In team’s dreams, the sky’s the limit
In the Warriors’ dreams, they win another NBA title.
This season.
Yes, I’m saying that about a 64 team that had to scrap like crazy Sunday night to escape with a 106105 win over the reeling and dispirited Raptors.
Hey, I did say dream. But it’s not a dream dream, it has the whiff of possibility.
The Warriors could miss the playoffs, that’s a more realistic scenario than winning it all, but if you’re the Warriors, you’re starting to feel good.
You’re starting to play a game of “What if ... ”
Like:
⏩ What if Andrew Wiggins has seen the light?
Wiggins has all the talent, but has made a career out of drifting in and out of focus, locked in one moment and then zoned out the next. Why? Nobody knows. He probably has no clue.
But what if Wiggins has seen the light? What if after exposure to the cosmic rays of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Steve Kerr, Wiggins has stumbled upon the true meaning of basketball?
Sunday night, Curry went permafrost. Yet, a few seconds after missing his 12th shot in a row, Curry celebrated an Eric Paschall hoop by getting in Paschall’s face, absolutely joyous.
I’m betting Wiggins has never had a teammate like Curry, and he sure as hell hasn’t ever had a teammate like Green. What if Wiggins is thinking, “Oh, this is what basketball is?”
If Wiggins stays locked in — 17 points and four blocks Sunday — there has to be some explanation.
What if Damion Lee has the same kind of inspiration?
Lee is Curry’s brotherinlaw, not his brother, but some of Curry’s DNA seems to have rubbed off. Lee’s jumper is looking a bit like Curry’s, with the quick release, and he’s shooting with Stephlike confidence.
He won one game with a lastsecond 3, and his two free throws at the end Sunday pushed the Warriors ahead. Lee
scored 13 and was 3for6 on 3point tries. This is crucial, with opponents tripleteaming Curry, somebody else has to stick some big 3s. Lee? Maybe.
Lee could put to rest some of that brotherinlaw talk if he can become a Splash Brother.
What if James Wiseman keeps improving?
A lot of the Warriors’ enthusiasm and optimism is caused by Wiseman. Every player on
the team, and every coach, has a stake in helping Wiseman get better. Quickly.
Sunday wasn’t a great game, but Wiseman still had 10 points and seven rebounds in his 17 minutes.
With Wiseman, there is a moment or two in each game that alerts his teammates to fun times ahead. Sunday, he set up under the basket, bodied defender Pascal Siakam out of the picture, took a pass from Green and dunked.
He also went coast to coast for a dunk, the kind of stuff Warriors’ centers have never done.
For the Warriors to make the playoffs, let alone do some damage in the postseason, they will need Wiseman to emerge, to bounce back and learn from subpar games, and to adjust to adjustments of opponents. What if he does that?
What if the Warriors are learning how to play with Curry?
When someone can score 62 points in a game, he can turn many players into spectators.
What if the Warriors are starting to learn that once you get Curry the ball, you don’t grab a bag of popcorn, you set picks and you move, because if you get open, Curry finds you.
They are learning that when Curry gives you the ball, you can bet he’s going to be open somewhere 30 feet away in about four seconds. This is not standard basketball, this is
Curry basketball. Good sign: 30 team assists Sunday.
What if Green rediscovers his ability to score, and to shoot 3s?
In 201516, Green averaged 14 points, and shot 38.8% from beyond the 3point arc. Going into Sunday’s game, Green was averaging 2.8 points, and his touch from behind the arc was gone.
Sunday, he hit two clutch 3s, and missed a tripledouble by one rebound.
What if Curry survives? The gangup defenses are forcing Curry to fight his way out of a mugging on every possession. He’s going to the hoop more, and if there is such a stat, he has to lead the league in finishing drives on his butt.
Curry is fully energized and enthusiastic, at the top of his game, despite Sunday’s performance. But he might need some big butt pads if he’s going to keep up the rim attacks.
Realistically, the Warriors will have to scrap to make the playoffs. They will need big contributions from NBA nobodies who are one step removed from the G League or Europe.
The reality calls for a seasonlong fight to rise above the middle of the pack. But what if ...