Warriors, Wolves ready to rumble
As the wild west gets wilder, the Warriors and the Wolves are taking their China trip as serious as possible in anticipation of what is shaping up to be one of the toughest ever conference battles in the new season.
NBA preseason tours of China are usually more about promotions, sightseeing and cultural exchanges but that is not entirely the case this year as the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves prepare to play two exhibition games in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on Thursday and Shanghai three days later.
After landing in Shenzhen on Monday, both teams immediately hit the gym the next day, and the sight of the pumped-up players’ yelling at each other and the intensity of their drills suggested they realize it’s time to seriously get back to business.
The depth and competitiveness in the league’s western conference after a hectic offseason of big-name deals and trades has motivated the Warriors, as defending champions, and the Timberwolves, as enhanced challengers, to make every preseason minute count. Headlined by Chris Paul’s arrival in Houston to join James Harden and the Oklahoma City Thunder acquiring Paul George and Carmelo Anthony to form a super three with Russell Westbrook, the arms race in the west aimed at dethroning the Warriors has undoubtedly spiced up preparations.
“The west is really competitive. Starting off the season, everyone wants to win the championship. It’s about how quickly can you adapt to those challenges. That’s a big part of winning in our league,” the Wolves’ head coach Tom Thibodeau said on Wednesday after his team’s third practice session since landing.
The shortened preseason, squeezed by an earlier tipoff in mid-October, has heightened the teams’ desire to make the most out of their two games in China.
“For us it is how we could use our time to the best our abilities. If you are going up against the best team in the league, it will show you exactly where we stand and to measure ourselves so we get to the baseline of things we need to work on,” said Thibodeau.
The Timberwolves also brought in reinforcements in the offseason, adding Jimmy Butler from the Chicago Bulls and All-Star free agent Jeff Teague to a roster led by star forward Karl-Anthony Towns and NBA rookie of the year Andrew Wiggins.
Butler, though, was reluctant to talk up their new stack of stars, preferring instead to focus on laying the groundwork to deliver as a whole.
“I don’t believe in super teams,” said Butler, a threetime NBA All-Star who averaged 23.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists last season with the Bulls.
“I just believe in good players playing basketball well together. We got a lot of talent on this team now, but I don’t think the talent means anything if we are not going there to do what we supposed to do.
“These two games will help us to better position ourselves. Not too many teams better than Golden State. If you can guard those guys you can probably guard anybody. It’s going to be hard but you will learn when it gets hard.”
Warriors superstar Stephen Curry, meanwhile, was keeping composed in the face of his revamped rivals.
“Although we respect the ways how teams rebuilt themselves, we have to be confident that we can beat any team in the league if we handle our business,” said the typically cool two-time NBA MVP.