Kurtenbach: Warriors showing hustle.
The Warriors have, unquestionably, achieved one of their big goals for this season.
They wanted to become a more athletic team, a more dynamic operation.
Watching their game against the Spurs on Wednesday, it was clear that they were just that.
San Antonio has some athletic players, but the Warriors ran those Clydesdales off the court in their 12199 win.
Against the Spurs’ oftentimes plodding play, the Warriors looked like they were drinking Jolt Cola on the sidelines. There was a pep in their step all game and the Spurs had neither the will nor the capability to match it.
Such performances are no accident. This is all part of the Warriors’ master plan.
Andrew Wiggins, acquired at the tail end of the truncated 2019-20 season, isn’t a flashy athlete, but he is an exceptional one. Blocking a shot on the perimeter is a tough task — you can count on one hand how many times Steph Curry, for instance, has been blocked on a jumper in his career — but Wiggins
has registered a handful of such blocks this season. In turn, the wing has taken on the role of perimeter defensive ace for the Dubs, a position that has been vacant for the last two seasons with Klay Thompson out with injury. But with it now filled, the Warriors are starting to build a defensive identity — one that has been displayed more and more as of late. It’s not possible without Wiggins’ athletic ability and newfound focus.
Kelly Oubre was the player that many Warriors fans thought might take on that perimeter stopper role for the Warriors. His tenacity seemed to lend itself to the role, particularly when juxtaposed with Wiggins’ stoicism. You can’t hide athleticism like his, and while he has certainly taken on plenty of top defensive assignments, where that athleticism has shined is on the offensive end.
His put-back jam against the Spurs was breathtaking — in a league of super-freak athletes, there aren’t many players who can do something like that. And while his 3-point shooting remains streaky (at best) his ability to put the ball on the floor and create a shot or get to the rim has been a blessing upon the second unit.
Eric Paschall was the second unit’s first blessing, though. Left with few other options after Marquise Chriss broke his leg in an early-season practice, the Warriors moved Paschall — all 6-foot-6 of him — to center. It was a bold move, but Paschall’s prodigious strength has made it a great one. The Villanova product is simply a better athlete than the vast majority of the centers he opposes and that strength negates most of their size advantage. He’s cooking, averaging 12 points in less than 20 minutes per game.
Then there’s James Wiseman — a central casting pick for an NBA center. At 19 years old, Wiseman is raw, which is NBA-speak for “he doesn’t know what to do with all that athleticism yet.”
But if he ever does figure it out, the whole NBA will feel the repercussions. Wiseman’s athleticism is downright absurd. We’ve seen him go coast-to-coast on 12 dribbles, dunking on a whole team in the process. We’ve seen him jump so high that he’s liable to chip a tooth on the rim. The Warriors’ job is to channel all of that goodness the basketball gods bestowed upon him, and channel it into something special and malleable to the Golden State operation. That process is no doubt difficult. The lows are painful, but the highs, like the win over the Spurs, where Wiseman hung out in the dunker spot and finished what Curry and Draymond Green started, are spectacular.
All this athleticism paired with Curry and Green is a stark departure from the Warriors’ role players of old, who could beat you in a million ways, but rarely with raw athletic ability. That’s because most of them were old, by NBA standards, at least.
Those who did have a burst — Jordan Bell, JaVale McGee, Damian Jones, Alfonzo McKinnie — were too unreliable to be counted on every night.
And while the Warriors still employ some crafty veterans — Kent Bazemore, Brad Wanamaker, and Kevon Looney — the identity of this team has changed.
Their athleticism will run plodding teams off the floor, like Wednesday, but there’s enough reliability — though that’s a work in progress — to play with the NBA’s best, too.
Nothing’s perfect, but the Warriors have found a sweet spot with this roster. And it’s all by design.
Yes, from a distance, the Warriors might look stuck in the middle, but look closer, and you’ll realize this is where they wanted to be: younger, more athletic, and in the mix.