I really like reading these observations. Everything's asynchronous for me right now bc I'm in a distant time zone, so I'm coming to these comments well after the game itself, and it's interesting to see where the group's impressions matched or differed from mine. I'm most surprised to see how encouraged folks seem to be by Jackson-Davis's performance. I was just struck by how overwhelmed he looked against AD—not that you wouldn't expect as much, but it made him look a long way off to my eye. I'm not necessarily prepared to surrender that perspective completely, but it's cool to read the observations of those who spotted a bit more nuance.
Beyond that, it's great to see Podziemski looking like an NBA player already, and Kuminga looking so much more decisive and fluid. Also great to see GPII healthy—he had a gorgeous block where he pinned the ball against the backboard.
And last thing: Seemed like Steph was fairly intentional about finding space for the midrange jumper in this game. I wonder if that was coincidental, or if it's something we'll see him do more of against LA this year. I wouldn't mind that because it feels like that shot is likely to be there for him, and it's pretty efficient offense in its own right provided he's decisive about it.
Kuminga’s shot looks so much better. The eye test tells me he’s slightly less exaggerated from the way he used to put the ball right in front of his face. The release looks faster. And he’s shooting with a lot of confidence. His frustration at missing FTs looks like “what the heck happened, I make those in my sleep” instead of “I can’t believe I missed that one”. If he keeps this up, the scouting report will change and he’ll be attacking hard close outs and destroying rims.
What do people think our best 5 man unit will be by the playoffs?
My guess is that it will be:
Curry - Klay - Wiggins - Kuminga - Draymond
That group has a good combination of spacing and perimeter defense.
Other contenders are:
Curry Klay Wiggins GPII Draymond
Curry Klay Wiggins Draymond Looney
Curry Klay Wiggins Saric Draymond
I would be pretty surprised if CP3 is in our best lineups, but it also wouldn’t surprise me if he ends up with an outrageously good plus minus leading the second unit. It also wouldn’t surprise me if Looney replaced Draymond in any of those lineups.
A lot depends on Klay. He obviously wasn’t self-aware enough to realize how worn down he was in the playoffs and so ended up chucking in expectation that his shots would start going in. They didn’t. I could see CP in the top lineup instead of Klay. Wigs and JK are super efficient because they want to save shots for Steph. I don’t see CP as a chucker either so the CP Steph Wiggs JK Dray lineup would end up being more efficient if Klay can’t stop chucking. Of course if he has his legs and conditioning come playoff time and can channel his past efficiencies (aka game 6 Klay) then I’d want him in over CP.
I do think your first five are the five best players on the team. They'll have trouble on defense but this seems like the latest Death Star Hamptons Small Lineup of Death Destruction lineup
whew, it was a bit close there but thanks to our rookies closing out starting, we BEAT LA!
Kuminga once again looked like a budding star. Sure, he had some mistakes (defensive communications/switching and angles) but he shot the ball pretty well (I counted one heat-check three and the rest were chosen nicely), had some slick cuts to the basket and used his incredible athleticism well.
Moody had some really good plays and disappeared for parts of the game. Not sure what to make of him.
This was Podziemski's best game so far: his floater and passing game looked calibrated, his relentless activity made for winning plays on both ends, and he continues to have excellent rebounding for his size. He's gonna definitely get rotation minutes during the season.
Jackson-Davis was clearly outmatched vs AD, but he did pretty well in the latter stages of the game, including a couple tantalizing minutes where he was on the court with Steph Curry.
Steph looked incredible as usual; Klay, Wiggins, and Loon gave us nothing to worry about.
GPII didn't really make his 3's which is a shame. Otherwise he looked good, a menace on defense and bouncy on offense as usual.
Chris Paul looked like he was struggling, and not comfortable in the Dubs offense. Hope that gets better. A lot of his passes were not very crisp, which is surprising given his reputation. I expect that won't be typical, but I would not be surprised if he records a career low in AST/TOV ratio this season.
Saric looked ok, also missed his threes, did better than TJD at covering Davis, but the ball movement while he was on the floor didn't seem to translate into advantages that often. Then again, if one or two more of those pick-and-pop 3's had gone down, it would've looked a lot better.
Not much to say on the remaining guys including Gay.
This feels like a newish thread, so I'm gonna pose an idiotic pre-season question for everyone:
With rosters as currently set and full health(which for some teams lolClipps is asking a lot), which teams do you think will give the Dubs the most trouble over a 7-game series?
My list:
1. Celtics. (Porzingas > TL, Jrue > Marcus)
2. Denver (We haven't met this version fully healthy yet - but they won it all, so hats off)
3. Lakers (I'm unconvinced the size issues, and foul differential issues that showed up again and again in the playoffs were solved this offseason)
4. Bucks. (Dame/Middleton/Giannis/Lopez is a lot of size for the Dubs' defense - very much similar to Lakers).
5. Couldn't think of another team that sticks out above the pack.
Phoenix seems like they have a lot of good pieces and should be less volatile with Ayton gone. KD and Booker are both amazing, Beal can obviously score, and they have a somewhat reasonable supporting cast, so I have to assume they'll make the playoffs even if they don't really play defense and someone misses a bunch of time with injury.
But I have a hard time seeing them as a "team" right now, which makes me wonder. Can they figure out their chemistry, their defense, their effort and collective poise under pressure? I could see them fumbling away an extended series or even play-in against an ascendant young squad like New Orleans or Memphis.
They have 3 amazing players and Durant is a very good defender when he chooses to be and they did very well in picking up complementary players. I see them as serious challenges to warriors and definitely title contenders. They worry me as much as any team- maybe more
Oh yeah, KD definitely can play great individual defense, Booker has gotten better too, but the question is if they will actually try and be on the same page with the rest of the team.
I just don’t see the PHO trio giving the Dubs problems like the other teams. I feel like Wiggs/JK/Dray with a helping of GP2 should be enough to stop that offense unless they fundamentally change the way they play.
I’m more concerned with the effect of a good guard/wing combo with a dominant big man on our defense. Nurk won’t be giving Dray any problems. Giannis/Joker/AD could all be problems for Dray/Loon, requiring help rotations which frees up their guards/wings to score more easily.
BOS. Is more a matter of their D, I think. Unless JK takes a huge step forward I’m not convinced the Dubs offense won’t struggle vs them, and likewise the Dubs haven’t shown true lockdown defense since 2022.
They could be trouble, but I'd need to see this group play some playoff level defense before I'm too worried about them. I also expect CP3 to be fired up playing them - as Klay will say, they didn't want you!
Whichever team has their star players healthy when the Warriors play them. Maybe I'm a shameless homer, but I think the Warriors are better than all those teams as the Warriors have the best player in the NBA and those other teams don't. Conversely, off course, if Steph isn't healthy than all of those teams are better and quite a few other teams as well.
Kings are a nice little story, but I think they’re closer to a play-in team this season than a serious title contender. No offense to their talented young core, but their D was atrocious last season, they lack a top 10-15 player, and the West is just that good and that deep.
I won’t be surprised if next season they start to kick themselves a bit for the Sabonis-Haliburton trade.
The Sabonis-Haliburton trade is turning out to be a good deal for both sides. The Kings aren't a playoff team without Sabonis. Fox runs the offense there. Hali runs the offense at Indy.
Hali/Fox back court would be nice tho… they’d need to find some decent big man, but having those two dynamic guards is a great foundation. Meanwhile, I never see a future where a champ has Sabonis as their best big man.
Idk I think the Kings are mega spooky. SAC picked up last year’s Euroleague MVP whose whole game is being an off-ball menace. Plus its reasonable to assume players as young as Fox and Sabonis are still improving, and who knows if Davion Mitchell and/or Keegan Murray will take a leap.
Yeah, they had the advantage of excellent health last year, but if they hold up well enough on health this year I kind of expect Sac to be better this season and likely to make it to the second round of the playoffs or beyond. They've got another year of experience for their young guys, continuity in Mike Brown's system, they're battle hardened from facing us in the playoffs last year, and their fanbase is hungry and enthusiastic.
All of them have the issue of needing to play drop coverage with one of their best players. The key is to keep Curry from getting worn down, and cp3 to a lesser extent. If their legs are fresh enough in the playoffs, Curry can punish all of those teams in a way no one else can with pick and rolls.
We're a little better equipped to play some D this year, but we'll have to see how it turns out. I'm not convinced that the Steph-Klay-Paul backcourt is really going to hold up on D.
I'm at the "There still feeling each other out" stage of the season and without Dray? Yikes but this is a smart team. CP3 is not going to be a turn over machine, it looked like he was trying to play to fast for his style last night and so adjustments will be made, the more mins he has with the A team the better because that's where "fit" will be key for him. 2nd unit not so much.
Klay is an incomplete. I think he's going to be Klay in the sense that he will have WTF games then drop 50 on 20 shots. His adjustment to D will be key for him this season.
JK is at the point where he actually needs to slow down and trust his instincts and when he does AND makes a mistake everyone will be at the point of a shrug and a laugh and make it a learning moment.
Podz is looking legit and with GP the 2nd we look good. (small with CP3 but damn good).
Add Dario and I think this may be a very good well rounded squad. Yeah we have no 7 footer beast but there are just a few teams with said beast that I would not want to be in a 7 game series.
Yes this is preseason enthusiasm but I like this line up even better then the last champion squad which is really nice.
When Dray is back, our best starting 5 is the one we had last season. CP3's best use will be leading the bench mob, where he can run it at his pace at least part of the time. But overall I expect Kerr will mix and match.
*We thought CP3 was going to fix the turnover problem with the Dubs. Nope, turns out we'll just infect him with Dubsitis. 5 TOV in 19.5 min. And some were bad. Even Loon had it last night: 3 in 11 min.
*Klay needs to find his 2P shot. 1-6 on 2PA and none left me feeling confident.
*Wiggs felt good, but the boxscore is unkind, 4/11, -8. Still likes the long 2. He is what he is.
*GPII felt back and fully healthy. And that title year, he was a monster.
*JK. So much to say. Wow, that dude is hungry this year. He feels different than the rest of the Dubs. He played the most minutes on the team. And yet, he feels a bit like he isn't playing within the offense and people are crashing into each other. Even still, he gets the ball and he just puts it in the basket. 9/12 for 26 pts, so the results speak for themselves on offense. And when he was fouled in the clutch, he calmly sank both FT. But the "problem" is offball on defense. He's constantly getting screened away and leaving guys open for 3. He doesn't communicate well and he either overhelps or switches unexpectedly. And yet...he still might have been the best Dub on the floor. He's like 80% of the way to being a monster.
*Podz had 10 assists to 0 turnovers.He had 6 boards. Highest +/- on the team. Everything you could ask for even if he's yet to feel like a 3P sniper.
*DLo actually really impressed me on defense today. Very disruptive. Had a couple dumb turnovers, but otherwise was really solid.
*Both AD and Reaves were annoying today because they can give it but can't take it. If you're going to bait a foul on one end, you can't be mad and yell at the refs when the other team baits you to foul. As a fan, I did appreciate Reaves channeling his anger into the immediate fake handoff into a dunk after his tech though.
*Quinones was big-boyed a couple times. NBA athleticism is still too much.
Overall, this was a super high level preseason game through 3Q when the starters went out. The Lakers played their A game. The Dubs did well to keep it close.But ultimately the young Dubs have more skill than the end of the Lakers bench.
I didn’t understand why he was always leaving people open for threes. Was that somehow part of the plan, was in there the basket with the hope of getting more rebounds, or was it just in competent defense?
Great summary. Re: JK "constantly getting screened away" this is so right on, and was also evident in the vids of JK's summer runs.
If I were his coach I'd give him one tip: watch your teammate Brandin on D. He's a far inferior athlete to JK, sometimes gets blown by, but to my eye he consistently funnels or even stones his man far more often than JK, and the reason is simple: when he's on D his head is on a swivel and he's constantly anticipating. JK gets hyperfocused on his man's hips and dribble and is therefore often easily screened. Watching Cade do it to him repeatedly in a single summer game really made this jump out at me.
BP thoughts crossposted from the other place (TLDR version is that BP was the BPA):
If he keeps this up against NBA competition, he may obviate CoJo sooner than later. His talent, poise, and feel for the game at his age is almost shocking (esp. compared to that of poor Lester Q, who’s more than two years his senior).
Beyond the potential usurping of CoJo: CP3 is also on an expiring deal, and his combo of age and price tag may make the team ponder moving on from him after this season — leaving them no legit backup PG on the roster. Plus, perish the thought, but Steph’s not gonna be a young 35 forever. For all the talk of the team’s need for moaaarrr bigs, one could argue the biggest roster need following the Poole trade was a legit, young backup ballhandler and shot creator. Enter Podz.
I think with the #19 pick Dunleavy mostly went “BPA” — Brandin Podziemski, er, Best Player Available — but you could also argue that if he hits he’s an absolute perfect fit on this team, now and going forward. Remember all the moaning and handwringing this summer in Dub Nation over having picked BP over Cam Whitmore? Not only is BP probably gonna end up the better player — he’s also a MUCH better fit on a roster whose two best young players are versatile, athletic wings. Would anyone really want Cam Whitmore taking a single minute from Kuminga or Moody?
Podz is a classic 'dog'. What he lacks in athleticism, he makes up on grit, desire, and very intuitive bbiq. He never gives up, has excellent court awareness, and seems to make the best of whatever is given to him. I like him and expect him to play much more than I had originally thought based on his performance in summer league. He needs other energy players around him. He could be our future star in the sense of Austin Reaves.
Steph, Klay, Dray were all drafted within 4 years of each other and comprised this dynastic core. Could the last three drafts have yielded an equivalent core for the Dubs' future? A core that's dominant enough to help Steph, Klay, and Dray age gracefully while still contributing to 'chips? A core that's dominant enough to compete for championships during their prime years?
You could be right. I tend to dislike players at any position who don’t pass the ball, but maybe he figures some stuff out and blows up. I kinda see Corey Maggette 2.0, tho — and that’s if the reported health red flags are nothing.
Oct 14, 2023·edited Oct 14, 2023Liked by Eric Apricot
If you want to see the two biggest stories of the Warriors' young preseason, just click on the SEASON LEADERS tab: https://www.nba.com/stats
In my humble opinion, those who have watched the Warriors' first two preseason games and still not yet reevaluated their previously held opinion that there is no way that Podz will be getting consistent rotation minutes with the Golden State (and not the Santa Cruz) Warriors this season are somehow refusing to believe their lying eyes. While I was 90% sure that Podz would not get major rotation minutes for the Warriors 8 days ago, I am now almost as certain that I was dead wrong.
Of all the players who have played more than 10 total minutes, Podz has the best net rating. The Warriors are +15.7 per 100 possessions with Podz on the court so far this preseason, followed by +12.7 with Kuminga on the court, +8.7 with GPII, +5.7 with Moody, +4.8 with Looney. +2.7 with TJD, and dead even with Curry.
The NBA.com Player Impact Estimate ratings (these are per minute) so far are:
19.3 Curry
18.7 Kuminga
14.1 Podziemski
12.8 Saric
11.6 Looney
9.4 Moody
8.1 GPII
7.7 TJD
5.5 Klay
5.0 CP3
1.7 Wiggins
0.0 Gay
Floor Impact Counter (FIC) is RealGM’s version of PER and PIE. It was developed in 2007 and it differs from other all-in-one efficiency stats in that it assigns more weight to assists and shot creation, as well as offensive rebounding.
(Unfortunately, it looks as if feasting on the Warriors' defense really helps to pad this stat, with 3 Lakers in the top 5, 4 in the top 9, and 5 in the top 20.)
Most impressive of all is Podz's current 7 to 1 assist to turnover ratio. If you don't think this team could use a bit more of that, I am not sure what to tell you.
Just remember that Kuminga and Podz are the two youngest players on the team, and believe it or not, Podz is even younger than Kuminga by about 5 months.
While it is just two preseason games and I don't want to let the hype train get out of control, I seriously cannot remember the last time the Warriors had a guard who was 20 or younger who has ever impressed me more to begin the preseason as a winning player. Now Moody was 20 last season, and I really like Moody, but Podz has outplayed Moody by far so far this preseason. Obviously, not Ryan Rollins last season, who never impressed over his whole rookie season as Podz has right out of the gate. Nico Mannion was 20 his rookie season, but Podz already looks to be the better NBA point guard and certainly the better all-around NBA player of the two. Poole was 20 his rookie season, but Poole quite frankly sucked his rookie season. After that, we have to go all the way back to Monte Ellis's and Gilbert Arena's rookie seasons to find any guards this young who even made the Warriors' roster. And Ellis was never a winning player, so perhaps we are down to Podz and Arenas as the best guards this young in Warriors history?
Wracking my brain, I can't seem to come up with any NBA guard as young as Podz to even compare Podz's overall heady passing, rebounding, and pesky defense but limited scoring game to. The closest I can up with is either of the Ball brothers. Can anyone here do better?
This is a great post, I am trying to think of another point guard, from a smaller school that produced an undersized, pesky, yet brilliant player… Steph? Oh limited scoring, not Steph then… Keith Jennings? You pose a great question.
But specifically with BP, I am trying hard not to get carried away, because I did not see this coming. Even in summer league he looked intriguing and due for some seasoning in Santa Cruz. What he has shown in preseason is someone who can be productive at the NBA level without forcing anything, he can be a leader, he can be a student, he can be under control and he can even be cocky. He just might have that dawg in him. I am sure teams will find ways to pressure him and find cracks but he has shown me already there is something special there to build on. I give MDJ and the staff credit, I did not expect this.
Great post. I’m not quite as sure having not seen the games but this is encouraging. The only place you lost me was in claiming Podz is better than Mannion. That’s damning with faint praise. I far prefer thinking that he might in his own way outplay CP or supplement him well. That would be found money eh.
Ayy Gay being a net neutral is pretty good for a 14th spot. I’ll take it, given the locker room presence he brings (and that he’s still frickin’ gigantic, it surprises me every time).
The NBA put out a YouTube of the "MUST SEE ENDING" , so I had to watch it.
Moody started things off with 5 points of their last 10 points to put GS back up, forgot that he contributed that much.
I predict that Castleton is going to be a Jay Huff-esque problem for the Sea Dubs this year. Could be fun to see him and TJD battling in some G-League games.
I loved that JK sprinted to get free and called for the ball, knowing that they were going to deliberately foul. "I want to be the guy", and then confidently swishes both FTs. Yes, I know, Doc made that same point, I don't disagree with everything the guy says :)
Big fan of BP, but how is he only 77% at FTs? Gotta work on that, seems like he should definitely be in the eighties given he is supposed to be a shooter.
Oh, one more thing. On that critical tip in by TJD, JK got the initial tip, out-jumping two Lakers including Castleton who must have a 4 or 5 inch height advantage [edit, only 3 inches, or zero if you believe that JK is 6' 11" now, lol].
Glad Warriors won, but our starting line up struggled against the Lakers to be honest..that game is a tale of two halves..1st half is the real test with the stars and main supporting cast playing, we obviously lost that one, Klay was a pain to watch, he did hit a few 3s also CP3 turn overs were unexpected..2nd half of game was game of the bench which the Warriors won, anyway great ball time for the young guys and win a close one.
I thought the Warriors' starters came out in the second half and played very well (tying the game at 73 and 75 all) until Prince went on his own personal 8-0 run (including 2 deep threes), fueled by a missed Wiggins three, a Paul turnover, and Wiggins turnover.
By the time the subs came in with 5:36 to go in the second half, the starters had dug the Warriors a 92-83 hole, mostly due to the 16 turnovers that the Warriors had committed up until that point of the game, which had them on pace to commit 25 turnovers for the game. Just to put in context how terrible this turnover pace was, the most turnovers the Warriors have ever had in any regular season or playoff game over the past 20 seasons is 26 turnovers, a dubious feat that they have achieved just twice during Kerr's entire coaching tenure.
Luckily, the subs limited the turnovers from that point on. The only turnover for the remainder of the third quarter was Rudy Gay's offensive foul. Moody had two 4th quarter turnovers, and Kuminga and Robinson had 1 each, but 5 turnovers for the last 3/8ths of the game was a huge improvement over the 16 turnovers for the first 5/8ths of the game.
I really like reading these observations. Everything's asynchronous for me right now bc I'm in a distant time zone, so I'm coming to these comments well after the game itself, and it's interesting to see where the group's impressions matched or differed from mine. I'm most surprised to see how encouraged folks seem to be by Jackson-Davis's performance. I was just struck by how overwhelmed he looked against AD—not that you wouldn't expect as much, but it made him look a long way off to my eye. I'm not necessarily prepared to surrender that perspective completely, but it's cool to read the observations of those who spotted a bit more nuance.
Beyond that, it's great to see Podziemski looking like an NBA player already, and Kuminga looking so much more decisive and fluid. Also great to see GPII healthy—he had a gorgeous block where he pinned the ball against the backboard.
And last thing: Seemed like Steph was fairly intentional about finding space for the midrange jumper in this game. I wonder if that was coincidental, or if it's something we'll see him do more of against LA this year. I wouldn't mind that because it feels like that shot is likely to be there for him, and it's pretty efficient offense in its own right provided he's decisive about it.
Kuminga’s shot looks so much better. The eye test tells me he’s slightly less exaggerated from the way he used to put the ball right in front of his face. The release looks faster. And he’s shooting with a lot of confidence. His frustration at missing FTs looks like “what the heck happened, I make those in my sleep” instead of “I can’t believe I missed that one”. If he keeps this up, the scouting report will change and he’ll be attacking hard close outs and destroying rims.
I loved how he calmly swished both with a few seconds left to ice the last win v LA.
Called for the ball knowing he was getting the take foul, and strode to the stripe like he was relishing shooting them.
Yeah, over 50% on decent volume on threes, I wonder how much longer teams will keep daring him to shoot
He ‘gon have to show he can do this consistently in the regular season before teams start defending him differently.
Wait, I just watched a game yesterday and get to watch another one tomorrow? Life is good.
Only problem is we dont get your dubs history essays :(
Save em for the offseason ... that's when we need content like that.
I was going bat**** crazy there the last couple of weeks.
But, yes, DubsNerd is in the commenter hall of fame for perpetuity for that series. That was something else.
I just read through all the comments. A lot of really good comments and it was a pleasure to read and interact. So glad basketball is back.
The 5 non-game days after the first game felt weird, but only 3 non-game days max between games from here on out. We’re here!
What do people think our best 5 man unit will be by the playoffs?
My guess is that it will be:
Curry - Klay - Wiggins - Kuminga - Draymond
That group has a good combination of spacing and perimeter defense.
Other contenders are:
Curry Klay Wiggins GPII Draymond
Curry Klay Wiggins Draymond Looney
Curry Klay Wiggins Saric Draymond
I would be pretty surprised if CP3 is in our best lineups, but it also wouldn’t surprise me if he ends up with an outrageously good plus minus leading the second unit. It also wouldn’t surprise me if Looney replaced Draymond in any of those lineups.
chances of being in the best lineup, no injuries:
~100% curry, wiggins, draymond
~50% klay
~25% looney, gp2, cp2, kuminga, saric, moody
A lot depends on Klay. He obviously wasn’t self-aware enough to realize how worn down he was in the playoffs and so ended up chucking in expectation that his shots would start going in. They didn’t. I could see CP in the top lineup instead of Klay. Wigs and JK are super efficient because they want to save shots for Steph. I don’t see CP as a chucker either so the CP Steph Wiggs JK Dray lineup would end up being more efficient if Klay can’t stop chucking. Of course if he has his legs and conditioning come playoff time and can channel his past efficiencies (aka game 6 Klay) then I’d want him in over CP.
I do think your first five are the five best players on the team. They'll have trouble on defense but this seems like the latest Death Star Hamptons Small Lineup of Death Destruction lineup
whew, it was a bit close there but thanks to our rookies closing out starting, we BEAT LA!
Kuminga once again looked like a budding star. Sure, he had some mistakes (defensive communications/switching and angles) but he shot the ball pretty well (I counted one heat-check three and the rest were chosen nicely), had some slick cuts to the basket and used his incredible athleticism well.
Moody had some really good plays and disappeared for parts of the game. Not sure what to make of him.
This was Podziemski's best game so far: his floater and passing game looked calibrated, his relentless activity made for winning plays on both ends, and he continues to have excellent rebounding for his size. He's gonna definitely get rotation minutes during the season.
Jackson-Davis was clearly outmatched vs AD, but he did pretty well in the latter stages of the game, including a couple tantalizing minutes where he was on the court with Steph Curry.
Steph looked incredible as usual; Klay, Wiggins, and Loon gave us nothing to worry about.
GPII didn't really make his 3's which is a shame. Otherwise he looked good, a menace on defense and bouncy on offense as usual.
Chris Paul looked like he was struggling, and not comfortable in the Dubs offense. Hope that gets better. A lot of his passes were not very crisp, which is surprising given his reputation. I expect that won't be typical, but I would not be surprised if he records a career low in AST/TOV ratio this season.
Saric looked ok, also missed his threes, did better than TJD at covering Davis, but the ball movement while he was on the floor didn't seem to translate into advantages that often. Then again, if one or two more of those pick-and-pop 3's had gone down, it would've looked a lot better.
Not much to say on the remaining guys including Gay.
This feels like a newish thread, so I'm gonna pose an idiotic pre-season question for everyone:
With rosters as currently set and full health(which for some teams lolClipps is asking a lot), which teams do you think will give the Dubs the most trouble over a 7-game series?
My list:
1. Celtics. (Porzingas > TL, Jrue > Marcus)
2. Denver (We haven't met this version fully healthy yet - but they won it all, so hats off)
3. Lakers (I'm unconvinced the size issues, and foul differential issues that showed up again and again in the playoffs were solved this offseason)
4. Bucks. (Dame/Middleton/Giannis/Lopez is a lot of size for the Dubs' defense - very much similar to Lakers).
5. Couldn't think of another team that sticks out above the pack.
Oh I forgot to ask if anyone believes in Phoenix.
Phoenix seems like they have a lot of good pieces and should be less volatile with Ayton gone. KD and Booker are both amazing, Beal can obviously score, and they have a somewhat reasonable supporting cast, so I have to assume they'll make the playoffs even if they don't really play defense and someone misses a bunch of time with injury.
But I have a hard time seeing them as a "team" right now, which makes me wonder. Can they figure out their chemistry, their defense, their effort and collective poise under pressure? I could see them fumbling away an extended series or even play-in against an ascendant young squad like New Orleans or Memphis.
They have 3 amazing players and Durant is a very good defender when he chooses to be and they did very well in picking up complementary players. I see them as serious challenges to warriors and definitely title contenders. They worry me as much as any team- maybe more
Oh yeah, KD definitely can play great individual defense, Booker has gotten better too, but the question is if they will actually try and be on the same page with the rest of the team.
I just don’t see the PHO trio giving the Dubs problems like the other teams. I feel like Wiggs/JK/Dray with a helping of GP2 should be enough to stop that offense unless they fundamentally change the way they play.
I’m more concerned with the effect of a good guard/wing combo with a dominant big man on our defense. Nurk won’t be giving Dray any problems. Giannis/Joker/AD could all be problems for Dray/Loon, requiring help rotations which frees up their guards/wings to score more easily.
BOS. Is more a matter of their D, I think. Unless JK takes a huge step forward I’m not convinced the Dubs offense won’t struggle vs them, and likewise the Dubs haven’t shown true lockdown defense since 2022.
They could be trouble, but I'd need to see this group play some playoff level defense before I'm too worried about them. I also expect CP3 to be fired up playing them - as Klay will say, they didn't want you!
Whichever team has their star players healthy when the Warriors play them. Maybe I'm a shameless homer, but I think the Warriors are better than all those teams as the Warriors have the best player in the NBA and those other teams don't. Conversely, off course, if Steph isn't healthy than all of those teams are better and quite a few other teams as well.
Miami
6. Sacramento. Nothing has really changed from last year when we needed an all world Steph moment to beat them.
But really my 0. is Warriors. The team that can give us the most trouble is the Dubs. When we do right things, we win. When we mess around, we don't.
Kings are a nice little story, but I think they’re closer to a play-in team this season than a serious title contender. No offense to their talented young core, but their D was atrocious last season, they lack a top 10-15 player, and the West is just that good and that deep.
I won’t be surprised if next season they start to kick themselves a bit for the Sabonis-Haliburton trade.
The Sabonis-Haliburton trade is turning out to be a good deal for both sides. The Kings aren't a playoff team without Sabonis. Fox runs the offense there. Hali runs the offense at Indy.
Hali/Fox back court would be nice tho… they’d need to find some decent big man, but having those two dynamic guards is a great foundation. Meanwhile, I never see a future where a champ has Sabonis as their best big man.
"The team that can give us the most trouble is the Dubs. When we do right things, we win. When we mess around, we don't."
Totally agree with this, but then I understand it is just a game and messing around is an integral part of playing games.
We have been fortunate to have been able to watch a very successful "Warriors joy" vs "winning is everything" team !
Idk I think the Kings are mega spooky. SAC picked up last year’s Euroleague MVP whose whole game is being an off-ball menace. Plus its reasonable to assume players as young as Fox and Sabonis are still improving, and who knows if Davion Mitchell and/or Keegan Murray will take a leap.
Yeah, they had the advantage of excellent health last year, but if they hold up well enough on health this year I kind of expect Sac to be better this season and likely to make it to the second round of the playoffs or beyond. They've got another year of experience for their young guys, continuity in Mike Brown's system, they're battle hardened from facing us in the playoffs last year, and their fanbase is hungry and enthusiastic.
All of them have the issue of needing to play drop coverage with one of their best players. The key is to keep Curry from getting worn down, and cp3 to a lesser extent. If their legs are fresh enough in the playoffs, Curry can punish all of those teams in a way no one else can with pick and rolls.
But, our problem is always going to be defense.
We're a little better equipped to play some D this year, but we'll have to see how it turns out. I'm not convinced that the Steph-Klay-Paul backcourt is really going to hold up on D.
It’s not an everyday starting thing…
I'm worried that whenever any of our starting 5 is out CP will get the start. That will happen quite often
I meant each of them individually, not that they would be on the floor at the same time. I could have phrased it better.
I'm at the "There still feeling each other out" stage of the season and without Dray? Yikes but this is a smart team. CP3 is not going to be a turn over machine, it looked like he was trying to play to fast for his style last night and so adjustments will be made, the more mins he has with the A team the better because that's where "fit" will be key for him. 2nd unit not so much.
Klay is an incomplete. I think he's going to be Klay in the sense that he will have WTF games then drop 50 on 20 shots. His adjustment to D will be key for him this season.
JK is at the point where he actually needs to slow down and trust his instincts and when he does AND makes a mistake everyone will be at the point of a shrug and a laugh and make it a learning moment.
Podz is looking legit and with GP the 2nd we look good. (small with CP3 but damn good).
Add Dario and I think this may be a very good well rounded squad. Yeah we have no 7 footer beast but there are just a few teams with said beast that I would not want to be in a 7 game series.
Yes this is preseason enthusiasm but I like this line up even better then the last champion squad which is really nice.
When Dray is back, our best starting 5 is the one we had last season. CP3's best use will be leading the bench mob, where he can run it at his pace at least part of the time. But overall I expect Kerr will mix and match.
Stupid earworm, still can't get it out of my head.
Mission Bay. (with apologies to Mike Love, John Phillips, Terry Melcher, and Scott McKenzie)
Barbosa, Kuminga, ooh I wanna bring ya
Sarunas, Nemanja, come on pretty Mama
Chiozza, Vonteego, baby why don't we go?
(Kuminga)
Down in Mission Bay,
There's a place where the Warriors play,
That's where you wanna go
To get away from it all,
Joe Barely Cares,
Grab a beer and climb the stairs,
We'll be falling in love
Watchin' Steph together with Young Glove
Down in Mission Bay
Barbosa, Kuminga, ooh I wanna bring ya to
Sarunas, Nemanja, come on pretty Mama
Chiozza, Vonteego, baby why don't we go?
Down to Mission Bay
We'll go tonight
And watch the Warriors play
Looney and Steph and Klay
Way down in Mission Bay
(Hardaway, and maybe Rudy Gay)
Kerr and JTA,
Rocco boatin' on the Bay
By and by we'll smoke some weed
And get the second seed
Draymond Green's a trip
We gonna be championship
That dreamy look in your eyes
When Iguodala's on the rise
Way down in Mission Bay
Barbosa, Kuminga, ooh I wanna bring ya to
Sarunas, Nemanja, come on pretty Mama
Chiozza, Vonteego, baby why don't we go?
Down to Mission Bay
We'll go tonight
And watch the Warriors play
Looney and Steph and Klay
Are down in Mission Bay
(Poole, McCaw, there oughta be a law)
Everybody say they wanna see the Warriors play
Now go and follow your heart, hop on Muni and BART
Go down to Mission Bay
Barbosa, Kuminga, ooh I wanna bring ya to
Sarunas, Nemanja, come on pretty Mama
Chiozza, Vonteego, baby why don't we go?
Down to Mission Bay
We'll go tonight
And watch the Warriors play
Looney and Steph and Klay
Are down in Mission Bay
gave me a tropical contact high
Vonteego!!
Sir, I salute you.
There was some real work in this. Working in Vonteego Cummings is at least a double word score.
"Poole, McCaw, there oughta be a law" is genius.
You shall be forthwith elected to the WarriorsEarWorm Hall of Fame. The plaque is two doors down from the hot dog stand at Chase. You can't miss it.
A couple thoughts from the game last night:
*We thought CP3 was going to fix the turnover problem with the Dubs. Nope, turns out we'll just infect him with Dubsitis. 5 TOV in 19.5 min. And some were bad. Even Loon had it last night: 3 in 11 min.
*Klay needs to find his 2P shot. 1-6 on 2PA and none left me feeling confident.
*Wiggs felt good, but the boxscore is unkind, 4/11, -8. Still likes the long 2. He is what he is.
*GPII felt back and fully healthy. And that title year, he was a monster.
*JK. So much to say. Wow, that dude is hungry this year. He feels different than the rest of the Dubs. He played the most minutes on the team. And yet, he feels a bit like he isn't playing within the offense and people are crashing into each other. Even still, he gets the ball and he just puts it in the basket. 9/12 for 26 pts, so the results speak for themselves on offense. And when he was fouled in the clutch, he calmly sank both FT. But the "problem" is offball on defense. He's constantly getting screened away and leaving guys open for 3. He doesn't communicate well and he either overhelps or switches unexpectedly. And yet...he still might have been the best Dub on the floor. He's like 80% of the way to being a monster.
*Podz had 10 assists to 0 turnovers.He had 6 boards. Highest +/- on the team. Everything you could ask for even if he's yet to feel like a 3P sniper.
*DLo actually really impressed me on defense today. Very disruptive. Had a couple dumb turnovers, but otherwise was really solid.
*Both AD and Reaves were annoying today because they can give it but can't take it. If you're going to bait a foul on one end, you can't be mad and yell at the refs when the other team baits you to foul. As a fan, I did appreciate Reaves channeling his anger into the immediate fake handoff into a dunk after his tech though.
*Quinones was big-boyed a couple times. NBA athleticism is still too much.
Overall, this was a super high level preseason game through 3Q when the starters went out. The Lakers played their A game. The Dubs did well to keep it close.But ultimately the young Dubs have more skill than the end of the Lakers bench.
I didn’t understand why he was always leaving people open for threes. Was that somehow part of the plan, was in there the basket with the hope of getting more rebounds, or was it just in competent defense?
Klay low key sucks at 2’s. Last year everyone on the team except PBJ and Rollins had a better % than Klay’s 44%. And his career 49% isn’t much better.
Even as a Kuminga stan this critique of his D is totally fair.
Great summary. Re: JK "constantly getting screened away" this is so right on, and was also evident in the vids of JK's summer runs.
If I were his coach I'd give him one tip: watch your teammate Brandin on D. He's a far inferior athlete to JK, sometimes gets blown by, but to my eye he consistently funnels or even stones his man far more often than JK, and the reason is simple: when he's on D his head is on a swivel and he's constantly anticipating. JK gets hyperfocused on his man's hips and dribble and is therefore often easily screened. Watching Cade do it to him repeatedly in a single summer game really made this jump out at me.
BP thoughts crossposted from the other place (TLDR version is that BP was the BPA):
If he keeps this up against NBA competition, he may obviate CoJo sooner than later. His talent, poise, and feel for the game at his age is almost shocking (esp. compared to that of poor Lester Q, who’s more than two years his senior).
Beyond the potential usurping of CoJo: CP3 is also on an expiring deal, and his combo of age and price tag may make the team ponder moving on from him after this season — leaving them no legit backup PG on the roster. Plus, perish the thought, but Steph’s not gonna be a young 35 forever. For all the talk of the team’s need for moaaarrr bigs, one could argue the biggest roster need following the Poole trade was a legit, young backup ballhandler and shot creator. Enter Podz.
I think with the #19 pick Dunleavy mostly went “BPA” — Brandin Podziemski, er, Best Player Available — but you could also argue that if he hits he’s an absolute perfect fit on this team, now and going forward. Remember all the moaning and handwringing this summer in Dub Nation over having picked BP over Cam Whitmore? Not only is BP probably gonna end up the better player — he’s also a MUCH better fit on a roster whose two best young players are versatile, athletic wings. Would anyone really want Cam Whitmore taking a single minute from Kuminga or Moody?
I thought passing a whitmore was the very big gamble and it’s only justifiable FBP far exceeds his draft number
Podz is a classic 'dog'. What he lacks in athleticism, he makes up on grit, desire, and very intuitive bbiq. He never gives up, has excellent court awareness, and seems to make the best of whatever is given to him. I like him and expect him to play much more than I had originally thought based on his performance in summer league. He needs other energy players around him. He could be our future star in the sense of Austin Reaves.
Steph, Klay, Dray were all drafted within 4 years of each other and comprised this dynastic core. Could the last three drafts have yielded an equivalent core for the Dubs' future? A core that's dominant enough to help Steph, Klay, and Dray age gracefully while still contributing to 'chips? A core that's dominant enough to compete for championships during their prime years?
I haven’t watched any rockets games, but has it been confirmed that Mr. Whitmore has attempted any passes? From the box score, he has zero assists
Not sure about attempts, but yeah, zero assists in his two preseason games.
After averaging … wait for it … -**0.7 assists** in 27.3 minutes per game in his career at Villanova.
F that guy. I don’t care what else he does well, that level of ballhoggery is a sh*tty fit on the Warriors.
Depends on his teammates and coaches to fix any areas of doubt. Whitmore is a stud.
You could be right. I tend to dislike players at any position who don’t pass the ball, but maybe he figures some stuff out and blows up. I kinda see Corey Maggette 2.0, tho — and that’s if the reported health red flags are nothing.
If you want to see the two biggest stories of the Warriors' young preseason, just click on the SEASON LEADERS tab: https://www.nba.com/stats
In my humble opinion, those who have watched the Warriors' first two preseason games and still not yet reevaluated their previously held opinion that there is no way that Podz will be getting consistent rotation minutes with the Golden State (and not the Santa Cruz) Warriors this season are somehow refusing to believe their lying eyes. While I was 90% sure that Podz would not get major rotation minutes for the Warriors 8 days ago, I am now almost as certain that I was dead wrong.
Of all the players who have played more than 10 total minutes, Podz has the best net rating. The Warriors are +15.7 per 100 possessions with Podz on the court so far this preseason, followed by +12.7 with Kuminga on the court, +8.7 with GPII, +5.7 with Moody, +4.8 with Looney. +2.7 with TJD, and dead even with Curry.
The NBA.com Player Impact Estimate ratings (these are per minute) so far are:
19.3 Curry
18.7 Kuminga
14.1 Podziemski
12.8 Saric
11.6 Looney
9.4 Moody
8.1 GPII
7.7 TJD
5.5 Klay
5.0 CP3
1.7 Wiggins
0.0 Gay
Floor Impact Counter (FIC) is RealGM’s version of PER and PIE. It was developed in 2007 and it differs from other all-in-one efficiency stats in that it assigns more weight to assists and shot creation, as well as offensive rebounding.
Rookie of the Preseason (so far)?
https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/stats/2024/Advanced_Stats/Qualified/fic/All/desc/1/Preseason?rookies=
FIC of all qualified players : https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/stats/2024/Advanced_Stats/Qualified/fic/All/desc/1/Preseason
(Unfortunately, it looks as if feasting on the Warriors' defense really helps to pad this stat, with 3 Lakers in the top 5, 4 in the top 9, and 5 in the top 20.)
Moving on to NBA.com Assist Ratio:
41.2 Podziemski
33.3 Paul
26.7 Saric
25.0 Looney
21.7 Curry
16.7 TJD
15.2 Kuninga
NBA.com Assist Percentage:
37.5 Paul
33.0 Podziemski
22.7 Curry
20.0 Kuminga
18.8 Looney
17.4 Saric
NBA.com Total Rebound Percentage:
15.5 Looney
15.2 Saric
11.1 Podziemski
10.5 Kuminga
9.1 Thompson
8.2 TJD
7.9 Wiggins
6.8 Curry, Paul, and Moody
Most impressive of all is Podz's current 7 to 1 assist to turnover ratio. If you don't think this team could use a bit more of that, I am not sure what to tell you.
Just remember that Kuminga and Podz are the two youngest players on the team, and believe it or not, Podz is even younger than Kuminga by about 5 months.
While it is just two preseason games and I don't want to let the hype train get out of control, I seriously cannot remember the last time the Warriors had a guard who was 20 or younger who has ever impressed me more to begin the preseason as a winning player. Now Moody was 20 last season, and I really like Moody, but Podz has outplayed Moody by far so far this preseason. Obviously, not Ryan Rollins last season, who never impressed over his whole rookie season as Podz has right out of the gate. Nico Mannion was 20 his rookie season, but Podz already looks to be the better NBA point guard and certainly the better all-around NBA player of the two. Poole was 20 his rookie season, but Poole quite frankly sucked his rookie season. After that, we have to go all the way back to Monte Ellis's and Gilbert Arena's rookie seasons to find any guards this young who even made the Warriors' roster. And Ellis was never a winning player, so perhaps we are down to Podz and Arenas as the best guards this young in Warriors history?
Wracking my brain, I can't seem to come up with any NBA guard as young as Podz to even compare Podz's overall heady passing, rebounding, and pesky defense but limited scoring game to. The closest I can up with is either of the Ball brothers. Can anyone here do better?
This is a great post, I am trying to think of another point guard, from a smaller school that produced an undersized, pesky, yet brilliant player… Steph? Oh limited scoring, not Steph then… Keith Jennings? You pose a great question.
But specifically with BP, I am trying hard not to get carried away, because I did not see this coming. Even in summer league he looked intriguing and due for some seasoning in Santa Cruz. What he has shown in preseason is someone who can be productive at the NBA level without forcing anything, he can be a leader, he can be a student, he can be under control and he can even be cocky. He just might have that dawg in him. I am sure teams will find ways to pressure him and find cracks but he has shown me already there is something special there to build on. I give MDJ and the staff credit, I did not expect this.
Great post. I’m not quite as sure having not seen the games but this is encouraging. The only place you lost me was in claiming Podz is better than Mannion. That’s damning with faint praise. I far prefer thinking that he might in his own way outplay CP or supplement him well. That would be found money eh.
Canadian praise.
Podz should be very proud.
But, save the 'youbetcha' until we've at least played 10 games.
Ayy Gay being a net neutral is pretty good for a 14th spot. I’ll take it, given the locker room presence he brings (and that he’s still frickin’ gigantic, it surprises me every time).
Not a coincidence. Fate
104-0 is still on the table.
This must be the same table where I end up taking Scarlett Johansson to dinner.
The NBA put out a YouTube of the "MUST SEE ENDING" , so I had to watch it.
Moody started things off with 5 points of their last 10 points to put GS back up, forgot that he contributed that much.
I predict that Castleton is going to be a Jay Huff-esque problem for the Sea Dubs this year. Could be fun to see him and TJD battling in some G-League games.
I loved that JK sprinted to get free and called for the ball, knowing that they were going to deliberately foul. "I want to be the guy", and then confidently swishes both FTs. Yes, I know, Doc made that same point, I don't disagree with everything the guy says :)
Big fan of BP, but how is he only 77% at FTs? Gotta work on that, seems like he should definitely be in the eighties given he is supposed to be a shooter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIe0kcXctPw
OK Doc Rivers' pet
Oh man, busted.
Next thing you know, I'll be saying Austin Rivers doesn't actually suck
Get out!
Oh, one more thing. On that critical tip in by TJD, JK got the initial tip, out-jumping two Lakers including Castleton who must have a 4 or 5 inch height advantage [edit, only 3 inches, or zero if you believe that JK is 6' 11" now, lol].
Those hops man
JK still listed at 6'7", the height from his combine a couple years ago, so technically it's still 4" difference. lol.
What are peoples' guesses as to how much he's actually grown if at all?
0.5”
Glad Warriors won, but our starting line up struggled against the Lakers to be honest..that game is a tale of two halves..1st half is the real test with the stars and main supporting cast playing, we obviously lost that one, Klay was a pain to watch, he did hit a few 3s also CP3 turn overs were unexpected..2nd half of game was game of the bench which the Warriors won, anyway great ball time for the young guys and win a close one.
I thought the Warriors' starters came out in the second half and played very well (tying the game at 73 and 75 all) until Prince went on his own personal 8-0 run (including 2 deep threes), fueled by a missed Wiggins three, a Paul turnover, and Wiggins turnover.
By the time the subs came in with 5:36 to go in the second half, the starters had dug the Warriors a 92-83 hole, mostly due to the 16 turnovers that the Warriors had committed up until that point of the game, which had them on pace to commit 25 turnovers for the game. Just to put in context how terrible this turnover pace was, the most turnovers the Warriors have ever had in any regular season or playoff game over the past 20 seasons is 26 turnovers, a dubious feat that they have achieved just twice during Kerr's entire coaching tenure.
Luckily, the subs limited the turnovers from that point on. The only turnover for the remainder of the third quarter was Rudy Gay's offensive foul. Moody had two 4th quarter turnovers, and Kuminga and Robinson had 1 each, but 5 turnovers for the last 3/8ths of the game was a huge improvement over the 16 turnovers for the first 5/8ths of the game.
Prince did go all Lonnie Walker on us.
Prince one of those guys I expect to drop 6-7 3s on us sometime this season, just hope it's not in the playoffs