Counting W's for Week 17

By: Atma Brother #1 of Golden State of Mind

Warriors Weekly Rewind

• Game 51: Warriors 120, Wizards 117- A little too close for comfort.
  
• Game 52: Warriors 120, Suns 118- The crowd at the Roaracle was roaring for this roaring festivity.
  

Can you believe that at the All-Star break the Warriors are a stunning 12 games over the .500 mark? Can you believe that the Warriors are only 4.5 games out of 1st place in the mighty West? Oh my. The rest of February, March, and April are going to make for some exciting times in Bay Area hoops. Let's see what's on tap for this week.

Tuesday, February 19: Warriors @ Jazz
The Dubs fly out to the venue of salty lakes to battle their nemesis the Utah Jazz. As we all know the Warriors haven't had much success against the Jazz dating back to last spring. The Jazz pretty much dominated the Warriors when they met earlier this season. It really didn't matter where they played the games:

• Oct 30, 2007 vs UTA L 96 - 117
• Nov 3, 2007 @ UTA L 110 - 133
  

Those 2 degrading losses and their aftershocks were a big reason for the 0-6 start to open this season. The Jazz have proven time and time again that they are the Warriors worst nightmare and a big reason is their one man wrecking crew at the 4 spot Carlos Boozer. He's just too big, fast, and strong for the Warriors inside. On opening night at the Roaracle Boozer terrorized the Warriors with 32 points and 15 boards. We know Boozer's a definite Warrior Killer, but what can they realistically do to try to contain him and force other Jazz players to beat them? Here's some ideas:

• Boozer isn't a top notch defender, so keep going at him on offense. Have Baron Davis and Monta Ellis attack him and try to rack up some fouls.
• Force the Jazz to guard Al Harrington with Boozer. This actually worked out for the Warriors in the 3rd game of the season when Al went off for a season high 38 points. Well okay the Warriors still got blown out, so maybe that's not the sole solution, but it's a start.
  
• Throw some 2-3 and 1-2-2 zones at the Jazz. Stacking the interior will turn Boozer into a jumpshooter. I'd rather have him launching jumpers from the elbow than driving and dominating inside.
  
• See if Chris Webber's quick hands and high hoops IQ can give Boozer some trouble. CWebb is the only member of this Warriors squad that has the size and strength to bang with Boozer in the post. It might be time to go retro on Tuesday night.
  

The Warriors have exactly one thing and only one thing going for them and that's they don't make any sense at all. One night they're picking up a bad loss in Houston and the next night they're dominating one of the best teams in the league on their home court. So, it's only fitting that I predict the unexpected.

Prediction: 1 more for the W column


Wednesday, February 20: Warriors vs Celtics
Last spring when Warriors Nation was dreaming about KG playing in front of hype crowds at the Roaracle, this wasn't what we were thinking. Earlier this season when the Dubs made the trip out to Boston, Kevin Garnett and the Celtics completely shut down their high octane offense. Every member of the Boston Three Party had a nice night on offense too. The Celtics are one of those rare Eastern Conference teams that are legitimately better than the Warriors and several other probable playoff teams in the West.

The Warriors and Celtics will both be playing this one on the second night of a back to back. Both teams will be a little fatigued, but hopefully the Warriors come out running. Speed is one of the few advantages the Warriors will have in this one. It might make sense to start out uber-small and open up with a lineup featuring Matt Barnes and Al Harrington at the big man spots. Run, run, and run!

Prediction: 1 more for the L column


Friday, February 22: Warriors vs Hawks
When I was on a conference call with Baron Davis a few months ago, one of the very astute bloggers in the group (haha, that automatically excludes me) asked him what team out there brought their A+ game and always gave the Warriors more trouble than they should when they squared off. Baron said the Altanta Hawks. In other words, Hawks : Warriors what Warriors : Mavericks. Don't be surprised if this game is much closer than you'd expect.

The Hawks shocked everyone over the weekend by pulling a off a trade for Sactown's favorite point guard Mike Bibby. This franchise takes a lot of hits from the media and fans, but you really have to give them their due for pulling that off. Bibby, block and steals machine Josh Smith, Stanford product Josh Childress, rookie big man stud Al Horford, and All-Star Joe Johnson could make some serious noise down the final stretch of this regular season and beyond.

On paper the Hawks look very impressive and this game should make for a fun Friday night outing here in the Bay Area. However, while the Hawks are still gelling and trying to find their new identity with Bibby, the Warriors will be hitting them in full force on all cylinders.

Prediction: 1 more for the W column


Overall Week 17 Prediction: 2-1


What are your predictions for week 17 for the Warriors?