Golden State Warriors Need a Change of Philosophy in the New Year

It's time for a change in philosophies for the Golden State Warriors. Too much of the season has relied on Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette (when healthy), and Jamal Crawford taking their defender off the dribble with no passes going for a mid-range jumper. 

Well the fact is that Maggette is now hurt, he maybe coming back soon, but even then he had a hard time making his shots due to the partially torn hamstring he has suffered. Stephen Jackson has either been terrific when he's making his jumpers or just plain horrible when he's not on there's no in between. 

Lastly, Jamal Crawford...Now, here's a guy who can score the ball and he does have a pretty nice looking jumper the problem is he's never been one to shoot for a high percentage shot because unlike Monta he fires at will instead of taking the ball to the rim where he's a decent finisher. 

So here it goes. Crawford, as a Warrior, in 19 games, his shooting percentage is at 40.4 percent, Jackson is even worse at 38.4 percent, and Corey Maggette when he was playing was at 41.3 percent. 

Crawford takes 15 shots per game, Jackson is at 17, and Maggette is at 14. So, there's a question that has to be asked to Don Nelson? Why not involve your best low post player in Andris Biedrins? 

Biedrins by his standard is having an off-year in terms of field-goal percentage, too, but it's hard to fault a guy for having a down year when he's still shooting 54.7 percent from the floor. 

From what I've watched from the Warriors, it's been helpful to get the ball inside to Biedrins because not only has he improved his post game, he's become an excellent passer. The only problem for Biedrins this year though he's missed some easy shots that her normally makes in his sleep. 

I don't know if his problem is that he knows he's open so he tries too hard to make it because usually in the game there's been a player that he's run over that's drawn an offensive foul on him, but I don't think that should affect him when he's missing layups that last year he made with no problems. 

Even with that, I'll take Biedrins missing some layups because it means he still has a chance for an offensive rebound and eventually those shots he's missing are going to start falling and his points are going to go up. 

For Biedrins, he's strong at going to his strong hands side which is his left hand, but lately he seems to have worked on his right hand as well, which will even make him more effective in the post. 

Lastly, when the ball is in the post it usually draws a double team where the Warriors have been able to swing the ball and hit their wide-open shooters—shooters like Marco Belinelli, Kelenna Azubuike, and C.J. Watson.

When the defense doesn't get over in time for those open shooters, it leaves a lane to the basket for lay up opportunities. The Warriors still should look to push, but if it's not there slow it down and get the ball to Biedrins. 

I have a hard time understanding how the Warriors do not do that. In the Lakers game Biedrins had 15 rebounds in the first half, but finished with only 17 rebounds. Why? Because Nelson took him out I do realize he got into early foul trouble, but there's no excuse for Biedrins playing only 25.5 minutes considering the Warriors needed to rebound the ball.

Nelson continues to make questionable decisions and it seems like nothing is going to change. I do see Biedrins becoming more effective down low but not because the Warriors are going to feed him in the post, but with the return of Monta Ellis which should be within the next two weeks.

With Ellis attacking the rim, it should draw defenders to him for easy passes to Biedrins for layups. Most importantly for Biedrins to even become more effective is he still needs to work on his free-throw shooting.