The Warriors lost another last second nail biter, which nowadays feels like a "win" when blowouts had become a regular thing. The Warriors rookies provided some feeling of relief in what looked to be a blowout in the making as Ekpe Udoh and Jeremy Lin, checking in with the Warriors down 7, jump started a run that even had the Warriors up by 4 at one point. Udoh, although accumulating 4 fouls in 25 minutes of action, looked to be a solid defender who seems to know his assignments and fared well against savvy big men in Luis Scola and Brad Miller.
Udoh and the Warriors face off against their northern California rivals in the Sacramento Kings in what should be called the "Lottery Bowl" where losing might be the more prized goal even at this stage of the season. The Kings, sitting at 5-20, have completely underwhelmed and the duo of Tyreke Evans and Demarcus Cousins, right now, is looking about as exciting as the proposed Larry Hughes and Antawn Jamison duo of the Warriors lightening bolt era. Both Evans and Cousins have been heavily cited by media as having on-and-off-court troubles, which oddly make the Warriors own sophomore-rookie injury combo in Stephen Curry and Udoh much more manageable.
With that said, the battle between rookies and sophomores will probably have to wait as CSN Bay Area's Jaymee Sires reports that Curry says he's most likely out until Christmas. I'm thinking Curry is doing this purposely to be a "present" for the fans that day. But my assumption is Keith Smart will limit Udoh's minutes and like any young rookie big man, will probably be fouling as rapidly as DeMarcus Cousins, who currently leads the league in fouls per game and possibly per minute. Perhaps more important of a battle is which rookie can stay on the court more?
Here's what CSN Bay Area Matt Steinmetz had to say about the two rookies:
--DeMarcus Cousins: This guy is one-man dramatic theater, what with the facial expressions, body contortions and overall immaturity. At the same time, Cousins is immensely talented, which will make him a handful for the Warriors.
--Ekpe Udoh: Udoh finally got some playing time on Monday night against the Rockets and, not coincidentally, he gave the Warriors something. It sure looks like Udoh will be able to rebound, and his effort on defense is quite noticeable.
Which one looks better to you?Apparently fans over at Golden State of Mind know what they wanted.