Season should offer plenty of excitement
It has been a long, long time since we’ve seen the Warriors play a meaningful basketball game — more than a year if we’re being honest about the way the Warriors played last season.
But the 2020-21 NBA season is here, with the Warriors tipping off their campaign Tuesday night in Brooklyn against old friend Kevin Durant.
How’s this season going to play out? That’s anyone’s guess. But no matter how the Warriors finish, these are 10 things to be excited about all season long:
10. KASKcTKALL IS eANTASTIa >> Basketball — particularly the best version of it on planet Earth, NBA basketball — is absolutely fantastic. Even preseason games, when no-names with no chance mix with steady NBA players, can be invigorating.
Obviously, the world has not returned back to normal. The empty arenas are a clear sign of that.
But having the full coterie of NBA teams back in action, playing the game we love, is just a bit of the ordinary we can all celebrate.
9. THRccS! SO MANY THRccS >> I’ll admit, this could be a reason to be pessimistic about this year’s Warriors’ team. As college basketball shows, there’s nothing worse than teams chucking up 3-pointer after 3-pointer and clanking 80 percent of them.
But the Warriors are going to live dangerously this year. They’re going to shoot from distance like, you know, the rest of the NBA does now. Whether or not they have the shooters outside of Curry seems like a secondary concern.
The only time the Warriors have led the NBA in 3-pointers attempted was 2015-16, when the team had substitute teacher Luke Walton in charge for 43 games. Golden State put up, on average, 32 3-pointers per game that season. Last season, that would have been good for 23rd in the NBA.
The Warriors also shot 41 percent from beyond the arc in 2015-16. If they can put up 40-plus 3-pointers per game (they averaged 42 in the preseason) and score at that clip, they’re going to have the best offense in the NBA.
Obviously, scoring at that clip is unlikely given the lack of Klay Thompson on the roster, but they’ll have nights where they are on fire. If you’re someone who feels that the 3-pointer is the new dunk, you’re going to have lots of reasons to tune into Warriors basketball this year.
8. THc WcST IS cVcN MORc aOMPcTITIVc >> The Lakers won the championship. The Clippers remain too talented to fail. Luka Doncic is the MVP favorite in Las Vegas. The Nuggets are well- coached and have two elite players. The Jazz remain formidable. The Rockets still have James Harden (at least for now). The Blazers can outscore almost anyone in the NBA when it’s Dame Time. And now the Suns have Chris Paul?
The Western Conference has always been brutal, but this year’s competition is nextlevel.
The Warriors are going to be relentlessly tested. It’s going to be exceptional basketball. And if competition truly brings out the best in top teams, then we’ll find out just how elite the Warriors are in short order.
7. SMILcY >> The Warriors seem hellbent on justifying last season’s second-round draft pick, Alen Smailagic. This is the sunk- cost fallacy in action.
But will it be entertaining? Oh, you bet. Smailagic’s minutes will be must- see TV. He could go out one night and look like a future superstar. He could also turn in a performance that resembles a nature documentary — and he’s not the protagonist.
Maybe I’m too twisted a person, but I’m excited to see it all play out.
6. A bccPcR KcNaH >> As a friend put it to me this week: last year’s starters are this year’s bench.
It’s not that simple, but he’s not that far off, either.
And that change is a good thing. It better be — last year’s Warriors were the worst team in the NBA.
So the Warriors added Kent Bazemore and Brad Wanamaker to the reserve units,two players who could absolutely be called upon, on occasion, to finish games. Clutch move
In all, the difference between last year’s bench and this year’s bench is night and day.
And with depth being so key to success, that could make this season a lot more interesting.
5. JORbAN POOLc’S eURTHcR bcVcLOPMcNT >> We saw it at the end of the last regular season, the Warriors’ first-round pick from 2019 is starting to figure it out. In his final 10 games, the Michigan man averaged 14 points per game on 48 percent shooting and averaged nearly five assists.
It’s a small sample size, but it’s intriguing nevertheless. And while there has been a long, long layoff, if Poole can keep that momentum going, the Warriors will have another much- needed playmaker on their squad.
4. KcLLY OUKRc’S aHAOS >> When Thompson went down for the season, the Warriors wasted no time in acquiring Kelly Oubre. The 25-year- old wing isn’t a Klay replacement, but he is a player who will press issues up and down the court.
And for a Warriors team that is planning on pushing the pace and making chaos the backbone of their defensive strategy, he’s a perfect fit.
He might give up a lot with his aggressiveness, but the preseason showed that he will likely get more than he gives with that attitude. He and Steph Curry seem to have already synched energies — those are two guys who can force an issue — and I’m fascinated to see how Draymond Green vibes with Oubre as well.
No matter what, when Oubre is on the court, things are going to happen. That’s worth watching.
3. bRAYMONb’S bcecNSIVc KRILLIANac >> Green phoned in a good portion of last year. And honestly, who could blame him? But after a long rest and plenty of Peloton rides, the Warriors should expect a rejuvenated and hungry Green in 2021.
That is, whenever he gets on the floor. A positive COVID test and now a foot injury has delayed the start of Green’s season. But when he finally cracks the lineup, seeing him locked in and doing everything on the defensive end will be highly enjoyable. There really are few things as spellbinding in basketball as Green dominating on the defensive end.
2. JAMcS WIScMAN’S cLITc ATHLcTIaISM >> Even in an NBA where everyone is an elite athlete and bodies are anything but ordinary, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft stands out. Wiseman is 7 feet tall and has a 7-foot- 6 wingspan, a 9-foot- 6 standing reach, and a vertical leap that allows him to touch the top of the backboard.
Yeah, he’s different.
And he’s also whip-smart and eager to make an immediate impact.
There will be speed bumps — plenty of them — but the moments where it clicks will be spectacular. And in those moments, we might see the future of the Golden State Warriors.
1. STcPH aURRY IS KAaK >> Need we say anything more?