Golden State Warriors' Theme Song: Linkin Park's "Breaking the Habit"

In a recent article I wrote on Don Nelson titled I Have Found Don Nelson's Theme Song, I suggested the song "Pardon Me" by the band Staind or "My Way" by Limp Bizkit, well I have also found the theme song for the Golden State Warriors. 

The song, Breaking The Habit. The reason being the lyrics just fit a young team perfectly.

"Memories consume 
Like opening the wound 
I'm picking me apart again 
You all assume 
I'm safe here in my room 
Unless I try to start again..."

The opening of the song can be attributed to a young player having too many things on their mind. Most of it having to do with lack of playing time, missed defensive assignments that lead to spending most of the game on the bench, getting into early foul trouble, etc......

"I don't want to be the one 
The battles always choose 
'Cause inside I realize 
That I'm the one confused"

Too me I can see one player on the Warriors that fits this mold and that is Anthony Morrow. After coming off his 37-point performance against the Clippers he did alright, and then Nelson stopped playing him.

It now seems that during that time he's gotten confused and no longer has the confidence to go out and shoot the ball. Especially after watching him last night against Portland, a game in which he only took one shot in just over 13 minutes on the floor. 

"I don't know what's worth fighting for 
Or why I have to scream 
I don't know why I instigate 
And say what I don't mean 
I don't know how I got this way 
I know it's not alright 
So I'm breaking the habit 
I'm breaking the habit tonight" 

At one point this season Don Nelson told Stephen Jackson that he has been the worst one on the court. Now I don't believe that Nelson really meant that, but he instigated the thought process of Jackson to stop taking the questionable shots and get better looks and if his wrist injury is having that effect on him maybe he should rest it. 

"Clutching my cure 
I tightly lock the door 
I try to catch my breath again 
I hurt much more 
Than anytime before 
I had no options left again..."

The Warriors had the cure for their problems with poor shot selection, someone who can handle the ball, and someone who's a leader, but team president Robert Rowell and team owner Chris Cohan were scared of the injury history of the player and let him sign elsewhere. 

The other cure was a younger player who they did sign to a contract extension, unfortunately they had no options for this player because he got injured in a moped accident hurting his ankle and has yet to play a game this year, but is supposed to be back soon. 

"I don't want to be the one 
The battles always choose 
'Cause inside I realize 
That I'm the one confused"

Even though I just mentioned Morrow's lack of confidence in shooting the ball, it could also be looked at as the team keeps making the same mistakes over and over on the defensive end that lead to easy, easy fast break points for opposing teams. 

For example, in last night's game on an in-bounds play, Jermareo Davidson didn't pay attention to Brandon Roy and all that had to be done is lob the ball up for a dunk by Roy. By the time the play developed, Andris Biedrins had no chance to break up the play. 

On the very next possession a poor pass that was easily intercepted led to another fast break and Travis Outlaw got the dunk. 

Lastly, the Warriors have been able to build big leads in the first and second quarters, but they continually give those leads away and end up losing because of their lack of effort in the third quarter. 

"I don't know what's worth fighting for 
Or why I have to scream 
I don't know why I instigate 
And say what I don't mean 
I don't know how I got this way 
I'll never be alright
So I'm breaking the habit 
I'm breaking the habit tonight" 

Again this could go back to Jackson and his questionable shot selection or Jackson stating that Baron Davis wants back to Golden State.  Nelson will not play young guys very many minutes either, which instigated trade rumors for not only Anthony Randolph, but Brandan Wright and Marco Belinelli. 

"I'll paint it on the walls 
'Cause I'm the one at fault 
I'll never fight again 
And this is how it ends"

Perfectly sums up the Warriors. They don't have any fight in them to keep leads and keep other teams from gaining momentum on them. Part of that is the fact that most of their games have been on the road, but the complete lack of effort from a team that is the youngest in the league is embarrassing.

"I don't know what's worth fighting for 
Or why I have to scream 
But now I have some clarity 
To show you what I mean 
I don't know how I got this way
I'll never be alright 
So I'm breaking the habit
I'm breaking the habit 
I'm breaking the habit tonight" 

Unfortunately, for the Warriors there's no easy fix and their habits defensively are not going to be fixed over night. This is why the Warriors need to fire Nelson and if they want Keith Smart then hire Keith Smart.  If they don't want Smart, put in an interim coach who will be better at motivating the team to play better defense and to hustle. 

"Breaking The Habit" is by Linkin Park. If you want to hear the song here's the YouTube clip of it live. Breaking The Habit.