Towel Officially Thrown In

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

The Good News

Good News: There is only 8 more games for the season. This losing season is almost done.

Good News: The Warriors aren’t the worst team in the league. That glorious title belongs to the Charlotte Bobcats.

Good News: The season was short, so the pain was on short, quick to the point. The further the Warriors fall, the better the chance they keep their top lottery pick away from the Jazz. At this point, the Warriors need all the help they can get.

The Bad News

Bad News: The Warriors are bad this year. Only the Kings trail them in the Pacific Conference standings and the Warriors are only up two games on the Kings. They aren’t close to .500 with a record of 22-37 and many of their wins come at home. They are atrocious on the road, boasting a 10-20 record on the road.

Bad News: The Warriors have been bitten and plagued by the injury bug this season. Stephen Curry never got off the DL long enough to get into a roll. Then the Warriors traded for an injured Andrew Bogut. Nate Robinson had a DL stint that did not help the Warriors as they were already slacking scorers and energy. And most recently, with only eight games left, they shut down David Lee with an apparent groin injury. Just to throw a cherry on top, Richard Jefferson is out indefinitely with swelling in the knee.

Bad News: Could it get any worse?

I suppose it could get worse at the point that the Warriors could own the worst record in the league. But why aim for the worse when you want to aim for the best. This season was a season of hope. New ownership, new coach, new season. In the end, the result was the same. I know Rome wasn’t built in a day and granted, no program can be turned around in one season, but the outlook isn’t looking very bright. That light at the end of the tunnel seems very far away and not getting any closer. Can we say let’s look forward to next season when they have a clean slate forever?

Saturday’s game was just the icing on top of the cake. The Clippers are in a league above the Warriors now. No longer do their games equal a could win for the Warriors. The season series are split with the Clippers winning in an afternoon game on Saturday. The Warriors, who were already undermanned, added Lee and Jefferson to the ailing bunch and gave up whatever size they did have.

Dorell Wright finally came to play. Maybe he felt like it was his time to shine. Maybe he felt he could be the “franchise” player that he is not. Whatever the case, he finally scored more than 10 points, ending the night with 23 points and seven boards. Nate Robinson continues to come off the bench and led all Warriors with 28 points, eight assists and five boards. Both Klay Thompson and Brandon Rush had a nice stat night. Thompson had 24 points, four boards, four steals and two assists. Rush had 22 points, four boards, four assits and three blocks.

Even though under skilled, the Warriors made it a difficult game for the Clippers. The Warriors shot 48% from beyond the three and with the Clippers shooting 47% from the strip, the Warriors were in the game. The Warriors hit 15 threes, one short of their season high. After the first half, the Warriors were only down by one and even tied it in the third. But they could never make enough shots, even the Clippers were giving them opportunities to take the lead. Several times in the fourth, the Clippers were fouled and sent to the free throw line, only to see their team miss and give the Warriors a chance to tie or take the lead.

Without any size, the Warriors were crushed in the paint, 32-50. But other than that, (they did get beat on the boards, but only by two! That’s a win, since it is “lob city”) statically, they were right in the game. And it’s pretty amazing that the Clippers, at one point had a 19 point lead only to see it evaporate and win 112-104.

The biggest stat the was the difference was that the Clippers had five guys score at least 12 points. The Warriors had two guys with donut holes, one guy that score one point and another that scored one bucket. Those efforts aren’t gonna cut it in winning games. Yes, they can have a defensive presence and win games on defense but you still have to score more points than the other team. Just to many non scorers for this team and too many on the floor at the same time.

The Warriors return home for a game against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night at Oracle. Tip off is at 7:30 pm PST.