Series Thread: 1) Golden State Warriors vs. 8) Los Angeles Clippers

[Ickey Shuffle]

Patrick Beverley is that dude. Every team should have one.

 

[CitySushi]

Everything started to go wrong in the 3rd quarter for the Warriors and here's my take on things that happened to snowball:

3rd Quarter:
-Steph picked up his 4th foul with 8:30 left to play in the third quarter. IMO that was a terrible call and way less contact than defenders have gotten away with against him. But whatever, they're up 28 points at that time.

-After Steph leaves, in the 6:30 that KD is on the floor he attempts 1 shot. 1 FUCKING SHOT. He finished with 5 points in that span because he was the one shot he took was an assisted dunk where he drew a foul and another foul on him when he was in the bonus. In that same time he had 3 turnovers. He had more turnovers than shot attempts.

-Steve Kerr didn't improvise his lineups when Steph drew his 4th foul. He replaced Bogut with Bell and then he replaced Curry with Cook. IMO, at that point he needed to put Iguodala in the game to help facilitate for the team. You took off of the court two play makers and subbed in a spot up shooter and a rim runner. The offense stagnated from there and the quality of shots the Warriors got were terrible. And at one point he had a lineup on the court of Looney, Green, Iguodala, McKinnie and Cook. What in the actual fuck?

-Kerr opts to put in Curry, KD and Thompson at the end of the quarter for the final offensive possession. Draymond disagreed and didn't want to be taken out of the game at the time (as he was playing well). Curry goes on to turn the ball over and the Clippers score again. Gave all the momentum back to the Clippers to end the 3rd.

4th Quarter:
-Kerr trots out a lineup of Curry, Livingston, Iguodala, Jerebko and Bogut. Second worst lineup of the night. You have three guys out there that don't shoot and Jerebko is seeing his first minutes of the series.

-Curry played like absolute dog shit in the 4th quarter, sans his second to last 3 point attempt to put them up by 3. It's like he mentally checked out of the game and he was so sloppy with the ball and his decision making.

-KD has 3 shot attempts in the entire 4th quarter. All this while the Warriors are struggling to score.

-Defense on the interior was horrible. Lou gets the credit for having a great game and closing, but Harrell was the difference maker IMO. He got all the hustle plays, was finishing incredibly well and overall outworking the Warriors. Lou's gonna get his buckets, and that was expected. But Harrell shouldn't be doing that much damage.


Again lots of blame to go around. Main culprits in this game were KD, Curry and Kerr, in no particular order.

 

[lebron23james]

I mean KD moved his office headquarters to New York. That’s gotta be something right?

Beverly was excellent on KD and of those 9 tos I would say at least 3-4 were offensive fouls. I think part of KD not being as aggressive could be that he didn’t want to get tangled up with Beverly again to cause any more techs.

But the trend is there. KD is one of, if not the most talented scorer in basketball history, yet he’s refusing to score. He’s actively looking to defer and not do anything to score. What other logical reason can you think of for this? The Warriors aren’t a selfish team so there’s no point at which any of his teammates or coaches told him to shoot less.

There were lots that went wrong yesterday but the turning point was when Curry got his 4th foul. That’s when you need KD to step on the gas and get it done. He didn’t do shit that entire third quarter.

KD is gone. It is pretty obvious. He is probably still hurt about what Draymond said to him about they won without him, they didn't need him. Probably had a big cry about it lol

Anyways I don't think Draymond is right. They couldn't win without him. He was the main reason they won so easily. That will be seen next year tho...And it will be interesting to see if Durant can win with Kyrie like Lebron did

 

[lebron23james]

If GS was smart they would resign KD at all costs and get rid of Green...But that likely won't happen

 

[Shanemansj13]

If GS was smart they would resign KD at all costs and get rid of Green...But that likely won't happen

Well when it comes down to it, it's going to be KD's decision. I think if GS had it there way, KD would already be back next year and for years to come. If KD leaves Green isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

 

[CitySushi]

Well when it comes down to it, it's going to be KD's decision. I think if GS had it there way, KD would already be back next year and for years to come. If KD leaves Green isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

On the bright side at least for the Warriors is that Draymond has been playing extremely well lately, the last few weeks of the regular season and now the first two games of the playoffs. I think he's finally healthy now and looking like his old self. Seems like he has that bounce in his step back.

 

[Shanemansj13]

On the bright side at least for the Warriors is that Draymond has been playing extremely well lately, the last few weeks of the regular season and now the first two games of the playoffs. I think he's finally healthy now and looking like his old self. Seems like he has that bounce in his step back.

Yeah well fuck him lol. He lives for the playoffs, he definitely looks more motivated, more than anyone on the team as of right now.

 

[CitySushi]

Kind of telling:

After the game, Steph Curry stays to address the media at the podium. True leader of the team right there.

KD and Draymond dip out immediately. Honestly I think Draymond dipping out was probably the right move for him because if you let him talk he'd rip EVERYONE from teammates to coaching to himself on the mic and that'd probably be bad.

KD though, I guess you can make your assumptions why he left.

 

[tlance]

Looks like BKS hacked Lance's account.

I was getting so mad.

Both sides though.

Both teams shot way too many FTs on touch fouls, while guys are allowed to wrestle off the ball with nothing called for minutes on end, then you get like 5 whistles in a 3 possession stretch.

The offensive fouls especially were pissing me off.

When I play I get held off the ball all the time, like what LAC was doing with Curry and KD.

2 solutions for refs there. Both work fine. Either call the original hold, or let them play through it and allow the offensive player to use hands a bit to free himself.

What cannot happen is letting the hold go, then calling the offensive player for pushing off. That is just bad officiating.

 

[CitySushi]

I was getting so mad.

Both sides though.

Both teams shot way too many FTs on touch fouls, while guys are allowed to wrestle off the ball with nothing called for minutes on end, then you get like 5 whistles in a 3 possession stretch.

The offensive fouls especially were pissing me off.

When I play I get held off the ball all the time, like what LAC was doing with Curry and KD.

2 solutions for refs there. Both work fine. Either call the original hold, or let them play through it and allow the offensive player to use hands a bit to free himself.

What cannot happen is letting the hold go, then calling the offensive player for pushing off. That is just bad officiating.

100% agree it was terrible officiating.

I actually really like the way Pat Beverly plays defense and I think there's a degree to which holding should be allowed, at least in the playoffs for sure. But on the flip side you can't be calling these touch fouls on the offensive player, when you allow the defender to make almost as much contact as they want.

The refs were really inconsistent both ways in the game. There were fouls on the Clippers that I thought was really bad based on what was previous called in the game. There were fouls on the Warriors that I thought were ridiculous.

There was no balance at all. All you can ask for as a player is for consistency. You're not looking for calls one way or another, but if it's being called tight, call it tight the whole game. If you're calling it loose, let it be loose the whole game.

 

[Montalban]

So is KD leaving then?

I would think so

 

[CitySushi]

@Shanemansj13

I just looked into it regarding KD and his shot attempts. Over the course of the last 10 regular season games (of which were important because the Warriors were playing for seeding), he attempted 12.1 shots per game and averaged 18.3 points. His season average for the year was 17.1 shots per game and 26.0 points per game. And last year he averaged 18 shots per game.

During that span he had games where he had games with shot attempts of 5, 6, 7, 7 and 9.

I mean I can only speculate, but I have no idea what the fuck he's doing out there. How can anyone explain the extreme low volumes of output from arguably the greatest scorer ever in the NBA?

 

[dtgold88]

@Shanemansj13

I just looked into it regarding KD and his shot attempts. Over the course of the last 10 regular season games (of which were important because the Warriors were playing for seeding), he attempted 12.1 shots per game and averaged 18.3 points. His season average for the year was 17.1 shots per game and 26.0 points per game. And last year he averaged 18 shots per game.

During that span he had games where he had games with shot attempts of 5, 6, 7, 7 and 9.

I mean I can only speculate, but I have no idea what the fuck he's doing out there. How can anyone explain the extreme low volumes of output from arguably the greatest scorer ever in the NBA?

I got nothing.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Kind of telling:

After the game, Steph Curry stays to address the media at the podium. True leader of the team right there.

KD and Draymond dip out immediately. Honestly I think Draymond dipping out was probably the right move for him because if you let him talk he'd rip EVERYONE from teammates to coaching to himself on the mic and that'd probably be bad.

KD though, I guess you can make your assumptions why he left.

Something I have always respected about Steph. KD, Dray and even Klay talk shit or have their antics but Steph is the same, even with all the fame and glory. I think his dad has a lot to do with it bc he was a pretty humble guy. And Lebron I wouldn't say isn't the most humble guy by any means but he will always be at the podium, win or lose. Steph does the same.

 

[Shanemansj13]

@Shanemansj13

I just looked into it regarding KD and his shot attempts. Over the course of the last 10 regular season games (of which were important because the Warriors were playing for seeding), he attempted 12.1 shots per game and averaged 18.3 points. His season average for the year was 17.1 shots per game and 26.0 points per game. And last year he averaged 18 shots per game.

During that span he had games where he had games with shot attempts of 5, 6, 7, 7 and 9.

I mean I can only speculate, but I have no idea what the fuck he's doing out there. How can anyone explain the extreme low volumes of output from arguably the greatest scorer ever in the NBA?

Makes no sense, his shooting volume has gone down obviously since he has been with the W's but maybe overall by one shot or so and he is more efficient. Not sure what is going on with him.

imo if the W's were to go onto win the Finals and KD keeps playing like this and Steph is playing at the much higher level than KD...then KD plays ridiculous in the Finals. I do not think it is fair KD to win Finals MVP. Just something I was thinking about, only 2 games in but still.

 

[CitySushi]

Makes no sense, his shooting volume has gone down obviously since he has been with the W's but maybe overall by one shot or so and he is more efficient. Not sure what is going on with him.

imo if the W's were to go onto win the Finals and KD keeps playing like this and Steph is playing at the much higher level than KD...then KD plays ridiculous in the Finals. I do not think it is fair KD to win Finals MVP. Just something I was thinking about, only 2 games in but still.

The worst part of this is that the Warriors bench is the worst scoring unit in the league, by a pretty good margin. KD's scoring is absolutely essential to the team and what it was built around. The reason the Warriors took on role players for their second unit who were more versatile as defenders is a direct correlation to the scoring output the starters are able to provide. If KD continues to his low output, there's a real, REAL chance the Warriors don't make it out of the West, let alone win the Championship.

Steph is going to need to play at a true MVP level this entire playoffs for the Warriors to have a shot. I don't have any faith in KD at this point because I'm not sure what's going on in his head. Klay is hit or miss with his shot generally in the playoffs, but that's always expected because of his defensive assignments.

 

[Shanemansj13]

@CitySushi I saw this lol.

"Warriors took the 3-1 joke and backhanded the Cavs with 3-1 trophies. that joke was buried alive into middle earth. the only thing that could resurrect the memes was if the stars aligned so that they blew the biggest lead in playoff history and it was exactly 31. let em fly."

 

[Shanemansj13]

The worst part of this is that the Warriors bench is the worst scoring unit in the league, by a pretty good margin. KD's scoring is absolutely essential to the team and what it was built around. The reason the Warriors took on role players for their second unit who were more versatile as defenders is a direct correlation to the scoring output the starters are able to provide. If KD continues to his low output, there's a real, REAL chance the Warriors don't make it out of the West, let alone win the Championship.

Steph is going to need to play at a true MVP level this entire playoffs for the Warriors to have a shot. I don't have any faith in KD at this point because I'm not sure what's going on in his head. Klay is hit or miss with his shot generally in the playoffs, but that's always expected because of his defensive assignments.

I think he will come back to life, when he has to score and they desperately need him, he will get buckets. I doubt he will face a defender like Beverly either, I am not saying that is the reason, it's just maybe he is kinda getting in his head in a sense.

 

[Shanemansj13]

"The warriors blew a 31 point lead tonight

They blew a 3-1 lead in the finals a few years ago.

Their weakness is the numbers 3 and 1 and James Harden is number 13.

Rockets in 2"

LOL

 

[Heatles84]

It wasn’t as much Beverly as it is some weird fucking trend with KD. Seriously check out the last 10-12 games of the season. Dude was taking minimal shots per game and no one could figure out why. Skeptics like me think he’s making it easier to justify his way out from the Warriors and make it seem like he wasn’t needed anyways. He’s taken like 5 shots in a game recently.

KD is playing half assed right now. He’s got one foot out the door and he’s coasting in both ends. He barely moves on offense. Watch him when he doesn’t have the ball. He’ll post up or iso at the top, otherwise he floats to the weak side and just stays there. No rim runs, no cutting, no ball screens. Nothing.

I can't disagree with any of this. One thing I'll give Lebron credit for, he played hard to the last minute for the Cavs and Heat respectively. He didn't play like a guy you know was on the way out. But that's the thing with KD, with his 2 rings, he's still not being compared to NBA ghosts like Lebron is. You'd think he'd see the opportunity in front of him to be able to 3-peat, which is something that Lebron hasn't (and most likely won't) accomplish.