Counting W's for Week 16

By: Atma Brother #1 of Golden State of Mind

Warriors Weekly Rewind

• Game 49: Warriors 108, Bulls 114- Inexcusable.
• Game 50: Warriors 105, Kings 102- This battle may have come down to the final seconds, but let's not forget- the real kings of Northern California play in Oakland!
  

There's only two games this week for the Dubs before the All-Star break, but they should both be delights to watch.

Monday, February 11: Warriors vs Wizards
The Wizards have played very admirably this season minus their superstar and former Warrior Gilbert Arenas. Both Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler are having outstanding seasons and were named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team. However the Wizards are in the midst of the biggest slump in the entire league. They come into Oakland having dropped 7 straight. In the West that would be suicide, but in the East they're still the 6th seed.

Butler's status is still in question for this game, so the Wizards could possibly be playing without their offensive option 1B. This Warriors could/ should easily put this game away early by blitzing the Wizards from the get-go, but as we saw last week against the Bulls and earlier against the Timberwolves- while the Warriors can beat anyone in this league on any given night, they can also lose to any team on any given night even at home in the Roaracle.

To ensure that the Warriors don't pick up another very silly loss here, they're going to have to concentrate on shutting down Jamison. If he goes for 40 points and 15 boards it's going to be a long, long night. We all know our old friend of "It's a Great Time Out!" fame is very capable of scoring outbursts like that. Can I get a moment of silence for the back to back 51's (one of the most underrated Bay Area sports accomplishments of all time)?

Amen.

Check out Q&A: Mike Prada from Bullets Forever for more thoughts on the state of hoops in the nation's capital.

Prediction: 1 more for the W column


Wednesday, February 13: Warriors vs Suns
This past week when the Warriors were on national TV things didn't exactly go according to plan. I'm willing to bet things go better this time around. These guys have a lot to prove and a bunch of naysayers to silence.

Recently traded 4 time champion Shaquille O'Neal is expected to play his first game with the Suns on this ESPN Pacific Division showcase. There are a lot of critics of this move for Phoenix and everyone will be watching to see what kind of shape Shaq is in and whether or not he slows down the high octane Suns.

The past few times the Warriors and Suns have squared off, it's felt like a NASCAR race:

• Nov 26, 2007 vs Phoenix W 129 - 114
• Mar 29, 2007 vs Phoenix W 125-119
• Jan 7, 2007 @ Phoenix L 105-128
• Dec 15, 2006 @ Phoenix L 101-105
• Nov 20, 2006 vs Phoenix L 110-113
  

Sadly those 120 mph matches might actually be gone. It's really too bad. They were a pleasure to watch and great for the league. It was old school.

The Matrix was a big reason why the Suns could play that style of hoops and run up and down with the Warriors. With that element gone the Warriors are the fastest ones standing and they have the footrace advantage. Shaq should help the Suns beat elite teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks, but this trade really hurts them against the Warriors. Run, run, and run!

Prediction: 1 more for the W column



Overall Week 16 Prediction: 2-0


What are your predictions for week 16 for the Warriors?
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