If you asked me who I think the best team in the NBA is right now, I wouldn’t hesitate to give you my answer. It’s the Golden State Warriors. Barring any catastrophic injury (which you can obviously say about any team), I strongly believe this team can and will win its first NBA championship since 1975.
I know it’s not the wildest prediction since they currently have the 3rd best record in the NBA, but I feel like people are somehow still sleeping on them. With new head coach Steve Kerr at the helm, the team appears to be leaps and bounds above where it was not only at this point last year, but overall in general. The offense is more free-flowing and the defense is legit. The craziest part is that I actually think there is a ton of room for improvement.
The Warriors are tied with the Celtics for the league lead in assists at 25.8/game. This really speaks to how well they’re moving the ball offensively. Unfortunately, they also lead the league in turnovers at 17.9/game. This starts with Steve Kerr who needs to do a better job of getting his team to value and protect the ball more. Being a former NBA point guard, I think he’s up for the task.
Turnovers, in general, fall heavily on the shoulders of point guard Stephen Curry, who is averaging 3.7/game - most on the team. A lot of his turnovers are careless, lazy passes. Others are a result of flashy, unnecessary passes. These could easily be avoided. I guess when you’re scoring 22.6 PPG and dishing out 7.8 APG, you kind of just have to take the good with the bad. He is the leader of this team and he needs to lead by example by taking better care of the ball. Once the team cuts down its turnovers, it’ll see a nice improvement in overall offensive efficiency.
Another reason why the team has drastically improved and should be considered a serious title contender is because of its defense. Andrew Bogut is finally healthy and has solidified the unit. He’s a legit rim protector and can clean up mistakes/allow his teammates to gamble a little in the passing lanes. He makes opposing players think twice about entering the paint. He’s not afraid to get dirty and teammates feed off of his intensity. When fully healthy, he’s one of the best centers in basketball and the anchor to this team defensively.
In addition to Bogut, Draymond Green has also been terrific defensively. He’s athletic enough to allow the Warriors to switch pick and rolls which really helps take pressure off the guards. He has quick feet and does a surprisingly decent job of staying in front of smaller players. This prevents what would normally be a mismatch for other teams offensively.
The flexibility that Green gives the team is important because he can cover both guards and forwards when necessary. His best attribute is his ability to cover the elite power forwards of the West. He’s a great athlete so it doesn’t matter if we’re talking about bulldozing forwards like Blake Griffin or stretch forwards like Dirk Nowitzki, Green can do it all defensively. He’s the perfect forward for this team and will be a key reason why they win an NBA championship.
The guy that Green is currently replacing happens to be arguably the worst defensive power forward in the game (not true but he’s really bad). That guy would be David Lee. Lee has played in only one game this season due to injury and hopefully when he returns, Kerr makes him come off the bench. He’s a fantastic offensive player and would be perfect as a reserve player. It would allow Green to continue to flourish in his current role as a starter while also upgrading a second unit that could use it. Shaun Livingston and Leandro Barbosa are fine and Marreese Speights provides a good punch, but adding Lee would really help give the bench a huge lift.
This team is so deep with all of the aforementioned guys and I haven’t even talked about the wing players yet. Harrison Barnes seems to enjoy being a starter, yet he understands his role and never tries to do too much. He’s a good defender, capable shooter and he can get to the rim if he feels like it. His scoring ability helps take pressure off the “Splash Brothers” and this will prove vital when the games start to matter.
I don’t know if something is wrong with Andre Iguodala but he just hasn’t looked right this year. The fact that they sit at 10-2 with Iguodala averaging just 6.8 PPG speaks to how deep this team is. His offense has always been average at best but they really need him to become the lockdown defender he’s been his entire career. When he’s on the court checking opposing wings, this team drastically improves.
In my opinion, Klay Thompson has become the best overall 2 guard in the game (sorry James Harden). He’s obviously a deadly shooter but he’s also improved other aspects of his game as well. He can post up smaller defenders now and its helped take his game to another level. He’s having a breakout year and will certainly be an All-Star if he keeps it up. Oh, and he’s also making Steve Kerr look like a genius for refusing to include him in a trade for Kevin Love this past summer - there’s that too.
This actually brings me to my last point which is Steve Kerr. He was always destined to be an NBA coach, it was just a matter of when he would finally get his chance. With that being said, I believe he is going to win Coach of the Year. I think the Warriors will win over 60 games (yes, 60!) and finish with the best record in the NBA. Not only would this garner him the Coach of the Year award, but it would also provide home court advantage in the NBA playoffs. This would be huge for a team that has one of the loudest, most energetic arenas in basketball.
Kerr is getting the most out of everybody – yes, even you Leandro Barbosa. He has so many different lineups he can throw out there on a nightly basis and is just scratching the surface of this teams potential. The team has a +10.1 PPG differential and I’m sure that is only going to go up as the team continues to build chemistry throughout the season.
The offense can score at will and the defense is more than formidable. To advance through the Western Conference, you need to be able to score timely buckets and get key stops on defense in crunch time. With the current pieces in place, this team will be able to do that.
As stated earlier, barring any sort of major injury, the Warriors are built to win a championship. They’ll have to get through the bloodbath that is the Western Conference but I like their chances. With Steve Kerr coaching and Steph Curry/Klay Thompson leading the way, I believe the Golden State Warriors will be hanging a banner in Oracle Arena come June 2015.
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