OT: Jordan Poole is statistically struggling from beyond the arc at 31%. But he’s only taken 99 3PA so far, and is 6/20 from the corners, where last year, he was a 60% shooter from the corners. If he makes 2 or 3 more, his 3P% stats look better… and he’s killing it inside the arc. He’s gonna be alright, just needs some shots to go down.
"He was the best teammate you could have for a guy in our situation," LaVine told The Athletic's Marcus Thompson II and Darnell Mayberry (H/T Bleacher Report). "He was the leader of the team. Obviously, we know [Kevin Durant] was the best player. But without Dray, we wouldn't have won. He's the one who had everything [together] in every practice, watching film with the guys, making adjustments, giving guys confidence to come and play their game and just keeping everybody engaged.
"You can really see why the Warriors are so good. He's the glue guy. He's the one who makes everything run. At least that's my opinion. He looks out for everybody else before himself."
Something I just realized: The Dubs were 5th in Def Rat last year. They lost Oubre, Baze, Mulder, Paschall. They added Andre, Bjelly, Otto, and the rooks. Most of us thought that losing 2 great POA defenders would impact their defense. Instead, they've gotten better. Sure, Andre and GP2 have been immense and more than made up for the loss of Oubre and Baze, but the other part of it is about continuity and team D.
Steph, Dray, Loon, Wiggs, JP3, D.Lee, JTA have all been playing together for 2+ years now (except Wiggs who's 1+). They've been working together and learning together. Andre came back in and fit like a glove back into the D. OPJ and Bjelly are vet enough to pick it up. The advantage of having an experienced crew that works together on D, synergizes together, can read each other was overlooked in the pre-season analysis. That 5th ranked defense last year? It was only 1 part POA defense. It was 2 parts Team D. And of course, 1 part Dray.
So that's why they have the 1st ranked D this year. Those 2 parts Team D? It's now 3 parts Team D. And of course, GP2 has picked up the POA defense that they lacked. Everyone else in that 7 man returning crew have all improved on D. Both individually (Steph and Dray are both better, as well as JP and D.Lee), but also in terms of their understanding of team D. I bet JTA, D.Lee, Wiggs, and JP are all miles better at Team D this year than they were at the beginning of last year.
Only team that slightly scares me is the bucks if we are healthy, there is no answer for giannis surrounded by defense and shooters. The nets do not scare me one bit especially if we have a healthy iggy
Random fact: Timberwolves are #1 in the league in opponent turnovers per game so far this season. They force an average of 18.8 turnovers per game! However, they also commit 17.1 turnovers per game, which is the 3rd worst in the league.
I think the Lakers and the Nets, the pre-season favorites, have huge problems to solve. I think the Warriors have no problems to solve and will only get stronger when Klay and Wiseman comeback. The team just has the we-can-do-no-wrong feel to it. Everyone is firing on all cylinders. GPII a #15 is getting rotation minutes. Kuminga is getting minutes. It's a very deep squad meaning less wear and tear. And they look like they're having fun which 11-1 should be.
Everyone's on the same page, typical of a Kerr team.
The only team that scares me is Utah. Gobert is good and their off season signing were way better than the Lakers. But if Wiseman returns strong, Utah isn't that scary.
Great question, Daniel. We are simply a dominant team at the moment with lockdown defense seemingly able to overwhelm our opponents defensively and score in bunches to pull away for the win. It's still early in the season, but the Warriors are showing elite dominance as we haven't seen since their 2015-16 record shattering season. There's no reason to see a letdown coming as the team seems to be gaining momentum and really has that killer instinct so necessary to win the West. Plus, there is still room for improvement getting Poole and Wiggins into the mix and Draymond scoring more.
Basically, Poole has the offensive load of a star when Steph sits and the offensive load of a role player when Steph plays. Now, efficiency suffers significantly, but he is averaging 27.5 pts per 75 possessions when Steph sits.
As always, quality vibes and analysis! Thanks DNHQ! #thatdublife
OT: Jordan Poole is statistically struggling from beyond the arc at 31%. But he’s only taken 99 3PA so far, and is 6/20 from the corners, where last year, he was a 60% shooter from the corners. If he makes 2 or 3 more, his 3P% stats look better… and he’s killing it inside the arc. He’s gonna be alright, just needs some shots to go down.
So Klay will be back dec 20 vs kings or 23rd vs griz.
This is a super duper interesting video on player performance and evaluation across contexts by looking at the KD Warriors - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3iJwi4btAI
It captures how differently Steph/Klay/KD played with and without each other.
Zach Lavine on Dray (about Olympics).
"He was the best teammate you could have for a guy in our situation," LaVine told The Athletic's Marcus Thompson II and Darnell Mayberry (H/T Bleacher Report). "He was the leader of the team. Obviously, we know [Kevin Durant] was the best player. But without Dray, we wouldn't have won. He's the one who had everything [together] in every practice, watching film with the guys, making adjustments, giving guys confidence to come and play their game and just keeping everybody engaged.
"You can really see why the Warriors are so good. He's the glue guy. He's the one who makes everything run. At least that's my opinion. He looks out for everybody else before himself."
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/sports/zach-lavine-without-draymond-green-041147393.html
Something I just realized: The Dubs were 5th in Def Rat last year. They lost Oubre, Baze, Mulder, Paschall. They added Andre, Bjelly, Otto, and the rooks. Most of us thought that losing 2 great POA defenders would impact their defense. Instead, they've gotten better. Sure, Andre and GP2 have been immense and more than made up for the loss of Oubre and Baze, but the other part of it is about continuity and team D.
Steph, Dray, Loon, Wiggs, JP3, D.Lee, JTA have all been playing together for 2+ years now (except Wiggs who's 1+). They've been working together and learning together. Andre came back in and fit like a glove back into the D. OPJ and Bjelly are vet enough to pick it up. The advantage of having an experienced crew that works together on D, synergizes together, can read each other was overlooked in the pre-season analysis. That 5th ranked defense last year? It was only 1 part POA defense. It was 2 parts Team D. And of course, 1 part Dray.
So that's why they have the 1st ranked D this year. Those 2 parts Team D? It's now 3 parts Team D. And of course, GP2 has picked up the POA defense that they lacked. Everyone else in that 7 man returning crew have all improved on D. Both individually (Steph and Dray are both better, as well as JP and D.Lee), but also in terms of their understanding of team D. I bet JTA, D.Lee, Wiggs, and JP are all miles better at Team D this year than they were at the beginning of last year.
Only team that slightly scares me is the bucks if we are healthy, there is no answer for giannis surrounded by defense and shooters. The nets do not scare me one bit especially if we have a healthy iggy
Anyone have ESPN+? Would love to hear what Kevin Pelton has to say re: developing rookies without playing time:
https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/32608945/nba-mailbag-golden-state-warriors-prospect-predicament-new-foul-strategies-los-angeles-lakers-reunions
Random fact: Timberwolves are #1 in the league in opponent turnovers per game so far this season. They force an average of 18.8 turnovers per game! However, they also commit 17.1 turnovers per game, which is the 3rd worst in the league.
We've got several upset wins in the NBA tonight:
-Heat beat the Jazz
-Pelicans beat the Grizzlies
-Pacers beat the 76ers
-Pistons beat the Raptors
I think the Lakers and the Nets, the pre-season favorites, have huge problems to solve. I think the Warriors have no problems to solve and will only get stronger when Klay and Wiseman comeback. The team just has the we-can-do-no-wrong feel to it. Everyone is firing on all cylinders. GPII a #15 is getting rotation minutes. Kuminga is getting minutes. It's a very deep squad meaning less wear and tear. And they look like they're having fun which 11-1 should be.
Everyone's on the same page, typical of a Kerr team.
The only team that scares me is Utah. Gobert is good and their off season signing were way better than the Lakers. But if Wiseman returns strong, Utah isn't that scary.
Rubio makes the Cavs so much better. Mobley pretty good too
Great question, Daniel. We are simply a dominant team at the moment with lockdown defense seemingly able to overwhelm our opponents defensively and score in bunches to pull away for the win. It's still early in the season, but the Warriors are showing elite dominance as we haven't seen since their 2015-16 record shattering season. There's no reason to see a letdown coming as the team seems to be gaining momentum and really has that killer instinct so necessary to win the West. Plus, there is still room for improvement getting Poole and Wiggins into the mix and Draymond scoring more.
Another killer CSN BA interview. This time with Klay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7_JSl_9Bd0
Don't know how to embed tweets but here's a tweet by Ben Taylor: https://twitter.com/ElGee35/status/1459657304131788801?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Basically, Poole has the offensive load of a star when Steph sits and the offensive load of a role player when Steph plays. Now, efficiency suffers significantly, but he is averaging 27.5 pts per 75 possessions when Steph sits.
Both Utah and Miami are now 8-5