It's like you guys have never watched the Warriors play basketball. Klay Thompson will be a non issue. He's still gonna score 17-18 ppg. This isn't the Rockets or Thunder where everyone is taking turns doing ISOs.... They'll pass it to whoever is open, whoever runs around screens the fastest. Imagine Curry, Durant AND Klay ALL screening for each other and Draymond at the top deciding who to pass it to for the open 3. It's gonna be so crazy entertaining. Imagine The Curry/Durant PNR to start the possession... What about the Durant/Green PNR? with both Klay and Curry running around? What about the good ol Curry/Green? but now you have Durant and Klay running around? How do you cover any of this without double teaming? Forget that, who has good enough defenders to be able to track 3 of those guys when Green has the ball? Durant is crazy awesome off the ball. This isn't James Harden, Durant is like Klay and Curry, he won't stop moving. If it was Harden joining GS instead of Durant, I'd be worried about fit (which says a lot about the limitations of Harden), but Durant might be even better than those guys off the ball, he just hasn't been in an offense to use it all the time. I think Durant is their leading scorer next year with the following as an example of what's to come. Durant - 25 Curry 23 Klay - 18 Green - 11 AI - 10 Livingston - 8 ZaZa - 6 West - 5 Barbosa - 5 Looney - 3 xxx - 2 yyy - 1 117 points as a team, 4 points better than last year. The offense is gonna be amazing. The only thing I am worried about is their defense. Bogut was one of the best rim protectors in the league IMO. Zaza is probably just OK. It's gonna be on Durant to provide weakside rim protection. You know Green is gonna bring it. I actually think Durant is a much better defender than Barnes, but we'll see how it all works out.
Who is going to be getting all these guys open? The Warriors set barn door picks. Zaza and West don't set the amazing picks that Bogut (ahem cheater) did. Or David Lee or Ezeli. Where are the monsters? Gone. They had lots of players willing to do the dirty work, now who do they have? This is on offense, who does the dirty work? Forget defense, how does the triangle work when you don't have a player out there doing the dirty work? The Lakers couldn't win with Gary Payton, Shaq, Kobe and Karl Malone because Malone never did any dirty work. Lord knows Shaq didn't. Only way this works is if they abandon the triangle offense. digitallinh, Barbosa is gone and since when did they start running a 12 man rotation every game? Do you even watch them play? You're right that Klay, Durant and Curry are good off the ball, but all three are used to playing with really big big-men. Now they will depend on Zaza and an undersized PF who likes the ball in his hands. You act like this is going to be smooth sailing for them, but their prior smooth sailing looked smooth because a bunch of bigs paved the way. They're all gone. All of them. Here's their new tough guy: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T99aL8j4yyc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
lol at people thinking Bogut is an integral part of GSW offense. I could see Klay slide down and stay at the corner ala Harrison Barns, while Durant taking over Klay's spot. How I wish they internal implode thou.
Now they're amazing picks. Before, they were terrible, moving picks that anyone could do if they had referees to protect them, lol. Also, Green is still there and was one of the "great, I mean, illegal, wait, I mean, great" pick setters. Also, were you unaware that their best lineup didn't even include Bogut (or Ezeli)? We've already seen the Warriors play without Bogut or Ezeli on the floor and it wasn't a college-style "swing it around for 40 seconds." All their players are capable of setting screens, even Curry--they're not predicated on bone-crushing power, just slowing a defender a step. Their so-called "death lineup" with Durant instead of Barnes will be broken good, because Barnes (while providing defensive versatility) was a hiding spot for a bad wing defender. Good luck hiding that guy on Durant. Bogut's minutes were in decline even before he got hurt in the Finals. Ezeli was a guy Kerr clearly didn't want to play if he didn't have to after the Portland series. The Warriors don't want Green banging with centers all game long, but guys like Pachulia and even West can soak up some minutes there.
He's like the perfect hybrid of Dennis Rodman & Anthony Mason An undersized PF with below average athleticism who's maniacal intensity makes up for his physical limitations ... sometimes going over the line to the point he can hurt his own team Elite point forward playmaking Versatility to guard anyone inside or outside Hustle to reach every loose ball and board over guys 6 inches taller AND he's an excellent 3pt shooter Most versatile & selfless superstar big since KG in his prime Much like Garnett was to Boston's Big 4, I think Draymond is the glue that makes it all work
I see the Dennis/Mason analogy, but I bet Draymond wouldn't mind being a little more like both of these guys. They were both physical specimens, but isolating Rodman just for a sec, he's probably twice the rebounder that Draymond is. Also, he was DPOY twice when defenses were crushing. Draymond is very good, but he's no Rodman on the defensive end. He sure can stretch a floor and pass though. Mason couldn't really stretch the floor and didn't get near the assists, but he could box out with the best.
I was just suggesting some end of year averages, not any specific game. Either way, yes this won't be 73 wins smooth sailing for them, I agree. But 65 games and the number 1 seed? That's gonna be easy imo.
Sacrificed depth for talent. Doesn't always pan out, could work well for them, could end up being worse than it looks on paper.
I think this is a very good estimation. It's not money in the bank type of situation at all. Time will show how it pans out.
Yeah sorry this is wrong. What makes GSW scaring than previous big 3, big 4 teams is they actually have depth. How many quality players do you really need in a season? My guess is around 8, you have 5 starters then you play 3 guys as the primary subs after that you can have scrubs/dleaguers just for spot minutes and blow out PT. So KD, Steph, Shaun Livingston, Klay, Green, Zaza, Ray Allen, David West, Iggy That's exactly 8 players who are good enough to start on other teams in addition to GSW's big 5 (Because Iggy really is as good as Klay). Meh, they already broke the record last year this year GSW is way better.
