Who is the Warriors' biggest threat in the Western Conference?

[lebron23james]

That's not the reason the Heat lost to the Mavs.

It was part of multiple problems

 

[Heatles84]

The Mavs were the better team.

Yup. Dallas' size had nothing to do with it. They were able to execute the zone defense to perfection which caused the Heat's offense to be ineffective.

 

[tducey]

Spurs.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

The Lakers gave the Warriors fits last year, be honest.

 

[CodeBreaker]

TWolves.

 

[Shanemansj13]

There is this fellow draymond green who can defend the post. Not sure it you heard of him?

Yah but both Gasol and Aldridge are a bad matchup for him. They are long and 7 footers. Green is 6'7"ish. And that is literally there only reliable post defender and somewhat rim protector. Bogut is a huge loss from that aspect.

 

[CitySushi]

Spurs and Grizzlies are the obvious answers because they have the talent and have some mismatches they can exploit. The Warriors did very well last year against both, but we know it's a different animal in the playoffs. Any other Western Conference team I'm not concerned with.

The dark horse team that will cause the Warriors fits will be the Timberwolves. They have no answer for KAT. They also have a lot of good athletic wings who can switch, which usually causes the Warriors problems.

 

[tlance]

I expect the TWolves to steadily grow and to cause the Warriors problems by 2019. This season, though, the only real threat is the Spurs unless something big happens.

 

[tlance]

Yah but both Gasol and Aldridge are a bad matchup for him. They are long and 7 footers. Green is 6'7"ish. And that is literally there only reliable post defender and somewhat rim protector. Bogut is a huge loss from that aspect.

As difficult as it is for Green to guard Gasol and Aldridge, it is more difficult for them to guard him. Gasol is miserable in space defensively and the Warriors will exploit that.

 

[Hambombs]

Yah but both Gasol and Aldridge are a bad matchup for him. They are long and 7 footers. Green is 6'7"ish. And that is literally there only reliable post defender and somewhat rim protector. Bogut is a huge loss from that aspect.

Bogut is a huge loss yes but green has no problem against aldridge or gasol

 

[CitySushi]

As difficult as it is for Green to guard Gasol and Aldridge, it is more difficult for them to guard him. Gasol is miserable in space defensively and the Warriors will exploit that.

The thing no one realizes is that Bogut didn't guard either of Gasol or Aldridge when the Warriors typically faced them. It was Draymond, who usually did a good job on both. The problem now is that he'll only be able to guard one of them. There is a matchup to exploit, but it isn't because Bogut isn't there anymore. It's because they'll need another versatile big to be able to stretch out and guard either on the perimeter.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Bogut is a huge loss yes but green has no problem against aldridge or gasol

I don't know about no problem. We have never really seen two bigs, both 7 footers and long wingspans that can both shoot the mid-range as good as these two alongside each other. While it will help Green offensively, Bogut has been the guy to guard the longer bigs in the past from a defense standpoint, in fact ever since Green got drafted by GS Bogut has been there. It is an interesting matchup though. I imagine Aldridge-Green, Gasol-Pachulia would be the matchups.
Green is a great defender but this will be the year that we really see how good of a defender he is. He struggled without Bogut and Pachulia while being a solid player is nowhere near Bogut defensively.

 

[Shanemansj13]

The thing no one realizes is that Bogut didn't guard either of Gasol or Aldridge when the Warriors typically faced them. It was Draymond, who usually did a good job on both. The problem now is that he'll only be able to guard one of them. There is a matchup to exploit, but it isn't because Bogut isn't there anymore. It's because they'll need another versatile big to be able to stretch out and guard either on the perimeter.

Exactly and Gasol and Aldridge can do that. He had Bogut alongside ever since he has been in the league. A big relief having a great rim protector and defender alongside you, makes things much easier in the paint. While Green did a good job he will be taking more of the workload from a defensive aspect especially as a rim protector, especially if you have bigs that can stretch the floor.

 

[Hambombs]

I don't know about no problem. We have never really seen two bigs, both 7 footers and long wingspans that can both shoot the mid-range as good as these two alongside each other. While it will help Green offensively, Bogut has been the guy to guard the longer bigs in the past from a defense standpoint, in fact ever since Green got drafted by GS Bogut has been there. It is an interesting matchup though. I imagine Aldridge-Green, Gasol-Pachulia would be the matchups.
Green is a great defender but this will be the year that we really see how good of a defender he is. He struggled without Bogut and Pachulia while being a solid player is nowhere near Bogut defensively.

Im not worried about green at all defensively just like im not worried about kahwi lepnard defensively

 

[msgkings322]

Exactly and Gasol and Aldridge can do that. He had Bogut alongside ever since he has been in the league. A big relief having a great rim protector and defender alongside you, makes things much easier in the paint. While Green did a good job he will be taking more of the workload from a defensive aspect especially as a rim protector, especially if you have bigs that can stretch the floor.

I think there's no question the Ws defense will be a notch or two worse than before, but they probably more than make up for it on the other end. This team is going to be 1970s-80s Denver Nuggets level scoring in the modern world....they are going to be unstoppable. The best defenses will slow them a bit but how often are they going to be outscored? No more than 20% of the time, and only 35% of the time in the playoffs. Think a lot of 130-112 wins, yes even in the playoffs.

 

[Robotech]

I think there's no question the Ws defense will be a notch or two worse than before, but they probably more than make up for it on the other end. This team is going to be 1970s-80s Denver Nuggets level scoring in the modern world....they are going to be unstoppable. The best defenses will slow them a bit but how often are they going to be outscored? No more than 20% of the time, and only 35% of the time in the playoffs. Think a lot of 130-112 wins, yes even in the playoffs.

It will be interesting to see if they can average scoring 120/game. I figure that they could be allowing 110/game, but like you said, the Warriors should be able to make up for it on the other end.

 

[CitySushi]

Exactly and Gasol and Aldridge can do that. He had Bogut alongside ever since he has been in the league. A big relief having a great rim protector and defender alongside you, makes things much easier in the paint. While Green did a good job he will be taking more of the workload from a defensive aspect especially as a rim protector, especially if you have bigs that can stretch the floor.

Green won't really be needed as a rim protector. That's not his job, but when he does it's just a plus. His best value is his straight up man to man defense on opposing 4's or 5's. That's where his value is the highest defensively, next to his ability to switch on to smaller guards.

Green can guard Aldridge or Gasol straight up without needing additional rim protection because he does a great job of using his lower body strength for leverage. If you look at his post defense FGA, it's elite.

The problem will be when Green has to defend one of Gasol or Aldridge in the post, who is going to guard the other when they space the floor. My guess is David West would see a lot of time doing this against this particular team.

 

[tlance]

I think there's no question the Ws defense will be a notch or two worse than before, but they probably more than make up for it on the other end. This team is going to be 1970s-80s Denver Nuggets level scoring in the modern world....they are going to be unstoppable. The best defenses will slow them a bit but how often are they going to be outscored? No more than 20% of the time, and only 35% of the time in the playoffs. Think a lot of 130-112 wins, yes even in the playoffs.

Here is the thing though. The Nuggets were not that great offensively. They just played at a much faster pace than anybody else. They scored so much because they actively tried to make their opponents shoot quickly, even if it meant allowing a dunk.

The Warriors are not going to score nearly as many points, but they will be much more efficient. I also think the defensive drop off is being exaggerated greatly. They won't have a true rim protector, so they won't be able to play the same way, but they will be better defending the perimeter in an era when very few teams have legit interior presence.

 

[lebron23james]

Here is the thing though. The Nuggets were not that great offensively. They just played at a much faster pace than anybody else. They scored so much because they actively tried to make their opponents shoot quickly, even if it meant allowing a dunk.

The Warriors are not going to score nearly as many points, but they will be much more efficient. I also think the defensive drop off is being exaggerated greatly. They won't have a true rim protector, so they won't be able to play the same way, but they will be better defending the perimeter in an era when very few teams have legit interior presence.

Spurs will be a problem, they have 2 legit interior players

 

[msgkings322]

Spurs will be a problem, they have 2 legit interior players

But the Spurs won't outscore them more than 40% of the time.