The Warriors are getting toasted by the Pelicans. I am only watching the last part of the game due to the early start and I was out.

The thought I had tonight was the Warriors started the revolutions of using athletic wings (Iggy, Shaun Livingston, Klay Thompson, etc) to play positionless basketball.

The Warriors managed to maintain that style through their four titles.

BUT for this season, the Warriors did something interesting. They drafted BP, got Chris Paul. They went SMALL. They drafted Tracie Jackson Davis but he's a traditional big and not the athletic wings seemingly all the NBA teams have now. That's why the Warriors are struggling. Just not enough size and athleticism to compete.

The Warriors were lightyears ahead but they seem to be behind the 8-ball now.

DL

Donald Lee wrote:
> The Warriors are getting toasted by the Pelicans. I am only watching the last part of the game due to the early start and I was out.
>
> The thought I had tonight was the Warriors started the revolutions of using athletic wings (Iggy, Shaun Livingston, Klay Thompson, etc) to play positionless basketball.
>
> The Warriors managed to maintain that style through their four titles.
>
> BUT for this season, the Warriors did something interesting. They drafted BP, got Chris Paul. They went SMALL. They drafted Tracie Jackson Davis but he's a traditional big and not the athletic wings seemingly all the NBA teams have now. That's why the Warriors are struggling. Just not enough size and athleticism to compete.
>
> The Warriors were lightyears ahead but they seem to be behind the 8-ball now.
>
> DL
>

I turned on the game late, watched the first half of the first quarter,
and then fast-forwarded through the rest of the game, stopping
occasionally to see if it got better. They actually got within 12 early
in the third quarter, then fell behind rapidly.

They're just not good enough. Their existing players have all regressed
(even Steph, who started out strong) and their new players (the rookies
and the third-year players) aren't good enough to make a difference.
Their defense is terrible, mostly because other teams are now taller and
more athletic than the Warriors (as you say) and, in many cases, have
better shooters. In short, the Warriors have gotten worse and other
teams have gotten better. The key was not getting anything out of the
Wiseman pick. Losing Draymond for much of the season, and Wiggins
turning into a pumpkin, are also big parts of the problem.

And the Warriors have traded away many of their future draft picks. In
the Wiseman trade, Portland received five second-round picks, although
I'm not sure how many came from the Warriors.

This site purports to list the status of the Warriors' future draft
picks, but I don't have the energy to try to figure it out:

https://www.prosportstransactions.com/basketball/DraftTrades/Future/Warriors.htm

--Robin

Robin Miller wrote:
> Donald Lee wrote:
>> The Warriors are getting toasted by the Pelicans.  I am only watching
>> the last part of the game due to the early start and I was out.
>>
>> The thought I had tonight was the Warriors started the revolutions of
>> using athletic wings (Iggy, Shaun Livingston,  Klay Thompson, etc) to
>> play positionless basketball.
>>
>> The Warriors managed to maintain that style through their four titles.
>>
>> BUT for this season, the Warriors did something interesting.   They
>> drafted BP, got Chris Paul.  They went SMALL.  They drafted Tracie
>> Jackson Davis but he's a traditional big and not the athletic wings
>> seemingly all the NBA teams have now.  That's why the Warriors are
>> struggling.  Just not enough size and athleticism to compete.
>>
>> The Warriors were lightyears ahead but they seem to be behind the
>> 8-ball now.
>>
>> DL
>>
>
>
> I turned on the game late, watched the first half of the first quarter,
> and then fast-forwarded through the rest of the game, stopping
> occasionally to see if it got better. They actually got within 12 early
> in the third quarter, then fell behind rapidly.
>
> They're just not good enough. Their existing players have all regressed
> (even Steph, who started out strong) and their new players (the rookies
> and the third-year players) aren't good enough to make a difference.
> Their defense is terrible, mostly because other teams are now taller and
> more athletic than the Warriors (as you say) and, in many cases, have
> better shooters. In short, the Warriors have gotten worse and other
> teams have gotten better. The key was not getting anything out of the
> Wiseman pick. Losing Draymond for much of the season, and Wiggins
> turning into a pumpkin, are also big parts of the problem.
>
> And the Warriors have traded away many of their future draft picks. In
> the Wiseman trade, Portland received five second-round picks, although
> I'm not sure how many came from the Warriors.
>
> This site purports to list the status of the Warriors' future draft
> picks, but I don't have the energy to try to figure it out:
>
> https://www.prosportstransactions.com/basketball/DraftTrades/Future/Warriors.htm
>
>
>
> --Robin
>

Just to continue, who do the Warriors even have on their team right now?

With Paul and Payton injured and unavailable for several weeks at least,
and Draymond and Wiggins MIA, that leaves:

--Steph, Klay and Looney, the declining OGs

--Kuminga and Moody, the third-year players

--Podziemski and Jackson-Davis, the rookies

--Saric, the free-agent signing

That's not even a competitive NBA team.

Sigh.

Adding Draymond will help, but not enough. If they got 2022 Wiggins,
plus Paul and Payton back, maybe ...

--Robin

Donald Lee wrote:
> The Warriors are getting toasted by the Pelicans. I am only watching the last part of the game due to the early start and I was out.
>
> The thought I had tonight was the Warriors started the revolutions of using athletic wings (Iggy, Shaun Livingston, Klay Thompson, etc) to play positionless basketball.
>
> The Warriors managed to maintain that style through their four titles.
>
> BUT for this season, the Warriors did something interesting. They drafted BP, got Chris Paul. They went SMALL. They drafted Tracie Jackson Davis but he's a traditional big and not the athletic wings seemingly all the NBA teams have now. That's why the Warriors are struggling. Just not enough size and athleticism to compete.
>
> The Warriors were lightyears ahead but they seem to be behind the 8-ball now.
>
> DL
>

Unfortunately, the Warriors' core has gotten old. Steph is still Steph,
but not as often, and can't carry a team by himself. Klay occasionally
shows his old form, but not often enough, and when he doesn't, he's not
an asset to the team.

It feels like something that the Warriors have forgotten that earlier
teams weren't all small. The so-called "death" lineup was effective, but
they weren't playing it all the time, or even most of a game, but as a
change of pace. Remember that the 2015 team definitely had bigs --
Bogut, Festus, David Lee, Speights, etc. And even if they had a 7-foot
KD playing "small" forward, they also had Zaza, McGee and West in the
middle.

But in the current iteration, they don't have sufficient athleticism on
the wings.

And for the off-season (or even the trade deadline), I think we may have
passed the line where an incremental tweak or two to shuffle minimum
salary vets or expiring contracts is going to make enough difference.

We may be to the point of having to accept that this run is pretty much
over, and start planning seriously for a rebuild. For the rest of the
season, maybe a play-in is possible, but I don't think the Warriors can
do much more than that.

Smith