Otto’s smarts, length and knock down shooting ability can’t normally be found at the vet min, even with the erosion of athleticism that is evident. It’s starting to feel like one of those ‘team of destiny’ type years.
And Belli and Igoudala. Dubs got damn lucky to get all 3 in one season. I've been wondering if Batum is regretting his decision to stay with the Clippers
I can't say it looks bad. It's just interesting that a team with a unique hold on yellow whether it be for lettering or as the core color would just give it up to look like any old Eastern Conference team.
Yeah, I have to double-take when I see these jerseys and the corresponding court design (!!) to make sure they're really in Chase and not playing in, like, Philly or something. They really do *not* feel like "Golden State."
Someday it would be fun to put together a list (with specific case studies!) of the Iron Rules of the Warriors Jungle! I think they're something like this:
1. If you make a stellar defensive play, you're entitled to a pull-up 3 or whatever scoring opportunity you want immediately thereafter.
2. Feed the hot hand.
3. A sweet assist is worth more style points than a solo finish.
There are a few Steph-specific ones:
4. If Steph runs toward you, set a screen for his defender.
5. If Steph gives you the ball, be ready to give it right back.
I'm very interested to see how Payton performs against a team with good defense (not talking about Hawks). I'm also interested in finally seeing how the Warriors perform against a good team (this time talking about the Hawks).
The next teams they play with a top-10 defense are the Timberwolves (#9) and the Bulls (#7) this week. They already beat the Clips who have the #3 defense in the league so far, though.
Surprising to me to see the Timberwolves in the top 10 defensively. Wonder how long that'll last.
Also I agree, the Clippers are a legit good team. Although to be real I thought they outplayed the Warriors in terms of generating shots in that game, just didn't out-execute and most importantly didn't have Steph Curry in crunch time.
The Clips played well but chances are that they continue to not have Steph Curry in crunch time and the Warriors will continue to have him, so I think that win can be as predictive/informative as any of their other wins so far.
Warriors have gotten a bit lucky with the defense though. Can see here that they have the fourth lowest opponent free throw percentage in the league. Perhaps they are just fouling the right guys but it's hard not to think there's luck involved there.
Also have the third lowest opponent three point percentage in the league, for whatever that is worth. Obviously there is more of a defensive component here than for FT%. Opponents are shooting a high rate of threes per game against both them and Miami (second link), but so far they aren't going in.
I'm optimistic about them having a top 10 defense with the rotation addition of GP2 and the rejuvenation of Iguodala but still not sold on it being top 5 just yet.
I think the FT% is probably solely a strength of schedule thing, but they definitely look like they’re trying to run guys off the 3-point line this year.
In 5 out of 9 regular season games, he's averaged over 20 ppg. If you include preseason, he's had 20 ppg in 10/14 games. While I entered this season thinking Poole would average around 18 PPG, I'm now beginning to think that he might just hit 20+ ppg.
The real question is, can he package that with good defense + passing in order to become a well rounded player. Given how much the Warriors have been hounding on him to become a better defender + how much of a hard worker he is, I think he can pull it off.
Showing how he can respond to criticism (Iggy) has me believing this kid will do whatever it takes to be successful. He literally looks and acts like a completely different person from when he was drafted. I am becoming a believer.
I'm going to do my own E1P (Explain One Phrase) here. 'Gary Payton II the big small defender.' E.G., Gary Payton is actually a small but plays much bigger. I personally if I was coach would have called the very similar Small Big Defender phrase in that sentence. E.G., ...aw heck. My brain just got boggled.
I love this so much. I know this team will not last forever. With Buster's retirement it reminds me that these joyous times are fleeting. We need to soak them in as much as we can.
One of the best E1Ps ever. The Warriors really should have been called for having too many players on the court, but then again, it should have been a dead ball with OPJ getting a free throw.
Does Klay timeline get pushed back if the team is holding it down this well? If they where the 6-8 seed territory maybe he comes back at Christmas. If they stay in the 1-3 seed maybe February.
If anything other than optimizing Klay’s recovery is being considered for his timeline to return then everyone should be fired. The only thing the record should do is take pressure off.
And lots of extra off days. There's a good chance he's gonna have some soft tissue stuff to manage throughout the season. Durant only played 35 games last year.
if anything though, a nice cushion of wins will take off a lot of the pressure to immediately be his old self. I doubt the team will risk his long term health by rushing him back or playing heavier minutes, regardless of the team's record at that point.
But at least if there's no urgent pressure to win more, he won't feel pressed right out of the gate
I think there's a good chance he struggles that first month or two, it negatively affects the rhythm of the team, and there's some predictable "Are the Warriors better without Klay" narrative out there. Which will just be a very annoying but unavoidable topic until he gets better and we're on our way.
So the extra wins and depth of the team help mitigate that short-term record damage.
This. Honestly, one of the most frustrating parts about sports coverage is how predictable it is sometimes.
Like, you can predict with decent accuracy which teams will have peaks/slumps that get national attention just by looking at home stands/road trips, strength of schedule, and back-to-backs. (Yes, I'm saying the current narratives regarding the Warriors are a bit inflated because we've been beating up on bad teams from the comfort of home court. It's still good
I'm kind of expecting Klay to have an awesome comeback game (if not his first game back then within the first few) and then a slump as the team adjusts to having him in the rotation and he adjusts to the grind of the regular season gauntlet. But knowing Klay, after a couple weeks of that, he should be back to spitting fire on the league. Depending on how bad the injury has affected his physical abilities (along with two years of aging!) it could take longer, and the problems will probably be more on the defensive end. On offense, he already looks like he could be his usual self for a few seconds per game, but it wouldn't surprise me if he can't sustain his historical insane ability to run circles around defenders for as long as he used to.
110% agree with you on the predictability of sports media narratives. And I'm also pretty certain people working in that media can see it themselves, but the obvious peaks and dips make it easy to tell a story full of drama for anyone loosely following what's going on. And sports media is almost entirely about the drama... they talk because people will listen, not because there's some function they serve. And because all they're trying to create is an up and down wave function of drama, they inevitably end up going in circles.
Very rarely, for example, does normal sports media give you a deeper sense of "what's going on" in a game, with a team, or with a player, though they do pay that idea lip service occasionally by drawing some Xs and Os on a screen. You could watch it for years and learn almost nothing about the sport you follow. I'd contrast that with the writers here (obviously not only here, there are other great sports writers), who are basically teachers teaching the class about the inner workings and different ways of looking at the sport.
Why would they pay for a coaching staff that doesn't provide players information about how to play better? Myers: "Could you please tell the players what they can do better on offense and defense?" Kerr: "You know, I'm not really comfortable criticizing someone. All people are beautiful just as they are. You do you, Poole."
JP has impressed me in his post-game sessions this season. I'm sure a lot of it is just having more on-court success but he's giving some really good answers whereas he was a bit more closed and terse before.
Otto’s smarts, length and knock down shooting ability can’t normally be found at the vet min, even with the erosion of athleticism that is evident. It’s starting to feel like one of those ‘team of destiny’ type years.
And Belli and Igoudala. Dubs got damn lucky to get all 3 in one season. I've been wondering if Batum is regretting his decision to stay with the Clippers
I wonder who would’ve been the odd man out of Batum came. Probably GPII, subsequently maybe Otto?
So, poll question. These new block letter blue jerseys...they are ripping off the ____________ the most.
A. 90's Nets: https://www.jerseymuseum.org/team/brooklyn-nets/jerseys/
B. Present day Pistons: https://www.jerseymuseum.org/team/detroit-pistons/jerseys/
C. Present day Knicks: https://www.jerseymuseum.org/team/new-york-knicks/jerseys/
I can't say it looks bad. It's just interesting that a team with a unique hold on yellow whether it be for lettering or as the core color would just give it up to look like any old Eastern Conference team.
So how many jerseys choices do they have? 5? More? and what determines when they wear what?
I'm not crazy about it, but the logo is meant to honor the original SF logo from the early 60s and the Philadelphia days before that. https://www.nba.com/warriors/history/logo_history.html
https://www.nba.com/warriors/news/warriors-origins-jersey-unveil-20210803
In other words, making the team look like Philly is a feature, not a bug. 😆
Some features were made from the outset to be awful.
Yeah, I have to double-take when I see these jerseys and the corresponding court design (!!) to make sure they're really in Chase and not playing in, like, Philly or something. They really do *not* feel like "Golden State."
The court should remain yellow, don't care what color the jerseys are.
I can and will: the blue jerseys are bad. They should let the eastern conference teams have them.
Agreed. Those new blue and red jerseys are god-awful and deserve to be burned.
Ottomatic is a great moniker.
Someday it would be fun to put together a list (with specific case studies!) of the Iron Rules of the Warriors Jungle! I think they're something like this:
1. If you make a stellar defensive play, you're entitled to a pull-up 3 or whatever scoring opportunity you want immediately thereafter.
2. Feed the hot hand.
3. A sweet assist is worth more style points than a solo finish.
There are a few Steph-specific ones:
4. If Steph runs toward you, set a screen for his defender.
5. If Steph gives you the ball, be ready to give it right back.
I bet there are more I'm not thinking of.
Embiid tested positive for COVID, out at least 10 days.
And Jaylen Brown out 1-2 weeks with a hamstring strain
Seth Curry's team now.
Can't wait 'til they meet in the finals.
The Warriors sure seem to know what style they want to play in both ends and it’s been amazing so far!
But they have almost no 5 man lineups with over 10 min played (and some have been horrible.) So it looks like they are still figuring it out.
But check out all the ridiculously successful 3 man lineups they have thrown out for more than 10 min so far: https://www.nba.com/stats/lineups/advanced/?sort=NET_RATING&dir=1&CF=MIN*G*10&Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&TeamID=1610612744&GroupQuantity=3
Those 3 man lineup combos are pretty impressive.
Especially when you consider that the opposing lineups usually have 5 players. 😉
I'm very interested to see how Payton performs against a team with good defense (not talking about Hawks). I'm also interested in finally seeing how the Warriors perform against a good team (this time talking about the Hawks).
The next teams they play with a top-10 defense are the Timberwolves (#9) and the Bulls (#7) this week. They already beat the Clips who have the #3 defense in the league so far, though.
Surprising to me to see the Timberwolves in the top 10 defensively. Wonder how long that'll last.
Also I agree, the Clippers are a legit good team. Although to be real I thought they outplayed the Warriors in terms of generating shots in that game, just didn't out-execute and most importantly didn't have Steph Curry in crunch time.
The Clips played well but chances are that they continue to not have Steph Curry in crunch time and the Warriors will continue to have him, so I think that win can be as predictive/informative as any of their other wins so far.
As long as they continue to not have Kawhi lol
By the time they have Kawhi, we'll have Klay
I don’t see them ever playing the top ranked D this season though.
Warriors have gotten a bit lucky with the defense though. Can see here that they have the fourth lowest opponent free throw percentage in the league. Perhaps they are just fouling the right guys but it's hard not to think there's luck involved there.
https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/opponent-free-throw-pct
Also have the third lowest opponent three point percentage in the league, for whatever that is worth. Obviously there is more of a defensive component here than for FT%. Opponents are shooting a high rate of threes per game against both them and Miami (second link), but so far they aren't going in.
https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/opponent-three-point-pct
https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/opponent-three-point-rate
I'm optimistic about them having a top 10 defense with the rotation addition of GP2 and the rejuvenation of Iguodala but still not sold on it being top 5 just yet.
I think the FT% is probably solely a strength of schedule thing, but they definitely look like they’re trying to run guys off the 3-point line this year.
The Sixers matchup will be interesting.
Good article on Dubs' early D. https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/draymond-green-and-warriors-veteran-dogs-lead-nbas-best-defense-creating-blueprint-for-title-contention/
I think JP is a threat, not a thread even though he’s been instrumental in helping the Dubs spool up those wins.
He’s play is woven into the team’s success and part of the fabric of their future.
In 5 out of 9 regular season games, he's averaged over 20 ppg. If you include preseason, he's had 20 ppg in 10/14 games. While I entered this season thinking Poole would average around 18 PPG, I'm now beginning to think that he might just hit 20+ ppg.
The real question is, can he package that with good defense + passing in order to become a well rounded player. Given how much the Warriors have been hounding on him to become a better defender + how much of a hard worker he is, I think he can pull it off.
Showing how he can respond to criticism (Iggy) has me believing this kid will do whatever it takes to be successful. He literally looks and acts like a completely different person from when he was drafted. I am becoming a believer.
I'm going to do my own E1P (Explain One Phrase) here. 'Gary Payton II the big small defender.' E.G., Gary Payton is actually a small but plays much bigger. I personally if I was coach would have called the very similar Small Big Defender phrase in that sentence. E.G., ...aw heck. My brain just got boggled.
And big small offensive player. He's been playing in the dunker's spot, hunting offensive rebounds, playing a lot like Looney
I love this so much. I know this team will not last forever. With Buster's retirement it reminds me that these joyous times are fleeting. We need to soak them in as much as we can.
I was sad when brief "We believe" era ended....then I see Steph & Klay & Draymond & Bogut & Andre & KD...
You never know what is comin
Like x 1000
One of the best E1Ps ever. The Warriors really should have been called for having too many players on the court, but then again, it should have been a dead ball with OPJ getting a free throw.
Does Klay timeline get pushed back if the team is holding it down this well? If they where the 6-8 seed territory maybe he comes back at Christmas. If they stay in the 1-3 seed maybe February.
If anything other than optimizing Klay’s recovery is being considered for his timeline to return then everyone should be fired. The only thing the record should do is take pressure off.
I'm at the point where I'll take one minute in March if that's what it has to be. Come on, Klay, get healthy.
If his first game is one game in March, he’s not going to be ready for the playoffs
Klay was born ready!
I y might ease up his minutes more conservatively, but dude wants to play and they need to start factoring him into the chemistry.
And lots of extra off days. There's a good chance he's gonna have some soft tissue stuff to manage throughout the season. Durant only played 35 games last year.
But was unstoppable in playoff....
if anything though, a nice cushion of wins will take off a lot of the pressure to immediately be his old self. I doubt the team will risk his long term health by rushing him back or playing heavier minutes, regardless of the team's record at that point.
But at least if there's no urgent pressure to win more, he won't feel pressed right out of the gate
I think there's a good chance he struggles that first month or two, it negatively affects the rhythm of the team, and there's some predictable "Are the Warriors better without Klay" narrative out there. Which will just be a very annoying but unavoidable topic until he gets better and we're on our way.
So the extra wins and depth of the team help mitigate that short-term record damage.
This. Honestly, one of the most frustrating parts about sports coverage is how predictable it is sometimes.
Like, you can predict with decent accuracy which teams will have peaks/slumps that get national attention just by looking at home stands/road trips, strength of schedule, and back-to-backs. (Yes, I'm saying the current narratives regarding the Warriors are a bit inflated because we've been beating up on bad teams from the comfort of home court. It's still good
I'm kind of expecting Klay to have an awesome comeback game (if not his first game back then within the first few) and then a slump as the team adjusts to having him in the rotation and he adjusts to the grind of the regular season gauntlet. But knowing Klay, after a couple weeks of that, he should be back to spitting fire on the league. Depending on how bad the injury has affected his physical abilities (along with two years of aging!) it could take longer, and the problems will probably be more on the defensive end. On offense, he already looks like he could be his usual self for a few seconds per game, but it wouldn't surprise me if he can't sustain his historical insane ability to run circles around defenders for as long as he used to.
110% agree with you on the predictability of sports media narratives. And I'm also pretty certain people working in that media can see it themselves, but the obvious peaks and dips make it easy to tell a story full of drama for anyone loosely following what's going on. And sports media is almost entirely about the drama... they talk because people will listen, not because there's some function they serve. And because all they're trying to create is an up and down wave function of drama, they inevitably end up going in circles.
Very rarely, for example, does normal sports media give you a deeper sense of "what's going on" in a game, with a team, or with a player, though they do pay that idea lip service occasionally by drawing some Xs and Os on a screen. You could watch it for years and learn almost nothing about the sport you follow. I'd contrast that with the writers here (obviously not only here, there are other great sports writers), who are basically teachers teaching the class about the inner workings and different ways of looking at the sport.
You play him when he’s ready. The last part of rehab is getting back on the court.
Plenty of time to get ready for playoffs if you push the timeline back a month to February
What's the point of holding him out an extra month if he's ready?
Correct answer, but I’d still like to see it.
***
Jordan Poole on public criticism from Steve Kerr and Andre Iguodala:
"If they're saying it in public, they're probably telling me in private."
https://twitter.com/markhaynesnba/status/1457576373208301568?s=21
Why would they pay for a coaching staff that doesn't provide players information about how to play better? Myers: "Could you please tell the players what they can do better on offense and defense?" Kerr: "You know, I'm not really comfortable criticizing someone. All people are beautiful just as they are. You do you, Poole."
> All people are beautiful just as they are. You do you, Poole.
that sounds more like something Oubre would say
> that sounds more like something Oubre would say
That sounds like something people would say to Oubre
Myers: "Well, this is a problem, if no one will critique the players." Draymond: "I gotchu, Bob. YO POOLE!!!"
JP has impressed me in his post-game sessions this season. I'm sure a lot of it is just having more on-court success but he's giving some really good answers whereas he was a bit more closed and terse before.