Baron Davis. I seriously love Baron Davis.
And no, this did not just start recently, when everyone in America finally took notice of his natural talent and jumped on the Warriors' bandwagon.
I would say the day the Warriors acquired Baron Davis, I became his number one fan.
I instantly bought his jersey, and was ecstatic that a player of Baron's caliber was on my little shitty Warriors team. He was our star; no longer was the face of the Warriors Todd Fuller—it was Baron freakin' Davis.
Fast forward to the past few weeks, and Davis' blowup in the playoffs. Did it surprise me? No—he always had the ability and swagger of a first-team NBA player, if not for his persistent injury problems.
But something hit a nerve in Game Two against the Jazz last night. Baron Davis—the leader of our team—went to the line with 15 seconds left and the Warriors up one.
Who else would we rather have on the hot seat?
But Baron missed his second attempt. If he'd hit it—a 15-foot, unobstructed gimmie—he would have essentially won the game and tied the series for my Warriors.
Instead, Deron Williams hit an easy jumper and the Jazz went on to win in overtime, just as any home playoff team should.
Let me reiterate this fact for you, in case you missed it: Baron missed his second free throw. Missed it.
No All-Star, leader, or big-time player misses a free throw with the game on the line. Anybody who knows basketball knows it's unacceptable. And even though Baron scored a game-high 36 points, it was that one miss that mattered most.
I will continue to live and die by Baron Davis, as I have done since the Warriors traded for him. I just hope that everyone realizes that this missed shot was the biggest shot he has taken thus far in the playoffs.
And, not to beat a dead horse—but minutes earlier, with the Warriors up one, Andris Biedrins went to the stripe for two very crucial free throws. He and his league-worst free throw percentage manned up and nailed both shots.
Baron Davis is without question our best player, and without him we wouldn't have even made the playoffs. I know this. And I love the man. But his missing a free to throw to lose a game still makes me sick a day later.
The Warriors are now on their way back home to the Bay, where I expect the boys to light up the Jazz with the help of raw energy from our dedicated fans. Let's hope that we can put Game Two behind us—and that when the time comes, Baron is ready to hit his next big shot.
comments (8) write a comment »
write a new comment
about 1 year ago
This was a team failure down the stretch as a number of players missed free throws in the 4th quarter, including J-Rich and Pietrus (the most egregious, missing two up by 3 with 0:16 left).
Good news is there's no reason why the Warriors shouldn't be able to take advantage of their home crowd and head back to Utah 2-2.
about 1 year ago
Agree 100%. There is no reason we will not win both at home. Although check out Bill Simmons article
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/blog/index?name=simmons
Makes some good points on why we will lose...
about 1 year ago
I found it strange how Jason Richardson, the best free throw shooter on the team, ended up looking like Shaq last night while Biedrins, the teams worst shooter, clutched up and looked like Reggie Miller.
Seriously though: the Warriors blew it, plain and simple, for the second straight game and missed free throws were the primary culprit. It was hugely disappointing for any Warriors fan and I myself am I very unhappy camper right now, as the Warriors could easily be up 2-0 coming back to the Oakland.
On the other hand, I don't think its fair to attribute the 0-2 deficit to Baron Davis, who after all has single handedly gotten the Warriors to where they are right now. As you said John, we have to live and die with Baron Davis and he can't clutch up in every single game. Even MJ missed free throws at the end of games once in awhile...
about 1 year ago
Well, when had Davis even been accused of being a clutch player? Still, he's done a good enough job on offense to pace Golden State, and his play isn't the problem for the Warriors.
You give props for Utah's veterans like Okur, Fisher, and Kirilenko for making tons of huge plays in crunch time. You fault Al Harrington for being a chump throughout this postseason. You fault Stephen Jackson for constantly arguing with refs while his team should be playing defense. And you understand that if you are going to go small, yes it may create oportunuties for you to exploit an opponent using speed, but it will render you helpless to rebound and defend the post against a team with adequate size.
And I'd like to point out, it's a shame Boozer and Williams play in a small market and play in a system that isn't "fan freindly" because those two players are blossoming into great players and leaders right before our eyes. Now they need to lay the hammer down...
about 1 year ago
Also got pinned to the sideline and stepped out of bounds. We'll bounce back tonight, no worries.
about 1 year ago
And a nice rebound performance by Baron and the Warriors in Game 3.
about 1 year ago
Gimme a break. One blown free throw around which to base a post? Get a life.
about 1 year ago
He redeemed himself in Game 3.
write a new comment