After watching Phoenix hit the winning shot in the last second of the game with the Knicks, I'm crowning them the Champs. Warriors will never get past them in the playoffs. Luck is on their side. Back to back Finals. Are they the new dyansty in the West?
They'll be a title threat so long as Chris Paul is in the picture. The way he runs the offense, when he's not there, its felt. They are damn good though.
I mean, glass houses and all, but needing a miracle finish to handle the mighty Knicks (one that required 5 Knicks bricked late FTs, including a huge one in the waning seconds by their best FT shooter Alec Burks) is hardly evidence of can’t miss champs.
Yeah, CP3 makes them a whole ton better — but will his busted right hand by 100% by the playoffs, which start in six weeks?
There’s no team right now that doesn’t have significant question marks. I’m not sure any one team has better than a 15% shot. I guess if you twisted my arm to pick one team … the Bucks? They’re the only squad other than the Warriors and the godawful Lakers with a core group that we’ve seen win the whole enchilada.
Can we Fastrak this? Curry & Looney need rest, so put 'em on the bench, limit minutes, until last 6-8 games. Start Poole-Moody-Wiggs-Kuminga-Wiseman. Get Klay as many minutes as he needs cuz he's working his way back. Your 2nd unit is Curry-Klay-Andre-OPJ-Looney. 2nd unit issue SOLVED! LOL My point being, Curry, Klay, Dray, Loon, Andre, even JTA & D Lee ALL know how to play together. The idea that we need to work Dray back into the rotation is ridiculous. Dray IS the rotation. Let the vets rest, they freaking know how to play already. Max the Hell out of the young guys for the next couple weeks. Have fun with it. Be different. Be wacky. F the normal rules of b-ball. If you make it fun again, you will get the All-Star game Curry back.
The only game that matters between NOW and the PLAYOFFS is NONE. Health, joy, quantum entanglement, that's all that matters.
Shout out to Jason Kidd who exposed a real problem with GSW. Teams used to double team Curry to keep him from shooting. Now, with Curry picking up the play making slack from Draymond's absence, they are effectively shutting down the shooter AND the play maker. Not to go negative, but the Warriors aren't just losing, they are losing playing 4 on 3. They can play 4 on 3 all night but the 4, after Curry passes out of the double team, can't beat 3. That, my friends, is actually a little depressing.
The 4 on 3 needs to improve for sure. Although there were a couple of times Dallas did an excellent job of recovering, so the advantage was lost by the time Steph passed out. I think this is something they can prepare for though, so I would expect it to improve before the playoffs. I think the execution will also be helped with more stable lineups as we close the season
Of course. We used to see Looney in these DHOs + screen early in possessions. Now we are seeing Looney in stage 3 of the action getting the ball top of key out of Curry double team. Not what we want to see, but it is because of the lack of key players. ;-(
The league is so unpredictable as it is, then we have how many impactful players waiting to come back? Has there ever been a season in the NBA remotely close to this: 8 teams could win it?
No word on PG as far as I know but last I heard Lue said Kawhi will probably not come back this season. PG alone would still be enough for them to cause some hell in the playoffs
Suns just seem better at closing games even with CP3 and Booker out. May be it is on Kerr in terms of rotations but we seem to loose our poise w/o Dray and that may be a problem in playoffs if Dray fouls out or gets two Ts
Watching too. I’m really impressed with that kid. Not huge but taking Giannis’ full body in the paint. Even dunked over him on the offensive side. And not feeling especially sorry for Allen after he took Caruso out so blatantly.
For the people who think the Warriors will certainly lose a first round series if Draymond isn't playing, keep in mind that if the Warriors are the 2/3/4 seed they get homecourt advantage. Here are the Warriors' home loss differentials this season, and Draymond only played in the first two:
-3 (OT) against Memphis
-5 (B2B) against San Antonio
-3 against Denver
-4 (OT) against Indiana
-2 (B2B) against New York
-1 against Denver
-6 against Dallas
The Warriors are not easy to beat at home, and can theoretically survive a round in the playoffs without Draymond if they have homecourt. Maybe even 2 if they somehow get the 2 seed, although I think the odds might be against them on that one.
And yes, I'm saying this now since the Bucks will destroy them next week.
Also I remember the 2018 Celtics were the #2 seed and lost Kyrie (and the confidence of NBA prognosticators everywhere) but rode home court to Game 7 of the ECF where they lost by 8 to the Cavs. Draymond is better than Kyrie, but still.
EDIT: Also for those wondering how this team went on a long win streak without Draymond...those games were either at home or against HOU/SAS/OKC. This is still a team that plays well at home is the point, a blown 19 point lead in the fourth quarter against Dallas and buzzer beater from Denver doesn't change that.
Harden is in full 'annoying to watch' mode. So much head faking to draw fouls. Unfortunately unlike at the beginning of the season, he is getting rewarded for his efforts
Seems to me the plan didn’t work. IMO the plan will not work. Bringing some vets on the minimum, bring back the scorers and shooters and guys who are familiar with the system, have your center in place by the start of the season, bring back your second best shooter around the turn of the year, develop the rookies when possible, and play lots of small ball. It hasn’t worked. The vets can only play half of the games, or even less. The center is not back nor will he likely be back in any meaningful way. The second best scorer finally came back but it’s gonna take some time to get his shooting up to par, especially as he is not being fed shots by Green. And now the best distributor is out. The plan didn’t work. The team looks tired/slow, Curry looks tired. In this situation an intelligent person would make adjustments. But Kerr says it doesn’t matter cause everybody’s playing small ball, followed by a list in Bleacher Report of about 10 teams who have two, three, or four players over 6’10” tall. It seems like denial or something. So my question is can’t they/should they make adjustments other than asking Curry to do even more? Hard for a non-basketball player to understand.
After watching Phoenix hit the winning shot in the last second of the game with the Knicks, I'm crowning them the Champs. Warriors will never get past them in the playoffs. Luck is on their side. Back to back Finals. Are they the new dyansty in the West?
I'm much more worried about memphis, philly, bucks n the nets then the suns
They'll be a title threat so long as Chris Paul is in the picture. The way he runs the offense, when he's not there, its felt. They are damn good though.
I mean, glass houses and all, but needing a miracle finish to handle the mighty Knicks (one that required 5 Knicks bricked late FTs, including a huge one in the waning seconds by their best FT shooter Alec Burks) is hardly evidence of can’t miss champs.
Yeah, CP3 makes them a whole ton better — but will his busted right hand by 100% by the playoffs, which start in six weeks?
There’s no team right now that doesn’t have significant question marks. I’m not sure any one team has better than a 15% shot. I guess if you twisted my arm to pick one team … the Bucks? They’re the only squad other than the Warriors and the godawful Lakers with a core group that we’ve seen win the whole enchilada.
Can we Fastrak this? Curry & Looney need rest, so put 'em on the bench, limit minutes, until last 6-8 games. Start Poole-Moody-Wiggs-Kuminga-Wiseman. Get Klay as many minutes as he needs cuz he's working his way back. Your 2nd unit is Curry-Klay-Andre-OPJ-Looney. 2nd unit issue SOLVED! LOL My point being, Curry, Klay, Dray, Loon, Andre, even JTA & D Lee ALL know how to play together. The idea that we need to work Dray back into the rotation is ridiculous. Dray IS the rotation. Let the vets rest, they freaking know how to play already. Max the Hell out of the young guys for the next couple weeks. Have fun with it. Be different. Be wacky. F the normal rules of b-ball. If you make it fun again, you will get the All-Star game Curry back.
The only game that matters between NOW and the PLAYOFFS is NONE. Health, joy, quantum entanglement, that's all that matters.
Shout out to Jason Kidd who exposed a real problem with GSW. Teams used to double team Curry to keep him from shooting. Now, with Curry picking up the play making slack from Draymond's absence, they are effectively shutting down the shooter AND the play maker. Not to go negative, but the Warriors aren't just losing, they are losing playing 4 on 3. They can play 4 on 3 all night but the 4, after Curry passes out of the double team, can't beat 3. That, my friends, is actually a little depressing.
The 4 on 3 needs to improve for sure. Although there were a couple of times Dallas did an excellent job of recovering, so the advantage was lost by the time Steph passed out. I think this is something they can prepare for though, so I would expect it to improve before the playoffs. I think the execution will also be helped with more stable lineups as we close the season
Of course. We used to see Looney in these DHOs + screen early in possessions. Now we are seeing Looney in stage 3 of the action getting the ball top of key out of Curry double team. Not what we want to see, but it is because of the lack of key players. ;-(
"Surrender may be our only hope."
"No. Never give up, never surrender."
I'm getting Galaxy Quest vibes.
Just channel Winston Churchill - Never ever give up!
And if that doesn't work, Rick Astley is pretty close
I haven't thought of him in 30 years! lol
Suns are doing a little too much winning in the regular season just to lose to the Clippers in the 1st round
Unless Kawhi & PG make a surprise come back. Have they been officially shutdown?
The league is so unpredictable as it is, then we have how many impactful players waiting to come back? Has there ever been a season in the NBA remotely close to this: 8 teams could win it?
No word on PG as far as I know but last I heard Lue said Kawhi will probably not come back this season. PG alone would still be enough for them to cause some hell in the playoffs
Poor Suns… all this work in the regular season just to lose in the 2nd round of the playoffs.
Jazz lost. So that's good. Keeping 2nd/3rd seed is still a possibility
Cam Johnson 😯 Epic game winner
Suns just seem better at closing games even with CP3 and Booker out. May be it is on Kerr in terms of rotations but we seem to loose our poise w/o Dray and that may be a problem in playoffs if Dray fouls out or gets two Ts
As someone who loves Kerr: it’s coaching
Didn't they just fail to close out Utah a week ago?
They’ve been very clutch this year
Without CP3 it seems like they are 1 for 2 though?
True
Knicks outscored the Suns 38-23 in the 3rd quarter.
And Suns respond with a 34-21 4th quarter....
Cam Johnson with 21 pts in 4th
Meanwhile, in Phoenix, the suns can’t separate from the knicks at home… the Knicks at home! Who does that?!?!
Wow. Pelicans destroyed the Jazz.
DJJ just dropped an elbow into Grayson Allens head lol Lucky to get away with a flagrant 1
Watching too. I’m really impressed with that kid. Not huge but taking Giannis’ full body in the paint. Even dunked over him on the offensive side. And not feeling especially sorry for Allen after he took Caruso out so blatantly.
For the people who think the Warriors will certainly lose a first round series if Draymond isn't playing, keep in mind that if the Warriors are the 2/3/4 seed they get homecourt advantage. Here are the Warriors' home loss differentials this season, and Draymond only played in the first two:
-3 (OT) against Memphis
-5 (B2B) against San Antonio
-3 against Denver
-4 (OT) against Indiana
-2 (B2B) against New York
-1 against Denver
-6 against Dallas
The Warriors are not easy to beat at home, and can theoretically survive a round in the playoffs without Draymond if they have homecourt. Maybe even 2 if they somehow get the 2 seed, although I think the odds might be against them on that one.
And yes, I'm saying this now since the Bucks will destroy them next week.
Didnt we beat the suns twice without Draymond, or just once and almost beat em?
Also I remember the 2018 Celtics were the #2 seed and lost Kyrie (and the confidence of NBA prognosticators everywhere) but rode home court to Game 7 of the ECF where they lost by 8 to the Cavs. Draymond is better than Kyrie, but still.
EDIT: Also for those wondering how this team went on a long win streak without Draymond...those games were either at home or against HOU/SAS/OKC. This is still a team that plays well at home is the point, a blown 19 point lead in the fourth quarter against Dallas and buzzer beater from Denver doesn't change that.
These are just point differentials for home losses, what adjustment are you referring to?
I posted about home losses not home record. Regardless, don't really see the use of doing that.
Once again, he’s talking about point differentials, not their records.
Harden is in full 'annoying to watch' mode. So much head faking to draw fouls. Unfortunately unlike at the beginning of the season, he is getting rewarded for his efforts
Hate that guy’s sport, whatever it is, because it ain’t basketball.
Seems to me the plan didn’t work. IMO the plan will not work. Bringing some vets on the minimum, bring back the scorers and shooters and guys who are familiar with the system, have your center in place by the start of the season, bring back your second best shooter around the turn of the year, develop the rookies when possible, and play lots of small ball. It hasn’t worked. The vets can only play half of the games, or even less. The center is not back nor will he likely be back in any meaningful way. The second best scorer finally came back but it’s gonna take some time to get his shooting up to par, especially as he is not being fed shots by Green. And now the best distributor is out. The plan didn’t work. The team looks tired/slow, Curry looks tired. In this situation an intelligent person would make adjustments. But Kerr says it doesn’t matter cause everybody’s playing small ball, followed by a list in Bleacher Report of about 10 teams who have two, three, or four players over 6’10” tall. It seems like denial or something. So my question is can’t they/should they make adjustments other than asking Curry to do even more? Hard for a non-basketball player to understand.