Warriors must create own motivation
Every other NBA team has sights set on the defending champions
The Warriors’ Kevin Durant is one of the team’s returning stars from last season’s championship team. He’s a two-time NBA Finals MVP.
The Warriors might have already anticipated it. The other 29 NBA teams might have already dreaded it.
They have won three NBA titles in the past four years. And if it already wasn’t imposing to have four All Stars, the Warriors now have five.
That does not mean the Warriors can just roll out the ball before
hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy once again. They do have to try. And opponents will do everything they can to stop them. Therefore, the Warriors face some questions.
Here are four of them as they open training camp today.
1. WHERE’S THE MOTIVATION? >> The Warriors might enter training camp feeling refreshed. More likely, they will enter training camp wondering why the offseason felt so short. For them, the season didn’t end until June. Most of the other 29 teams were done in April or May.
Coach Steve Kerr has an embarrassment of riches. But he also has a big challenge: how to keep a team of superstars engaged from September through March when they are accustomed to dominating from April to June?
Kerr already senses this might be a lost cause. Therefore, he might scale back practice times, scrap some morning shootarounds and hold his tongue during frustrating on-court moments and film sessions. Kerr already knows there’s little value in berating a team that has accomplished so
much and can do so again with the flip of a switch.
Still, Kerr remains wary of his team falling to complacency. As an antidote, he will likely invite guest speakers, take day trips or even allow his players to coach a game, as he did during the dog days last season. He also has expressed hope that the process of integrating DeMarcus Cousins, the fifth All-Star, could be something the Warriors enjoy.
The Warriors also might find motivation in history: Only five teams have won three consecutive NBA championships.
2. WHEN WILL COUSINS BE READY TO PLAY? >> Early projections suggest Cousins will not appear in exhibition play, let alone the beginning of the 201819 season. He sustained a torn Achilles last January, and there’s no reason to rush him back from an injury that typically requires eight to 10 months of rehab. Why put pressure on Cousins when the Warriors have four other All-Stars?
Still, the Warriors will watch Cousins with a watchful eye. Kerr told Bay Area News Group three weeks ago that Cousins has not experienced any setbacks. Cousins has posted Instagram videos of various workouts where he took outside shots and even dunked a few times. Perhaps Cousins could ramp up his on-court work during training camp. If nothing else, though, the Warriors will try to make Cousins feel involved with the playbook, the team-oriented activities and the personnel. Good thing for the Warriors: he knows their four other All-Stars pretty well already with USA Basketball.
3. CAN THE WARRIORS’ YOUNG CORE DEVELOP? >> Kerr has one idea to prevent veteran burnout and complacency: Play his young players more. That way, the veteran players can rest up for another playoff run. That way, the Warriors will have players eager to play in otherwise forgettable regular-season games. Therefore, fourth-year forward Kevon Looney, thirdyear center Damian Jones, second-year forward Jordan Bell, fourth-year guard Quinn Cook, rookie forward Jacob Evans and third-year wing Patrick McCaw (assuming he signs) will have plenty of practice time and minutes.
But will these players accelerate their learning curve enough with meaningful minutes? Can Jones blossom into a backup and occasional starting center after spending most of the past three years in Santa Cruz? Can Bell channel his athleticism and highlight reels dunks into consistent work habits and decision making? Can Looney develop any offensive game after mostly relying on his defense? Can Cook maintain staying power after spending last season finally cementing an NBA roster spot? Can McCaw have the breakout season he has wanted to ensure a lucrative free-agency deal? Can Evans live up to his defensive potential and shake off his questionable summer-league shooting?
That’s a lot of questions right there.
The Warriors lost a veteran locker room voice (David West), an athletic rim protector (JaVale McGee), a plodding albeit dependable screen setter (Zaza Pachulia) and an erratic albeit decent shooter (Nick Young). The Warriors acquired Cousins to upgrade the center spot, and veteran Jonas Jerebko could give the Warriors more dependable shooting and better conditioning than Young did. But the Warriors also have some youth that will either blossom or become exposed.
4. CAN THE WARRIORS STAY HEALTHY? >> Let’s be real. It seems a given that Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson will shoot well, that Kevin Durant will score at ease and Draymond Green will excel on defense. The other question marks aside, the Warriors still have five All-Stars in their starting lineup that should cover up any other problems. That is assuming the Warriors remain healthy.
Will they?
The good news: Only Curry and Durant are over
30. Thompson, Green and Cousins are all 28.
Cousins’ injury aside, the Warriors four other AllStars enter the 2018-19 season without any nagging ailments. And the Warriors have a good track record in ensuring their star players spend time in the training room more for maintenance than repairs.
The potentially bad news: the Warriors had some issues last year that could happen again. Curry missed a combined 31 games because of overlapping ankle and knee injuries. Thompson gutted through a left ankle injury during the NBA Finals. Green had bothersome knees, shoulders and elbows seemingly all season. Durant experienced some ankle and foot issues. And then there’s Cousins and his torn Achilles, an injury from which only Dominique Wilkins returned as a better player. It seems inevitable 34-year-old Andre Iguodala and the 33-yearold Shaun Livingston will sit out games for rest purposes and ailments, as they did last season.
That fully explains why Kerr vows not to get upset over poor play and limit practice times. He would rather have his players feeling healthy and refreshed than burned out and irritable.
Bottom line: The Warriors are still too talented for any other NBA team to threaten them seriously. Therefore, they remain focused on addressing their biggest potential problem: themselves.