Warriors: Optimism, Pessimism and Unknowns

[CitySushi]

With the Roster pretty much all set and there not being much else to talk about for the time being, I thought I would start a thread on what people thought about the upcoming season. I would start with having 3 reasons for optimism, 3 areas of concern and 3 unknown factors that will affect the Warriors season. I'll start:

1) Shaun Livingston is a huge get for us. He solidifies the backup PG position and also provides added depth at SG. He's going to have a big impact on letting Curry get his rest and also letting him play off the ball some.
2) HB really struggled this year, but I think you'll see his confidence resurrected. He was put in some horrible spots on the floor last year and I have every reason to believe he'll have a much better season.
3) Draymond was really a revelation last year. We all knew he could be a good role player, but he expanded that to being a guy you could trust on the floor for 20-25 minutes a night. If he continues to improve his 3 point shot, he's going to be the key to us this year.

Areas of Concern:
1) Still didn't address bench scoring. Livingston is solid, but he's more of a distributor than scorer. Rush is still unknown after coming off his injuries. HB and Green don't facilitate their own offense. We could really use one guy off the bench who can just put the ball in the bucket.
2) Klay's upcoming contract situation could be worrisome. He's seeking a big contract and while I don't think he's selfish, he may try to come out this year and prove he's worth that contract. It could be a gift and a curse depending on how much he shines.
3) Health. Rush and Festus are coming off injuries. Bogut had the broken rib. AI9 had hamstring problems all year. Curry and Livingston are always concerns. Lee has his bumps and bruises throughout the year. Kerr's rotations will need to be on point in order to maximize rest for these guys and still get max output.

Unknowns:
1) Steve Kerr. Obviously this is the biggest unknown going forward. I'm most intrigued by what sort of schemes he's run, both on offense and defense. Also have to see if he can manage a rotation properly.
2) Clubhouse cohesion. MJAX had a close knit locker room. I'm hoping the same can be had this upcoming season. I think a lot of it will be determined by early success. If the Warriors start out fast and hot, I think it'll make the transition of head coaches much better. If we get into a hole early, you can just imagine the sort of media storm that will surround this team.
3) David Lee's midrange jumper. For some reason it totally disappeared last season. Lee's midrange jumper is a huge weapon that was missed last year. If he can get that back to a respectable percentage it could do wonders for opening up the offense.

 

[CohanHater]

It's interesting, Your unknowns are my optimism.

All this Love talk could make some guys crumble or become disenchanted with the franchise.
- Lee - He's a competitor. We keep hearing stretch 4, stretch 4. Lee is the kind of guy that will bust his tail this off season to make that work
- Klay - This + USA team experience under Coach K. His confidence is going to be at an all-time high. I can see a situation where he gets more international minutes than Harden because of his defense and coach-ability, not to mention his shot.
- Barnes - This is the guy that normally is sensitive and I could see him retreat into his head a bit. But all it will take is Kerr to pull out the Sean Elliot comparisons and Barnes now has the perfect guy to coach that player.

Concerns are Spot on -

My slant are Injuries, bench & rotations. I hope Kerr moves barnes to the starting 5 and slides Iguodala in off the bench. There's so much more versatility there. I do think we'll need a speedy backup pointguard. Livingston is great, but we'll need a little guy to come in if someone like Dragic is beating us up.

Unknowns -
Chemistry - Some guys loved Jackson. Will this cause a split in the locker room? Hopefully no cliques have formed.
Trades - Does something pop up that forces the front office's hand?
Wear & Tear - Will the US team stint hurt Curry and Klay come playoff time?

 

[NBKLee]

With the Roster pretty much all set and there not being much else to talk about for the time being, I thought I would start a thread on what people thought about the upcoming season. I would start with having 3 reasons for optimism, 3 areas of concern and 3 unknown factors that will affect the Warriors season. I'll start:

1) Shaun Livingston is a huge get for us. He solidifies the backup PG position and also provides added depth at SG. He's going to have a big impact on letting Curry get his rest and also letting him play off the ball some.
2) HB really struggled this year, but I think you'll see his confidence resurrected. He was put in some horrible spots on the floor last year and I have every reason to believe he'll have a much better season.
3) Draymond was really a revelation last year. We all knew he could be a good role player, but he expanded that to being a guy you could trust on the floor for 20-25 minutes a night. If he continues to improve his 3 point shot, he's going to be the key to us this year.

Areas of Concern:
1) Still didn't address bench scoring. Livingston is solid, but he's more of a distributor than scorer. Rush is still unknown after coming off his injuries. HB and Green don't facilitate their own offense. We could really use one guy off the bench who can just put the ball in the bucket.
2) Klay's upcoming contract situation could be worrisome. He's seeking a big contract and while I don't think he's selfish, he may try to come out this year and prove he's worth that contract. It could be a gift and a curse depending on how much he shines.
3) Health. Rush and Festus are coming off injuries. Bogut had the broken rib. AI9 had hamstring problems all year. Curry and Livingston are always concerns. Lee has his bumps and bruises throughout the year. Kerr's rotations will need to be on point in order to maximize rest for these guys and still get max output.

Unknowns:
1) Steve Kerr. Obviously this is the biggest unknown going forward. I'm most intrigued by what sort of schemes he's run, both on offense and defense. Also have to see if he can manage a rotation properly.
2) Clubhouse cohesion. MJAX had a close knit locker room. I'm hoping the same can be had this upcoming season. I think a lot of it will be determined by early success. If the Warriors start out fast and hot, I think it'll make the transition of head coaches much better. If we get into a hole early, you can just imagine the sort of media storm that will surround this team.
3) David Lee's midrange jumper. For some reason it totally disappeared last season. Lee's midrange jumper is a huge weapon that was missed last year. If he can get that back to a respectable percentage it could do wonders for opening up the offense.

1) Livingston seems like a positive on paper already, he will be an upgrade vs JC/BLake/Douglas @ point. Can't teach height or defense, he showed he could guard 1's and some 2's last year with his size.

2) HB -> to me he is the unknown. This is year 3 for this guy. He should be starting to round into shape and know how to play to his strengths by now

3) D. Money Green -> Got invited to the USA select team. Love this guys fire. He doesn't back down and competes every night. I loved him getting in Lebron's face, and throwing blows with Floppy Griffin last year. I'll take Bogut and Green in a streetfight 24/7/365


Areas of Concern

1) Bench scoring, yes, yes and yes. Although, I don't think it will be as a big of a problem this year. I don't see Kerr making the same substitutions as Jackson did last 2 years. Jackson would bring in 4 players at once with his defensive line changes, and that wasn't very good for the "scoring".

2) Klay / K. Love trade deal should be resolved by preseason. I'd imagine Klay will probably resign here if he wants to play for a winner. He could always play hard ball , if that's the case, we could ship him off to the East for a player to be named later + picks

3) Yes its a concern. D.Lee just had another surgery to "clean something out"? and now Nedo's hurt


Unknowns

1) Yes to Kerr
2) Chemistry? Its always been Steph's Team. I don't see Livingston coming in and distrupting things much.
3) DLee mentioned something last year, he said he was "taking too long with his J" vs just letting it fly. I don't know if worked on changing his release this year, but the last few years he was trying to extend his range to 3point land. Perhaps that messed him up. He needs to be a elbow jumper and in player.

I'm eager for the season to get going.

 

[CitySushi]

It's interesting, Your unknowns are my optimism.

All this Love talk could make some guys crumble or become disenchanted with the franchise.
- Lee - He's a competitor. We keep hearing stretch 4, stretch 4. Lee is the kind of guy that will bust his tail this off season to make that work
- Klay - This + USA team experience under Coach K. His confidence is going to be at an all-time high. I can see a situation where he gets more international minutes than Harden because of his defense and coach-ability, not to mention his shot.
- Barnes - This is the guy that normally is sensitive and I could see him retreat into his head a bit. But all it will take is Kerr to pull out the Sean Elliot comparisons and Barnes now has the perfect guy to coach that player.

Concerns are Spot on -

My slant are Injuries, bench & rotations. I hope Kerr moves barnes to the starting 5 and slides Iguodala in off the bench. There's so much more versatility there. I do think we'll need a speedy backup pointguard. Livingston is great, but we'll need a little guy to come in if someone like Dragic is beating us up.

Unknowns -
Chemistry - Some guys loved Jackson. Will this cause a split in the locker room? Hopefully no cliques have formed.
Trades - Does something pop up that forces the front office's hand?
Wear & Tear - Will the US team stint hurt Curry and Klay come playoff time?

I like the idea of starting Barnes as well. I think putting Iguodala with the second unit would give him more initiative to produce on the offensive end rather than just blending. I would definitely have Iguodala in there at the end of games, but for production purposes we may get more by bringing him in early off the bench.

Trades could definitely be a factor and we know that Lacob and Myers are not the complacent type. We really have to see how the team does early in the year. The West is completely stacked. It's insane.