Santa Cruz Warriors coach Nate Bjorkgren urges on his team.
After a four-game undefeated playoff run, the Santa Cruz Warriors wrapped up their monumentally successful season over the weekend by letting it fall apart in the championship with they problems that had plagued them for weeks— easy missed shots and turnovers.
In game one of the D-League Finals against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Warriors shot decently from the field, 45 percent to the Vipers’ 42 percent. They made difficult shots, including a fade-away, off-balance three-pointer to close out the third quarter and put the Warriors up three. 6’1” Scott Machado launched that buzzer-beater from at least 25 feet with a hand in his face.
But the two teams had scouted one another well. The Vipers clogged the Warriors’ passing lanes, forcing Santa Cruz to pass into traffic thicker than Highway 1 at 4:30pm, and leading to steals. The Vipers capitalized on those turnovers. The Warriors ended game one with six fast break points to the Vipes’ 25.
“We had some turnovers,” a disappointed coach Nate Bjorkgren said after game one in the Kaiser Permanente. “They weren’t selfish turnovers, though. Even in the first half, they were throwing them ahead of guys.”
The Warriors dropped game two of the three-game series 102-91 in Texas.
NBA legend Jerry “the Logo” West spoke to the team after their last regular season game, a home loss to the Bakersfield Jam, and told the Warriors they needed to cut down on turnovers and silly mistakes if they wanted to succeed in the playoffs. If West’s words provided any inspiration, that fizzled out by the time Santa Cruz’s team reached the biggest stage.
The Warriors go into the offseason without a trophy, but they’ve picked up other accolades along the way. Machado just got called up to the Golden State Warriors, Santa Cruz’s big brother team, for the second time this year.
Travis Leslie was named the All-Star game MVP, Cameron Jones was named most-improved and Stefhon Hannah was named the Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. They’re all signs of promise for team that will still be hungry next year.
