Warriors 08-09 Schedule Released

The Warriors released their schedule for the upcoming season. Considering the flurry of moves made in the offseason, it definitely provides some intrigue as to when former Warriors players come back to the Oracle with their new teams.

Some quick observations:

1. Twenty-four of the first 38 games are roadies. The 07-08 Warriors played surprisingly well on the road, compiling a 21-20 record. We don't know how this new team will fare on the road, especially with the loss of Baron Davis, but it shouldn't be utterly lost. Corey Maggette played better on the road than at home last season, though his splits have been inconsistent throughout his career.

The upside of a top-heavy schedule is that it must be balanced somewhere else. In this case, January and February are relatively easy months, featuring an 8-game homestand in January and only 2 road games in February. If this Warriors team can truly contend, those are the two months in which to make a playoff push.

2. March and April. If you take a quick glance at the last half of March and onward, you would probably cringe. At first glance, it does look pretty brutal, especially the 4-game roadie featuring New Orleans, San Antonio, Dallas, and Denver. Contrary to instinct, though, the March-April run is very beneficial to the Warriors.

Most of the opponents are non-bubble teams -- teams who have already clinched a playoff spot or very close to doing so -- meaning they most likely will rest their best players to preserve them for the post-season. In other words, regular season games aren't too high on the priority list anymore. Whereas a bubble team will fight tooth and nail for every regular season game to clinch a spot, making itself a difficult opponent.

Here's how the last 18 games break down:

8 games against non-bubble teams: Lakers, Sixers, Hornets 2x, Spurs 2x, Rockets, Jazz
4 games against non-contenders: Grizzlies, Kings 2x, T'Wolves
6 games against bubble teams: Mavericks 2x, Suns 2x, Clippers, Nuggets

Though the 6 NB teams won't likely be playing for anything, those games don't automatically qualify as a win, especially for the Warriors. Still, the Warriors have more than their fair chance to win the game. The 4 games against NC teams are must-wins, as always. The schedule against bubble teams slightly tilts in the Warriors favor. Half of the games are at home, and only one of the games is on the back end of a back-to-back.

So, if I had to break the 08-09 schedule into three chunks, I would say hectic for the first two months, relaxed for the next two, and then full-out stretch run for the last.

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In non-Warriors news, Giants' management nearly lost Sergio Romo to another team thanks to their ignorance of waiver rules and signed supplemental draft pick Conor Gillaspie.

On Monday, a Wichita, Kan.-based NBC news affiliate reported Gillaspie had agreed to a pro contract with the Giants that included a $975,000 signing bonus and other incentives.

Amazingly, I believe these two events happened on the same day. God forbid the Giants sign Gillaspie and then DFA him.

The Giants have yet to sign the other 3 of their top 4 picks, though Sabean assures that they will sign by the deadline.