Back-to-back losses for Warriors, but mediocre basketball can't break Dub Nation
Back-to-back losses for Warriors, but mediocre basketball can't break Dub Nation
YOU CAN'T KILL THE HOPE OF THIS FANBASE, NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES THE WARRIORS GET EMBARRASSED!
The Golden State Warriors are herky-jerkying their way through this regular season, with some thrilling highs and some mind-numbing lows. After a 134-117 loss to the #1 seeded Denver Nuggets, on the road, on the second game of a back-to-back, Dub Nation is experiencing some agony.
That’s two straight losses on the heels of a three game winning streak. Can you believe it was just last summer that this team broke the league on the way to winning the fourth championship of the Splash Bros + Dray era?
DNHQ veteran member Alex expressed a poignant thought in last night’s post-game thread:
If they had won this game on a tough back to back in Denver without Dray and Klay, the Nuggets would have been rightfully horrified and everyone here would have been laughing maniacally. This was a tougher one than the toughest game in a playoff series would be.
It sometimes seems like we're a little addicted to the dopamine hit of looking like the easy best team in years past, and can't take watching the ups and downs of a really competitive west this year and a team that was always going to take most of the season finding itself, once they let GPII, Otto, D Lee and Beli go.
One of the things I’m most proud of with this community we’ve built is the way perfect strangers come together to STRATEGIZE, THERAPIZE, and motivate MOTIVIZE (you should read all of that last bit in Jesse Jackson’s voice as it is Black History Month).
Many of us have spent our well-earned dollars to go see some mediocre to downright awful Warriors basketball at the old Oracle Arena in Oakland.
Heck, we even sold out Chase Center games when the Splash Bros were on the shelf team was being led by D’Angelo Russell and Alec Burks!
That’s why witnessing this particular season of defending champion Dubs basketball brings a wry smile to my face. Especially when I’m driving home from work, excitedly refreshing the boxscore which shows Golden State has a late double-digit lead…and by the time I pull into my driveway and rush to the TV they are knee-deep in ANOTHER collapse.
With all those frustrating losses, it’d be easy to feel that surely the basketball gods have punished Golden State and won’t allow them into the playoffs for squandering so many games. Then I refresh the standings and remember, oh damn, they’re only four games back from the 3rd seed at the beginning of February?!
Are the champs the worst good team or the best bad team in the West right now? And how much will that matter in April when it’s playoff time? Only time will tell, but I’m pretty excited to watch it all happen with you good folks.
Now, how do we package our 2028 and 2029 first round draft picks for Nikola Jokic? I NEED IDEAS, PEOPLE!
Kerr interview with Dubs' radio crew. Talks about trades, JW, playoffs, and the skill of the core.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xD_D1-xYYc
Sipping on a late-night Gin & Tonic, I am starting to doubt.
You would expect at least an occasional glimpse of dominance from a team with legitimate title hopes, lasting a full game or a run spanning a couple of weeks. This year, we've seen dominance once or maybe twice against absolute bottom dwellers, or for short spurts lasting a quarter or less. When was the last time Steph sat a fourth quarter because the game was won?
With the trade deadline coming up in 5 days, this team will sit near .500, maybe below. If they are below, I think that shedding salary has to be at least considered. Is there a reason to think that this core will be any better next year, even if they hit on another vet min? Steph, Dray, Klay will be another year older. Why would top ring chasers come to Bay if this year's team is barely in the play-in?
Moody, Wiseman, JMG are top dump candidates, but won't bring much of a return to improve the team for next year. DDV might get moved to a contender if it is understood that he won't opt in.
We can't or won't move Wiggs, Poole, or Looney, and Kuminga stays unless another rising star comes in return. Klay said he won't play anywhere else, and his salary might prevent any trade unless we attach more value.
If the FO decides that this core is done, they might have to move on from Draymond, as heartbreaking as that would be. Once the season is over, there is no guarantee that he won't just walk for nothing.
Somebody talk me off this ledge ...