Warriors figuring out if being in the West's 10th seed an embarrassment or a saving grace
Another night, another loss, and another moment to find some resolve in a season full of inconsistency.
As a scribe for the Golden Empire, the modern day dynasty that destroyed a league and changed basketball forever, I can’t believe I’m saying this:
Thank God for the NBA’s relatively new play-in tournament, which I initially thought to be completely random nonsense, as echoed by Draymond Green’s good friend LeBron james.
I see it as bizarre standings magic created by the league’s powers-that-be to incentivize ratings via forcing 7th-10th seeds to go to war for the right to take the final two of eight playoff spots.
Back in the day, as long as you had those final two spots after the last day of the season, your team was feeling hopeful. Now only the top six seeds are afforded that emotional and physical security; the peasants below them now have to duel it out in death matches to prove they’re worthy of getting bodied in the first round by a clearly superior team.
OR MAYBE NOT BODIED? I implore you to recall that it was only last season when the 8th-seeded Miami Heat broke the will of the #1 seeded, Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Milwaukee Bucks, in one of the biggest upsets of the modern era.
And was it not also last year that the #7 seed Los Angeles Lakers ended the Dillon Brooks-era Memphis Grizzlies, crushing the #2 seed’s will in a tactical domination that forced us all to realize that no matter how many great highlights a team has during the regular season, the playoffs are a different beast.
Those Lakers would eventually upset the Warriors and end the Jordan Poole-era before finally succumbing in the Western Conference Finals.
If these Warriors actually catch any hot streak as the seasons flip from dress rehearsal to ultimate challenge, would you be truly shocked if they shot their way into the Western Conference Finals?
Also, yikes! They could easily get dispatched in the play-in tournament without even having the dignity of a single home game because of their bottom seeding. And if you watched their loss to the Indiana Pacers last night, you’re probably leaning more towards having watched this team all year it’s clear they’re struggling to compete at the highest level on a consistent basis.
Hey that Tyrese Haliburton guy on the Pacers is pretty good! Did you know the Warriors could have had him in the 2020 draft? I defer to the great Eric Apricot’s words on this subject in a previous DNHQ article:
Tyrese Haliburton is famously Dub Nation HQ's choice in the 2020 Draft. No really, this isn’t some 20-20-hindsight yapping, we did a whole pre-draft tournament and the group vote was for Haliburton.
I wrote: Tyrese Haliburton just seems like the most Warriors player in the draft, with his high character, shooting, defensive effort and smart playmaking, and his weakness of poor shot creation seems less urgent in Kerr’s motion O and with Steph Curry passing to you. This season revealed that without Steph and Klay Thompson, the Warriors were the worst shooting team in the league, so Dub Nation is pining for players who can hit an open shot.
I had Haliburton as my 1A with Okongwu, but I also wrote: Haliburton over Edwards. Edwards could be the next Oladipo, but Oladipo look a long time to become Dipo and Steph isn’t getting younger. The Haliburton dream is that his flaws (not explosive creator) aren’t relevant in Kerrball.
Before we get too high on ourselves, I note that Haliburton beat Wiseman in our semifinals by 1 vote.
This is a verrry fascinating time to watch the Steve Kerr era Dubs. They either have a Cinderella moment that pours even more concrete on Stephen Curry’s cemented legacy as an All-Time great, or the final disappointing loss in a season jam-packed with them.
This team’s core won a championship two years ago, and made the second round of the playoffs last year. With their young talent and cagy veterans, surely there’s no way they’ve gotten that much worse since then?
Just noticed that friend of the program Jordan Poole dished our 12 assists and was a team high +7 tonight in a Wizards win.
I did not choose #1 - why you ask - well because I am famous for my jinxing. So, guess what, I chose #3