Warriors- Lakers

[EKmane]

I felt this needed its own thread.

First off I just have to say WOW! What an epic fail. To blow a lead like that in the 4th, with the type of schedule they have in front of them can spell disaster.

I've noticed this same thing for the past few victories (not the Bobcats game). The Warriors don't know how to close out games. I'm not sure why it's not being explained to them either?

I've noticed that we'll have an 8+ point lead mid to late 4th and still hoist up several 3's, 18 ft jumpers and other low percentage shots, all of them early n the shot clock. I knew it would catch up to them sooner or later, you can't do that with these good teams.

With the lead mid to late 4th we should be looking for the highest percent shot that we can take, at the same time milking the clock. With a decent lead mid -late 4th we shouldn't be shooting until 7 seconds on the clock, MAX.

I really hope they get this figured out, this was a terrible loss. Terrible for the team and terrible for the fans.

 

[wildturkey]

Not terrible. It was expected. Nash is back so all the Lakers' problems are instantly solved!

 

[Yoshi]

I felt this needed its own thread.

First off I just have to say WOW! What an epic fail. To blow a lead like that in the 4th, with the type of schedule they have in front of them can spell disaster.

I've noticed this same thing for the past few victories (not the Bobcats game). The Warriors don't know how to close out games. I'm not sure why it's not being explained to them either?

I've noticed that we'll have an 8+ point lead mid to late 4th and still hoist up several 3's, 18 ft jumpers and other low percentage shots, all of them early n the shot clock. I knew it would catch up to them sooner or later, you can't do that with these good teams.

With the lead mid to late 4th we should be looking for the highest percent shot that we can take, at the same time milking the clock. With a decent lead mid -late 4th we shouldn't be shooting until 7 seconds on the clock, MAX.

I really hope they get this figured out, this was a terrible loss. Terrible for the team and terrible for the fans.

Not only do the Warriors not know how to close out games, but they also don't do well against teams with an interior presence. They lost both games to the Magic, lost both games to the Lakers, have lost 2 of 3 to the Nuggets, and have lost both games to the Kings. With their improvisation on defense with Bogut out, I just want to know how long it'll take until not having an experienced 5 in there will wear out this team. Bogut is rumored to be back in Jan/Feb, but we obviously don't know the severity of this microfracture. He could also be out for the entire year which could spell problems for this team.

I'm ecstatic the W's went 6-1 on their most recent road trip, but let's face it, that was against the Least Coast. Despite the Heat winning the championship last year, in the last 14 years since the Bulls and MJ three peated, the East has only won 4 championships in that span. The Warriors will get stiff competition against more legit teams in this upcoming span of games. The Dubbs have improved quite a bit, but we'll know more about this team after a couple of weeks.

 

[clyde_carbon]

The Warriors are what, 13-1 heading into the 4th with a lead? Hard to say they can't close games.

 

[GhostRidahz]

The Warriors are what, 13-1 heading into the 4th with a lead? Hard to say they can't close games.

After this 11 game barrage (with one in the books already), we're going to have a better of idea of how this team closes out games against tougher opponents with better front lines.


Also, according to this article:

Golden State Warriors defeat Charlotte Bobcats - San Jose Mercury News

Despite struggles putting away bad teams this season, Golden State handed Charlotte its 14th straight loss, 115-100 Friday night at Oracle Arena.

It's not so much in that record, but how they're putting them away. And a reality check here - the Warriors are having issues putting teams away even when they do win those games.

 

[EKmane]

The Warriors are what, 13-1 heading into the 4th with a lead? Hard to say they can't close games.

Not sure how many of those game you've watched, but in pretty much all of those games they have lost medium - big leads, only to hold on. Those games were against lesser talented teams. As the talent steps up they won't be able to close like they have been. It has not been playoff type off closing. They need to improve in that department.

 

[CitySushi]

Not sure how many of those game you've watched, but in pretty much all of those games they have lost medium - big leads, only to hold on. Those games were against lesser talented teams. As the talent steps up they won't be able to close like they have been. It has not been playoff type off closing. They need to improve in that department.

I'm not as concerned with not maintaining big leads against teams when closing games, but more how they compete in close games. When you're up by 18 heading into the 4th quarter and you end up winning by 6-8, that isn't a concern to me. There are multiple factors which affect the final score of the game like having the reserves in there for extended periods of time, resting the starters, etc.

To me there are two glaring games where they had let ups: Denver and Lakers. Those games will serve as learning experiences more so than setting a trend. They bounced back well after the Denver game and won the next after the Lakers.

They've also played very well in close games like against the Heat and Mavericks. I think the effort is there and I'm not concerned about them closing out games in December. If March rolls around and they haven't progressed, then there will be a problem.

 

[Yoshi]

The Warriors are what, 13-1 heading into the 4th with a lead? Hard to say they can't close games.

Where did you get these numbers? Just off the top of my memory, the Warriors blew a lead against Denver in their first matchup at Oakland and lost that game in OT. Not sure if the Warriors had the lead going into the 4th because I wasn't home for this particular game (just read the paper the following morning and saw the 2 hour replay that day) but I remember them blowing a lead in the 4th. Also, they blew a lead against the Lakers in their most recent matchup.

Granted, this isn't just about records, but the Warriors aren't that convincing in closing out games if you actually watch their games. I was driving to Union Square yesterday with my family and with all that traffic down there, I had a sufficient amount of time listening to KNBR and even Bob Fitzgerald mentioned that the Warriors have issues closing out games. Additionally, he mentioned that he would find be surprised f the Warriors finish as the 5th seed in the West with arguably 10 of the top 13-14 teams in the West.

 

[Yoshi]

I'm not as concerned with not maintaining big leads against teams when closing games, but more how they compete in close games. When you're up by 18 heading into the 4th quarter and you end up winning by 6-8, that isn't a concern to me. There are multiple factors which affect the final score of the game like having the reserves in there for extended periods of time, resting the starters, etc.

To me there are two glaring games where they had let ups: Denver and Lakers. Those games will serve as learning experiences more so than setting a trend. They bounced back well after the Denver game and won the next after the Lakers.

They've also played very well in close games like against the Heat and Mavericks. I think the effort is there and I'm not concerned about them closing out games in December. If March rolls around and they haven't progressed, then there will be a problem.

Good point, although if they start having leads only to lose them in this tough 11 game stretch, I'll admit I'll be a little concerned about them. However, to be quite frank, this is a good problem to be discussing if you take it into perspective due to the fact that the Warriors wouldn't nearly be brought up in these kind of talks last year, the year before, etc.

 

[EKmane]

Excellent closing against the Clippers. A couple of shots early in the clock, however I think you have to throw up a couple early to keep the op honest. Great game against top comp.

Closing will only continue to get better and easier once Bougy gets back.