The defending champion Golden State Warriors have stormed out of the gate to a 16-0 start, the best in NBA history. Point guard and leader Stephen Curry is well on his way to back-to-back MVP trophies and his team continues to thrive, even without head coach Steve Kerr, who suffered from a botched back surgery this offseason.
So the Warriors won the title last season and are currently undefeated -- they have to be on their way to becoming one of the NBA's all-time great teams, right?
WRONG. Now before I get into the specifics, please read the following disclaimer:
I AM SAYING THAT WE SHOULDN'T ASSUME THE WARRIORS ARE GOING TO REPEAT AS NBA CHAMPIONS. I AM ALSO SAYING THAT WE SHOULDN'T ASSUME A DYNASTY IS IN THE MAKING. I AM NOT SAYING THAT THE WARRIORS AREN'T ONE OF THE PREMIER TEAMS IN THE LEAGUE. THEY ARE, ALONG WITH THE CAVS AND SPURS.
That said, here are my knocks on the Warriors:
1. The Warriors played their worst ball in the NBA Finals.
The Warriors were a joy to watch throughout most of the 2014-15 NBA season, but even they will tell you, they didn't play their best when it mattered the most. LeBron James' defensive-minded Cavs made the high-powered Golden State offense look like the Bucks against the Grizzlies. It was a messy slopfest.
The Warriors turned the ball over at an alarmingly high rate, and their collective field goal percentage was shockingly below norm. Not to mention the fact that the Cavs didn't have their second and third stars, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.
I agree with those who say, "You just have to beat the team in front of you," but we all know the Warriors drew the Cavs at far less than 100%. In a way, Cleveland was at 33%.
2. Stephen Curry played his worst ball in the NBA Finals, while being guarded by a single player.
Matthew Dellavedova.
Let me say that again...
Matthew. Dellavedova.
The Little Engine That Could was so good that Andre Iguodala ended up winning Finals MVP for Golden State. That was shocking twist #2.
Steph can be stopped. To me, that's a concern.
3. This Warriors team hasn't defeated the Spurs in the postseason, yet.
I would say that this segment is pretty self-explanatory. As the old saying goes, to be the best, you have to beat the best. Gregg Popovich, Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs are the Gold Standard of the NBA. I am crossing my fingers that the Spurs and Warriors meet in this season's Western Conference Finals. True colors will show.
4. Golden State's bench is wildly overrated.
I suppose this depends on whether or not we consider Iguodala a bench player for this squad. He's currently coming off the pine and did so for much of last season, but he became a starter when the Warriors were down 2-1 in the Finals and backed up against the wall. That means when they REALLY need to win, he's a starter.
Regardless, if we consider him a reserve, that leaves us with Shaun Livingston, Leandro Barbosa, Festus Ezeli, Marreese Speights, Brandon Rush and Ian Clark (who?).
Livingston is generally considered the worst perimeter shooting guard in the league. He's also old and riddled with past injuries. Barbosa is still good; he's my favorite guy on this bench, unless we count Iggy. Speights got fat and is really playing poorly. He needs to slim down. Rush is also out of shape and not very good at all. Clark is irrelevant.
This isn't a great bench. It's equivalent to many other teams.
Essentially, a two-way hustle player is the Robin to Curry's Batman. Klay Thompson can be a showstopper when he's hot, but a forgotten man when cold (and he's cold too often for my liking), Harrison Barnes has the talent and raw ability to be the right-hand man, but he doesn't seem to want the responsibility and Iguodala isn't consistently impactful enough to be the No. 2 man.
That leaves Draymond. A wild, passionate and bizarre basketball player. He brings energy and effort on a nightly basis, as well as the ability to guard all five positions. He's a solid rebounder and occasional three-point bomber. He's also one of the premier passing bigs in the game. But is he really what you want as a second-best player?
Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippen (a Hall of Famer).
Shaq had Kobe -- or is it Kobe had Shaq? Either way.
Even now...LeBron has Kyrie and Love.
Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge, Duncan and Tony Parker are all together.
I'm just saying...I don't buy Draymond as a true #2.
All right, this is when I begin to get bored. Point is, don't crown the Warriors just yet.
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