Well, Look Who's Back

wjw415's comment:

jordan-esque

Jordan-esque... That's the first time I've seen that adjective used to describe Mike Dunleavy or his play.

To his credit, though, Dunleavy is having himself a career season, and a good one at that: 17.1 PPG, 49.2 FG%, 42.9 3P%, 5.7 REB, 3.1 AST. Nellie and Jim O’Brien run similar up-tempo, offense-geared systems, but Dunleavy never put up those gaudy numbers. It’s amazing to see how much a change of scenery helped him out.

Tomorrow night’s game marks the eve of the one year anniversary of the Trade. After that 8-player swap, the Warriors and Pacers went on a complete role-reversal. The Warriors reeled off a torrid streak that earned them an 8 seed, landing in the playoffs for the first time in 13 years. The Pacers spiraled into an 11 game losing streak beginning in February, knocking them out of a high seed in the East to a lottery slot (that went to the Atlanta Hawks). Talk about adding insult to injury.

Strangely enough, the Pacers come in with a mirror of the Warriors’ record: 16-21 vs 21-16. Hm.

Linkage:
Parting was sweet for Dunleavy and Warriors [Janny Hu]
More self-analysis from Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy [Janny Hu]
Q&A: Indy Cornrows (Part 1 of 2) [Golden State of Mind]

Quiet Storm Hits the Bay

No, I'm not talking about the torrential rains that plagued California for the past few days.



The Warriors called up CJ "Quiet Storm" Watson from Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Hopefully, he's another Kelenna Azubuike-like gem in point guard form. The Warriors signed him to a 10-day contract, but if he's anything like Kaz in terms of undiscovered talent, then that Warriors have found themselves a suitable, long-term backup to Baron Davis.

Watson put up nice numbers in his time in the D-League this season:

In 16 games with the Vipers this season, Watson averaged 26.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game. In his last game against the Austin Toros, the point guard finished with 42 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists in a closely contested double overtime loss.

Marcus Thompson says that Watson won't play tonight against the Spurs, but he'll be in town.

Patrick Willis Wins Defensive Rookie of the Year

Congratulations to Willis!

Willis won DROY in a landslide vote, earning 48 of 50 votes from AP members. He was a beast this season, notching double-digit tackles in 11 games and generally making his presence known on the field.

"It's confirmation of what you've been doing as an individual," Willis said. " From an individual perspective, it would be good for people that doubted, or didn't know if you could be a No. 1 draft pick, or if you could come into the league and do well because of your size or where you might have played ball at ... and show them that if you put your mind to it, you're capable of anything."

Willis is certainly capable of earning more hardware this year. With 174 tackles, 4 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 5 deflected passes, he has a shot at winning Defensive Player of the Year. Though Bob Sanders is most likely to win the award, I'm sure the AP writers are at least considering Willis for it.

With one award under his belt and a Pro-Bowl appearance coming up, Patrick Willis already has an impressive career, and one that 49ers fans hope he continues for a long time.

[SFGate]

Rivalry!

Well, the Warriors just got beat down by the Mavericks 99-121 in Big D, but so what? The Mavericks are still an unsightly 3-6 over the past two and a quarter seasons. Now that they have somewhat figured out a way to beat the Warriors, this could actually become a real rivalry. After all, it's not fun not being challenged once in a while.

Just in case you forgot:

Sounding Off 2007: Part 2

San Francisco 49ers

Drafting Patrick Willis and Joe Staley: One is the leader of the NFL in tackles and is a defensive workhorse every single game. The other won a starting job and ousted Kwame Harris from his and is one of the lone bright spots on the offensive line. If there was a draft do-over, I'd take these same two guys.

The "sexy" pick: After witnessing a two game surge, including a win over the Broncos to knock them out of the playoffs, to bring the 49ers' record to 7-9, many sportswriters chose the Niners as the playoff darkhorse. It was logical to think that way: Alex Smith's improvement, the wide array of offensive weapons, including new players such as Ashley Lelie and Darrell Jackson, and a strengthened defense with Nate Clements. Hell, one writer had the 49ers going to the SuperBowl.

Alex Smith: Two ugly wins, a separated shoulder, and a well-chronicled clash with Mike Nolan. 2007 was not good to Smith.

Mike Nolan: The hiring of Jim Hostler, questionable in-game decisions, and constant criticizing by the media. 2007 was not good to Nolan, either.

The emergence of Shaun Hill: For two and a half games, Niners fans saw a glimmer of what might have been. Hill, the third-string QB with not one pass in the NFL, led the team to a brief two-game winning streak. He connected with his receivers (even Darrell Jackson), showed great poise, field vision, and mobility out of the pocket (even against Tampa Bay), and threw passes reminiscent of the glory days of the West Coast offense. Though two games is in unbelievably small sample size, Nolan has already stated that Hill is a candidate for the starting spot next season.

San Jose Sharks

Failure to make it past the 2nd round. Again: After beating the Nashville Predators 4-1, the Sharks went on to face the Detroit Red Wings, one of the few teams with the ability to outplay the Sharks consistently. The Sharks took a 2-1 lead, only to allow a gametying goal in Game 4 and then lose in overtime. The Sharks dropped the next two in a row, falling out of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Sharks win the 2008 Stanley Cup: Joe Thornton also wins the Conn Smith Trophy. Wait, what? This is only a simulation? Somebody obviously forgot to tell Los Tiburones in the beginning of the season, when they mailed it in almost every other game.

One number one: The Sharks traded Vesa Toskala and Mark Bell to the Toronto Maple for a 1st, 2nd, and 4th round draft picks, which eventually netted them Logan Couture, and 18 year old center.

Schizophrenia: Home- 6-9-3. Road- 16-3-2. 'Nuff said.

Signs Point to Nolan Staying

After two days of talks with the DeBartolo-Yorks, Mike Nolan will still be the head coach of the 49ers, although stripped of some power. He will no longer have the final say in personnel decisions, and his role as GM will probably transfer to Scot McCloughan.

From Yahoo! Sports:

Mike Nolan will keep his job as the coach of the San Francisco 49ers but will relinquish final say over personnel decisions, Yahoo! Sports has learned.

After two days of deliberation, 49ers owners John and Denise DeBartolo York decided Tuesday to retain Nolan, who has two years left on the five-year contract he signed before the 2005 season. His 16-32 record over three seasons, including a 5-11 mark in '07, put his job in jeopardy, and he will likely make changes to his coaching staff.

Personally, I think this is a good decision on the owners' part. It is unreasonable to believe that a non-Walsh coach could turn around a beleaguered franchise in the space of 3 years, just as it is unreasonable to fire said coach for failing to do so in 3 years.

Anyways, according to Matt Maiocco, the 49ers will hold a post-season press conference tomorrow morning to release the details about Nolan's role and the plan for next season. Hopefully the conference will tie up all the loose ends and finally bring a close to the tension. After all, it doesn't take 2 days to fire somebody, right?

Sounding Off 2007

On the very last night of 2007, TFRJ would like to look back and remember the past 364 days of this eventful year. Here is a list of the most defining moments of Bay Area sports of Oh-Seven:

San Francisco Giants

Opening Day: The sun was shining, the ballpark pristine and packed, the beginning of the last year for one of baseball’s greatest hitters. Barry Zito, inked to a $126-million contract over the winter, took the mound as the Giants’ ace versus the Padres’ Jake Peavy in a potential pitching duel. Alas, Zito gave up three runs in a 5 inning stint, but the bullpen choked up another 4 runs, all the while Peavy and crew shut out the Giants. If nothing else, opening day was a sign of things to come.

1-hit loss: Matt Cain gives up one hit and one run on a questionable triple through 7 solid innings and then proceeds to lose the game. One of the many disasters in an unlucky season for Cain.

200-innings loss: Matt Cain goes another 7 strong innings, striking out 8 and earning the honor of a 200-inning season under his belt. He also ingratiates himself even more in Giants fans’ hearts, barking at Scott Hairston for a cocky bat-flip. The Giants led 4-2 through 8 innings, with Brian Wilson closing it out. Wilson gives up 4 runs, stemming from a single to Brady Clark, a walk to Oscar Robles, and then a home run to Brian Giles, which travels all the way up the wall in right field. The Giants go down harmlessly in the bottom of the ninth.

KKKKKKKKKKKK: Count ‘em. Twelve K’s by Tim Lincecum in a 7 inning shutout masterpiece against the Diamondbacks. Fortunately, his gem coincided with a rare offensive explosion by the Giants, winning 13-0 on the fine day of strikeouts by fastball, curve, and change.

It be Mando-time: Walk, balk, bunt, balk, home run, loss. Goodbye Benitez!

Golden State Warriors

The Trade: On January 14, the Warriors pulled off the impossible: shipping Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy and their bloated contracts to a sucker who fell for the hook, line, and sinker. In return, the Warriors received Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington, two misfits in Indiana who instantly found a home in Nelliball, in the ROARacle, and in thousands upon thousands of Warriors fans’ hearts.

Looks like the whole gang’s here: Mired in a 6 game losing streak and facing the Pistons on the road, the Warriors’ season looked bleak and lottery-bound, when

…Dris got a reverse lay-in, to the wonderment of all,
JRich, the much beloved, shot lights-out with the 3-ball;
Monta, Al, and S-Jax got the shots they took to fly and then drop in.
And Baron, the returning Warrior, willed his team to grab the win.

And from the Bay there rose a culminating yell,
It rumbled through dear Oaktown, it rattled in San Rafael;
It knocked upon The City and recoiled in San Jose,
For finally, yes finally, things were goin’ the Warriors’ way.

The Series: 6 games. 5 starters. 4 wins. 3 nights in the loudest building on the planet. 2 stars, one former and one current, humiliated. 1 drought snapped, much to the delight of the denizens of Northern California.

The Dunk: Put that in your flat top!



The 49ers and the Sharks’ most defining moments coming up tomorrow!

From here at the Front-Row, have a very Happy New Year!