Here's my take for what it's worth:Originally Posted by The Cheat
1. Here's the warriors starting lineup 2 years ago:
PG: Steph Curry
SG: Klay Thompson
SF: Harrison Barnes/Andre Iguodala
PF: David Lee
C: Andrew Bogut
Their head coach at the time (Mark Jackson) was incapable of unlocking the full potential of the team because he played David Lee so much and ran too many plays for him (David lee is a fantastic offensive PF). The problem with that is David Lee is a terrible defender, is slow as hell and not a great passer so when you passed him the ball, the play pretty much ended and he would shoot. The warriors fired Mark Jackson because he's old school (not because he's a bad coach) and refused to change his way of looking at things. Step in Steve Kerr (an open minded dude with huge basketball IQ). Iggy and David Lee get moved to the bench (Iggy because he's old and can run the offense while Steph is on the bench) and Steph Curry improves his game to the point that we're calling him the best shooter to ever play the game. Draymond Green at power forward is the key that unlocked the full potential of that team because he's a fucking god defensively and his court vision on both defense and offense is amazing. He may not be a ballerina in the post like David Lee was and probably still is, but he's athletic, he can pass the ball like a point guard, he can shoot threes and he can defend the post and play center. On top of all that, Bogut/Ezeli is probably one of the best 1-2 Center combo's in the league, there bench would probably be very close to a playoff team in the west alone and the style of basketball they play has revolutionized the game (spurs started it) because traditional big players like David Lee are becoming completely obsolete in our game. It's pretty incredible and kind of sad to see. In 10 years you probably won't see ANY big slow dudes playing centre. There's still a place for big dudes, but they'll need to be agile and fast and athletic freaks Like Hassan Whiteside. Only chance big slow players have in this league nowadays is if they can pass the ball like Andrew Bogut/Marc Gasol/Pau Gasol.
2. Coaching more or less. That team has a lot of talent playing unselfish basketball. Iguodala playing on the bench is insane because he's probably still (he's older) one of the best small forwards in basketball. Put him on almost any other team (including the raptors) and he's either be the best player or second best player. And he's the warriors 6th man... The you have Festus Ezeli, he's basically a garbage big dude who flails around and blocks shots. He's not that good of a basketball player in general, but a big dude like him who can block shots, get rebounds, catch alley-oops and keep up with the team in transition is all you need from a big man nowadays, he's fast for a dude his size. Then you have Shaun Livingston who is a pretty slow, old school point guard who used to be pretty good. He's playing out of his mind right now in the playoffs, but it's because people aren't respecting his offensive game. He's super tall for his position (I think he's 6'6 point guard) has always had a great mid range game and he can give some point guards problems on defense (lookin at u kyrie) and finally leandro barbosa is a heat check player. He's not really a good basketball player at all, but when he's hot he's one of the best snipers in the game. TLDR version: Iggy and Festus would easily be starting for almost any other team in the league and livingston/barbosa have started for teams in this league and are proving to be solid vets comin off the bench. And I forgot Maresse Speights could probably start for a lot of teams as well and he gets like 5 minutes a game with this team.
3. I don't think Kerr was a god coach when he started coaching this team, but he is now. Kerr has always been a basketball genius and he played on the best team of all time with MJ and shot one of the most clutch shots of all time. I believe Kerr still holds the NBA record for 3 point % and he got this by only shooting open 3s (takes a smart player to only shoot open threes). He's also open minded, loveable, funny and his players absolutely love him. I don't think we're talking about a coach as good as Greg Popavich here right now, but I do think he has the potential to be that good with more experience. That being said Popavich introduced the style of basketball being played by the warriors to the league and is a fucking godking in terms of coaching in my books.
4. The Thunder are a flawed team and the warriors are legit as good as the hype surrounding them. The only reason the thunder could push the warriors is because Durant and Westbrook are incredible. They're literally the only two players in the league IMO who can give the warriors/spurs problems because 1. Westbrook is a running back playing the PG position. He's a wrecking ball on offense and an energizer bunny on defence. The dude NEVER stops running and noone in the league has any chance to keep up with that dude. Noone. That being said, he gets selfish at times and doesn't have a very good shot. He'll go on runs where he shoots stupid shots and misses them because he's not steph curry or MJ. He honestly has more potential to affect a game then steph curry, but I don't think it's very possible for westbrook to elevate his game much more then he already has. Westbrook reminds me of a rich mans Rajon Rondo from those great Celtics teams. He's a guy who requires players around him to play good basketball and make the shots HE creates for them. He REQUIRES the ball at all times because he's 100% a playmaker. Unless people are making shots for Westbrook, the team isn't going to be doing well. 2. Durant is a fucking offensive god. Any time the ball isn't in Durant's hands to score is a problem (see why I say the thunder are flawed now?). That being said, the ball is mostly in Westbrooks hands and Durant honestly wasn't as good as westbrook was this year so that may have been a good thing. At this point we might be saying Westbrook is the better overall player and the Thunder would be better off without Durant taking shots from Westbrook, but I personally believe it's still the other way around. Durant needs to play on a team where he can be the #1 option on offense and have everyone else be defensively great. Durant can score on anyone whenever he wants and put up 40 points a night easily without having a point guard, but the thunder don't let him go off because they need him to play defense as well. That team doesn't have the defensive surrounding cast to cover up Durant's flaws on defense. 3. As good as Westbrook and Durant are, the OKC thunder aren't systematically a great team. Westbrook and Durant run that offense pretty much on the fly and they don't have 1000 sexy plays that end in free buckets like the warriors and spurs (and hawks). For a team like OKC or the Cavs for that matter to beat the spurs/warriors in today's game, they need to outrebound them and they need to be GREAT defensively. The Thunder beat the spurs because they played great defense and outrebounded them, and they almost did the same to the warriors, but the warriors offense figured out the OKC defense or OKC just got tired. Also the warriors defense just became completely next level in those last three games against the thunder and the poor cavs are still feeling that.
5. It really is that simple. The spurs and warriors are miles and miles above any other team. OKC and the cavs are flawed teams with amazing players. The east doesn't have anyone near as talented as those teams in the west, and the cavs look way better playing the teams in the east then they do against the warriors. Im not sure if you're talking about the old cavs as well, but those old cavs teams with Lebron were completely awful and Lebron was a complete god for getting them to the finals. While the warriors have this core of draymond/curry/thompson I don't really see anyone challenging them which is kind of sad.
6. Kinda just answered this question, but Golden State could be winning titles for the next couple years. They have so many ridiculously good contracts. Perfect perfect situation for them.
7. Outrebounded and got stops. The spurs are older and slower then the warriors, so Durant and Westbrook were able to bother them enough to beat them. Spurs are IMO better then the thunder, but the thunder are visibly more athletic and bigger then any team in the NBA right now. That athleticism and size would bother any team.
8. Endorsements
9. After the NBA Finals.
10. Doubt it. I think Lebron is stuck in Cleveland. As long as he stays healthy and Durant doesn't move to the east I can see him winning another championship eventually with this team.
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