« Reply #70 on: October 26, 2016, 07:20:02 PM »
Nice win by the Spurs. MVP performance from Kawhi. I'm glad to see GS lose to take the shine off them a little bit (and hopefully shut up some of these idiot sports writers who think they're the greatest team ever before ever playing a game) but they're still going to win more than 65 games.
65 is a high number. But this was good for the Spurs.
65 is a high number, but they should hit it. They won 73 games last year without Durant.
I'm hoping for a repeat of Lebron's first year in Miami, but it's probably unrealistic. Unlike that Heat team, Golden State's core has some continuity.
That first year in Miami, I think they ran into problem because Lebron was their best player but he was trying to give Wade space to be the leader. I can see a situation like that occurring in GS where Durant defers to Curry a little too much when Durant is actually the better player (I don't know for sure that he is, but I suspect that will be borne out over the season) and that might create problems.
But when I say problems, it's all relative. They still probably make the Finals.
This is a key point. The "problem" people are desperate to see Golden State have is a team that struggles to coexist offensively. Players struggling to defer to one another. That's been the problem with other super teams in the past like the Lakers and the Heat. That's a problem that teams have when they put multiple ball-dominant players together and ask them to share the ball. Wade needed the ball to succeed. LeBron needed the ball to succeed. How do you get both of those guys to be effective when they both create with the ball? Unfortunately, that wasn't the "problem' on display last night. Durant scored 27 efficiently. Curry scored 26 efficiently. Draymond scored 18 efficiently. Klay struggled shooting, but he had 13 shot attempts of his own. The team scored 100 points against a team that was by far the best defensively in the league last year (the 67 win Spurs held opponents to a league-best 92.9ppg last season). The pace-and-space offense was not at all impacted by the arrival of Durant. None of those guys need the ball to be effective. Durant's arrival will just make things easier for the rest of the Warriors. The rest of the Warriors will just make things easier for Durant. You could see that last night. Nobody was double-teamed. Superstars had wide open shots and wide open lanes. What I saw scared me as a fan of the league. On paper, they remain unstoppable in a 7 game series.
If you watched the game, the "problem" that the Warriors had last night wasn't a failure to coexist offensively. It was being dominated on the boards... an issue that wouldn't have been made better by having Barnes on the floor instead of Durant. Their other problem was a failure to defend a red-hot Spurs team that was firing on all cylinders. I'm sorry, but Bogut doesn't make THAT much of a difference. The Spurs were just outstanding last night. They shot 50%/50%/90% as a team. That's part the Spurs playing well and part some defensive lapses that you figure time will resolve as the new crop of Warriors get familiar with each other. The next problem was one too many missed layups and turnovers (16)... once again a sign of a team that is getting familiar with each other. Last problem was the Warriors shooting 7-33 from three (21%).... If you're expecting a team that has Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry to shoot 21% from three every night, I don't know what to to tell ya. Steph and Klay shooting a combined 4-16 from three had nothing to do with Kevin Durant breaking their chemistry... they just missed shots. The spacing was there. The talent is there. The shots were there. They are going to be an incredible team this year.
I think that's a good analysis and I don't really disagree with any of that. But I still think there's potential problems with everyone understanding their roles. Once Lebron truly took over and Wade conceded his leadership role to Lebron, James became more effective and Wade became a really good off-ball cutter. Both guys had great years that first year in Miami (and the team was good enough to be favored in the Finals) but the team went to another level when they figured out the best way to use everyone.
So while all the numbers from the starters looked good last night, I still think there's potential for a problem, in terms of utilizing everyone to their fullest.
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