The Essentials:
Wizards (7-16) vs. Warriors (7-18)
10:30 p.m.
Oracle Arena
TV: ESPN
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
Notable Warriors numbers this season
26th in expected winning percentage (.345)
1st in pace (100.9 possessions per game)
21st in offensive efficiency/offensive rating (104.9)
25th in defensive efficiency/defensive rating (109.8)
Pre-game links
Golden State of Mind, SB Nation's Warriors Blog
Warriors World
Tim Kawakami's blog for the San Jose Mercury
This is sad: Hollinger says the Warriors' long-term situation is better than the Wizards'
Wizards Insider: The Other Side, Warriors
Gameday Golden State
| Tonight's Projected Starters | ||
|---|---|---|
| Wizards | vs. | Warriors |
| Gilbert Arenas | PG | Stephen Curry |
| DeShawn Stevenson | SG | Monta Ellis |
| Caron Butler | SF | Anthony Morrow |
| Antawn Jamison | PF | Corey Maggette |
| Brendan Haywood | C | Chris Hunter |
I'm concerned. Golden State is awful, don't get me wrong. They're starting Vladimir Radmanovic, who doesn't try on defense. They're going to give minutes to Chris Hunter, who I haven't even heard of.
But they're also the fastest-paced team in the league, by nearly four possessions. I haven't seen a team finish the season at the century mark in possessions since I've been blogging, so it's extremely rare to play this fast. The Wizards have displayed some awful transition defense this road trip (and really all season). Combine the fastest team in the league with the worst transition team in the league, and you get bad things.
Otherwise, though, we should win. It's an ESPN game, and Golden State's a tough place to play, but I don't see any way they stop us tonight. Watching Gilbert and Monta go at it will be fun (Hollinger, Arenas may be overpaid, but he does not provide "midlevel production." Pay more attention please). Jamison should own Radmanovic and the undisciplined Anthony Randolph, and Butler might actually get it going when he goes against Morrow, Radmanovic and Corey Maggette. It's all about transition D, though, and transition D has been awful.
GO WIZARDS!