-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
NBA 2016-2017 Season |OT| What do the Liberty Bell and Ben Simmons have in Common?
- Thread starter Jarate
- Start date
Warriors defense was pretty damn good in the 2nd half. Not entirely the reason but it had a lot to do with it.
friskykillface
Banned
Warriors doing all of this without Durant
If anything it made them stronger
If anything it made them stronger
lol. Ok. No point in arguing.
Gully State
Member
Steph got his 4th quarter swagger back
Lionel Richie
Member
Goddamn the Warriors are awesome when they're on.
friskykillface
Banned
Bork injured Durant as a good bye present to Houston
He woke up the Warriors 🤔👀
Gully State
Member
holding a talented rockets team scoreless for 6 min in the fourth is impressive as hell
Also, Javale was huge for us. Score keepers need to make sure all his blocks were awarded.
Also, Javale was huge for us. Score keepers need to make sure all his blocks were awarded.
Hyperactivity
Banned
Warriors thrived in chaos.
Also, if I see this bullshit about Harden closing the season out badly...
Also, if I see this bullshit about Harden closing the season out badly...
The crazy thing about the Warriors is they all still have either not hit their prime or have 3-4 more seasons left of their prime
This team could be a legit dynasty in the modern era
its why I just want LeBron (fuck Dan Gilbert) to get at least 2 more titles than GSW can feast on the league for the next half decade
I also hate myself because Curry was my favorite player back in 2011 because I thought he had the most beautiful 3 point shot I had ever seen, but he got injured I think and would always have some issues that were ongoing. Never in my life did I think the dude would be one of the best players on the planet, let alone the greatest shooter of all time. And just by living in socal and seeing half of the Lakers fanbase bandwagon to Warriors made me hate that team even though I still respect Curry like no other.
/rant
This team could be a legit dynasty in the modern era
its why I just want LeBron (fuck Dan Gilbert) to get at least 2 more titles than GSW can feast on the league for the next half decade
I also hate myself because Curry was my favorite player back in 2011 because I thought he had the most beautiful 3 point shot I had ever seen, but he got injured I think and would always have some issues that were ongoing. Never in my life did I think the dude would be one of the best players on the planet, let alone the greatest shooter of all time. And just by living in socal and seeing half of the Lakers fanbase bandwagon to Warriors made me hate that team even though I still respect Curry like no other.
/rant
RBelong2Us
Member
Think about what they lost though ....Bogut is done for season, Ezeli is done for season and whatever else they lost besides Barnes has been replaced with someone as good if not better .
I'd take David West over Mo Speights in playoffs easily
Pinch? Lol
LyleLanley
Banned
Big Baller Brand hats for everyone!
D-Bo Persona of the Year?
Oh the irony
Eh. I'd take a healthy bogut, ezeli, speights, barnes, barbosa over west, pachulia and mcgee every single time. The problem with the warriors currently with KD hurt is they have no rim protection (well, except green who is amazing considering his height) and no scorers off the bench (the role for which speights was awesome). 10 in a row including consecutive wins over memphis, houston, san antonio and now houston again. Maybe we need to reconsider the conversation for MVP...
Sounds silly to be pinching people but honestly it's kind of a good idea against someone like Draymond who can blow up and get a tech
Iggy and Livingston are great scorers off the bench. Clark has his moments
Iggy and Livingston are great scorers off the bench. Clark has his moments
Martylepiaf
Member
Gonna give credit to Steve Kerr, he's doing a wonderful job
BlackNMild2k1
Member
Considering where everyone is today, the only one from that group I'd want back is Speights. Although a healthy Bogut would be nice. unfoturnately he can't run, and now his leg is crippled yet again. tough break fo Bogs.
West has been great the last few games, and it's funny that you would say we have no rim protection the game after McGee had 5 blocks
Zaza is hot garbage, and unless he can summon "All Star Pachulia" I think he needs his minutes trimmed. If McGee could learn to box out and get defensive positioning, he'd could become a much better player and possibly a permanent starter.
my name is ed
Banned
I'm pretty sure this Warriors streak started when KD came back to sit courtside. This KD MVP campaign is out of control.
I'd give the edge to this years Warriors team make up over last year. Clearly, Zaza is a downgrade from a healthy Bogut but a healthy Bogut no longer exists. Speights is a better offensive player than Westbrook probably but West is a much better defensive player, sets better screens, is a better passer and provides more veteran leadership.
I'd give the edge to this years Warriors team make up over last year. Clearly, Zaza is a downgrade from a healthy Bogut but a healthy Bogut no longer exists. Speights is a better offensive player than Westbrook probably but West is a much better defensive player, sets better screens, is a better passer and provides more veteran leadership.
Gully State
Member
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/841770179419901952
Actually it started when someone on /r/nba asked Klay to autograph his toaster. Warriors haven't lost since.
Seems like it started exactly after Kerr opted to rest everyone. I'm sure other coaches and the league are noticing that...
Yes, I realized the irony of my comment on rim protection even before I wrote it. The issue is that MaGee is inconsistent and doesn't play all that many minutes.
Saying Iggy and Livingston can score off the bench is technically true but that isn't really their specialty (instant offense) like it was for Barbosa and Speights. I'm not saying the Warriors were wrong to let them go (they had to) - just that the bench isn't as strong or deep this year and they are generating amazing results.
So, how are the Warriors doing this without KD and a supporting cast that is as strong as last year's? Sure, Kerr gets some credit but I give most of it to Curry and Green.
Gully State
Member
I mean with Durant, the bench hasn't been needed as much to do any heavy lifting. Without Durant, I think it's more Andre stepping it up. I'd argue that he's been the most consistent player throughout these last 10 games. I mean he hasn't looked this spry in a long while.
I wouldn't. Warriors bench this year has a higher net rating than last year's, they've gotten better. Bogut and Ezeli weren't that good last year, Ian Clark is much better than Barbosa at this point and David West is infinitely better than someone like Anderson Varejao.
People overrate the players GS lost. The bench wasn't all that special last year. The success was mostly the death lineup and Steph having one of the greatest seasons of all time.
Yeah I think the higher net rating is mostly due to their usually being two of curry/kd/klay/green on the floor with them. That goes away when one of those four is hurt. Interesting question - if you could choose for one them to not be hurt, who would it be? I'd go with green.
I'd disagree about Ian v Barbosa...Barbosa was much better for the warriors last year than Ian has been this year (when he couldn't even get off the bench over a month). Agree that Verajao was a waste of space but he was much further down the bench than west (and have been carrying too many bigs for most of this season).
Iggy has really stepped up (and perhaps been 'most consistent') but green and curry have been definitely been their best players over this stretch. Kind of makes me cringe a bit when unexpected bonuses overshadow the best performances. Iggy got the finals MVP because his resurgence and the evolution of the death line-up that was critical to their victory...but Curry was the warriors best player in that series and it wasn't particularly close.
RBelong2Us
Member
You would take a healthy Bogut and Ezeli? They aren't healthy and probably will never really be healthy for the the rest of their careers lol.
It's irrelevant to say you would take healthy versions of them because that does not exist right now. You would have two crippled 7 footers on your team that are not contributing this season. So yes, D West, Javale, and Pachulia are more useful for them at this point.
It's irrelevant to say you would take healthy versions of them because that does not exist right now. You would have two crippled 7 footers on your team that are not contributing this season. So yes, D West, Javale, and Pachulia are more useful for them at this point.
Clark is way more efficient (shooting 40% from 3, 50% overall) and is a better defender. Barbosa was mediocre last year in his very best moments. And that's going by last year. This year Barbosa's shooting dipped even more.
And I wouldn't say it's just Varejao < West. West is better than Speights and Ezeli also.
The only former Dub that would maybe see the court at times this year is Speights because he can shoot. Everyone else has been upgraded.
That's sort of how I see it. And Bogut and Ezeli started slipping last year before their injuries this year. Bogut really was not great last year, I would take the combination of Zaza, West and Javale over him quite easily.
Never said I'd take them now. I am comparing last year's team and how they played last year to this year's team and how they played this year. I am not saying I wish I had them now over who they have now. But, the supporting cast this year is not as good as the supporting cast was last year. That is understandable as they just added a max contract to the team.
RBelong2Us
Member
Even comparing last years team. Bogut and Ezeli were mostly useless in the playoffs .
Bogut and Ezeli were great in their role as rim protectors last year. Yes, they could be inconsistent but on-form Bogut definitely kept other teams from almost ever attacking the basket. This year the Warriors don't really have that however Green has just evolved to cover that as has Durant. So, without KD it is just Green who is all of 6'6". Houston dominated the warriors yesterday in the 2nd quarter with Zaza in and Green out...they just went to the rim every single play and either scored, got fouled or retrieved an offensive board. I feel like people in general (not you) aren't realizing how dominant Green has become.
Zaza is total trash. That meme of Thompson sitting there after the 2015 finals would apply to this guy but we continue to wheel him out there. They should be starting McGee or West. West isn't nearly the scorer Speights was last year.
Yeah I agree but feel that we tend to make that discount how productive they were during the regular season. We don't know who will shine and who will disappear yet in this year's playoffs.
sooperkool
Member
Personally, i think given the green light Livingston could be the bench scorer they're looking for.
Once every 3-4 games Bogut would have a decent game protecting the rim, but that's about it. There's a reason the 2015 finals swung only after the Dubs went small and he didn't do much in the playoffs last year either. He simply wasn't very good anymore. Ezeli could still have a nice role because of his athleticism, but only if he could restart his career with new knees.
Overall, the rim protection hasn't really been an issue. GS leads the league in blocks and had their season high in blocks last night. I would say rebounding is something that hurts them sometimes, but last year's team wasn't great at that either.
MetalFearSolid
Banned
.
This is not an April Fools joke.
congrats on the 3-peat indy
LowlySmokeGuy
Banned
Fuck off refs. That ball was out on the Hawks, which they called, but then changed because they cried about the call.
cr_blah_blah
Member
Why don't the Bulls do more to help Mirotic get open? He's a stiff who can't get himself space, but you can't have him take a single 3 after being so obscenely hot lately.
Andrew Korenchkin
Member
LOL Reddit NBA.