Renderings of the New Golden State Warriors' San Francisco Arena.

The Golden State Warriors will be moving back to San Francisco in 2017 when their lease in Oracle Arena at Oakland expires. I am going to miss the Roaracle, but if the new arena looks anything remotely close to the renderings released by the Official Warriors website, then I am all for it. More photos after the jump.

Those t-shirts jerseys better not be a thing in 2017, the NBA can't let that happen. Seriously. 

Here's the coolest part of the whole thing, you will be able to see San Francisco's Bay Bridge from the arena. So if you are bored at a Warriors game, you can always look up to watch cars drive by. Entertainment at its finest. 

Jarrett Jack Video Bombs Klay Thompson's Post Game Interview.

On the biggest night of his young career, where Klay Thompson goes off for a career high 32 points on 6 of 8 from the three and 7 rebounds. Jarrett Jack pulls a Chris Bosh in the sophomore gunner's post game interview to steal the spotlight in a familiar fashion. Just like Bosh, Jack puts up great numbers when he is needed to and leaves a huge impact on the game. The back up guard stepped up for 26 points (11 of 18) and 12 assists in place of the injured Stephen Curry in the victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. He is one of more under appreciated, core guys on their team and he just want some attention, even if it means pretend-fan girling over his teammate's performance.

Move over Robert Sacre, Kent Bazemore is now the best NBA peerleader.

I bet this dude is great at parties. He can sing and dance too.

Sorry Robert, you had a good run, but the Yosemite Sam guns and karate chops just don't do it anymore.

NBA Christmas Carols - Golden State Warriors Edition.

Just a suggestion, maybe switch Klay Thompson's reindeer antlers for Festus Ezeli's Santa Hat. There is an obvious head size difference with Klay's being abnormally small. It is great that they allowed a 13 year old to sing along too, wait that's Stephen Curry. My bad, at least I know my lyrics to Jingle Bells.

This is a sub-par submission to my NBA Christmas Carol Power Rankings, so it will fall right in front of the Lakers and behind the Mavericks, Rockets, Timberwolves and Nuggets.

There is only 5 days left, the rest of the NBA better put in more effort into this.

The Golden State Warriors' success and the Heat's return.

Golden State Warriors 97 - Miami Heat 95

The Good

Warriors: This TLC group are no scrubs and neither are the rest of the Warriors. It is always great to see a team exceed the expectations that the NBA subliminally sets in our minds. If you follow NBA basketball at any time, you would know what I mean. Surprises are rare and miracles always come to an early end. Prior to the start of this season, Golden State was considered a borderline playoff team in the West. The pick was based on the assumption that Andrew Bogut would return and provide the defense this team has been missing since ever. But fast forward two months later into the season, the Warriors are playing solid defense, their record stands at 15-7 and they are doing it all without Andrew Bogut, who is out indefinitely.

Despite the failure Mark Jackson had in the first year as the head coach, he has turned this team around. He instilled a defensive principle and learned to utilize his personnel to the best of their abilities. His team by no means are a defensive juggernaut. Hell, they don't even have a designated stopper, yet they make up for it with effort. A few weeks ago, I was laughing at David Lee's lateral movement, and now he actually looks decent. They are committed on this end on the floor as well as the other. The best thing is that there is nothing spectacular about it either, they just talk and help each other out.

The potential of this team is almost sky-high, you have a soon to be best back court of the league, with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. A David Lee in his prime to compliment them. I think Lee is among the league's current greatest stretch four, with the likes of Marc Gasol and Joakim Noah. The rookies have a lot of work to do, but they are good fits. Festus Ezeli stands out above all though, he has this Serge Ibaka thing going on that I really like. He reads the offense well, has the quickness to respond and doesn't fall for every single pump fake. He could become a steal if he develops any offensive game. And since you can never count out the importance of the veterans, Jarrett Jack is the perfect guy to teach the young guards of the team, even though he does those unpredictable Westbrook-esque pull ups.

Heat: The defense that once made them champions is in a process of coming back together. After the impressive ass-whooping from the New York Knicks, they are finally playing with a purpose. It helps that Shane Battier is back, even if he is still recovering from his injury because he is key in Miami's defensive scheme. They did two things particularly well, they clogged up the paint and took Stephen Curry out of his offensive flow, but there is a trade off that ended up hurting them, which I will explain in the other section.

Offensively, they are a totally different team when Ray Allen is on. The ball moves around and players cut. Without him, everyone stands around and waits for either LeBron or Wade to create for them. Bosh was huge in stretches and bailed them out a few times.

The Bad

Warriors: They played a great game, there is not much bad you can take away. They didn't shoot terribly, or got out rebounded and there were only 13 turnovers. The Heat wanted this game and the fact they pulled it out in someone else's house is remarkable.

Heat: When you focus your defense on a particular player, there is always a trade off. And whether a team is able to take advantage will determine the results. In this case, the target was Stephen Curry. Even before tip-off, Miami's intention was to prevent Curry from shooting at all costs. While the game plan worked, it completely ignored his under-appreciated passing ability.

Golden State read this early too. They spaced the floor with their shooters for Curry, so he could get a good look at his surroundings and make the right pass before the Heat commences with his ancient Egyptian burial. This is a considerable amount of risk for the Heat, because if Curry manages to kick the ball out, it leaves his teammates wide open for a jumper. For the past couple games, Miami's biggest issue on the defense was getting out to shooters, something they sacrifice due to their worry over dribble penetration. And it remains unsolved. There were multiple possessions where I caught guys giving up after the screen. They just stopped and watched as their responsibility knock down easy shots. Winning requires effort and Miami have not worked all 48 minutes.

The Round Up - November 1st, 2012.

Stats Rundown

Dwyane Wade shuts all the basketball critics up, 34 points (14 of 20 shooting), 7 assists and the W over the Brooklyn Nets.

Honorable Mention: Tony Parker takes out the Memphis Grizzlies with 30 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists.

Boards: Side Show Varejao can not be stopped, grabbing 17 rebounds (8 Offensive) to go with his 19 points (7 of 11 shooting) and 5 assists in the double overtime loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Block Party: More Larry Sanders, after getting his first career triple double against the Minnesota Timberwolves (10 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks), he registered 5 blocks, 18 points (7 of 11) and 16 boards in the victory over the Boston Celtics.

Rookie Watch: Damian Lillard stays at the top of the ROY running as long as Anthony Davis sits, 24 points, 6 rebounds and 11 assists against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Time Machine User: Tim Duncan definitely slept well, 27 points (11 of 17 shooting), 15 rebounds and 4 assists in the overtime victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. I guess $250K is worth it, if it means beating the Grizzlies.

Bulls Face: This is actually pretty scary.(Via: @TajGibson22)

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery: The highlight not the actual shot, it's Draymond Green. The rookie is real eager to learn from Jarrett Jack.

Blake Face: While we are still on the subject of faces, this is a familiar one if you happened to have caught a few Clippers games in the recent seasons. (Via: @cjzero)

Sorry: Of course days after I made fun of Dwyane Wade, he comes back and catches the basketball in the air to humiliate Kris Humphries.

Paying Early: Weird game for Nicholas Batum, from missing two dunks in the first half to knocking down a shot to bring his team to double over time, where he hits the game winning three.

Notes: Denver Nuggets vs. Golden State Warriors [11/29/12]

Golden State Warriors 106 - Denver Nuggets 105

The Good

Warriors: They managed to put together a strong enough defensive effort in the 4th quarter to comeback for the victory. The offense was not a problem in the 1st quarter. They were hitting everything in sight, until other quarters came along, and they couldn't put anything in the basket. Here's the problem, the Warriors are a jump shooting team. Without Andrew Bogut, the only option inside is David Lee. Stephen Curry and Lee's two man game can be at times overwhelming for some teams, as Lee is very capable of being an offensive juggernaut. However, on nights without a massive game from the lefty, Golden State relies on the shooting of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, who hasn't given a consistent output. These two are of the few most dangerous shooters that can hit a barrage of shots in any given night, at the same time, they can also take you out of the game.

Luckily it didn't happen tonight, in the fourth quarter of this game, Klay Thompson came back to life and brought the energy back to the rest of his guys. The sudden outburst of effort on both ends on the floor caught the Denver Nuggets off guard and they crumbled in crunch time.

Nuggets: Kenneth Faried. This guy just does everything right, he might not always show up on the box score with huge numbers, but I can guarantee you that every second he is on the basketball floor, he is going to give you a 100 percent. He never gives up on a play, he will hustle back on defense even if he didn't get an offensive opportunity and will impact the shot on the other end. I think he pinned like 4 warriors shots against the backboard.

Danilo Gallinari looks like he finally found his stroke, hitting 3 of Denver's total 10 three pointers on the night. The Nuggets need his shooting to space the floor, with Ty Lawson struggling early in the season, he needs help. If his teammates can hit shots, it will open up the lanes for the little guy to attack the basket, if not he can still kick out to get other guys going.

The Bad

Warriors: Let's face it, GSW is not a great defensive team (Yes, they have dramatically improved this season compared to the last - it is still too early to tell though), they can go from holding their own for a few good stretches, to getting ripped apart like Christmas presents. Individually, if you look at the roster, there are a lot of liabilities. The starting back court can improve, Curry has good hands, and Thompson has the length. The rest of the team, is a bit worrisome. I am going by minutes here, Carl Landry is undersized, David Lee moves like his legs are chained to a ton of cement blocks and Andris Biedrins is genetically incapable of staying in front of his man.

Andrew Bogut is the potential solution. He is, when healthy, one of the best current defending big man (there is not a lot of them). What he is missing in athleticism, he makes up for with smarts and width. The best thing is that, he can help on offense as well, like every foreign center, he is very adept to the pick and roll, can stretch the floor with his mid range shooting and pass the ball effectively. His skill set will heavily benefit the shooters of the this team and make the Warrior half court sets better.

Nuggets: Like their opponents, Denver is not great in the half court. While they can score seamlessly in transition, they cannot for some reason find a way to execute a play. If they can not get a shot off early with their quick ball movement, they will usually take up the shot clock and throw up a tough one (see Andre Igoudala. He really needs to take shots closer to the paint). A lot of this has to do with Ty Lawson, as the point guard he can't seem to navigate as smoothly as he did last year. Hopefully, this issue will fix itself, or Andre Miller is going to take his minutes.

On the other end, their defense was lacking, rotations were especially slow in the 1st and 4th quarter.
Also, Andre Miller completely botched the inbound pass for their last possession. (Jarrett Jack of GSW did too, it just wasn't as critical).

The Feed: Golden State Warriors vs. Oklahoma City Thunder [11/18/12]

Recap:

The Oklahoma City Thunder electrocuted the Golden State Warriors, 119 to 109 in a memorable night for Kevin Durant. The three time scoring champion registered his first career triple double, finishing with 25 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. His fellow All-Star teammate, Russell Westbrook added 30 points, 7 assists and 5 steals.

It was clear from the start, the Warriors had no answers for the duo. The mismatches in all positions, plus the lack of a consistent defensive effort, allowed their opponents to score at will. The offense (24th in the league) was not particularly great either, Klay Thompson (4 points, 2 of 8 shooting in 23 minutes) has not taken the extra step that was expected from his surprising rookie campaign. Stephen Curry led his team with 22 points (9 of 17 shooting. 4of 8 from the three) and 6 assists. He kept his team in the game for the second half, but the missing help from his teammates failed to make a late comeback run.

The Thunder shot lights out from behind the arc, hitting 13 of their 20 attempts (65%). And they have Kevin Martin to thank for it. The unorthodox shooter knocked down 5 three pointers for his total 23 points. Despite shooting 52 percent from the field, the Golden State Warriors just could not get a stop. If they want to take the next step, into a future playoff bracket, coach Mark Jackson has find a way to manage the offensive talents (there's a lot of them) on his team, and make them play defense.

Offensive End:

This is OKC, and their identity is Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. If it is not drawing defenders for a kick out, they will find their own way to get buckets. Russell Westbrook destroyed Stephen Curry today, he posted him up, facialed him multiple times with his patent transition 15 foot pull up and got pass him whenever he wanted.

Shots were just not falling for GSW in the first half, they had a lot of open looks, but they failed to capture it. Stephen Curry and David Lee got going in the second half. After the break, the Warriors ran a lot of off ball screens to free Curry of Russell Westbrook for open shots. David Lee was more comfortable against Thunder's interior defense, he had 19 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

Golden State has a lot of trouble with half court sets, especially in the first half. They couldn't score unless it was early in the shot clock against an unsettled defense. It got better in the second though.

The second unit led by Jarrett Jack is more patient, and attacked the basket often. They totaled 58 points in the paint to Thunder's 32, which doesn't happen often for a jump shooting team like the Warriors.

Defensive End:

The Thunder weren't that great defensively today, they did get lazy when they got a huge lead and allowed the Warriors to sneak back in within 10. They basically won by being better at trading baskets.

The Warriors defense needs work, none of the starters can hold their own against the Thunder's 5. this maybe an age issue, hopefully they will improve as the season goes by.

Notes:

• Jeremy Lamb has a ridiculously small head, what a creepy head to body ratio. And he has those T-Mac tired eyes, except his eyes are a lot bigger, we are talking Tarsier big. 
• Let me show you:

I know, I can't tell the difference either.

The Golden State Warriors's Rookie Initiation is always fun.

The Golden State Warriors always welcome the fans in their open practice with either a song or a dance, this year we get the best of both worlds. Their rookies in the past have been way too shy and unwilling to participate, but these new guys know how to put on a show. 

I will list some key highlights for those who are too lazy to watch the entire video.

• Kent Bazemore seems like the funnest guy ever, busting out to weird dance moves at every opportunity. Can't wait for his candidacy for the best bench reaction award. Ronny Turiaf is tough to beat.

• At one point, someone busts out with Usher's Nice and Slow, if you ever heard of it it, I am sure that it is very appropriate at a family filled event.

• Gangnam Style is still a thing.

Just a heads up, rapping is NOT okay and should not be tolerated when everyone else sang.

Source: Golden State Warriors on Youtube