Which New York Knicks’ big men can be productive when the Warriors go to their “small” lineup?

Posted on December 15, 2016 by Steinmetz

The Warriors return home after their five-game road trip – and into town on Thursday night come the New York Knicks, who are quietly the third-best team in the Eastern Conference right now.

(Below are links to “Warriors WrapUp,” the postgame show and also “NBA This Week”)

Whenever I take stock of a Warriors’ opponent inevitably the first place I go is to the opposition’s front court. It feels like the first question I always ask myself is this: Will their big players be able to function like they usually do when the Warriors go to their small lineup?

When the Warriors play Draymond Green at center and Kevin Durant at power forward, it is very difficult for the opposition to use a lineup with two big men. Well, you can use it, but it likely won’t be very successful. If you’re hoping to play two big men at the same time against that Warriors’ lineup, you’re asking for trouble. Those two bigs better know what they’re doing, and they also better be pretty skilled.

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Sal and Steiny: Draymond Green’s impact; fans vs. fanatics; Jed York’s mindset, the drought and more

Posted on December 14, 2016 by Steinmetz

On Sal and Steiny podcast No. 83, Castaneda and Steinmetz talk plenty of Warriors, but more specifically about Draymond Green. Against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday, Green came up with a steal on Anthony Davis in the game’s final seconds to preserve the 113-109 win.

It was a close non-call at the time. Today, the NBA ruled that a foul should have been called on Green at the time. Nevertheless, the subject of Green’s defense was a topic between the two, with Castaneda wanting to know if there will be more players coming down the pike like Green.

Link to “Sal and Steiny” podcast.

Other topics include:

–Jed York. Castaneda discusses whether Jed York admits to himself that he made a mistake when it comes to Jim Harbaugh. Steinmetz isn’t so sure York thinks of it like that at all.

–Castaneda also gives some crucial updates — first about what’s going on at KTVU-TV, where there is action aplenty. And Castaneda also updates the Northern California drought situation.

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What we learned about Warriors’ opponents on road trip: LA Clippers, Utah, Memphis, Minnesota and New Orleans

Posted on December 14, 2016 by Steinmetz

The Warriors just finished up their five-game road trip with a thrilling 113-109 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday. They went 4-1 on the trip, with their lone loss to the Grizzlies. Next up is the New York Knicks, who come to Oakland on Thursday. But before that let’s take a look at what we learned about the five Western Conference teams Golden State played on this road trip.

You can find all the links to “Warriors WrapUp,” the postgame show on 95.7-FM The Game, the team’s flagship. Still efforting the Utah game.

LA Clippers: They still can’t get there, not the way they’re constructed. Their two big men — Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan — simply cannot play together and be effective against the Warriors’ “small” lineup: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green.

Utah: We learned the verdict is still out on Utah — at least as far as the Jazz pertain to the Warriors. The Utah was too injured last Thursday so it’s impossible to gauge. When healthy, Utah has the look of a team that could possibly compete with the Warriors. But we still don’t know whether Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors can play together against Golden State when it goes small.

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