over the used-to-be-nemesis Sacramento Kings.
Don't get me wrong -- I could still go my usual pessimistic route, citing that of Golden State's four straight wins, none were against teams over .500, and none of those wins came on the road. I could state that I still see the team having trouble putting teams away, and that the team still has rebounding and shooting percentage issues (shooting percentage issues largely stemming from the team's gratuitous use of the three-point shot).
But while those things are indeed true, I actually have found the ability within myself to withstand these barrages of negativity, and counter them with well thought-out counterpoints (a technique called "talking to oneself" by the uneducated).
The Warriors should have been favored to win these last four games against mediocre competition (well, mediocre and whatever the Raptors are, exactly, I dunno), and they should have won those games. And...they did. It took them a half, but they handled the Raptors and won convincingly, and they controlled the game vs. the NOK Hornets (New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, to be exact, but that NOK thingie is catchy).
Also, I'm not convinced we've seen the best the Warriors can offer on a game-to-game basis. Mike Dunleavy can obviously play better than he has so far this season, and coinciding with the Warrior win streak, his game seems to be coming around a bit. Baron Davis, while he's done his job in running the team from the point, has obviously started very poorly in the shooting department, something that I just can't see continuing.
So...dreaded optimism, and a feeling of queasiness that comes along with it, fearing I could be wrong in my assessment that the Warriors are currently the 4rd or 5th best team in the Western Conference, depending on one's view of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Oh, and on other thing...
FIRST PLACE, BABY!!! OH, YEAH!!!
Nevermind that they are still in 2nd place by percentage of wins, but when you look at the standings, the Warriors have that little dash to the right of their team name where one is usually accustomed to seeing a very large and insurmountable number for the majority of the season. To a Warriors fan, being kinda sorta tied for 1st place is just as good as 1st place -- which usually means, for me, that some sort of loud, raucous celebration cheer is in order. For instance, the following phrase was written by yours truly, and goes a little something like this:
FIRST PLACE, BABY!!! OH, YEAH!!!
And for those that would like to point out that I had already written that very thing only a paragraph previous in this body of work, I'll point out that the first one was merely a trial run. Gotta see how the words rolls off of the tongue before officially committing them to the air for all to hear (and Laker fans, especially).
First. Place. Baby. Oh. Yeah.
Now hopefully that won't be rendered untrue in the next couple of days.
Why am I queasy, you ask? Well, it's because I am now convinced the Warriors are indeed a good team after winning their fourth straight last night, 113-106 over the used-to-be-nemesis Sacramento Kings.
Don't get me wrong -- I could still go my usual pessimistic route, citing that of Golden State's four straight wins, none were against teams over .500, and none of those wins came on the road. I could state that I still see the team having trouble putting teams away, and that the team still has rebounding and shooting percentage issues (shooting percentage issues largely stemming from the team's gratuitous use of the three-point shot).
But while those things are indeed true, I actually have found the ability within myself to withstand these barrages of negativity, and counter them with well thought-out counterpoints (a technique called "talking to oneself" by the uneducated).
The Warriors should have been favored to win these last four games against mediocre competition (well, mediocre and whatever the Raptors are, exactly, I dunno), and they should have won those games. And...they did. It took them a half, but they handled the Raptors and won convincingly, and they controlled the game vs. the NOK Hornets (New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, to be exact, but that NOK thingie is catchy).
Also, I'm not convinced we've seen the best the Warriors can offer on a game-to-game basis. Mike Dunleavy can obviously play better than he has so far this season, and coinciding with the Warrior win streak, his game seems to be coming around a bit. Baron Davis, while he's done his job in running the team from the point, has obviously started very poorly in the shooting department, something that I just can't see continuing.
So...dreaded optimism, and a feeling of queasiness that comes along with it, fearing I could be wrong in my assessment that the Warriors are currently the 4rd or 5th best team in the Western Conference, depending on one's view of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Oh, and on other thing...
FIRST PLACE, BABY!!! OH, YEAH!!!
Nevermind that they are still in 2nd place by percentage of wins, but when you look at the standings, the Warriors have that little dash to the right of their team name where one is usually accustomed to seeing a very large and insurmountable number for the majority of the season. To a Warriors fan, being kinda sorta tied for 1st place is just as good as 1st place -- which usually means, for me, that some sort of loud, raucous celebration cheer is in order. For instance, the following phrase was written by yours truly, and goes a little something like this:
FIRST PLACE, BABY!!! OH, YEAH!!!
And for those that would like to point out that I had already written that very thing only a paragraph previous in this body of work, I'll point out that the first one was merely a trial run. Gotta see how the words rolls off of the tongue before officially committing them to the air for all to hear (and Laker fans, especially).
First. Place. Baby. Oh. Yeah.
Now hopefully that won't be rendered untrue in the next couple of days.
posted by Daniel at 11:34 PM
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