Times-Herald (Vallejo)

O’Donnell

- Contact sports editor Matt O'Donnell at 707- 5536822.

NANT WARRIORS >> If the first two games of the season are an indicative of the whole campaign, the Warriors are in trouble.

Of course, two games is two games. There was no Draymond Green. Golden State wings Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre have gotten off to erratic shooting starts. There wasn’t much preseason and the Warriors have been idle since last March. Oh, and Brooklyn and Milwaukee are talented and deep opponents.

Is there some concern? Of course. Don’t expect the NBA Championsh­ipcaliber play this season. The Warriors will eventually beat some of the alsorans on the schedule and probably compete at the back end of the NBA playoff rotation.

The encouragin­g news through the first two games has been No. 2 overall pick and center James Wiseman. Once some of the others fall into line, this should be a fun group to watch. FULL-SQUAD A’S AND GIANTS TEAMS >> The year 2020 wasn’t bad for the Bay Area’s two teams. The A’s won the AL West by seven games, eliminatin­g the White Sox in an exciting first-round series before falling to the hated Astros in the divisional round. All season, the A’s were entertaini­ng and their comebacks were epic.

Unfortunat­ely, Oakland didn’t have one of the league’s bright young

stars Matt Chapman for the postseason. Chapman had season-ending hip surgery in September as his glove and bat were missed.

On the other side of the Bay, the Giants slid to an 8-16 start but looked much better from there, finally getting eliminated on the final day of the regular season. For once in quite some time, the Giants could hit as the team finished eighth in runs scored in MLB. The new dimensions at Oracle Park seemed to have a positive effect too.

One wonders what kind of impact losing Buster Posey had on the pitching staff, which struggled. Posey opted out to help care for his two adopted twin girls who were born prematurel­y. Posey has said he plans to be back

in 2021.

If limited fans are let back into stadiums, you can bet Chapman and Posey will receive standing ovations, which brings me to …

FANS IN THE STANDS FOR SOME EVENTS >> This could be a tricky situation for California but I could see a scenario where limited people will be allowed into stadiums by summer and next fall.

Numbers across the board have to be much better. Hopefully, we start to new some positive results with the new vaccine being distribute­d throughout the state.

Continue to stay safe in the final days of 2020 and into the new year.

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