I totally agree with this. -AL

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Kurtenbach: The Warriors gave us every reason to believe — and a few
reasons to doubt — in their first-round win
Golden State Warriors: Steph Curry and the Dubs shook off some rust and
played some exceptional basketball — but is that a sign of what's to come?
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 27: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen
Curry (30) and Golden State Warriors’ Jordan Poole (3) celebrate their
win against the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 of their NBA first round
playoff series at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday,
April 27, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 27: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen
Curry (30) and Golden State Warriors’ Jordan Poole (3) celebrate their
win against the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 of their NBA first round
playoff series at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday,
April 27, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
By DIETER KURTENBACH | dkurtenbach@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News
Group
PUBLISHED: April 28, 2022 at 4:30 a.m. | UPDATED: April 28, 2022 at
11:58 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/04/28/kurtenbach-the-warriors-gave-us-every-reason-to-believe-and-doubt-in-their-first-round-win/

SAN FRANCISCO — First impressions matter, and, my goodness, the first
impression the Warriors made this postseason was powerful.

Remember the effort we spent trying to come up with a nickname for the
small-ball, three-guard lineup the Warriors debuted in Game 1 vs. the
Denver Nuggets?

Would it be a pun on Jordan Poole’s name after he played like an
All-Star to start the series?

No, perhaps it would be a play on the old “Death Lineup” from the
Warriors’ first title in 2015.

Something new altogether?

By the time the series ended, with the Warriors dropping only one game
but engaged in three slug-it-out contests with the Nuggets, the notion
of a lineup nickname felt childish.

Playoff basketball is tough and physical. And while any win in that
environment is worth celebrating, after the series-clinching win
Wednesday night in Game 5, it sure seemed as if the Warriors’ main
emotion wasn’t joy, but relief.

What a change in tone from that first impression.

“To be honest, for three quarters, our main guys — Steph, Draymond, Klay
— maybe they had forgotten a little bit about how difficult it is to
close out a series,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr.

Curry acknowledged it “was just a weird feeling because we had not been
there in a while. Again, we wanted it so bad. Kind of made it a lot more
difficult on ourselves.”

Indeed, the Warriors showed their best and their worst in their
first-round win over the Nuggets.

And looking forward to the second round (and, the Warriors hope, beyond)
it’s hard to imagine what happens next for Golden State.

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If it was merely rust in the way of the Warriors eliminating the Nuggets
in an expedient and ruthless manner, then the Warriors could well go
back to looking like the world-beaters we saw in the first two games of
the postseason.

But they might just be another team in these parity-defined playoffs,
albeit with some serious and enviable experience among their stars.

The Warriors were a little bit of both against Denver, and it turned out
fine. Maybe that dichotomy will be good enough in the second round, too:
Memphis and Minnesota are both young teams whose first-round series
shows how little they know about playoff basketball.

But at some point, the Warriors’ penchant for fouling and capriciousness
with the basketball — which we saw throughout the regular season and
again in the final three games of the Denver series — will catch up to them.

And it’s frustrating because we just saw the Warriors be so much more.

No player is immune from scrutiny and it takes a full team to win
playoff games, but the Warriors’ ceiling as a team is set not by Curry,
Thompson or Green, but rather by Poole, the 22-year-old guard in his
third year in the league and first year as someone with staying power.

Poole was spectacular in the first three games of this series, a driving
force in two blowout wins and a fourth-quarter closeout in Game 3.

In Game 4, the Nuggets threw size at him and he struggled.

More size came in Game 5 and Poole finished with eight points and five
fouls — spending the critical moments of the game on the bench.

In future rounds, the Warriors simply will not be able to afford a
mercurial Poole. His offensive output doesn’t need to be Jordanesque,
Just the same, it can’t be like Kerr’s in his playing days either.

With Poole playing like (arguably) the NBA’s most improved player, the
Warriors are perhaps the team to beat in the Western Conference.

With him looking like a guy who can’t counter playoff tactics, the
Warriors are a lesser team.

Now, that team might be good enough to compete for a title, but the
journey to June would be exhausting under those circumstances.

The good news for the Warriors is that they now have at least a few days
to rest and prepare for their next opponent.

And remember: Because of injuries, this is a team that has little
cohesion outside the core three players, who last played serious
basketball together three seasons ago.

This first-round series was an opportunity for the Warriors to learn
about themselves and to shake off some rust in the process.

But now the Warriors are in the thick of things. The second round is
serious business. It tests a team’s identity, which makes it a bad time
to be forming one.

So which Dubs team do we see moving forward?

It likely depends on which Poole we see moving forward.

Which means it’s anyone’s guess what’s next.