Category: Golden State Warriors

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: NBA All-Star game maybe was an exhibtion but the fans love the game

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That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

Unlike Major League Baseball which the All-Star game in the last seven years means something if the American League or the National League wins the game, the winning league gets to host the World Series. It’s always great to open the World Series at home which is an advantage. MLB is very smart for doing that format because it means something. In the NBA which just completed their All-Star game last Sunday it doesn’t mean anything.

A high scoring game is what the fans want and everybody likes defense too, the average fan about 90 percent maybe more loves the 20 footers, the blocks by LeBron and they got what they wanted a big scoring game which was won by the East 163-155. In the NBA this was only an exhibition and it was good for the game.

The Warriors Stephen Curry had a double double in the game and Curry is a solid star and one of the best players in the league. If Curry was playing in New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago he would get more publicity. We all know who he is in the Bay Area but he’s not well known across the country. When people across the country are asked whose among the ten best players in the NBA his name doesn’t come up but that doesn’t mean he’s not one of the top ten players.

Although people don’t mention his name Curry is a great player and everyone in the Bay Area knows he plays for Golden State and it was good to see him getting the double double and nothing he does surprises me. He’s a terrific player espeically when he’s on which is all the time.

New arena for Warriors update: We in the Bay Area know that building a sports arena whether it’s for basketball or baseball in San Francisco is not an easy task. Look what happened to the 49ers they left San Francisco for little known Santa Clara. The Giants for example took many years to get approval to build Pacific Bell Park and they built it with private money.

The Warriors are in for a rude awakening in trying to get the arena built at piers 30-32 at the waterfront. Warrior owners Joe Lacob and Peter Gruber are realizing it’s not like in Los Angeles when you can build a new arena in downtown and you can find a space and make it happen.

For example the baseball Los Angeles Angels are not too happy with the city of Anaheim. Angels owner Artie Moreno doesn’t have an agreement with the city and their are strong rumors that the Angels might move to downtown L.A. The Angels would like to build the new stadium where the Staples Center is down there by Figueroa Street that would be a nightmare for traffic. The NFL also likes the Staples Center site in L.A.

I mention L.A. because I work half the summer in the Southland and it’s the largest area in California there’s room where you can build but in San Francisco it is almost like sacred land. Anybody who’s in real estate knows that anything in the city is very expensive. The environmentalists and many groups oppose the Warriors buidling an arena at the Embarcadero waterfront. Its a very, very, difficult area to build a new arena because of all the red tape and hoops they would have to jump through.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for Oakland A’s baseball and does News and Commentary each week for Sportstalk radio

Warriors arena at piers 30-32: Condos and hotel were the Warriors meal ticket to pay for new arena now on hold

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by Ken Gimblin

SAN FRANCISCO–The Golden State Warriors had big dreams in getting a new arena completed with the biggest Bay window that showed the Mayor Willie L Brown Bay Bridge in the background with the bay view and a look even at the lights in the background of the Warriors former East Bay home Oakland. The Warriors had planned to have a 17 story luxury condo and a ten story hotel tower built across from piers 30-32 that would finance their new arena.

The arena itself on the original drawing board was set to be a buidling that would be 12 stories high, but after ballots that were signed by some 400 potential San Francisco voters who gave the thumbs down on the height of the building the Warriors withdrew from the plan and now are forced to come up with a smaller, scaled down version of a new arena design.

The Warriors who originally were going to open the arena in 2017 have pushed back their plans to open the new arena in 2018. The Warriors came to the realization of these anti height ballots in early February and Warriors spokesman Nathan Ballard said that the team would go back and review the height limits that residents opposed that would block waterfront views.

The costs alone to repair the eroding piers for a arena foundation on the water would run $180 million double the orignal estimate, this price tag alone has the Warriors regrouping their plans. The Warriors intentions were to get income from the hotel and condos that they would own from across the arena which would help pay for the costs of the arena or any loans for the arena build.

The other arugument by city residents and voters who partcipated in the ballots against the heights of the arena was how could the average working family or indvidual for that matter afford to buy a ticket in the new arena. The lowest priced ticket at the Warriors new arena at piers 30-32 would run $200-$300 per game. Residents claim that the arena would a playground for the rich at lavish prices and most fans who go to the Warriors today would be outpriced to even buy a game ticket.

Residents including former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos said that the height limit is the forefront problem of the pier 30-32 project for the Warriors. The Warriors plan called for a 125 foot high arena where it would pass the waterfront height limit of 40 feet. In last November’s election voters rejected high rise condo and hotel construction near the peirs called the 8 Washington condos or propositions B and C, the project was rejected by a wide margin.

The Warriors after some 400 ballots mostly rejecting the arena size were sent to San Francisco City Hall in early February realized that their project was in for another set back and with Warriors owners Joe Lacob and Peter Gruber in discussions the Warriors are trying to figure out how they will go forward with the next step on how they will get a new arena built at the piers.

The location for a new arena at the piers may not be happen for the Warriors, the San Francisco Giants at one time had entertained the idea for the Warriors to build a new arena near AT&T Park. It might be another idea for a new arena location if the Warriors were interested in sharing the location with the Giants.

The Giants have also proposed buidling retail, hotels and condos at the AT&T parking lot locations near the park. However the residents on the waterfront and Embarcadero may oppose any over sized towers in that location as well. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said at one time that the new Warriors arena would be a “legacy” to his administration but after last November’s election rejection to waterfront developments and the 49ers leaving San Francisco Lee can not afford to aggravate voters by pushing for the new arena project without hurting himself politically.

Ken Gimblin is covering the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings arena developments for Sportstalk radio

Warriors can’t overcome LeBron’s greatness, lose nail biter 111-110

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By Gabe Schapiro

The Golden State Warriors (31-22) lost a heartbreaker to the Miami Heat (37-14), 111-110, Wednesday night, at Oracle Arena. The Warriors looked horrible early before storming back and making a game of it. It eventually became the LeBron James and Stephen Curry show, in an epic duel of greatness. After beating Miami on their home turf last time these squads faced off, tonight the Heat exacted some revenge. James hit a last second three-pointer to stun the Golden State faithful, icing the victory for Miami.

For much of the early going the Warriors offense looked hopeless. They came out of the gate cold, and for a time it looked like they might lose a blowout. However, they rose to the occasion, and pushed back against the defending champions.

Golden State trailed by as many as 21-points, a few minutes into the third quarter. Thanks in large part to Curry and some impressive paly from Harrison Barnes on the bench, the Warriors began mounting a comeback. They went on a 20-2 run, and crawled all the way back to take the lead on a Curry three seconds into the fourth.

The momentum swung back in the Heat’s favor, who re-took the lead and held it for much of the quarter. With 47 seconds left, Curry nailed a 15-foot jumper to tie it up. Then he struck again, making an impressive lay-up in traffic with just 14 seconds remaining, which turned into a three-point play, giving the Warriors the 110-108 lead.

In their final possession Miami predictably went to James, who had been on fire all game. Andre Iguodala stuck with him, but the King couldn’t be stopped. He nailed a deep, fade-away trey with just 0.2 seconds left, lifting the Heat to victory.

Curry was the obvious standout for the Dubs. He scored a team-high 29 points on just 14 shots, to go along with seven assists and five rebounds. David Lee contributed a double-double, posting 21 points and 11 boards. Barnes was big off the bench, compiling 14 points and five rebounds. Draymond Green started in the place of Andrew Bogut once again, and filled up the stat sheet. He added eight points, eight boards, two steals, and three blocks.

For the Heat, the unstoppable James finished one assist shy of a triple-double. He finished with a game-high 36 points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists. Chris Bosh had 19 points and five boards. Michael Beasley and Norris Cole had good games off the bench, contributing 16 and 10 points respectively.

Despite the loss, the Warriors did well to come-back from such a large deficit against one of the league’s best teams. It wasn’t the positive note they were hoping for heading into the All Star break, but there were positives to be found. They’re back in action on Wednesday, February 19, when they’ll be traveling to Sacramento to take on the Kings.

Golden State Warriors commentary: Offense and passing need an upgrade going up against Miami

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by David Zizmor

OAKLAND–After the Warriors beat the Philadelphia 76ers they can take in very little as they play the Miami Heat on Wednesday night at the Coliseum Arena. While beating the 76ers by 44 is great, it gives the starters a chance not to have to exert themselves especially going into a big game against Miami, but you don’t learn too much by beating Philadelphia by 44 because the Sixers are a very bad team.

They lost to the Warriors and the night before they lost by 46 to the LA Clippers by a almost identical score, really what it tells you is not that the Warriors are good but that the Sixers are bad. The best it does is paper over some of the problems the Warriors have had lately. The looked great against Philadelphia but if they want to succeed going away they really need to work on several things.

Not least of which is figuring out which ways to score that don’t involve isolation plays every other possession. That’s the biggest problem that head coach Mark Jackson is having right now and it’s just a lack of creativity on the offensive end of the floor. Obviously defense and consistency on defense is an issue with the Warriors. Their not as strong a defensive team as you would like but their improving over the previous years with Andre Iguodala getting healthy.

Clay Thompson has improved on the defensive end and Iguodala and Thompson are making a big difference. On offense this team runs hot and cold when their shots don’t fall they get in a lot of trouble a good way to counter act that is try to score inside. The Warriors don’t do that, they don’t cut to the lane, they don’t drive, they don’t throw the ball inside enough.

What they the Warriors end up doing is they end up doing isolation plays and having guys shoot 18 footers for three pointers and when those shots aren’t falling they basically give up and they start falling behind by huge amounts and their not able to come back or they have to spend so much effort and energy coming back by the time they get to the end of the game they just can’t sustain it anymore.

The fact that their running isolation plays on a team where all five of the starters are excellent passers and Clay Thompson is the worst and he’s not a bad passer. Steph Curry he’s a great passer, Iguodala and Bogut are great passers. Bogut for a big guy is a great passer and David Lee is a great passer and to not have ball movement to have one guy take the ball and take the shot when he gets open is criminal, it’s really lousy offense. The Warriors cannot have a lousy offense when the face the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.

David Zizmor covers the NBA for Sportstalk Radio

Speights’ career night leads Warriors blowout over 76ers, 123-80

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By Gabe Schapiro

The Golden State Warriors (31-21) thoroughly dominated the rebuilding Philadelphia 76ers (15-33), 123-80, Monday night, at Oracle Arena. The 76ers came into this contest as one of the league’s worst, and the shorthanded Warriors made them look like it. The game was never close, as Golden State had the clear edge in every respect. Marreese Speights was going up against the team that drafted him, and certainly made it a special one.

In what would be a good indicator of the rest of the night, the game began with a Philadelphia turnover leading to a Stephen Curry three-pointer. As a team they hit four of their first five shots, including 3-3 from beyond the arc. They kept pouring it on from there.

It was the surprising Speights who provided the majority of the entertainment tonight. He has spent most of the season as a bench player with minimal impact. He was once again a bench player, but on this night his impact was anything but minimal He entered the game with four minutes remaining in the first quarter, and seemingly out of nowhere turned into the human highlight reel.

Soon after entering, Speights was fouled and hit two free-throws, and much like the Warriors as a whole, he just kept scoring. He hit his first seven shots from the field, including a rare three-pointer, and 5-5 from the free throw line. At the half he already had 22 points, his season-high. Heading into the locker rooms, Speights had helped the team build an already insurmountable 66-33 lead.

He kept it up in the second half. Golden State coasted to the easy win, and when the dust had settled, he had scored a career-high 32 points, in just 26 minutes. For good measure, he added eight rebounds and three blocks. At one point the beaming Warriors faithful rained “M-V-P” chants down on him. He received a resounding standing ovation once he was removed, when the Warriors emptied their bench in the final minutes.

In all, six Dubs finished in double figures. On a rare night when he won’t dominate the headlines, Curry was still fantastic. He contributed 23 points, including 6-9 from three-point range, along with eight assists.

Draymond Green started for the third consecutive night, with Andrew Bogut still out, and notched his first career regular season double-double. He posted 11 points, 10 boards, and four blocks.

For the 76ers, Michael Carter-Williams was probably the only bright spot. He had a team-high 24 points, as one of three Philly players to finish in double figures.

The Warriors have one more game before the All-Star break. It’s not one they can write off, however, as they always dangerous Miami Heat are coming to town. The game is this Wednesday, at 7:30 pm.

Warriors commentary: With Lee and Bogut out, W’s needs Barnes and Curry to ramp it up

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by David Zizmor

OAKLAND–Talking about the Warriors last few games they lost to the Phoenix Suns 122-109 on Saturday night and then they beat the Chicago Bulls the game before on Thursday night 102-87. The Bulls aren’t that good of a team the Warriors should beat a team like the Bulls every time when their playing in Oakland, so it not surprising that the Warriors beat the Bulls.

Just from the fact that the Warriors are struggling a bit in general lately so any win is a surprise right now the way their playing. They had Phoenix on the road last Saturday, that’s not an easy game and everybody thought at the beginning of the season Phoenix was going to be one of the teams that was tanking. Turns out that’s not the case their quite good, the Suns would be a playoff team if the season were to end right now.

The Warriors should be able to make it competitive against a team like Phoenix for three quarters and that’s typically something that happens on the road. You would wonder what would happen to the Warriors if Andrew Bogut and David Lee had been playing, they were both on the sidelines with injuries on Saturday. That definitely had a big impact on the game.

Of course those two were also on the sidelines for the game against Chicago before the Warriors won the Suns game, so it’s a frustrating stretch that the Warriors have been going through. They still have a couple of games before the All-Star break one of them is in Oakland against Miami the defending champs.

That game should be a lot of fun and if you remember back a month or two ago, the Warriors went on the road to Miami and won in Miami during that big ten game win streak that they had and that six game road winning streak that was so impressive. The Warriors are a long ways from that team and their just not consistent on a nightly basis.

Part of the reasons the Warriors lost, the game against Phoenix was because the three point shots were not falling, not from Steph Curry or anybody else. When the Warriors are shooting from the floor their threes aren’t hitting. They can get in a little bit of trouble, let’s face it they’ve avoided crashing the basket. The W’s are not a team that can drive the lane a lot.

This is frustrating for the Warriors because their a team that could, Harrison Barnes’ skill set he could hit jumpers and outside shots. There’s no question but this is a guy who if he wants to be a unique player or a very good one has to be a little more agressive in charging the basket and until Barnes does that and until someone else on the Warriors does that including Clay Thompson the Warriors are going to have trouble if that shot is not falling.

David Zizmor covers the NBA for Sportstalk radio

Dragic, Suns topple Curry and Warriors in the desert

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By Joe Hawkes

PHOENIX — With the Suns clinging to a 104-102 lead with seven minutes in the fourth quarter, Goran Dragic was relentless Saturday night, scoring 13 of his career-high 34 points in the final frame, steering Phoenix to a 122-109 victory over the short-handed Golden State Warriors Saturday night.

Phoenix (30-21) moves a half-game ahead of the Warriors (30-21) for the sixth-best record in the Western Conference, and dropping Golden State to third in the Pacific Division.

Dragic who many people believed should’ve been voted an All-Star this season, played like one, shooting 10-for-13 from the field, including 5-for-6 from 3-point range. Dragic was outstanding from the free throw line, finishing 8-for-10 and dished out 10 assists.

Gerald Green scored 25 points and five rebounds, while P.J. Tucker finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Marcus Morris had 14 points and six rebounds off the bench, Channing Frye finished with 13 points, and Miles Plumlee 12 points and seven rebounds.

Playing without center Andrew Bogut (shoulder) and power forward David Lee (shoulder/hip), Stephen Curry led Golden State with 28 points and nine assists in 41 minutes of action. Curry shot 10-for-30 from the field, and 3-for-10 from deep.

Harrison Barnes had his best game to date, scoring 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting. It was Barnes’s first 20-point game since Dec. 13.

Klay Thompson had 17 points, Andre Iguodala scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Jermaine O’Neal finished with 11 points.

With both Bogut and Lee sitting out the game, Phoenix out-rebounded Golden State 45-34.

Golden State will look to rebound at home Monday, when they will host the Philadelphia 76ers (15-36).

Curry leads shorthanded Warriors past Bulls, 102-87

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By Gabe Schapiro

The Golden State Warriors (30-20) overcame a sluggish start, easing their way over the Chicago Bulls (24-25), 102-87, Thursday night, at Oracle Arena. The Warriors were without their two best big men, an already thin position, as Andrew Bogut and David Lee sat out due to injuries. Jermaine O’Neal and Draymond Green got the starts in their place. Despite the depleted roster, Golden State made much of the game look easy in a nice bounce back win.

The Bulls quickly opened up a 15-point lead in the first quarter, as the Warriors had an ugly start. The mood seemed grim, as it looked like it could be another poor outing for the scuffling Dubs squad. In the waning minutes of the first they seemed to slowly start righting the ship, ultimately carrying their regained composure through the rest of the game.

After chipping away at the lead in the second quarter, Golden State grabbed their first lead with 47 seconds left in the half. By the time the buzzer went off they had turned a 13-point deficit into a four-point advantage. They never turned back, building on their lead at the end of the third, and ultimately cruising to the victory with a strong fourth.

With two starters out, Stephen Curry stepped up with a great game. He scored a game-high 34 points on 13-19 shooting, 4-6 from three-point range, to go along with nine assists.

The other half of the splash brothers, Klay Thompson, did his part as well. He chipped in 22 points, 3-6 beyond the arc, to go with solid defense.

Harrison Barnes, who has been struggling as of late, had a good game off the bench. He scored 11, including a big three-pointer late to hammer the last nail into the Bulls coffin. He added six rebounds and two steals, in 29 minutes. Jordan Crawford also played well, scoring another 11 points in 21 minutes.

Four Chicago players finished in double figures, led by a double-double from Taj Gibson. He notched 26 points and 14 rebounds. Joakim Noah accomplished the rare rebounds-assists double-double, finishing with just seven points, but 10 boards and 11 assists.

The Warriors hope this is step one in regaining some consistency to their play. They’ve got the Phoenix Suns next up on the docket, when they travel to Arizona this Saturday, February 8. The game begins at 6:00 pm.

Dismal Shooting Dooms Dubs in Decisive 91-75 Defeat to Charlotte

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By Matthew Harrington

What a difference a month makes. The Golden State Warriors started January smack dab in the middle of what would be a 10-game win streak, the second-longest in franchise history. In Tuesday night’s 91-75 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats at Oracle Arena the Warriors opened the second month on the calendar on a far less meritorious note. A 75-point output courtesy of a 31.2 shooting percentage against Charlotte (22-28) represented single-game lows in both categories for Golden State this season. The usually sharp-shooting Warriors (29-20) nailed only four shots from beyond the arc on 20 attempts in a night when the home team hoop had an air-tight lid over it.

No Warrior reached double-digits in field goals, with Stephen Curry (8 for 18), Klay Thompson (5 for 13) and David Lee (3-13) all struggling to make the baskets fall in front of the sell-out crowd. Curry’s 17 points topped all Warriors player, while Thompson added 12.

Al Jefferson led the Bobcats to the win on a game-high 30 points and Bobcat-best 13 rebounds for the double-double and guard Gerald Henderson dropped 17. Warriors center Andrew Bogut pulled down 15 boards to lead all players.

Things appeared to be going the Warriors way early, with the home team leading 7-5 just under three minutes into play, but Charlotte held the hosts to only three field goals to close out the first quarter holding a 26-13 lead. Golden State struggled to gain ground in the second 12 minutes, cutting the deficit to nine points a handful of times, but couldn’t sustain momentum. They faced a 51-39 Bobcat lead at the half.

The second half was another 24 minutes of futility for the Warriors, as Charlotte outscored Golden State 40-36 to maintain the lead and sweep the season series against. Charlotte is now 10-9 in its last 19 meetings with Golden State.

The loss proved another example for Coach Mark Jackson who called out the Warriors, losers of 6 of their last 10, for playing down to the ability of a lesser opponent during the tough stretch. Dually disappointing for Jackson’s squad is the missed opportunity for the Warriors, despite their struggles to move past the Phoenix Suns into second place in the Pacific Division. Phoenix, entering play Tuesday night a half-game up on the Warriors, lost earlier in the night 101-92 at home to the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls will travel further west to square off with Golden State at Oracle Arena Thursday night. After the Bulls come to town, the Warriors hit the road, heading to the desert to face the team directly above them in the standings for a Saturday night contest in Phoenix.

Warriors arena at piers 30-32: Warriors back to the drawing board;voters avalanche City Hall with height control ballots

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by Ken Gimblin

SAN FRANCISCO–Warriors spokesman Nathan Ballard said it best this whole new arena idea about building on a few deteriorating pylons at Pier 30-32 wasn’t going to be the slam dunk as the NBA basketball team thought it would be. The drawing of what the UFO looking saucer arena would be with a bay window that would put any see through glass around here to shame overlooking the bay, Bay Bridge, and what would be the Warriors former home the East Bay was rejected for it’s size by registered voters in San Francisco in the size of 20,000 ballots whom have spoken loudly asking for a measure that asks voters to control the height of a new Warriors arena.

The main protest is that San Francisco residents do not want any of the proposed projects by the Warriors to block or be over sized in blocking the waterfront bayviews, “it’s difficult to build an arena over the water when we’re replacing two crumbling piers that are dilapidated and falling into the bay, we never said this was going to be easy” said Ballard. A San Francisco ballot measure that asks city voters should there be height control to not only the Warriors proposed 12 story new arena but also the planning of a 17 story luxury condo and ten story hotel to be built across the street from Piers 30-32 at the Embarcadero.

Jim Stearns spokesman for the height control ballots says any confusion over this issue between voters and City Hall should be cleared up after more than 20,000 ballots were double the minimum of 10,000 to qualify to get the measure on the ballot, “there’s been a disconnect between City Hall and the voters about waterfront height limits. We’re confident the voters want to have a say in what is developed there” said Steans.

Some of the voters or city residents do not want a Warriors arena at the piers at all but at the very least they want an arena with limitations to what was proposed in the original Warriors blueprints. The drawing of the structure left very little doubt that the hotel, condo or the arena should have height limitations according to those who signed the ballots. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee who called the new arena “a legacy” to his administration has backed off that stance and has recently said that it is up to the voters of San Francisco what the future of the waterfront should look like.

After the realizing the city voters are ready to squash any over sized building at the piers the Warriors go back to the architect and will redesign a new arena that will hopefully satisfy the residents height issues. The Warriors were hoping to have the arena done by 2017 but now have set their completion date at 2018 by that time it is expected that the Warriors will have both sides of the argument on board fully.

The Warriors have met with community leaders for and against the project on Tuesday at Pier 1 showing the Warriors schedule and the steps to be taken over the course of the months between now and 2018 on the development of the arena, condos, and hotel. There is little doubt after the Warriors backtracked on a new completion date that they will also introduce new height sizes for the three buildings.

The Warriors are concerned that the size reduction might cut into their business profits as the hotel and condo were designated to off set the new arena costs. While Ballard said piers 30-32 were dilapidating the Pier 1 meeting no doubt will aim to settle the arena being built at piers 30-32 regardless of the piers condition.

Meanwhile the ballot measure that will ask voters if there should be a height limitation on any new buildings at the pier 30-32 site will be on the June 2014 election ballot. It might be all for not as the Warriors sound like their prepared to adjust the size to satisfy the voters and waterfront residents so they can get the downsized project off the ground at a shorter version. The Warriors want to get an idea of when groundbreaking day is going to be they might have to go to the voter to find that out.

Ken Gimblin is covering the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings arena developments for Sportstalk radio