On a side note, I think may have fucked around and created the greatest team of all time with Lebron James/Steph Curry/Kevin Durant/Kevin Garnett/Hakeem Olajuwon.
Hakeem Olajuwon and Kevin Garnett are the two of the greatest defensive bigs ever imho (with only Duncan/Walton in the debate) primarily on the back of their team defense while still being incredibly switchable. Kevin Durant also provides a third shot blocker on the squad while him/Lebron are fantastically switchable. No matter what All Time Squad you put against my squad, I have full confidence that they will struggle to score.
Offensively, Hakeem/KD are two of the greatest tough shot makers in the history of the NBA. Curry is arguably the greatest offensive force in the history of the NBA who will provide spacing alongside KD from deep (with Lebron being about average from three) WHILE Hakeem/KG also generate spacing through their midrange games.
This squad will also have tons of connectivity as Lebron is one of the greatest passers of all time (helping run the offense), KG is an excellent passer, Curry is a highly effective and underrated passer, and Hakeem/KD are very good decision makers for their positions.
I think my team will shut down any other All Time Squad while also destroying them offensively with excellent spacing and passing. So I offer a challenge, present your All Time Squad and I’ll tell you why mine will beat them!!
*other contrarian considerations: prime Klay, Ray Allen, Iguodala
No real answers for defending Bron or Steph, but Kobe and Jordan would take their maniacal competitiveness and press both ballhandlers full-court until cardiac arrest, achilles tears, or both. Rasheed Wallace's histrionics got the headlines, but his BBIQ, legitimate range to the point line and ability to defend 2-5 were the secret sauce in taking the Blazers to the brink of the Finals and the Pistons to the championship. If you were closely following the NBA, you saw Sheed regularly hold his own against Garnett. The stats are skewed by the ascendance of the super Celtics during the twilight of Sheed's career, but prime vs prime, both were great positional and team defenders, with Rasheed being the bette shooter and, reportedly, teammate.
I didn't pick Shaq, because his game is obsolete, and not because of analytics and Needing To Be Able To Shoot. Shaq's career was prematurely over as soon as referees started to notice that most of his highlights are offensive fouls and began calling them (and paying reparations to Chris Dudley's estate). Also, you have prime Hakeem, sooooo... yeah.
Embiid vs Jokic seems to be destined to be a decade-long conversation; both can take over a game and are surprising good shooters, but here, Jokic gets the nod over Embiid because he's a better passer on a team with Kobe and Jordan, and Embiid seems to be involved in a lot of losses snatched from the jaws of victory, whether Doc Rivers is on the bench or not. Also of note are Jokic's weird midrange turnaround abilities and unconventional deliveries that may fare better against Dream.
My team, mathematically, would be hard-pressed to keep up as we rain 2's on a team with Steph and KD, so I would consider pre-surgery Klay on the team for his two-way abilities and predisposition to go thermonuclear for several minutes at a time.
Ray Allen can hit some gigantic shots, and has athleticism that could be prodded into better defensive effort under the merciless tutelage of 23 and 24.
My team would have to seek out mismatches on offense (we're posting Steph, and drawing Hakeem out of the paint with stretch 4/5's; and any team with Bird or Magic will need to sign a medical waiver) and lean heavily on their defensive acumen/diagnosable madness to disrupt the admittedly legendary scorers on the other superteams. Bait KG into shooting his ugly midrange jumper (don't believe the youtube clips, KG's broken jumper was a cheat code for beating his teams), get into KD's body, hope that Bron's flopping offends Hakeem, and play the game on Christmas Day and/or Ramadan.
Also, I get to pick your coaching staff, which will be David Blatt (playcalling), Don Nelson (defensive coordinator), and PJ Carlesimo (morale).
Against that team (assuming no repeats), I'm taking Magic/Jordan/Bird/Duncan/Kareem. Offensively, a team with Kareem and MJ will always score. And the passing of Magic and Bird together would be magical. There's a reason my guys have 5/6/3/5/6 rings vs your lineup has 4/4/2/1/2.
Could just be my Warriors prescription glasses, but that lineup basically looks the all time great version of the 22 vintage starting 5 to me? Obviously that worked well at the time, so I bet this would be an awesome lineup to watch.
It's a good construction, but I'd have to think about whether a more fully 5 out spaced lineup could give the defense more trouble than one would expect. I also think its offense feels like it could be schemed against more than you do. The Dream is an amazing tough shot maker, but I think he sticks out in particular in this group as someone who'd be more ball stopper than facilitator, which is a consistent but lower peak offense imo. Perhaps Bird would be a good tradeoff of O for D? That said, nothing comes to mind in the 5 min it took for me to write all this, maybe I'll have a eureka "anti-Arash" lineup if I go full Morey ;)
This rookie start sugar ain't working. A rook center who don't know enough yet to kick the ball out to HOF shooters; I'd rather go down witH SHIP starting 5 missing shots than rooks missing shots. Both Klay and Steph seem to lose any sense of rhythm and timing with all the merry-go-round rotations...
Didn’t Kerr pull Wiggins from the starting lineup preceded by getting pulled from a couple of games? Is Kerr taking Klay down that same path, or will he get more leeway?
We’ve speculated about Moody eventually taking over for Klay and it seems that time has arrived, even if Klay is handing the job over more than Moody is grabbing it.
The bad news: Klay isn’t showing signs of handling it well, being a good teammate and embracing a reduced role (where he could still provide value in a Korver/Harris-type role off the bench). I hope he does.
The good news: At least the team isn’t stuck with him on a big extension.
Yep. Kerr clearly needs to play Moody and reduce Klay's minutes. If Klay can't handle that now with the way he has been playing, then there should be no extension (even a team friendly one). His current and future value is the Korver/Harris role you mention, so he needs to come to grips with his limitations both on the court and with his next contract. Like you, I hope he sees the light and embraces his possibilities with the Dubs going forward.
Someone posted they need to trade Moody’s bench time for playing time. This seems spot on to me.
The other issue is that Curry still seems to thrive in the mad scramble of chaos but Kerr has no tolerance for that type of basketball anymore. It’s time to bring back the beautiful chaos concept of the Walton days.
But Ravens consume Dolphins like me with those cheesy Doritos that make your hands orange. Ravens's hands super orange right now and speaking of super, they look really scary for a super bowl win.
They do, but I think they benefited from some good luck last game (deflections trajectory, for instance) and also I think Brock will play better next time. Ravens would still be favorites, but I don't think they look radically better than the 49ers. Shanahan *really* needs to get this monkey off his back lol.
Yup, agreed on all points. Of all Brock interceptions I only think 1 was exclusively him (that first one where he didn't see the LB in the middle). The rest was the D overplaying his tendencies and getting lucky, which is what a good defense needs to do at this point.
Steph shooting badly for a few games in a row (aside from klay playing poorly), is that really on the rest of the team for “not knowing how to get him open, screen, etc”?
I’m here for the transition to more minutes for JK, Tdj and Moody (podz is already getting alot)
Very curious how it all pans out with especially klay and dray phasing out, will we actually get a phase in of the youts?
And lastly, in a full youth lineup who is the 2nd/3rd shooter, 2 way player, outside of moody/podz? Wiggs?!
It certainly true of Klay not getting set up right and staying in the game after he drops one or two...Don't think we/Kerr are going to go anywhere without Dray getting on board...Podz gets set up better by the vets for the 3pt attempt better than Klay does by the newbies (rooks and vets).
The degree to which Draymond is phasing out remains to be seen. Obviously he's late in his career but he's on a new three-year contract, and he was playing well when he wasn't too busy elbowing guys in the head or grabbing them in a headlock. He might not be quite the defender he once was but he's still pretty darned good, and he has shot better than in recent years. So while he can't last forever, he might still have a couple of good years of playing heavy minutes, assuming he can keep from getting tossed out and suspended.
I’m not sure whether Steph’s just tired, slumping, or if the team is doing a bad job getting him shots. It looks like all of the above to me. However, it’s true that the team thinks it has to get Steph better shots and it spent a lot of the last practice on that.
Are the Ws getting less out of the double teams on Steph than before? I have no data but suspect they're not punishing those high traps as much as they used to, which makes Steph life pretty tough.
Last night we had a brand new starting lineup. Didn’t work.
We’re going to see more lineups. The ‘figure out what will work’ effort will continue, possibly all season if management can’t pull of some crazy/unlikely trades.
I liked kuminga getting non curry minutes next to Dario at the start of the 2nd quarter, dude wants to score play him in a spaced out lineup and run pick n pops with Dario or let kuminga do his thing.
When fans say change the rotations they don't mean churn things to have different line-ups and rotations every game. And its not just about the starting line-up. Players need more than two games to get into their roles. But what Steve Kerr taught us last year is that he no longer seems to have patience with anyone except the OGs. Everyone else, 1 or 2 games, it better click or time to shift again. This churn is frittering away any chance for people to get comfortable in their roles and knowledge of teammate tendencies and needs. And thus it is destroying any chance to really figure out what works.
I agree with the concern. I don’t want there to be endless churn for the sake of experimentation, that doesn’t seem like a recipe for success either. And it does seem like Kerr, as much as I respect him, is struggling with balancing giving the vets the run they’ve earned vs giving them too much.
A Klay trade is the exact opposite of the fetishized “consolidation trade” every pundit is calling for. Klay at 40+M on one side means multiple guys on the other side to balance it out.
This is yet another reason why I expect any trade at the deadline to be a multi-team trade. This seems likely to me regardless of whether Klay is on the block, but especially so if he is.
The problem with the question is that we can’t agree on Klay’s value. He seems in flux. Is he the old Klay, that we’ve seen flashes of last year and a few recent games, or is he washed and inconsistent. I agree with Sleepy, though, he’s not going anywhere this year. He gets one more season (a contract one, at that) to prove himself.
I still think the W’s need to ride the OG a little longer. As much as I love them, we might value our kids a little too dearly. Would the Jazz consider:
TJD, JK, Moody, and CP for Collins and LM? We give a salary dump and half a year with, arguably a fantastic player coach, teamed with youth and tons of potential for absorbing Collins salary and LM. The salaries work. I think the Jazz don’t and many dubs fans object.
Whatever we think of his current level of play, Klay's almost certainly going nowhere midseason. But even hypothetically, I think any move we make now or in the offseason should be to relieve or upgrade our glut of "pretty good" players, not proliferate them. Even without Klay, whose rotation minutes out of Podz, Kuminga, Moody, Wiggins, Dario, Dray, TJD and/or Loon would we want to give to Collin or Collins?
Edit: hard to answer your specific question, since for any team looking to acquire them the real question would be whether they prefer a $40M expiring contract or two mediocre-ish guys on longer term $20M-ish contracts. In terms of talent it's probably about equal in a vacuum, but Klay's sentimental value to Steph and familiarity with Kerrball give him outsized value with the Warriors.
Not just playing time. You have to clear another roster spot. Klay isn’t under contract in the offseason and there’s zero chance Utah does a sign and trade for Klay at 43 million. So this must be an inseason trade idea which requires an additional roster spot to be cleared. Is this an information gathering thing for a 3 team trade? In that case Utah certainly would not see Klay as an equal asset.
No one is worth playing, on any team, if they are in a slump. Of course if they come out of the slump then we can say they are, but I'll take Collin Sexton shooting 3-8 pver Klay 1-11 every day and twice on new year's
Not all slumps are created equally. Steph in a slump still created a lot of offensive threat. And I never said Klay should be traded, nor specified at what price. Klay is not only in a slump, but when he's in a slump he's not really contributing in other ways. Put Moody out there. We don't need to trade Klay, we need to play him less. Klay has played with the second unit before, as a starter in there with them. How about the second unit is led by CP Dario Klay and WIggins?
Also, it's not just a slump, it's the poor decision making. When in a slump, stop taking every possible shot to shoot your way back in. Take better percentage shots.
This was a response to Arash asking if trading Klay for Sexton/Collins is equal value, assumed you saying you’d take Sexton over Klay was arguing in favor of that.
You won’t find me disagreeing that Klay’s decision making is mindnumbing, especially when he’s not hitting shots.
Who knows, but my guess is they’re all fairly neutral as assets. Eye of the beholder.
Fwiw: Klay is no longer “$40M” — he’s now more like $25M, pro-rated, and will be more like $15M at the deadline. I could see that being pretty appealing to a win-now team like the Lakers, and/or to a team looking to get off guaranteed money next season.
Yeah, Klay makes some sense to trade at the deadline, just because some team could afford him, and if his shooting is OK (remains to be seen), he could still help a franchise win as a rental for some team.
I don't expect it to happen, though. He'll probably get the same offer as Dray in the offseason, and who knows if he takes it.
We don’t get anywhere by trading. Anyone we think we’d like to trade has negative value right now. Much better to hope for a resurgence. Much better to hope the energy returns, the defensive rotations click and the shots start falling. Much better to hope the new players learn how to get Steph open. Much better to hope for everyone to find how they fit into the offense and for rotations to solidify. For better or for worse, I think Draymond is the key. There have been a ton of close games the old Draymond would have won for us.
I’m looking for Draymond to see the light and return a changed man. As I’ve said before, everyone likes the contrite sinner, the sober addict, the man who served his time and walks like it. I love the way Draymond plays. Like most here, I’m not a fan of his bitching, kicking and swinging. If he returns and plays like a maniac, keeps control of non-BB plays, and gives the refs the silent treatment, we’d see championship-level Dubs finish the season.
Depends on who you trade for. Problem is we don't have good draft capital to give to teams - say Toronto.
The way trade can make a difference is we give up two players - one of whom is not getting much playing time (e.g. Moody) and other one who is good enough right now but not great (e.g. JK or Wiggs or Klay) and you get a great player.
But is there any such great high IQ player out there on trading block? I don't think so.
PS: This will basically be destroy future move.
PPS: Matching Klay's salary is gonna be a big problem if he is the one to be traded.
Equal value meaning what? I would hope for serviceable players that need a change of scenery just like we have a few players that may just explode if moved. The other think I would want is a draft pick or two and see if MDj can work his magic again.
Then you are trading for the future. I still believe at least Steph and Draymond form the core of a championship level team. I don’t want picks though I could see large expirings, eg Klay and CP, helping to get a great 3&D that might help. Not sure who - but they’d better be elite - and that is the rub.
Curry is a great player but he is not capable of night in and night out of doing what Luka, Embid and Jokic can do.
He is too dependent on others having to set a million screens and run a whole system based on him getting open and all that it creates.
Klay is basically a streak shooter who will be wildly inconsistent and no longer dependable in big games as he has shown since his unfortunate injuries.
Wiggins will always be another guy who just for whatever reasons is not dependable.
JK has a ton of athleticism and is getting better but it takes years, not games from where he started.
He would also probably be better in a different offensive system to be honest.
TJD and Podz have been saviors and have played well above expectations but they are not Duncan and Ginobili.
The Warriors are not a good 3 point shooting team.
They are below average in guys who can create shots.
They are the smallest team in the league.
Their defense is probably average if Green returns.
Miami without a bunch of their best players totally exposed them.
Dallas without Kyrie was unstoppable.
Steph has games where he plays great but he has too many now where he is just not good.
It is over and they need to break it up while they still have value to trade.
They are not even a playoff team from what they have shown to date and all teams have injuries so that is not an excuse.
People are also forgetting just how good Poole was as a scorer in 2022. He had many games where he was their best player offensively. They also forget how good and smart Porter was. That team had a chemistry and a very good bench. Most importantly, the teams they had to beat were no where close to how good the league is now assuming good health.
Sad but it is over as all great teams eventually end one way or another.
This almost clickbaity. Your points seem to be that A. Every player the Warriors have isn't perfect and B. The Warriors are terrible.
So in turn I'll say this: A. Of course every player has challenges. Telling me that TJD isn't Duncan is an absurd critique. Jamal Murray won a chip last year but he's no Michael Jordan so Denver better blow it all up.
B. If you are so down on the Warriors, are you in the right place? We are open to critique of the players and coaches here, to be sure. But at a certain point the idea is that it's friendly critique that is paired with hope for the team. I have my issues with the team and coaching and players, but I actually think that with a few breaks, they could win it all. They have a lot of talent.
Just keeping it real and pointing out what I believe.
I don’t believe you are in any position to tell me I don’t belong on this site because I am not as positive as you like.
Please tell me when I ever said any player was terrible or inferred any player was terrible.
If I believe they are not going to win with their present roster I will point out why.
For example, pointing out that JK has improved but still has too far to go and to much to learn and that he needs to improve his skill level is not saying he is a terrible player.
You believe they have a lot of talent and can win it all.
What is that based on if you look at this roster and this seasons actual results?
The reason I said TJD and Podz were not Duncan and Ginobili should be obvious.
TJD has played well but he right now a competent small 5 and not anywhere near being a star.
Podz has been fantastic but he is not going to average 22 points a game in a playoff series and take them over the top.
My point is if all these players were actually as good as you seem to think why are they I believe 8- 18 against teams with winning records? 7 of the last 8 with Green.
Why have they had what,1 or 2 games the whole year where they dominated somebody?
Other teams are missing key guys. The one game they beat a very young OKC team at the buzzer they were missing Alexander. Last two games no Butler,Martin and no Irving just for example.
I will grant you your wish and be gone very soon from this site, so smile, but I hate to spoil your new year by telling you they are a flawed team which should be very obvious if you have any objectivity.
I do apologize some for not being more positive but quite honestly, this team has been extremely frustrating to watch and it is getting harder to be positive because of their performance.
I wish Kerr would run for President I respect him so much, but growing weary of the same old same old.
I will say it for the final time and if you have any real understanding of what it is to actually be a coach, the man has an incredibly difficult coaching job with this group. The ultimate challenge of his career with no doubt.
I just noticed with my bad eyes that you actually have JK as your avatar or whatever you call it.
That explains a lot.
I will give you my honest evaluation of him.
I think he smaller than listed which is not a positive but maybe my tv just distorts it somehow.
I think he is an exceptional athlete,very explosive and a very quick jumper.
As I said previously, I think he was a victim of poor coaching as a youth and was lacking the fundamentals and understanding of the game of many of his brethren.
His shooting has improved and is a decent 3 point shooter and may one day actually be a good 3 point shooter. Takes time and thousands of reps with a good shooting coach.
I don’t think he has much of a mid range pull up off the dribble ability yet. I think that is a key for him to level up.
He is getting better around the rim with his moves and footwork.
I wish he was a couple inches bigger but it is what it is.He struggles against length close to the basket but getting better.
I think his ball handling and passing have improved but still has a lot of room to grow there.
He is a good, not great on ball defender. Could be really good one day.
I don’t like what he said to MT in the interview about being unguardable and if I understood what he meant, overestimating his skill level.
You cannot be great if you are not a competitor and I think he is a competitor and wants to be great.
With him, it all comes down to his work ethic, practicing the right things correctly with a good coach and attitude.
There are a lot of guys who are really good players that are not great physical specimens.
Look no farther than Mr.Curry. They have IT. Green has IT. Podz has IT and it will be interesting to see how good he ends up being, but I will be very surprised if he ever becomes an all star, but he has been very impressive.
Yes, "It is over and they need to break it up while they still have value to trade."
Perfect post. The whole organization seems so lost to the reality right in front of them.
The trade window is closing fast as tradeable assets lose value. Donleavy can't sit back and live off the Paul trade. As risky as trades can be, and at this point minus leverage (making the calls, not waiting for calls) he has to come up with a positive trade that will be a difference maker. Warriors have time and could windup in the middle of the standings by season's end. But they have to play better and reward performance with max minutes, not reputation. Their predicament is fixable but they have to realize change has to happen now.
Warriors are 3 back in loss column from Dallas. Performance, injuries, slumps and trades determine where teams sit at end of regular season. Coming in 6th and beating #3 seed is more doable than being #8 facing #1.
My hope is with the meds Green's shrink puts him on and Donleavy making a difference maker trade. The rest can be "worked out."
> My hope is with the meds Green's shrink puts him on
If they go the quick-fix meds route I presume side effects could easily reduce Green's effectiveness enough that he won't be able to do what the team would need him to do. Not remembering the name of the psych person here, but calling them for a post. Stat!
This whole thread is pointless speculation and to my mind insults Draymond's dignity as an adult who faces the same types of decisions we all face, and should be offered privacy in so doing. We don't know if Draymond should be on meds, we never will know unless someone tells us, we also don't know if he takes them whether they will have side effects, and the whole thing is just a bit insulting. Let the guy do whatever he's going to do to try to get better; or do nothing if that's his choice, because it's his life not the team's nor the fans'. Psychiatric medication is a complex matter and is not going to be figured out be non-experts on a sports site. This is by very rough analogy like saying that Klay isn't shooting well because he's not married and married people are happier. None of our business and we don't know what we're talking about.
I don't totally disagree with your point because if someone leaked Dray's treatment plan that WOULD be a violation of his privacy and all sorts of other things (like fairness). But, I don't agree that discussing his treatment is somehow wrong.
There's been a 30 year campaign to call mental problems illnesses and talk of mental HEALTH, not mental FATES. I support that campaign. However, along with medicalization of mental issues comes speculation about treatments. When GP2 was leaving Portland and his physical health issues led the Dubs to consider cancelling the trade, there was a lot of discussion of different impacts of a specific painkiller delivered in specific ways (shots? orally?). That was about phsyical HEALTH. If we are going to accept MENTAL issues as ones of MENTAL HEALTH, it is not somehow morally wrong for observers of public figures to discuss or even speculate about treatment options and side effects and such (e.g., will treatment A delay the player's return?). Such discussion does not violate anyone's privacy any more than discussing Toradol (?) violated GP2's privacy. In short, we can't say both that 1)mental issues are illnesses, can be treated, and there is no shame in getting treatment on the one hand, yet also say that 2)speculating about the treatment options and impacts of some treatment options of a public figure is forbidden, shameful, and an insult to the person.
I can’t believe Curry is so reliant on screens unlike Luka last night who never used screens. Other than literally every play in the game lol.
Curry’s can’t keep up with the best of them though clearly he’s only averaging 27/4/4 on 45/41/93 shooting in 33 min a game. Paltry clearly.
They need Draymond to be average defensively. Without him they’re only 15th out of the 30 NBA teams defensively. Disgustingly below average.
Everything is terrible and wrong, there’s no way out, let’s just blow it all up. Surely we won’t be the Pistons, or the Kings prior to last year, or the Wizards, or the Magic, or any team that is stuck in mediocrity forever.
Luka can shoot over people a lot easier than Steph (3+ inch taller with longer arms - I think). You can't play grab and hold game with Luka like you can with Steph. Luka has 30+ lbs over Steph.
Steph has got speed but doubling and crowding up Steph and grabbing him is a lot more effective because he is shorter and lighter.
Dallas literally ran an on ball screen for Luka every time he touched the ball in the game. Make whatever arguments about size you want, their whole offensive strategy was about setting screens for Luka. Don’t know how you can watch that and come away with the conclusion Luka isn’t reliant on screens.
I didn't say that he doesn't need screens. It's about quality and quantity of screens. No one on the team sets screens for Steph like Dray. Looney comes close but he can't move like Dray can.
I don’t understand what you’re trying to argue. In Paul’s post he said Curry’s not capable of what Luka does night in night out because he’s too reliant on screens and an offensive system based on getting him shots. I’m pointing out that that doesn’t make sense because Dallas’ whole game plan was running an on-ball screen for Luka every possession to get him shots, as evidenced by him taking 30 last night.
My point is a long good defender gives Curry a lot more trouble than anybody guarding Luka.
Screens on ball are used to create switches and preferable matchups more than anything else.
Also regarding Green who many believe will perform a miraculous transformation, they lost 7 of the last 8 games he played vs teams with winning records. They were all very close games which gives hope but he will be replacing people who have gotten a lot of minutes and that is a problem.
I just do not see how anyone can see this team, as is, being a serious title threat.
https://open.substack.com/pub/dubnation/p/dnhq-year-in-review-highlights-and?r=3lpzv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcome=true HAPPY NEW YEAR
On a side note, I think may have fucked around and created the greatest team of all time with Lebron James/Steph Curry/Kevin Durant/Kevin Garnett/Hakeem Olajuwon.
Hakeem Olajuwon and Kevin Garnett are the two of the greatest defensive bigs ever imho (with only Duncan/Walton in the debate) primarily on the back of their team defense while still being incredibly switchable. Kevin Durant also provides a third shot blocker on the squad while him/Lebron are fantastically switchable. No matter what All Time Squad you put against my squad, I have full confidence that they will struggle to score.
Offensively, Hakeem/KD are two of the greatest tough shot makers in the history of the NBA. Curry is arguably the greatest offensive force in the history of the NBA who will provide spacing alongside KD from deep (with Lebron being about average from three) WHILE Hakeem/KG also generate spacing through their midrange games.
This squad will also have tons of connectivity as Lebron is one of the greatest passers of all time (helping run the offense), KG is an excellent passer, Curry is a highly effective and underrated passer, and Hakeem/KD are very good decision makers for their positions.
I think my team will shut down any other All Time Squad while also destroying them offensively with excellent spacing and passing. So I offer a challenge, present your All Time Squad and I’ll tell you why mine will beat them!!
Kobe/Jordan/Sheed*/Duncan/Jokic or Embiid
*other contrarian considerations: prime Klay, Ray Allen, Iguodala
No real answers for defending Bron or Steph, but Kobe and Jordan would take their maniacal competitiveness and press both ballhandlers full-court until cardiac arrest, achilles tears, or both. Rasheed Wallace's histrionics got the headlines, but his BBIQ, legitimate range to the point line and ability to defend 2-5 were the secret sauce in taking the Blazers to the brink of the Finals and the Pistons to the championship. If you were closely following the NBA, you saw Sheed regularly hold his own against Garnett. The stats are skewed by the ascendance of the super Celtics during the twilight of Sheed's career, but prime vs prime, both were great positional and team defenders, with Rasheed being the bette shooter and, reportedly, teammate.
I didn't pick Shaq, because his game is obsolete, and not because of analytics and Needing To Be Able To Shoot. Shaq's career was prematurely over as soon as referees started to notice that most of his highlights are offensive fouls and began calling them (and paying reparations to Chris Dudley's estate). Also, you have prime Hakeem, sooooo... yeah.
Embiid vs Jokic seems to be destined to be a decade-long conversation; both can take over a game and are surprising good shooters, but here, Jokic gets the nod over Embiid because he's a better passer on a team with Kobe and Jordan, and Embiid seems to be involved in a lot of losses snatched from the jaws of victory, whether Doc Rivers is on the bench or not. Also of note are Jokic's weird midrange turnaround abilities and unconventional deliveries that may fare better against Dream.
My team, mathematically, would be hard-pressed to keep up as we rain 2's on a team with Steph and KD, so I would consider pre-surgery Klay on the team for his two-way abilities and predisposition to go thermonuclear for several minutes at a time.
Ray Allen can hit some gigantic shots, and has athleticism that could be prodded into better defensive effort under the merciless tutelage of 23 and 24.
My team would have to seek out mismatches on offense (we're posting Steph, and drawing Hakeem out of the paint with stretch 4/5's; and any team with Bird or Magic will need to sign a medical waiver) and lean heavily on their defensive acumen/diagnosable madness to disrupt the admittedly legendary scorers on the other superteams. Bait KG into shooting his ugly midrange jumper (don't believe the youtube clips, KG's broken jumper was a cheat code for beating his teams), get into KD's body, hope that Bron's flopping offends Hakeem, and play the game on Christmas Day and/or Ramadan.
Also, I get to pick your coaching staff, which will be David Blatt (playcalling), Don Nelson (defensive coordinator), and PJ Carlesimo (morale).
Against that team (assuming no repeats), I'm taking Magic/Jordan/Bird/Duncan/Kareem. Offensively, a team with Kareem and MJ will always score. And the passing of Magic and Bird together would be magical. There's a reason my guys have 5/6/3/5/6 rings vs your lineup has 4/4/2/1/2.
Steph, LeBron, Jordan, Bird, Kareem
Could just be my Warriors prescription glasses, but that lineup basically looks the all time great version of the 22 vintage starting 5 to me? Obviously that worked well at the time, so I bet this would be an awesome lineup to watch.
It's a good construction, but I'd have to think about whether a more fully 5 out spaced lineup could give the defense more trouble than one would expect. I also think its offense feels like it could be schemed against more than you do. The Dream is an amazing tough shot maker, but I think he sticks out in particular in this group as someone who'd be more ball stopper than facilitator, which is a consistent but lower peak offense imo. Perhaps Bird would be a good tradeoff of O for D? That said, nothing comes to mind in the 5 min it took for me to write all this, maybe I'll have a eureka "anti-Arash" lineup if I go full Morey ;)
This rookie start sugar ain't working. A rook center who don't know enough yet to kick the ball out to HOF shooters; I'd rather go down witH SHIP starting 5 missing shots than rooks missing shots. Both Klay and Steph seem to lose any sense of rhythm and timing with all the merry-go-round rotations...
Didn’t Kerr pull Wiggins from the starting lineup preceded by getting pulled from a couple of games? Is Kerr taking Klay down that same path, or will he get more leeway?
We’ve speculated about Moody eventually taking over for Klay and it seems that time has arrived, even if Klay is handing the job over more than Moody is grabbing it.
The bad news: Klay isn’t showing signs of handling it well, being a good teammate and embracing a reduced role (where he could still provide value in a Korver/Harris-type role off the bench). I hope he does.
The good news: At least the team isn’t stuck with him on a big extension.
Yep. Kerr clearly needs to play Moody and reduce Klay's minutes. If Klay can't handle that now with the way he has been playing, then there should be no extension (even a team friendly one). His current and future value is the Korver/Harris role you mention, so he needs to come to grips with his limitations both on the court and with his next contract. Like you, I hope he sees the light and embraces his possibilities with the Dubs going forward.
Love Klay but even I can admit he's not an all star this year. Someone needs to enlighten Warriors PR) Raymond.
Someone posted they need to trade Moody’s bench time for playing time. This seems spot on to me.
The other issue is that Curry still seems to thrive in the mad scramble of chaos but Kerr has no tolerance for that type of basketball anymore. It’s time to bring back the beautiful chaos concept of the Walton days.
Niners get number one seed in NFC.
But Ravens consume Dolphins like me with those cheesy Doritos that make your hands orange. Ravens's hands super orange right now and speaking of super, they look really scary for a super bowl win.
They do, but I think they benefited from some good luck last game (deflections trajectory, for instance) and also I think Brock will play better next time. Ravens would still be favorites, but I don't think they look radically better than the 49ers. Shanahan *really* needs to get this monkey off his back lol.
Yup, agreed on all points. Of all Brock interceptions I only think 1 was exclusively him (that first one where he didn't see the LB in the middle). The rest was the D overplaying his tendencies and getting lucky, which is what a good defense needs to do at this point.
Some sporting good cheer to close out 2023
Steph shooting badly for a few games in a row (aside from klay playing poorly), is that really on the rest of the team for “not knowing how to get him open, screen, etc”?
I’m here for the transition to more minutes for JK, Tdj and Moody (podz is already getting alot)
Very curious how it all pans out with especially klay and dray phasing out, will we actually get a phase in of the youts?
And lastly, in a full youth lineup who is the 2nd/3rd shooter, 2 way player, outside of moody/podz? Wiggs?!
It certainly true of Klay not getting set up right and staying in the game after he drops one or two...Don't think we/Kerr are going to go anywhere without Dray getting on board...Podz gets set up better by the vets for the 3pt attempt better than Klay does by the newbies (rooks and vets).
The degree to which Draymond is phasing out remains to be seen. Obviously he's late in his career but he's on a new three-year contract, and he was playing well when he wasn't too busy elbowing guys in the head or grabbing them in a headlock. He might not be quite the defender he once was but he's still pretty darned good, and he has shot better than in recent years. So while he can't last forever, he might still have a couple of good years of playing heavy minutes, assuming he can keep from getting tossed out and suspended.
I’m not sure whether Steph’s just tired, slumping, or if the team is doing a bad job getting him shots. It looks like all of the above to me. However, it’s true that the team thinks it has to get Steph better shots and it spent a lot of the last practice on that.
Are the Ws getting less out of the double teams on Steph than before? I have no data but suspect they're not punishing those high traps as much as they used to, which makes Steph life pretty tough.
You can watch/see/get rundowns of practice?!
Talk about Eric’s magic (cookies)! 🤯
No. :) Just what Kerr said about practice in the press availability.
Warriors stats at the end of 2023:
Offense:
9 in points scored!!!! (116.8)
30 in points in paint (43.2)
30 in fastbreak points (11.2)
14 in offensive efficiency
25 in shooting % (45.9%)
14 in three point % (36.8%)
21 in two point % (53.2%)
2 in off. rebound % !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (29.0%)
10 in def. rebound % ! (76.0%)
4 in total rebound % !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (52.0%)
4 in opponent blocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (4.3)
21 in opponent steals (7.9)
6 in assists!!!!!!!!! (28.1)
25 in turnovers (15.1)
Defense:
20 in points allowed (116.3)
15 in opponent points in paint (49.8)
24 in opponent fastbreak points (14.9)
17 in defensive efficiency
14 in opponent shooting % (46.6%)
7 in opponent three point % !!!!!!!! (34.8%)
14 in opponent two point % (54.4%)
28 in blocks (3.4)
22 in steals (6.9)
8 in opponent assists!!!!! (25.2)
24 in opponent turnovers (12.7)
It is all, right there....our defense and offense are not doing it....
SOL:
1 in our hearts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Last night we had a brand new starting lineup. Didn’t work.
We’re going to see more lineups. The ‘figure out what will work’ effort will continue, possibly all season if management can’t pull of some crazy/unlikely trades.
I liked kuminga getting non curry minutes next to Dario at the start of the 2nd quarter, dude wants to score play him in a spaced out lineup and run pick n pops with Dario or let kuminga do his thing.
Let the OGs play with Curry
Curry klay gp2 Wiggins looney
When fans say change the rotations they don't mean churn things to have different line-ups and rotations every game. And its not just about the starting line-up. Players need more than two games to get into their roles. But what Steve Kerr taught us last year is that he no longer seems to have patience with anyone except the OGs. Everyone else, 1 or 2 games, it better click or time to shift again. This churn is frittering away any chance for people to get comfortable in their roles and knowledge of teammate tendencies and needs. And thus it is destroying any chance to really figure out what works.
I agree with the concern. I don’t want there to be endless churn for the sake of experimentation, that doesn’t seem like a recipe for success either. And it does seem like Kerr, as much as I respect him, is struggling with balancing giving the vets the run they’ve earned vs giving them too much.
Until Dray comes back…
Question to y'all, is a Klay Thompson for Colin Sexton/John Collins trade one of roughly equivalent value (Not whether or not you'd do the trade)
A Klay trade is the exact opposite of the fetishized “consolidation trade” every pundit is calling for. Klay at 40+M on one side means multiple guys on the other side to balance it out.
This is yet another reason why I expect any trade at the deadline to be a multi-team trade. This seems likely to me regardless of whether Klay is on the block, but especially so if he is.
The problem with the question is that we can’t agree on Klay’s value. He seems in flux. Is he the old Klay, that we’ve seen flashes of last year and a few recent games, or is he washed and inconsistent. I agree with Sleepy, though, he’s not going anywhere this year. He gets one more season (a contract one, at that) to prove himself.
I still think the W’s need to ride the OG a little longer. As much as I love them, we might value our kids a little too dearly. Would the Jazz consider:
TJD, JK, Moody, and CP for Collins and LM? We give a salary dump and half a year with, arguably a fantastic player coach, teamed with youth and tons of potential for absorbing Collins salary and LM. The salaries work. I think the Jazz don’t and many dubs fans object.
Whatever we think of his current level of play, Klay's almost certainly going nowhere midseason. But even hypothetically, I think any move we make now or in the offseason should be to relieve or upgrade our glut of "pretty good" players, not proliferate them. Even without Klay, whose rotation minutes out of Podz, Kuminga, Moody, Wiggins, Dario, Dray, TJD and/or Loon would we want to give to Collin or Collins?
Edit: hard to answer your specific question, since for any team looking to acquire them the real question would be whether they prefer a $40M expiring contract or two mediocre-ish guys on longer term $20M-ish contracts. In terms of talent it's probably about equal in a vacuum, but Klay's sentimental value to Steph and familiarity with Kerrball give him outsized value with the Warriors.
Not just playing time. You have to clear another roster spot. Klay isn’t under contract in the offseason and there’s zero chance Utah does a sign and trade for Klay at 43 million. So this must be an inseason trade idea which requires an additional roster spot to be cleared. Is this an information gathering thing for a 3 team trade? In that case Utah certainly would not see Klay as an equal asset.
No Klay is worth way more than both those players combined even in a slump.
No one is worth playing, on any team, if they are in a slump. Of course if they come out of the slump then we can say they are, but I'll take Collin Sexton shooting 3-8 pver Klay 1-11 every day and twice on new year's
We played Steph through his shooting slump 2021-22 and won a championship.
And someone being in a shooting slump doesn’t crater their trade value, and doesn’t mean you should trade them away for pennies on the dollar.
Not all slumps are created equally. Steph in a slump still created a lot of offensive threat. And I never said Klay should be traded, nor specified at what price. Klay is not only in a slump, but when he's in a slump he's not really contributing in other ways. Put Moody out there. We don't need to trade Klay, we need to play him less. Klay has played with the second unit before, as a starter in there with them. How about the second unit is led by CP Dario Klay and WIggins?
Also, it's not just a slump, it's the poor decision making. When in a slump, stop taking every possible shot to shoot your way back in. Take better percentage shots.
This was a response to Arash asking if trading Klay for Sexton/Collins is equal value, assumed you saying you’d take Sexton over Klay was arguing in favor of that.
You won’t find me disagreeing that Klay’s decision making is mindnumbing, especially when he’s not hitting shots.
Roster spots don’t line up.
This is irrelevant. I'm asking whether or not this trade would be of roughly equivalent value.
Are Collins and Sexton negative assets? Because Klay at 40M is.
Who knows, but my guess is they’re all fairly neutral as assets. Eye of the beholder.
Fwiw: Klay is no longer “$40M” — he’s now more like $25M, pro-rated, and will be more like $15M at the deadline. I could see that being pretty appealing to a win-now team like the Lakers, and/or to a team looking to get off guaranteed money next season.
Yeah, Klay makes some sense to trade at the deadline, just because some team could afford him, and if his shooting is OK (remains to be seen), he could still help a franchise win as a rental for some team.
I don't expect it to happen, though. He'll probably get the same offer as Dray in the offseason, and who knows if he takes it.
Time to play Moody.
Less 2 guard lineups= better defense
I would love to see 2nd units of cp3 moody Wiggins kuminga tjd
Should be but sadly on this team isn’t.
We don’t get anywhere by trading. Anyone we think we’d like to trade has negative value right now. Much better to hope for a resurgence. Much better to hope the energy returns, the defensive rotations click and the shots start falling. Much better to hope the new players learn how to get Steph open. Much better to hope for everyone to find how they fit into the offense and for rotations to solidify. For better or for worse, I think Draymond is the key. There have been a ton of close games the old Draymond would have won for us.
I’m looking for Draymond to see the light and return a changed man. As I’ve said before, everyone likes the contrite sinner, the sober addict, the man who served his time and walks like it. I love the way Draymond plays. Like most here, I’m not a fan of his bitching, kicking and swinging. If he returns and plays like a maniac, keeps control of non-BB plays, and gives the refs the silent treatment, we’d see championship-level Dubs finish the season.
Depends on who you trade for. Problem is we don't have good draft capital to give to teams - say Toronto.
The way trade can make a difference is we give up two players - one of whom is not getting much playing time (e.g. Moody) and other one who is good enough right now but not great (e.g. JK or Wiggs or Klay) and you get a great player.
But is there any such great high IQ player out there on trading block? I don't think so.
PS: This will basically be destroy future move.
PPS: Matching Klay's salary is gonna be a big problem if he is the one to be traded.
Yeah. But I think you prove the point. Who?
Equal value meaning what? I would hope for serviceable players that need a change of scenery just like we have a few players that may just explode if moved. The other think I would want is a draft pick or two and see if MDj can work his magic again.
Then you are trading for the future. I still believe at least Steph and Draymond form the core of a championship level team. I don’t want picks though I could see large expirings, eg Klay and CP, helping to get a great 3&D that might help. Not sure who - but they’d better be elite - and that is the rub.
Let’s face reality.
This is not 2018.
Curry is a great player but he is not capable of night in and night out of doing what Luka, Embid and Jokic can do.
He is too dependent on others having to set a million screens and run a whole system based on him getting open and all that it creates.
Klay is basically a streak shooter who will be wildly inconsistent and no longer dependable in big games as he has shown since his unfortunate injuries.
Wiggins will always be another guy who just for whatever reasons is not dependable.
JK has a ton of athleticism and is getting better but it takes years, not games from where he started.
He would also probably be better in a different offensive system to be honest.
TJD and Podz have been saviors and have played well above expectations but they are not Duncan and Ginobili.
The Warriors are not a good 3 point shooting team.
They are below average in guys who can create shots.
They are the smallest team in the league.
Their defense is probably average if Green returns.
Miami without a bunch of their best players totally exposed them.
Dallas without Kyrie was unstoppable.
Steph has games where he plays great but he has too many now where he is just not good.
It is over and they need to break it up while they still have value to trade.
They are not even a playoff team from what they have shown to date and all teams have injuries so that is not an excuse.
People are also forgetting just how good Poole was as a scorer in 2022. He had many games where he was their best player offensively. They also forget how good and smart Porter was. That team had a chemistry and a very good bench. Most importantly, the teams they had to beat were no where close to how good the league is now assuming good health.
Sad but it is over as all great teams eventually end one way or another.
This almost clickbaity. Your points seem to be that A. Every player the Warriors have isn't perfect and B. The Warriors are terrible.
So in turn I'll say this: A. Of course every player has challenges. Telling me that TJD isn't Duncan is an absurd critique. Jamal Murray won a chip last year but he's no Michael Jordan so Denver better blow it all up.
B. If you are so down on the Warriors, are you in the right place? We are open to critique of the players and coaches here, to be sure. But at a certain point the idea is that it's friendly critique that is paired with hope for the team. I have my issues with the team and coaching and players, but I actually think that with a few breaks, they could win it all. They have a lot of talent.
Just keeping it real and pointing out what I believe.
I don’t believe you are in any position to tell me I don’t belong on this site because I am not as positive as you like.
Please tell me when I ever said any player was terrible or inferred any player was terrible.
If I believe they are not going to win with their present roster I will point out why.
For example, pointing out that JK has improved but still has too far to go and to much to learn and that he needs to improve his skill level is not saying he is a terrible player.
You believe they have a lot of talent and can win it all.
What is that based on if you look at this roster and this seasons actual results?
The reason I said TJD and Podz were not Duncan and Ginobili should be obvious.
TJD has played well but he right now a competent small 5 and not anywhere near being a star.
Podz has been fantastic but he is not going to average 22 points a game in a playoff series and take them over the top.
My point is if all these players were actually as good as you seem to think why are they I believe 8- 18 against teams with winning records? 7 of the last 8 with Green.
Why have they had what,1 or 2 games the whole year where they dominated somebody?
Other teams are missing key guys. The one game they beat a very young OKC team at the buzzer they were missing Alexander. Last two games no Butler,Martin and no Irving just for example.
I will grant you your wish and be gone very soon from this site, so smile, but I hate to spoil your new year by telling you they are a flawed team which should be very obvious if you have any objectivity.
I do apologize some for not being more positive but quite honestly, this team has been extremely frustrating to watch and it is getting harder to be positive because of their performance.
I wish Kerr would run for President I respect him so much, but growing weary of the same old same old.
I will say it for the final time and if you have any real understanding of what it is to actually be a coach, the man has an incredibly difficult coaching job with this group. The ultimate challenge of his career with no doubt.
Happy New Year
I just noticed with my bad eyes that you actually have JK as your avatar or whatever you call it.
That explains a lot.
I will give you my honest evaluation of him.
I think he smaller than listed which is not a positive but maybe my tv just distorts it somehow.
I think he is an exceptional athlete,very explosive and a very quick jumper.
As I said previously, I think he was a victim of poor coaching as a youth and was lacking the fundamentals and understanding of the game of many of his brethren.
His shooting has improved and is a decent 3 point shooter and may one day actually be a good 3 point shooter. Takes time and thousands of reps with a good shooting coach.
I don’t think he has much of a mid range pull up off the dribble ability yet. I think that is a key for him to level up.
He is getting better around the rim with his moves and footwork.
I wish he was a couple inches bigger but it is what it is.He struggles against length close to the basket but getting better.
I think his ball handling and passing have improved but still has a lot of room to grow there.
He is a good, not great on ball defender. Could be really good one day.
I don’t like what he said to MT in the interview about being unguardable and if I understood what he meant, overestimating his skill level.
You cannot be great if you are not a competitor and I think he is a competitor and wants to be great.
With him, it all comes down to his work ethic, practicing the right things correctly with a good coach and attitude.
There are a lot of guys who are really good players that are not great physical specimens.
Look no farther than Mr.Curry. They have IT. Green has IT. Podz has IT and it will be interesting to see how good he ends up being, but I will be very surprised if he ever becomes an all star, but he has been very impressive.
Now, does JK have IT?
We will find out it due time.
I hope he does.
Yes, "It is over and they need to break it up while they still have value to trade."
Perfect post. The whole organization seems so lost to the reality right in front of them.
The trade window is closing fast as tradeable assets lose value. Donleavy can't sit back and live off the Paul trade. As risky as trades can be, and at this point minus leverage (making the calls, not waiting for calls) he has to come up with a positive trade that will be a difference maker. Warriors have time and could windup in the middle of the standings by season's end. But they have to play better and reward performance with max minutes, not reputation. Their predicament is fixable but they have to realize change has to happen now.
They definitely need to obey to what angry internet fanz are demanding. And fast, or they're doomed. Whereas, if they obey us, there's hope.
What did Andy say, "hope is a good thing ..."
Warriors are 3 back in loss column from Dallas. Performance, injuries, slumps and trades determine where teams sit at end of regular season. Coming in 6th and beating #3 seed is more doable than being #8 facing #1.
My hope is with the meds Green's shrink puts him on and Donleavy making a difference maker trade. The rest can be "worked out."
> My hope is with the meds Green's shrink puts him on
If they go the quick-fix meds route I presume side effects could easily reduce Green's effectiveness enough that he won't be able to do what the team would need him to do. Not remembering the name of the psych person here, but calling them for a post. Stat!
Yo.
This whole thread is pointless speculation and to my mind insults Draymond's dignity as an adult who faces the same types of decisions we all face, and should be offered privacy in so doing. We don't know if Draymond should be on meds, we never will know unless someone tells us, we also don't know if he takes them whether they will have side effects, and the whole thing is just a bit insulting. Let the guy do whatever he's going to do to try to get better; or do nothing if that's his choice, because it's his life not the team's nor the fans'. Psychiatric medication is a complex matter and is not going to be figured out be non-experts on a sports site. This is by very rough analogy like saying that Klay isn't shooting well because he's not married and married people are happier. None of our business and we don't know what we're talking about.
I don't totally disagree with your point because if someone leaked Dray's treatment plan that WOULD be a violation of his privacy and all sorts of other things (like fairness). But, I don't agree that discussing his treatment is somehow wrong.
There's been a 30 year campaign to call mental problems illnesses and talk of mental HEALTH, not mental FATES. I support that campaign. However, along with medicalization of mental issues comes speculation about treatments. When GP2 was leaving Portland and his physical health issues led the Dubs to consider cancelling the trade, there was a lot of discussion of different impacts of a specific painkiller delivered in specific ways (shots? orally?). That was about phsyical HEALTH. If we are going to accept MENTAL issues as ones of MENTAL HEALTH, it is not somehow morally wrong for observers of public figures to discuss or even speculate about treatment options and side effects and such (e.g., will treatment A delay the player's return?). Such discussion does not violate anyone's privacy any more than discussing Toradol (?) violated GP2's privacy. In short, we can't say both that 1)mental issues are illnesses, can be treated, and there is no shame in getting treatment on the one hand, yet also say that 2)speculating about the treatment options and impacts of some treatment options of a public figure is forbidden, shameful, and an insult to the person.
I can’t believe Curry is so reliant on screens unlike Luka last night who never used screens. Other than literally every play in the game lol.
Curry’s can’t keep up with the best of them though clearly he’s only averaging 27/4/4 on 45/41/93 shooting in 33 min a game. Paltry clearly.
They need Draymond to be average defensively. Without him they’re only 15th out of the 30 NBA teams defensively. Disgustingly below average.
Everything is terrible and wrong, there’s no way out, let’s just blow it all up. Surely we won’t be the Pistons, or the Kings prior to last year, or the Wizards, or the Magic, or any team that is stuck in mediocrity forever.
Never said they were disgustingly below average.
Never said Curry was paltry.
Your words.
The difference between Luka and Steph is obvious. Size and strength matters when it comes down to being able to create good scoring opportunities.
Steph can still go off and have an incredible game at any time but he is simply more likely to be shut down on any given game than someone like Luka.
At some point your team is what your record shows.
Luka can shoot over people a lot easier than Steph (3+ inch taller with longer arms - I think). You can't play grab and hold game with Luka like you can with Steph. Luka has 30+ lbs over Steph.
Steph has got speed but doubling and crowding up Steph and grabbing him is a lot more effective because he is shorter and lighter.
So yeah - Steph needs more screens to open up.
Dallas literally ran an on ball screen for Luka every time he touched the ball in the game. Make whatever arguments about size you want, their whole offensive strategy was about setting screens for Luka. Don’t know how you can watch that and come away with the conclusion Luka isn’t reliant on screens.
I didn't say that he doesn't need screens. It's about quality and quantity of screens. No one on the team sets screens for Steph like Dray. Looney comes close but he can't move like Dray can.
I don’t understand what you’re trying to argue. In Paul’s post he said Curry’s not capable of what Luka does night in night out because he’s too reliant on screens and an offensive system based on getting him shots. I’m pointing out that that doesn’t make sense because Dallas’ whole game plan was running an on-ball screen for Luka every possession to get him shots, as evidenced by him taking 30 last night.
I never said anything about screens for Luka.
My point is a long good defender gives Curry a lot more trouble than anybody guarding Luka.
Screens on ball are used to create switches and preferable matchups more than anything else.
Also regarding Green who many believe will perform a miraculous transformation, they lost 7 of the last 8 games he played vs teams with winning records. They were all very close games which gives hope but he will be replacing people who have gotten a lot of minutes and that is a problem.
I just do not see how anyone can see this team, as is, being a serious title threat.
And Doncic really wasn’t all that efficient. He was at 60% TS for the game…
Podz in the postgame not so subtly calling out guys for their lack of energy on the court...
First he slams himself for a lack of energy, now he slams others. That’s the proper order. Status quo will not be tolerated here.
Kind of awesome that Kerr is going to have a Podz problem if he keeps playing lumps of coal.