The Warriors are very selective about expending energy. It ain't there every night. I wonder if Steve Kerr's constant shuffling of their (non-starting) lineup has anything to do with it. It's like he doesn't want to commit to a set rotation. You don't know if Nick Young or McCaw will come in after Curry. You don't know if David West or Jordan Bell will come in for Peculiar. Sometimes even the terrible Kevon Looney will play in the 1st quarter. Sometimes Jordan Bell get 10 mins; sometimes zero. Sometimes Looney even closes games that are in doubt. Warriors are all over the place right now. Then there are times when they lock in and just crush teams, such as the 24-4 run starting the 3rd quarter in Denver. They made the Nuggets look like an 8th grade team. At some point later on, I assume the dust will settle. One thing that seems for sure is they won't win 65-70 games this year. With some of his late game rotations so far, it doesn't seem like Kerr believes winning or losing is the most important thing.
How often has kerr been using star studded lineups this year? He seems to be experimenting early on in the season. He rolled with mccaw, young, thompson, casspi, west for a min there. Their playoff lineup is prolly as good as ever.
My take in watching them play is they themselves know they can switch it on when they want. So they do so. Kerr is afforded the luxury (and is taking advantage of it) by experimenting with all his end of the bench players to get them a taste and experience of playing with different main rotation pieces. It's only going to benefit them in the long run when they know who they can/can't rely on when games matter. (I'm always a strong believer in every game matters - but the Warriors are a different beast completely) I believe their will to repeat the 73 success isn't there anymore so dropping a handful of games doesn't bother them anymore.
am I the only one that can't stand Dave Pasch? i think he sucks can anyone that has watched a lot of wolves games this year tell me how they were 8-3? their starters just got outscored by warriors third stringers in the 4Q...
I love Dave Pasch on the Pac 12 Network but they usually pair him with Bill Walton, who I can't stand. He is very good and his patience with Walton's antics has earned my respect. Don't like him quite as much on NBA games.
What you and Matrocker said both make tons of sense. They know it won’t take a tremendous amount of wins to have the first seed this season (more parity in the league this year) and are more comfortable than an average team at their average age in the starting line up with all of their playoff experience. So they can establish other guys while resting the starting lineup more. All in all I think they are still more vulnerable this year, even if only slightly. And will be even more so next season, especially if the right team comes together. Lebron/Paul/Harden maybe. Although from I believe a J.R. post, it would gut the team to do so. Unless Lebron and Paul took pay cuts of course.
I think the most important thing for every team in the top 4 is get into the playoffs healthy Rocket River
