Dubs finished last year 6 games over .500 (44-38) and got the #6 seed. They are now 6 games over .500 with 8 to play and the #10 seed. Suns finished 8 games over .500 last year, good for a #4 seed. This year they are 12 games over .500 and hoping to cling to the #7 or #8 seed. The West is crazy tough this year.
That was a Draymond masterclass, always wanted to see him guard Wembanyama and it didn't disappoint. Also low key a Moody masterclass but in a much smaller role, although he did give up a few cuts defensively.
Draymond/TJD should be the starting frontcourt the rest of the season, and then next season they need to either determine that TJD can be the starting center or find one so Draymond can go back to playing the 4.
Also it's a nitpick but when Draymond is shooting that second free throw it should be Looney and TJD lined up to try to get the rebound, not TJD and Klay.
Totally agree about the Dray masterclass — mostly disagree about making him the full-time startling PF going forward. These things can be fluid, but I still think he’s best playing *mostly* at the 5, with long, athletic wings (two of JK, Moody, Wiggs) at the 4-5. If we install him at the starting 4 alongside a traditional 5 we’re back to square one from the early season, with poor offensive spacing and the young wings fighting it out for starting jobs and minutes.
Dray turns 35 next season. I’m not benching JK and risking stunting his development to try to squeeze the maximum amount of juice from Dray’s aging body before he falls apart physically. As with Andre and Klay before him, I think it’s time for him to get used to 15-25 mpg bench role in his golden years. Depending on what happens with Wiggs in the offseason, I’d vote for a starting 5 next season of either (1) Steph-Podz-Moody-JK-TJD, (2) Steph-Podz-Wiggs-JK-TJD, or (3) Steph-Moody-Wiggs-JK-TJD.
Lineup #3 may actually intrigue me the most, even though we’ve rarely seen it. I love the size and athleticism from #2-5; and though it ostensibly lacks enough playmaking (which is why I suspect we’ve rarely seen it), it forces JK, Moody, and TJD into playmaking roles that they’re gonna need to start growing into maximize their development as players — just as Dray went from averaging 1.8 assists per 36 when he was 22 to 8-10 assists per 36 at his peak.
Yeah, they may never get close to Dray’s level as playmakers, but Dray is not gonna be Dray forever, either. No one thought guys like Kawhi, Tatum, and KD were anything as passers/playmakers when they were young, and they‘ve all developed nicely into point forwards dropping 5-6 dimes per 36. Heck, even Jaylen Brown, who looked like the most hopeless passer ever in his youth, is dropping around 4 dimes per 36 this season.
Install Podz, Klay, and Dray the super 6th-8th men, surround them with as much size and shooting as we can get on the bench (including GUI!), and let’s gooooo….
Fun topic. Of course, line-ups will be matchup dependent, and I also don’t want to wear down Dray, but the fact is he is still our best center.
I might like to start games with Steph-Moody-Wiggs-JK-Green and look to get TJD in early and sitting one of W,K,G depending. Green would play fewer minutes if it looks like we can afford to do so. But I don’t want to start the game without the advantages he provides on both sides of the court.
A second team that uses Podz’ playmaking during Dray-less minutes makes sense to me. I’d save CP for situations and mostly sideline him. For a 9 man rotation-
2nd: Podz-Klay-GP2-TJD with whatever big wing who deserves the minutes.
I ❤️ that lineup, too. Another example of why I think Dray should be *more* of a 5 (in addition to having his minutes limited and eventually moving to the bench).
I have a lot of confidence in TJD’s BBIQ to rapidly develop into a playmaking big somewhere between Draymond and Bogut. His court awareness is pretty amazing.
I afraid your idea of moving Draymond to bench minutes doesn't do any favors for our also aging Steph Curry. They really unlock the best in each other, and I think making sure Dray plays with Steph as much as possible is a key to squeezing out one last run from this group (if anything is).
Fair point. I guess my hope would be that TJD and Kuminga could also develop some of that Steph synergy (and that Dray’s 15-25 minutes could be closely aligned with Steph).
All the potential lineups have issues — I just think we should come up with one that’s based more on foresight than on nostalgia.
Fun fact: TJD’s assist rate and ast/tov ratio his senior year in college were better than Dray’s (4.7 / 3.3 per 40 minutes, to Dray’s 4.6 / 3.6). The idea of TJD at 24 becoming a great shooter is a pipe dream, but is it that much of a pipe dream to try to develop him into an elite passing big, like Domantas Sabonis but with defense?
Sabonis is another one who developed Draymond-like passing skills over time — went from 1.8 assists per 36 as a rookie to 8.4 this season.
I agree - and hope that is part of the plan for next year. But TJD isn’t Draymond yet and I’m not ready to sacrifice any chances this year with the goal of helping the kids grow. How Kerr strikes this balance will be the stuff one continuing debate.
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To be fair the offensive spacing issues to begin this season were less the fault of a Draymond/Looney frontcourt, and moreso due to Klay and Wiggs starting out ice cold. That unit provided plenty of spacing years prior. Plus Draymond’s apparently a sniper now anyway.
You could be right. I just don’t see a starting lineup featuring 37 y.o. Steph and 34-35 y.o. Dray and Klay doing anything interesting next season. Switching out Dray and Klay in the starting five for more dynamic guys with younger legs (Kuminga, Podz, Moody) likely doesn’t get them to promised land, either, but it least it has the added value of helping the young guys develop the skills they’re gonna need to become great.
If you’re constantly aligning Kuminga’s and TJ’s minutes with Dray’s, you risk sending them a message that you see them mostly as dunkers and finishers, and potentially stunting their growth as decision-makers and passers.
How much longer do we think Dray is gonna be peak Dray? He’s mostly been awesome this year, but I think a huge part of that is that they’ve severely curtailed his minutes load — just 17.7 minutes per Warriors game played (thanks partly to the suspension). And even at that load, he’s been having some of the back issues that increasingly plague athletes as they age.
Just think it’s time to move forward stop trying to squeeze so much juice from the same old oranges.
Down four points with 1 second on the game clock, Wembanyama hoisted a three off of a timeout play. Gary Payton Dos decided that this was something he had to closely contest.
Let's review the math. If the ball had gone in with time expiring, and there had been a foul converted, that would mathematically have equated to ONE ANGRY ANGRY FAN
I think he was telling GP2 NOT to throw the ball at the stanchion. It was a dumb move and Coach Pop let him know he was letting his team down by doing it.
Missed the whole thing; just here to celebrate the win. Four in a row on the road is impressive, and a Houston loss is welcome. Hopefully, they (and the Lakers) revert to the mean for the rest of the season.
Steph was pretty great this game but didja notice wow wtf was that Draymond? Masterful on both ends of the court, savage on D, hard driving inside, (mostly) great creation. Loved this Dray game.
But Wiggins relapsed and Klay was just Klay (in other words, pretty mediocre).
Here’s hoping for great games from ALL our players on Tuesday!
Not that I hate Wenby it's just that I personally respect players like Curry more since he had to succeed in a world of giants and freak athletes. That's why I respect Jokić and Dončić more then some other players.
I'm pretty sure he meant that he'd be gone by the time Wemby reaches his unbeatable prime. Barring a career ending injury, Dray will likely play out the rest of his current contract.
Amazing to ponder how much lucking into Wemby swung the fortunes of SA v the other lotto teams. Is it crazy to think he might be worth a billion dollars more to the value of a franchise than Scoot Henderson?
He's 20 years old. When I was that age, I was 6'2" and 155 pounds. He' get bigger and stronger. I've been impressed that he's been able to play and not break down. Maybe being lighter is better.
This is what SA does. Pop goes down to the crossroads, makes a deal with the devil, and comes away with an all-time superstar. Remember the '96-'97 season when David Robinson got hurt a half dozen games into the season and missed the rest of the year? The previous year they won their division and made it to the conference semis. Without the Admiral they crashed to 6th place in the division, third worst record in the league, got the #1 pick, and came away with Tim Duncan. It's Pop conjuring with evil spirits.
1). 4 City Expansion: Las Vegas, Seattle, Vancouver (or Mexico City), Kansas City.
2). Seed the playoffs 1-16 not by Conference.
3). Tinker further with play-in format. Id like to see a format which the 8th seed gets a bye while the 9th and 10th seeds play for the right to meet the 8th seed in that second play-in. Leave 7th seed alone
EDIT: since it would be 1-16 seeding then I’d want to see 15 and 16 with a bye. While 17 plays 20 and 18 plays 19 then winners advance to play 15th and 16th seeds
How Draymond Green Put On A Masterpiece Playing Off Steph Curry’s Gravity | Warriors Breakdown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvLnYTLd89c
Dubs finished last year 6 games over .500 (44-38) and got the #6 seed. They are now 6 games over .500 with 8 to play and the #10 seed. Suns finished 8 games over .500 last year, good for a #4 seed. This year they are 12 games over .500 and hoping to cling to the #7 or #8 seed. The West is crazy tough this year.
After two years of the East beating the West h2h, West has a .575 win% v East this year.
That was a Draymond masterclass, always wanted to see him guard Wembanyama and it didn't disappoint. Also low key a Moody masterclass but in a much smaller role, although he did give up a few cuts defensively.
Draymond/TJD should be the starting frontcourt the rest of the season, and then next season they need to either determine that TJD can be the starting center or find one so Draymond can go back to playing the 4.
Also it's a nitpick but when Draymond is shooting that second free throw it should be Looney and TJD lined up to try to get the rebound, not TJD and Klay.
Totally agree about the Dray masterclass — mostly disagree about making him the full-time startling PF going forward. These things can be fluid, but I still think he’s best playing *mostly* at the 5, with long, athletic wings (two of JK, Moody, Wiggs) at the 4-5. If we install him at the starting 4 alongside a traditional 5 we’re back to square one from the early season, with poor offensive spacing and the young wings fighting it out for starting jobs and minutes.
Dray turns 35 next season. I’m not benching JK and risking stunting his development to try to squeeze the maximum amount of juice from Dray’s aging body before he falls apart physically. As with Andre and Klay before him, I think it’s time for him to get used to 15-25 mpg bench role in his golden years. Depending on what happens with Wiggs in the offseason, I’d vote for a starting 5 next season of either (1) Steph-Podz-Moody-JK-TJD, (2) Steph-Podz-Wiggs-JK-TJD, or (3) Steph-Moody-Wiggs-JK-TJD.
Lineup #3 may actually intrigue me the most, even though we’ve rarely seen it. I love the size and athleticism from #2-5; and though it ostensibly lacks enough playmaking (which is why I suspect we’ve rarely seen it), it forces JK, Moody, and TJD into playmaking roles that they’re gonna need to start growing into maximize their development as players — just as Dray went from averaging 1.8 assists per 36 when he was 22 to 8-10 assists per 36 at his peak.
Yeah, they may never get close to Dray’s level as playmakers, but Dray is not gonna be Dray forever, either. No one thought guys like Kawhi, Tatum, and KD were anything as passers/playmakers when they were young, and they‘ve all developed nicely into point forwards dropping 5-6 dimes per 36. Heck, even Jaylen Brown, who looked like the most hopeless passer ever in his youth, is dropping around 4 dimes per 36 this season.
Install Podz, Klay, and Dray the super 6th-8th men, surround them with as much size and shooting as we can get on the bench (including GUI!), and let’s gooooo….
Fun topic. Of course, line-ups will be matchup dependent, and I also don’t want to wear down Dray, but the fact is he is still our best center.
I might like to start games with Steph-Moody-Wiggs-JK-Green and look to get TJD in early and sitting one of W,K,G depending. Green would play fewer minutes if it looks like we can afford to do so. But I don’t want to start the game without the advantages he provides on both sides of the court.
A second team that uses Podz’ playmaking during Dray-less minutes makes sense to me. I’d save CP for situations and mostly sideline him. For a 9 man rotation-
2nd: Podz-Klay-GP2-TJD with whatever big wing who deserves the minutes.
> Steph-Moody-Wiggs-JK-Green
I ❤️ that lineup, too. Another example of why I think Dray should be *more* of a 5 (in addition to having his minutes limited and eventually moving to the bench).
I have a lot of confidence in TJD’s BBIQ to rapidly develop into a playmaking big somewhere between Draymond and Bogut. His court awareness is pretty amazing.
I do, too. Which is why I like the idea of starting to decouple his minutes from Dray’s.
I afraid your idea of moving Draymond to bench minutes doesn't do any favors for our also aging Steph Curry. They really unlock the best in each other, and I think making sure Dray plays with Steph as much as possible is a key to squeezing out one last run from this group (if anything is).
Fair point. I guess my hope would be that TJD and Kuminga could also develop some of that Steph synergy (and that Dray’s 15-25 minutes could be closely aligned with Steph).
All the potential lineups have issues — I just think we should come up with one that’s based more on foresight than on nostalgia.
Fun fact: TJD’s assist rate and ast/tov ratio his senior year in college were better than Dray’s (4.7 / 3.3 per 40 minutes, to Dray’s 4.6 / 3.6). The idea of TJD at 24 becoming a great shooter is a pipe dream, but is it that much of a pipe dream to try to develop him into an elite passing big, like Domantas Sabonis but with defense?
Sabonis is another one who developed Draymond-like passing skills over time — went from 1.8 assists per 36 as a rookie to 8.4 this season.
Yeah, between TJD and Gui, we have two bigs who (IMHO) could develop into good facilitators someday.
Gui's not as far along, obviously, but his attitude is great and from what I've seen, he's a pretty decent passer.
I agree - and hope that is part of the plan for next year. But TJD isn’t Draymond yet and I’m not ready to sacrifice any chances this year with the goal of helping the kids grow. How Kerr strikes this balance will be the stuff one continuing debate.
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To be fair the offensive spacing issues to begin this season were less the fault of a Draymond/Looney frontcourt, and moreso due to Klay and Wiggs starting out ice cold. That unit provided plenty of spacing years prior. Plus Draymond’s apparently a sniper now anyway.
You could be right. I just don’t see a starting lineup featuring 37 y.o. Steph and 34-35 y.o. Dray and Klay doing anything interesting next season. Switching out Dray and Klay in the starting five for more dynamic guys with younger legs (Kuminga, Podz, Moody) likely doesn’t get them to promised land, either, but it least it has the added value of helping the young guys develop the skills they’re gonna need to become great.
If you’re constantly aligning Kuminga’s and TJ’s minutes with Dray’s, you risk sending them a message that you see them mostly as dunkers and finishers, and potentially stunting their growth as decision-makers and passers.
How much longer do we think Dray is gonna be peak Dray? He’s mostly been awesome this year, but I think a huge part of that is that they’ve severely curtailed his minutes load — just 17.7 minutes per Warriors game played (thanks partly to the suspension). And even at that load, he’s been having some of the back issues that increasingly plague athletes as they age.
Just think it’s time to move forward stop trying to squeeze so much juice from the same old oranges.
What do they do with Kuminga tho?
Use the fact that the league overrates him and trade him for win-now pieces.
Yup. Not sure if he will like being the sixth man.
Down four points with 1 second on the game clock, Wembanyama hoisted a three off of a timeout play. Gary Payton Dos decided that this was something he had to closely contest.
Let's review the math. If the ball had gone in with time expiring, and there had been a foul converted, that would mathematically have equated to ONE ANGRY ANGRY FAN
Popovich was talking to GP2 about that right after the game. Watch the tape, it's a fun interaction.
I think he was telling GP2 NOT to throw the ball at the stanchion. It was a dumb move and Coach Pop let him know he was letting his team down by doing it.
I had the same reaction - WHY??? I also recall Draymond mouthing "No fouls" in the huddle during the TO before the Spurs' last possession.
Incorrect. Equals at least 1 million angry fans.
Missed the whole thing; just here to celebrate the win. Four in a row on the road is impressive, and a Houston loss is welcome. Hopefully, they (and the Lakers) revert to the mean for the rest of the season.
Steph was pretty great this game but didja notice wow wtf was that Draymond? Masterful on both ends of the court, savage on D, hard driving inside, (mostly) great creation. Loved this Dray game.
But Wiggins relapsed and Klay was just Klay (in other words, pretty mediocre).
Here’s hoping for great games from ALL our players on Tuesday!
Not that I hate Wenby it's just that I personally respect players like Curry more since he had to succeed in a world of giants and freak athletes. That's why I respect Jokić and Dončić more then some other players.
*Wemby
There’s an edit button if you click the 3 dots
I saw the boxscore and knew the Warriors won, but then I saw the game highlights and was pretty sure they lost.
Ha! We were on the road and had to watch highlights as well. If we didn’t know the outcome prior, our hearts would have been in our stomachs.
They do like Wemby in the highlights world…
What is the possiblity that JOE LACOB may sell the Warriors the next two years?
Did I read it correctly team is now valued at over 7 billion?
Wonder how much that'll drop after Curry retires.
Not much! Steph has a contract for 5 years/215million, signed in 2021. By 2026 the team valuation will be a lot greater than the current 7 billion...
Not a bad return on a 450 million investment after 14 years...lol
Don't think Lolakers will remain in 9th place...
KERR Post Game: "DRAY is a GENIUS on Defense...."
https://twitter.com/NBCSWarriors/status/1774619347337846916
"They'll have to deal with him a lot later and I won't be in the league no more."
----------------------------------------------------
The media be like: DRAYMOND GREEN THREATENS RETIREMENT. IS HE GONE AFTER THIS SEASON?! WHAT'S GOING ON IN WARRIOR LAND?
I'm pretty sure he meant that he'd be gone by the time Wemby reaches his unbeatable prime. Barring a career ending injury, Dray will likely play out the rest of his current contract.
Amazing to ponder how much lucking into Wemby swung the fortunes of SA v the other lotto teams. Is it crazy to think he might be worth a billion dollars more to the value of a franchise than Scoot Henderson?
Wemby is tall, but he's only 210 pounds, meaning that he will get bullied by players heavier than him.
He's probably closer to 230
https://basketnews.com/news-195630-victor-wembanyamas-new-weight-revealed.html
He's 20 years old. When I was that age, I was 6'2" and 155 pounds. He' get bigger and stronger. I've been impressed that he's been able to play and not break down. Maybe being lighter is better.
So much fun to watch - I wish him a long career.
He got in on TJD pretty easy for an and 1 dunk… he doesn’t need to put on that much weight…
He will put on natural grown man weight, maybe 10-20 more pounds. That’s all he “needs”
Also he's still only 20, right? Pretty sure dude will put on a couple pounds of muscle and strength as he gets above our drinking age.
Although I fear for his health.
Stats for his stature don't seem bright.
That lotto was rigged for SA and no one will be able to convince me otherwise.
This is what SA does. Pop goes down to the crossroads, makes a deal with the devil, and comes away with an all-time superstar. Remember the '96-'97 season when David Robinson got hurt a half dozen games into the season and missed the rest of the year? The previous year they won their division and made it to the conference semis. Without the Admiral they crashed to 6th place in the division, third worst record in the league, got the #1 pick, and came away with Tim Duncan. It's Pop conjuring with evil spirits.
Yay win! Yay loss for rockets.
BTW - how does LAL have 7-9 division record with one game left in division (against us)? Is that because of IST?
Yes, they played the Suns 5x times, lol
Jazz keeping it interesting in Sactown, despite missing like half their team…
Tie it up… then give up a 13-0 run… le sigh
Update: 23-2 run
Sounds like something our Dubs would do. Oh, wait a minute. They have done it or very close to it several times this season.
Not anymore
Lol, that escalated quickly…
21-2 Kings run
Selected road records
Warriors 22-15
Nuggets 22-15
Bucks 18-19
Lakers 15-21
Rockets 12-24
(Selected for making us look good)
Wishlist for the near future
1). 4 City Expansion: Las Vegas, Seattle, Vancouver (or Mexico City), Kansas City.
2). Seed the playoffs 1-16 not by Conference.
3). Tinker further with play-in format. Id like to see a format which the 8th seed gets a bye while the 9th and 10th seeds play for the right to meet the 8th seed in that second play-in. Leave 7th seed alone
EDIT: since it would be 1-16 seeding then I’d want to see 15 and 16 with a bye. While 17 plays 20 and 18 plays 19 then winners advance to play 15th and 16th seeds
Not Mexico City - it's even higher than Denver at 7,359'.
0. Get rid of the in season tournament just for me. I've been a loyal fan of the league for decades I deserve this one gift
I think both in season and play in are great. They bring a lot of competitiveness to the season overall.
Yeah forgot about that.