This may come as a surprise to some, but the Golden State Warriors won’t just waltz to the NBA Finals this year.
The Golden State Warriors have acquired Kevin Durant and add him to an elite collection of NBA talent. However, in order to acquire Durant they had to give up an elite defender.
If anything can be learned from the Golden State Warriors seven preseason games, it’s that they’re going to be hard to stop offensively.
They move the ball around well and Kevin Durant, possibly from years of experience playing for Team USA, has seamlessly transitioned from the ball-stopping isolation play that occured so frequently in Oklahoma City to the free-flowing motion offense used by the Golden State Warriors.
All in all, the new-look Golden State Warriors put up 789 points in the preseason. Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Durant brought their chemistry from Rio Olympics to the Bay Area.
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Stephen Curry looked like he was in MVP-form and less willing to launch 35-foot three-point attempts (a bad shot no matter if he makes it or not).
However, there were obvious flaws in Golden State’s armor. Andrew Bogut‘s absence on the Golden State Warriors will haunt them.
It was already bad enough that the Warriors used a “Death Lineup” last year that left them extremely vulnerable to forays to the paint and made them nearly invisible on the glass.
In fact, if Green hadn’t been such an outstanding defensive player last year that the Warriors would likely have moved away from that small-ball tactic rather quickly.
Without Bogut manning the middle, the Golden State Warriors are left to rely on Zaza Pachulia. Pachulia had four blocks in five games this preseason, however, don’t be fooled.
He’s a slow-footed center that will get blown by on the perimeter on switches and lead the Warriors into potential foul trouble if a team is willing to attack the paint consistently. Pachulia also lacks the explosiveness to make emphatic blocks above-the-rim.
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Unless a player tries to lay the ball up over Pachulia, he’s a prime candidate to get put on a poster.
Tuesday night, against the San Antonio Spurs, Pachulia was on the court for 20 minutes. Nearly ever minute of that time, the Spurs dominated in the paint. Pachulia’s poor rim-protection was the largest reason that the Spurs scored 50 points in the paint.
Pachulia was consistently passed by on the perimeter. When he did stay with his man, his sub-par leaping ability reared it’s ugly head and the Spurs scored. However, nobody could stop the Spurs from scoring on the paint.
Behind Pachulia on the depth chart? Rookie Damian Jones, who is recovering from a pectoral injury. Anderson Varejao, who has the same physical limitations of Pachulia. And there’s Javale McGee. Physically, he’s exactly what the doctor ordered for the Warriors.
McGee has played well in very limited minutes this season and despite his numerous appearances on Shaqtin’ A Fool is actually a very astute and knowledgeable person. In between the lines of the basketball court.
However, McGee’s defensive awareness is the primary reason he can’t see the court.
Tuesday night, Varejao and McGee combined for three points and three fouls in seven minutes of action.
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There are truly no great options for the Golden State Warriors at the center position.
Many will point to Green’s defensive ability as a supplement for the Warriors rim-protection. However, Green isn’t a center.
Though he’s tough as nails, he won’t be as effective at the end of the year after wearing himself out banging with the biggest men in the NBA for 82 games.
This year, the Warriors have a “Super Death Lineup”. The name isn’t indicative of any super-small lineup coming the NBA’s way.
It’s an ode to Durant’s replacement of Harrison Barnes at forward in the “Death Lineup.” Durant is an exponentially better offensive player than Barnes. He’ll make the types of open shots that the Cleveland Cavaliers dared Barnes to shoot in the 2016 NBA Finals.
The only thing is that the “Super Death Lineup” has nothing to do with “super” defense. By putting this lineup on the floor, the Warriors are still just as vulnerable on the glass and defending the rim as they were with the “Death Lineup” last year.
Aldridge dominated Green inside the paint last night with his superior size and length. His bulk would have been too much for any other Warrior in the “Super Death Lineup” to handle. The Warriors were outrebounded 64-41 last night and 14 of those rebounds belonged to Aldridge.
Another dent in the Warriors’ armor is seen in the depth behind the starting five.
Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala are still their first two players off the bench. They’re versatile and cerebral playmakers that will make the game easier for everyone else. Patrick McCaw and Ian Clark look like able replacements for LeAndro Barbosa and Brandon Rush.
However, the Warriors bench was so deadly because of Marreese Speights and Festus Ezeli.
David West, who signed with the Warriors this summer, can’t mimic the shooting ability of Speights or the elite rim-protection of Ezeli. Not to mention the fact that his style of play doesn’t fit. Offensively, he’s not great at moving the ball around or moving without the ball.
James Michael McAdoo and Kevon Looney can’t replicate their size or rim protection either.
The Warriors can lean on Varejao and McGee, who are fairly decent replacements for Speights and Ezeli. Still, Varejao can’t mimic Speights three-point shooting ability. Speights ability to shoot from long-distance was debilitating to team’s comeback attempts last year.
Varejao has been a consistent and productive scorer in this league for years. McGee isn’t the defensive player Ezeli is because he lacks the defensive awareness Ezeli showed all the way up until the 2016 NBA Finals.
In fact, the defense Ezeli played in that NBA Finals series is the way that McGee typically plays. McGee can block shots but ultimately might not even be in position to.
Again, the Golden State Warriors’ picture isn’t as perfect as people make it seem.
While the Golden State Warriors have shown that they’re supercharged offensively, they’ve been super-depleted defensively. In the preseason, only the Los Angeles Clippers failed to score more than 95 points against the Golden State Warriors.
The Los Angeles Lakers scored more than100 points twice. The Los Angeles Lakers. The Denver Nuggets scored 128 in a contest that showed exactly how vulnerable the Warriors really are inside the paint. The Nuggets scored 64 points in the paint that contest, exactly half of their point total.
The Nuggets, who aren’t an elite team, had the chance to beat the Warriors because they have two skilled big men who controlled the paint. Yet there are elite teams, like the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have offenses specifically designed to attack the paint with elite slashers.
Then there are all of the other teams, the ones that mimic the small-ball trend and have scorers for days. For the Golden State Warriors to win games, it’s clear that they’ll have to outscore nearly all of their opponents. It won’t be as easy as last year because they’ve lost their defensive might.
That was evident Tuesday night as the San Antonio Spurs beat them 129-100 behind 71 combined points from Aldridge and Leonard.
Golden State Warriors: 2016-17 Season Outlook
The sky isn’t falling in the Bay. However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows.