The Warriors have signed 26-year old shooting guard Coby Karl to a 10-day contract. Karl played in 3 games (0 starts) for the Cavaliers earlier this season and he averaged 1.7 minutes and 0.7 rebounds per game. He has now played in 20 games (0 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 3.8 minutes, 1.5 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. Karl is only shooting 34.6% from the floor and 30.8% from three point range in his NBA career so don’t expect miracles out of him.

The Warriors have released 25-year old SG/SF Cartier Martin. The Warriors were pretty much forced to make this move because Martin was signed by the Warriors as a injury exemption meaning that they couldn’t sign him to a contract to finish the year. That is a shame because Martin showed some potential while with them. Martin played in 10 games (2 starts) for the Warriors this season and he averaged 27.6 minutes, 9.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game on 36.4% shooting from the floor. Martin will likely get signed by some team soon.

24-year old forward/center Anthony Tolliver has hit the ground running for the Golden State Warriors. He has played in 7 games (3 starts) for the Warriors and he is averaging 27.3 minutes, 10.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game this season. The Warriors will likely keep feeding Tolliver minutes as long as he keeps playing well as they have nothing to lose by giving him his big chance to prove himself in the NBA.

The Golden State Warriors can put a lot of points on the board and can be an exciting team to watch, but they play terrible defense and are killed on the glass nearly every game.  They are giving up league-highs in points per game (111.8), field goal percentage (48.8%), opponents’ rebounds per game (46.7), and rebounding differential (-8.7).  The Warriors due lack size, but defense and rebounding has more to do with effort than size, so they are just not getting physical enough.  When you give up over 110 points per game and are getting out-rebounded by nearly 10 boards per game, you are not going to have a lot of success.  It doesn’t matter how many points Monta Ellis, Corey Maggette, and Stephen Curry score, because when you can’t defend and rebound you are not going to win.  The lack of defense and rebounding are the reasons the Warriors are 12-28 this year.

Monta Ellis has said many times that he wants to be traded but he is actually playing too well right now for the Warriors to really consider it. He has played in 39 games (all starts) for the Warriors this season and he is averaging 42.2 minutes, 26.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Ellis has been a outstanding player for the Warriors and I think they should keep him at all costs because they won’t get back what he’s worth in a trade.

25-year old SG/SF Cartier Martin is not shy as he has played pretty well in his first three games with the Warriors. He is averaging 29.0 minutes, 7.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists in his first three games with the Warriors after starting the season in the D-League. But to continue getting a lot of playing time Martin will have to shoot better as he is only shooting 32% from the floor so far this year. Martin did play in 33 games (1 start) for the Bobcats last season and he averaged 8.1 minutes, 2.6 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.4 assists per game on 36.4% shooting from the floor.

The Warriors have signed 24-year old C/F Anthony Tolliver to a 10-day contract. Tolliver played in 2 games (0 starts) earlier this season for the Blazers and he averaged 2.0 minutes per game while grabbing 1 rebound (he did not score). Tolliver has now played in 21 games (0 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 10.1 minutes, 2.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. It’s a mystery as to what the Warriors now have in Tolliver as he has not got to play much in his NBA career yet.

Stephen Curry’s shot struggled early this season as the young rookie was still adjusting to the pro game and it has been somewhat inconsistent throughout his rookie campaign.  Don’t get me wrong, Curry has still shot the ball decent, but with such a pretty stroke I expected him to light it up more.  Well, after being held scoreless against the Celtics on December 28th, Curry has been on fire the last six games.  On the season, Curry is averaging 12.5 points while shooting 46% from the field and 42% from three.  In his last six games he has averaged 16.5 points on 58% shooting, including 60% from three.  His field goal percentage has gone from 43% to 46% in just six games and his hot streak included a night against the Nuggets where he poured in 26 points on 10-13 shooting, including a perfect 6-6 behind the arc.  He also had 6 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals in that game, showing he can do more than just shoot.  Unfortunately the Warriors have only gone 2-4 during Curry’s current hot streak, but they have been close games against very tough competition like the Lakers, Cavaliers, Nuggets, and Trailblazers.  The Warriors should definitely look to get this guy some more shots, especially as it seems he is really starting to come into his own as of late.

SG/SF Purvis Short was a really solid basketball player in his time with the Warriors. He played in 614 games for the Warriors in which he averaged 31.3 minutes, 19.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Short is #9 all-time in games played with the Warriors (614) and he is #8 in minutes played (19,230). Short in also #7 all-time in scoring for the Warriors with 11,894 points and he is #4 in Warriors’ history with 710 steals. Short was a good player who never really gets mentioned as one of the best players in Warriors’ history but he was.

Back-up shooting guard Anthony Morrow is ready to play more for the Warriors if the need arises. He has played in 33 games (17 starts) for the Warriors this season and he is averaging 30.6 minutes, 11.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Morrow is also a outstanding outside shooter hitting 43% of his shots from three point range this year. Morrow would be a starting player on a bunch of teams in the NBA and he might get his chance soon for the Warriors if they indeed trade Monta Ellis soon.