Who knew we were a hardhat-wearing blue collar team? Despite our improved D this year, there was still the perception that it was all PJ and Luc doing most of the heavy lifting and we were still mostly soft on the defensive end. Then last night, everyone stepped up. In Game 4, everyone who saw the court played tough, gritty defense, especially in the key 4th quarter. Harden showed he can be a factor on D, and Trevor and PJ showed why they're legitimate starters on a team with title aspirations. Sure, we're one of the most efficient offensive teams ever, capable of hanging a 50-point quarter now and then. But as we've repeatedly shown, we're also capable of horrible stretches when nothing at all is working on offense. I'm hoping the guys decide to hang their hat on defense for the rest of these playoffs. Make it a point of pride. We know the offense will be there most nights, but as the first quarter showed, the defense will keep us in games even when we're dreadful on offense. Especially in the 2(!) or 3 games left in this series, we need more than anything to play smart, physical defense on these whiny little b****es. Body up on them all game long and make them work hard to get open looks. We know the Warriors will make shots, especially in the first 3 quarters. But if we can play them physically and wear them down by the 4th, I like our chances.
Our true Identity is whatever the hell it takes to score 1 more point than the other team on a given night and nothing more.
We've been in games like this before in the regular season @Utah...@Boston. Hope they can recover enough for Thursday.
Easy to say, Sam, but sometimes teams need an identity to rally around. To me, this team needs one more than most because they can be amazing one night and then totally **** the bed the next. If they keep locked in on defense, though, those fecal-mattress nights will be rarer.
Our true identity may be that you never really know what you're going to get with us. We like to make it hard for the opposition to game plan against us.
