"We’re about to find out a lot about Stephen Curry. He’s undeniably one of the greatest players of all time, but now he has a chance to carry a team on his back for the first time in his career. Steve Kerr said last year he won’t turn Curry into James Harden by giving him the ball every play. But we should see Curry take more shots than ever before now that Kevin Durant is long gone and Klay Thompson is out for the season.
Curry will need to handle the bulk of the playmaking; Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre Jr. are at their best playing off others, and the bench players are far worse than past Warriors contenders Curry has led. Curry may need to produce a career-best statistical season to lead the Warriors to a guaranteed playoff spot.
Draymond Green will need to return to form too. The last time we saw Green, he was a shell of his former self, playing uninspired regular-season basketball. But Green needs to bring it regularly for the Warriors to be a stout defensive unit. James Wiseman is promising, but he’s still a rookie who’s not yet seasoned enough to stabilize a defense. If Curry can have another MVP-caliber season, if Green can be worthy of an All-Defensive team nod again, and if the supporting cast is good enough, the Warriors will elevate themselves from a team that’ll make the playoffs but fizzle out to a team that could make a deeper run than anyone is expecting."
That was chill. Thanks for the laughs. Honestly, between no Dray, no experience yet for Wiseman and a team that has a long way to go to figure itself out, I don't begrudge Matt his blowout take at this point. More important than the result is that the team show well, flash the potential we believe it has, and not lose its composure. It could do all that and still lose by double digits against a team with that much talent that already seems to have good chemistry. The key here is to be healthy and still in the playoff hunt after the first third of the season, because this team will need some time to gel. They just will. If we can get enough wins through that point, we'll be able to start winning games at a more serious clip and go into the playoffs ready to make some noise.
I don’t see why the Rockets would want the grab bag of stuff for Harden.
They should trade Kyrie for him (plus picks, and likely another key piece). They’ll get to keep a lot more depth, and Harden is a big talent and durability upgrade on Kyrie.
Most importantly, it might actually get the Rockets to say yes.
The Ringer NBA Power Rankings Part 2: https://www.theringer.com/2020/12/21/22192681/nba-preseason-power-rankings-part-2 has the Warriors as #11 and a playoff lock, with the following text:
"We’re about to find out a lot about Stephen Curry. He’s undeniably one of the greatest players of all time, but now he has a chance to carry a team on his back for the first time in his career. Steve Kerr said last year he won’t turn Curry into James Harden by giving him the ball every play. But we should see Curry take more shots than ever before now that Kevin Durant is long gone and Klay Thompson is out for the season.
Curry will need to handle the bulk of the playmaking; Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre Jr. are at their best playing off others, and the bench players are far worse than past Warriors contenders Curry has led. Curry may need to produce a career-best statistical season to lead the Warriors to a guaranteed playoff spot.
Draymond Green will need to return to form too. The last time we saw Green, he was a shell of his former self, playing uninspired regular-season basketball. But Green needs to bring it regularly for the Warriors to be a stout defensive unit. James Wiseman is promising, but he’s still a rookie who’s not yet seasoned enough to stabilize a defense. If Curry can have another MVP-caliber season, if Green can be worthy of an All-Defensive team nod again, and if the supporting cast is good enough, the Warriors will elevate themselves from a team that’ll make the playoffs but fizzle out to a team that could make a deeper run than anyone is expecting."
Anyone know anything about Eli Pemberton? 6'5 with good shooting sounds intriguing...
This holiday I want Wiseman launching 3's just so we can say "3 Wiseman, with a gift!"
That was chill. Thanks for the laughs. Honestly, between no Dray, no experience yet for Wiseman and a team that has a long way to go to figure itself out, I don't begrudge Matt his blowout take at this point. More important than the result is that the team show well, flash the potential we believe it has, and not lose its composure. It could do all that and still lose by double digits against a team with that much talent that already seems to have good chemistry. The key here is to be healthy and still in the playoff hunt after the first third of the season, because this team will need some time to gel. They just will. If we can get enough wins through that point, we'll be able to start winning games at a more serious clip and go into the playoffs ready to make some noise.
I don’t see why the Rockets would want the grab bag of stuff for Harden.
They should trade Kyrie for him (plus picks, and likely another key piece). They’ll get to keep a lot more depth, and Harden is a big talent and durability upgrade on Kyrie.
Most importantly, it might actually get the Rockets to say yes.
On a side note, Jessup performing well in the Australian NBL. I wish he was with the main team, we could definitely use that shooting of his.
Can't wait! GAME DAY'S IN 28 Hours!!