Warriors Absolutely Embarrassed by Bulls

Mar 15, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) watches as Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah (13) scores during the first period at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

If you wanted to watch a bad basketball team, all you had to do was tune in to the Warriors game tonight.

For a team fighting to maintain a playoff spot and needing every single win, their effort and performance against the Bulls on Friday night was abysmal, embarrassing, and pathetic.

The final score was 113-95 in favor of the Bulls, but that doesn’t necessarily reflect how poorly the Warriors played.

I’ll start you off with these plus-minus stats: Joakim Noah +36, Carlos Boozer +32…Stephen Curry -32, Klay Thompson -34, David Lee -30.

Joe Lacob, take a good, hard look at those numbers, because that’s the core of your team for the forseeable future.

Curry and Thompson were especially horrific tonight. The tandem that combines to score 38 points a game dropped a weak 15 on the Bulls, and combined to make a grand total of zero 3-pointers. In fact, as Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle points out, “a fan chosen for an on-court promotion between Friday’s third and fourth quarters actually made a three-pointer before the Warriors connected on one.”

The Warriors go as their jump shots go, and if they’re not connecting from the perimeter, you might as well as just call the game right there and then.

What other choice do they have? They have absolutely no reliable big men who can muscle their way and score down low, and that showed tonight. Andrew Bogut attempted one field goal the entire game and finished with one point and a plus-minus rating of -25 in just 17 minutes, another poor showcase from the Warriors supposed “franchise center.” Festus Ezeli is afraid to shoot the ball, and on several occasions looked rather tentative when he had a wide open shot. Andris Biedrins is the only other center on the roster, and well, he’s Andris Biedrins.

Don’t even get me started about defense, which the Warriors have amazingly never learned how to play, even after all these years. Boozer was probably licking his chops when he saw Lee would be matched up against him, as he hit shot after shot over Lee, who simply looked helpless. The Bulls put on a clinic on how to run a half-court offense, with beautifully designed plays and perfectly set-up screens, leading to wide open jump shots. But of course, it isn’t that difficult against a team like the Warriors.

Bottom line, the Warriors played like crap tonight, or if you want to state it in a more respectful manner: they played like the Warriors of the past 13 years.

Mark my words: if they continue down the road they’ve been driving for the last month or so, the Warriors will not be making the postseason.