State of the Union , 10 games in

[NBKLee]

1. Dubs in First place - check
2. Core Mostly healthy - check
3. Establish an identity without losing defensive mindset - check

10 games in, small sample size, I know. But Dubs are 3rd place, and basically a game behind MEM/HOU. Never would I have predicted they jump out so quickly.

Positives
-Team Plays hard everynight
-Bogut brings the defense and now some offense for teams to worry about
-Klay is showing he deserves his new contract
-HB is thriving with the starters
-D.Green is the real deal, showing he can run with the big boys, and deserves a big contract coming up


Cons
-WCW / David Lee has played 6 mins 10 games into the season
-Turnovers will probably be a big factor most of the year
-AI#9 fell into a slump on offensive, and for a while it carried over on defense
-Livingston is still rusty, he's missing shows that he should make
-B. Rush doesn't have a role on this team, looked like a Dleaguer last night


Grades

1. Kerr - A- / B+ = How much of it is having a healthy roster vs Kerr's "system". He was basically handed the same roster Jackson had, but healthier
2. Steph - A- = His defense has been above average, and his shot still looks smooth. Needs to cut down on TO's in order for us to maintain this level of play
3. Klay - A = Best 2 way guard point blank at this time? Prove me wrong.
4. Bogut - B+ = Defense has been stellar, but he has been TO prone, and wasn't as aggresive looking for his own shot early on, still a beast though.
5. AI#9 - C-/D+ = Hard to grade the olympian, but he lost his way early on, still plenty of time to turn it around, i'm hoping he picks it up. Minutes are going to be hard to come by with WCW coming back though.
6. 6. DG - A = For an undersized 4, no one can really say they "outwork him" on any end of the court. He's the definition of Winner in my book. Defense, 3 point shot, passing, you name it, he does it.
7. HB - B = He's showing flashes of why the Dubs picked up him, and refused to give him up in a trade. Needs to keep up the hard work, stop turning the ball over.
8. Barbosa - B+ = I didn't think he had this much left, but he's shown the ability to cherry pick with the best of them, and his speed/ability to push the ball can't be taught
9. Speights - B+ = Guy has been in shape, and produced when called upon
10. Livingston - C- = Still brings the defense, but turns the ball over too much, and hasn't gotten 80-95% basketball shape yet, he's still grinding though.

Over all I'm happy with where the team is, lingering questions going into the next 10-15 games are
1) How does D.Lee fit in
2) Will AI#9 play better?

Long post, Dubs off day, nothing else to talk about. Except Pablo visiting BTown, blah.

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

What's the ETA on DLee's return? I know it's a hamstring and those are touch & go and can be tricky, but I haven't heard any updates.

 

[GregWarriorsfan]

1. Dubs in First place - check
2. Core Mostly healthy - check
3. Establish an identity without losing defensive mindset - check

10 games in, small sample size, I know. But Dubs are 3rd place, and basically a game behind MEM/HOU. Never would I have predicted they jump out so quickly.

Positives
-Team Plays hard everynight
-Bogut brings the defense and now some offense for teams to worry about
-Klay is showing he deserves his new contract
-HB is thriving with the starters
-D.Green is the real deal, showing he can run with the big boys, and deserves a big contract coming up


Cons
-WCW / David Lee has played 6 mins 10 games into the season
-Turnovers will probably be a big factor most of the year
-AI#9 fell into a slump on offensive, and for a while it carried over on defense
-Livingston is still rusty, he's missing shows that he should make
-B. Rush doesn't have a role on this team, looked like a Dleaguer last night


Grades

1. Kerr - A- / B+ = How much of it is having a healthy roster vs Kerr's "system". He was basically handed the same roster Jackson had, but healthier
2. Steph - A- = His defense has been above average, and his shot still looks smooth. Needs to cut down on TO's in order for us to maintain this level of play
3. Klay - A = Best 2 way guard point blank at this time? Prove me wrong.
4. Bogut - B+ = Defense has been stellar, but he has been TO prone, and wasn't as aggresive looking for his own shot early on, still a beast though.
5. AI#9 - C-/D+ = Hard to grade the olympian, but he lost his way early on, still plenty of time to turn it around, i'm hoping he picks it up. Minutes are going to be hard to come by with WCW coming back though.
6. 6. DG - A = For an undersized 4, no one can really say they "outwork him" on any end of the court. He's the definition of Winner in my book. Defense, 3 point shot, passing, you name it, he does it.
7. HB - B = He's showing flashes of why the Dubs picked up him, and refused to give him up in a trade. Needs to keep up the hard work, stop turning the ball over.
8. Barbosa - B+ = I didn't think he had this much left, but he's shown the ability to cherry pick with the best of them, and his speed/ability to push the ball can't be taught
9. Speights - B+ = Guy has been in shape, and produced when called upon
10. Livingston - C- = Still brings the defense, but turns the ball over too much, and hasn't gotten 80-95% basketball shape yet, he's still grinding though.

Over all I'm happy with where the team is, lingering questions going into the next 10-15 games are
1) How does D.Lee fit in
2) Will AI#9 play better?

Long post, Dubs off day, nothing else to talk about. Except Pablo visiting BTown, blah.

Boy some people can really make long posts!! I'm making fun of myself here, guys.

First of all, I'm not sure how many people remember when I objected to someone typing that Kerr was (paraphrasing) "obviously a better coach than MJ". But, having been this far into the season and while it's still hard to say this because of the lack of volume of Kerr's games coached and because the Dubs have a much deeper squad than MJ had, while also having those young guns much improved now, I think that Kerr will be a better coach. However, it is fair to say that Kerr inherited a better team than MJ did.

Kerr was brought in to make the team better....much better. Making the playoffs in a 5-8 spot is now just granted or assumed. Now, I can realistically see that we (meaning me and the Dubs) can now believe that we can contend for the best record in the West. Granted, all of this depends on the team playing team ball (with the great passing that has been on display for the past 2 games) and with 3 key people staying relatively healthy, Curry, Thompson and Bogut.

I won't put y'all through what I think about the other issues brought up in this thread. I basically agree with what NBKLee wrote.

Oh, one more thing. I think that the Warriors will be at their best with Curry scoring only about 20-22 PPG. In getting everyone else's offense going, his PPG should be less but his assists can very well go up and his shooting percentage should also go up. People place too much emphasis on someone's PPG. When arguing for Curry recently in the "Lebron James versus Curry on offense", many people would say things like "when he leads the league in scoring, I can consider him.....", stuff like that. Well, if you have 3 more assists per game and score 5 points lower than someone else, then you are responsible for more points overall. I think it's also more taxing on Curry's body to feel responsible for scoring more and more points each year. His increased learning how to better find his teammates the open shots will make him a better overall player and his team a MUCH BETTER team. At the age of 26 (right?), Curry has caught his idol and the one whose game he patterned his after, Steve Nash, and the sky is the limit. I see future POY in Curry's career.

 

[Montalban]

I think this upcoming 5-game road trip will tell us a lot about where the Warriors are.

 

[CitySushi]

Nice post NBK and Greg

For me there have been many more positives than negatives. The biggest unknown for me going into the year was the new coaching staff. I had very high hopes for Kerr and his staff, but they have thoroughly impressed me so far. I love all the concepts they have employed on the offensive end, without any slacking or drop off on the defensive end. The guys seem to have bought in and we haven't lost any cohesion in the locker room. If anything it may seem like morale is higher at this point than last year.

My three concerns going into the year were: Health, Bench Scoring and Klay's contract. Klay's contract has been settled and he's been great so far. The bench scoring and health still are a bit of an issue. Barbosa has done pretty well with the second unit, but we need one more guy off the bench who can produce. That comes into the health category, as David Lee hasn't played pretty much all year and would provide a big boost. Whether or not he or Draymond comes off the bench, moving a starter to the bench unit could only help us in that area.

Three things I love so far:
-Ball movement. There is an amazing stat about the number of passes per game this year versus last year. It's somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 more passes per game under Kerr than Jackson. It is resulting in many more easy looks going to the basket and keeping every single player involved in the offense at all times. Even if the guys aren't the number 1 or 2 option on a play, they still have a roll and maintain involvement.

-Defensive intensity. Having Bogut and Ezeli on the backline has been great, but two other guys have been pretty good in their own right: Steph Curry and Marresse Speights. Both of those guys are engaged on the defensive end and putting forth the effort. That's really all you can ask. Klay, AI, Draymond, HB and Livingston all living up to their defensive billings thus far as well.

-Next man up. One day it's Klay. Another it's Curry. Speights carries the second unit one night, the next Barbosa. Draymond goes for 20+. HB carries the 1st quarter. These guys are all doing their parts to make this team as productive as possible. The balance of this team is the best I can ever remember. Once we get a healthy David Lee back, it's really scary to think of what this team is capable of. It really is.

Things to improve on:
-Turnovers. Easy to focus on this, but I'm more of the mind that the errors have been caused by the implementation of a motion offense. If they clean up the careless turnovers, I'll be perfectly fine if there's the occassional bad pass on a down court leakout or a passing lane getting jumped on a backdoor.

-Rebounding. David Lee will help when he's back, but we need some of the swingmen like Iguodala and Barnes to help on the glass. Klay could rebound a bit better too, but most times he's out on the perimeter guarding the best player opposing wing and not in a great rebounding position.


Overall very happy with this team. I grade players based on where they max out on production. Speights, Bogut, Green, Klay and Curry all top out at A's for me. Barbosa and Barnes are B's. Livingston, Iguodala and Ezeli are C's. The rest are really incomplete grades.

Livingston is starting to finally get up to game speed. I think we will see him hitting his full stride in the next 10 games. Iguodala is having a bit of an adjustment. I think his productivity is really more of a result of the system than any sort of confidence with a perceived demotion to the second unit. AI has always been a creator and in our offense, it's less important for him to do so because of the player and ball movement oriented offense. Instead of looking to make a play for someone else, like he did last year, he needs to be more aggressive an take an opportunity to produce when he has the chance. I think in the next 10 games we're going to see a dramatic uptick in his confidence and offensive production.


I think I probably just set the record for words in a post with this one, but thanks for reading.

TL;DR - Warriors are pretty good.

 

[Montalban]

Nice post NBK and Greg

For me there have been many more positives than negatives. The biggest unknown for me going into the year was the new coaching staff. I had very high hopes for Kerr and his staff, but they have thoroughly impressed me so far. I love all the concepts they have employed on the offensive end, without any slacking or drop off on the defensive end. The guys seem to have bought in and we haven't lost any cohesion in the locker room. If anything it may seem like morale is higher at this point than last year.

At 8 and 2 I would hope so.

 

[GregWarriorsfan]

Nice post, CitySushi. It's definitely an exciting time for Warriors and their fans. Now, if only I didn't live in Louisiana.

BTW, do you guys all have tickets to the game or do you have the NBA league Pass via Directv? This is my second year having the NBA pass. I solely watch GS games. My wife and I tape so many other programs on tv that there's no room for me to try to tape any other teams' games. Most of the time I watch the games a bit after they're played. Sometimes, and because I'm on central time, I watch the games the next morning. I have to admit, because of my fascination with Curry, I used to fast-forward through the parts of then game when he wasn't in. Now, though, I have to watch the entire game so that I can keep up with y'all and be able to talk intelligently about the second team.

It's going to be a fun year and it's great to be a WARRIOR! We might end up facing the Spurs in the Western Conference finals.

One last thought. A strong possibility is that OKC may end up at a 7-8 seed and play either the Spurs or Dubs in the first round. I don't know what their current record is, but they are piling up the losses from what I've seen. Given how long their star players (Westbrook and Durant), might be out, they'll be fully rested after getting their games back in shape. With the other players on the team having to step up now (even though they're losing) and not depend so much on Westbk and Durant, OKC could be in a great place after all of this if they're able to gel well together when the whole team comes back. Something to consider.

 

[JustOneDennisBergkamp]

I'll summarize quickly. The team is deeper, smarter, and more potent with their half-court offense than they have been since the glory days of the seventies. All will make the Dubs a far better playoff team than those of the last couple of seasons. Relatively healthy squad = Conference Finals, at least.

 

[NBKLee]

Nice post, CitySushi. It's definitely an exciting time for Warriors and their fans. Now, if only I didn't live in Louisiana.
.....................

One last thought. A strong possibility is that OKC may end up at a 7-8 seed and play either the Spurs or Dubs in the first round. I don't know what their current record is, but they are piling up the losses from what I've seen. Given how long their star players (Westbrook and Durant), might be out, they'll be fully rested after getting their games back in shape. With the other players on the team having to step up now (even though they're losing) and not depend so much on Westbk and Durant, OKC could be in a great place after all of this if they're able to gel well together when the whole team comes back. Something to consider.

Long season, but I'm not convinced at this point if OKC can overcome their poor start. Lamb, Ibaka, Jackson are all great role players, but they aren't Durant or RW. Could they catch fire later in the season? Sure, but will have a lot of ground to make up, At this point, I see SAC squeezing out of the last playoff spots along with PHO.


So in no particular order Dubs , HOU, POR, SAS, FLop City aka Clippers, DAL, PHo, SAC

OKC could make up some ground, but by the time Durant and RW get back , it may be too late. I could be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time.

 

[NBKLee]

I'll summarize quickly. The team is deeper, smarter, and more potent with their half-court offense than they have been since the glory days of the seventies. All will make the Dubs a far better playoff team than those of the last couple of seasons. Relatively healthy squad = Conference Finals, at least.

Way to take the lazy way out mate

You think Pablo is going to sign on with Boston? Its not my money, but I still don't want the GIants to go overboard for a guy who isn't a 330/30/100 guy 140-160 games in the regular season.

 

[JustOneDennisBergkamp]

Way to take the lazy way out mate

You think Pablo is going to sign on with Boston? Its not my money, but I still don't want the GIants to go overboard for a guy who isn't a 330/30/100 guy 140-160 games in the regular season.

Hey, one man's laziness is another man's efficiency.

The Gs can't and won't go overboard in signing Sandoval. If Boston is going to offer at least 5 at $20 mil, they probably win the sweepstakes. With all that extra jack from passing on the Panda, I am confident that Sabean can fill that rather large hole.

Back to the Dubs - All credit to Jackson for what he did with the team over the last couple of seasons, but the final part of the "process" that he started was replacing him with Kerr. A look at both the much improved half-court offense and Steph's new found commitment to ball contol would see the new coach adding the necessary finishing touches to a potential champion.

 

[CitySushi]

Long season, but I'm not convinced at this point if OKC can overcome their poor start. Lamb, Ibaka, Jackson are all great role players, but they aren't Durant or RW. Could they catch fire later in the season? Sure, but will have a lot of ground to make up, At this point, I see SAC squeezing out of the last playoff spots along with PHO.


So in no particular order Dubs , HOU, POR, SAS, FLop City aka Clippers, DAL, PHo, SAC

OKC could make up some ground, but by the time Durant and RW get back , it may be too late. I could be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time.

I have 7 locks for the playoffs, in no particular order (barring any significant injuries)

Dubs, Spurs, Grizzlies, Mavs, Rockets, Clips & Blazers

The final spot will be fought out between the Suns, Kings, Pelicans & Thunder.

The Suns lack of interior scoring makes me think that they may hit some dry spells during the season. The Kings will no longer be overlooked and getting everyone's full attention. The Pelican's guard play hasn't been consistent. Not sure if Thunder can overcome starting the year upwards of 10 games under .500 before they get KD and RW back. Crapshoot for that last spot.

 

[Robotech]

The Warriors are making this season too boring. They're too dominant. I am not used to this and don't know how to react.

 

[NBKLee]

The Warriors are making this season too boring. They're too dominant. I am not used to this and don't know how to react.

Word, Could easily say the stars are lining up just right, but I believe you create your own luck.

Props to the FO and Coaching staff for working with the players and getting them ready.

They also say the Spurs "are boring", but if the Dubs play a more exciting style of ball while seemingly at a high level. Can they sustain it all year though? HMMM...

 

[Robotech]

Word, Could easily say the stars are lining up just right, but I believe you create your own luck.

Props to the FO and Coaching staff for working with the players and getting them ready.

They also say the Spurs "are boring", but if the Dubs play a more exciting style of ball while seemingly at a high level. Can they sustain it all year though? HMMM...

Cross our fingers that Bogut and Curry's health will hold up. Damn, I can get used to this "boring" play. Just give me some time.

 

[NBKLee]

Hey, one man's laziness is another man's efficiency.

The Gs can't and won't go overboard in signing Sandoval. If Boston is going to offer at least 5 at $20 mil, they probably win the sweepstakes. With all that extra jack from passing on the Panda, I am confident that Sabean can fill that rather large hole.

Back to the Dubs - All credit to Jackson for what he did with the team over the last couple of seasons, but the final part of the "process" that he started was replacing him with Kerr. A look at both the much improved half-court offense and Steph's new found commitment to ball contol would see the new coach adding the necessary finishing touches to a potential champion.

Dennis, the fatman is gone .

Where do the Giants go from here? Duffy? Posey , or MOrse at 3rd? I think Giants showing restraint was a good thing. Shouldn't have to give in, and if they don't spend that money and get Lester or another big FA, then we will have issues.

 

[JustOneDennisBergkamp]

Dennis, the fatman is gone .

Where do the Giants go from here? Duffy? Posey , or MOrse at 3rd? I think Giants showing restraint was a good thing. Shouldn't have to give in, and if they don't spend that money and get Lester or another big FA, then we will have issues.

No way Sabean was going to try and match the Sox, and rightfully so. There's plenty of dough left now plus other options, as you mention, to adequately replace Sandoval.

My only question is, what are all those folks gonna do with those damn panda hats? No sense wearing them to the yard anymore..

 

[CitySushi]

No way Sabean was going to try and match the Sox, and rightfully so. There's plenty of dough left now plus other options, as you mention, to adequately replace Sandoval.

My only question is, what are all those folks gonna do with those damn panda hats? No sense wearing them to the yard anymore..

I don't personally think the money offered to him by the Giants was that significantly less that he just opted for the Red Sox for financial reasons. It's clearly evident that he wanted to change of scenery and also the option to be a DH. He'll get to have his cake and eat it too...both figuratively and literally.

I'd throw a 2 year, 16M offer for Headley. He's coming off a down year and Sabes has done a good job of finding these types of players who come back around.

 

[JustOneDennisBergkamp]

I don't personally think the money offered to him by the Giants was that significantly less that he just opted for the Red Sox for financial reasons. It's clearly evident that he wanted to change of scenery and also the option to be a DH. He'll get to have his cake and eat it too...both figuratively and literally.

I'd throw a 2 year, 16M offer for Headley. He's coming off a down year and Sabes has done a good job of finding these types of players who come back around.

As an everyday player in the NL, Sandoval would have to be far more attentive about his weight than he would be as an AL DH. Extra dough and lesser demands from the Sox sealed the deal. But I don't think Sabean is at all sweating losing Sandoval. He'll embrace his departure as an opportunity to make his dynasty even more dynastier.

 

[msgkings322]

Dennis, the fatman is gone .

Where do the Giants go from here? Duffy? Posey , or MOrse at 3rd? I think Giants showing restraint was a good thing. Shouldn't have to give in, and if they don't spend that money and get Lester or another big FA, then we will have issues.

How come you don't post on the Giants board? Not snarking, genuinely curious, you would be welcome there.