Twenty the Hard Way

I thought we started out the game great, the first six or eight minutes. Then, I thought we got infatuated with scoring, and it became a scoring contest. I thought our bench came in and had that feeling. Our bench has been phenomenal all year; [last] night, I thought they came in with the thought they were going to try to score. And that's when Golden State got going.

--Doc

During the playoffs last year, Sam Cassell was asked what it takes to make the bench effective.

"Twenty points" was his answer.

Other than the double-digit loss to Indiana, where the bench scored 20 because they saw more garbage time than usual, Sam's Golden Rule has held true. The bench scores 20 and we either win or win big. We don't score 20 and we either lose or struggle.

Last night the bench shot an abysmal 4-12, but still managed to post 20 points, as Tony Allen, Leon Powe, and Glen Davis converted 13 freebies.

Collectively, however, the bench was -21 as a unit.

For the year, Tony Allen and Leon Powe are a combined +10 on the year. The rest of the bench, along with Kendrick Perkins, are in negative territory.

Doc seems to be suggesting above that the bench does best when it lets its defensive play fuel its offense. When the opposite is true, the Green Team again struggles.

Interesting.