Warriors ho-hum their way to comfy victory over Wizards

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Steinmetz

The Warriors weren’t great and they weren’t terrible on Tuesday night, so whatever they were against the Washington Wizards at Oracle Arena was good enough for a 102-94 win. Golden State is now 67-7, which remains surreal to anyone who followed the team in the early 1990s.

Here are some notes and things from the Warriors’ victory, their 54th straight in the regular season at home:

–If there’s one area that continues to confound opponents it’s the Warriors’ ability to turn second shots into three points. Time and time again this season the Warriors have missed initially, only to then come up with an offensive rebound and kick out to one of their shooters. These are demoralizing scores for the other team.

The Warriors are the most efficient team in the NBA, so when you do force a miss, it’s imperative you get the rebound. Failing to secure the rebound often results in a scramble situation defensively, and no team spins around a defense faster than the Warriors.

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Posted in Warriors, Washington Wizards | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Warriors have won virtually every game they “could have” lost

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Steinmetz

When you’re the first team in NBA history to ring up a 66-7 record after 73 games, there’s little doubt you’re a dominant team. And that’s what the Golden State Warriors are right now.

But there’s another way to look at it: You can’t get to 66-7 without getting a few breaks along the way. Yes, it’s always a slippery slope when you start to talk about games a team should have won or could have won. But this year the Warriors have been remarkable in very close games, and have seemingly won every game they “should have” or “could have” lost. Even great teams lose a few close games a season.

But you could make a case the Warriors have only lost one game this year they had a shot at winning — at Denver on Jan. 13. In that game, without Draymond Green, the Warriors came storming back from seven down with a minute left and wound up with Klay Thompson getting a look at a 25-footer that could have won it. Other than that, it’s been all Warriors in tight ones.

Obviously, if you’re a Warriors fan, you’re thinking: That’s what great teams do; win the close games. And there’s no arguing that. But if you’re looking for a reason to be critical of the Warriors, here are some of the games the Warriors “should have” or “could have” lost — and they won them all:

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Posted in 76ers, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Denver Nuggets, LA Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, Warriors | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Aschburner: on Warriors’ place in NBA history, why old-timers are criticizing Curry, what’s up with the Cavs, & more

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Steinmetz

Steve Aschburner is one of the best NBA writers going, and it’s been that way for a while. He is a senior writer at NBA.com and before that he worked for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and the Milwaukee Journal. His perspective on the NBA is matched by few as far as I’m concerned.

John Dickinson and I were thrilled to have Steve join us on the “NBA This Week” on 95.7-FM The Game and he talked on a variety of hoops topics, including the Warriors, Stephen Curry, the Cavaliers and league in general.

You can listen to the interview on the “NBA This Week” right here. There’s also a link at bottom of post.

Below are some excerpts from the interview.

–On where he puts the current Warriors team in the annals of basketball history and other great NBA teams:

Aschburner: I would think this team is top 3, 4 5 range. Maybe higher if it gets to 73. I’m not actively looking to hold them back. I don’t think 73 or practically speaking 72 was the definition of greatest team of all time. That’s best single season record of all time and I don’t consider the 95-96 Bulls the greatest team of all time. …

I think the 85-86 Celtics  were a tremendous team. The 71-72 Lakers who won 33 in a row, when Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West were pretty old for that time as veterans. I think the 66-67 76ers team that Wilt played on and I think there were one or two of the Russell Celtics teams that I would have in my top half dozen.

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Posted in Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA, NBA This Week, Warriors | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Aschburner: on Warriors’ place in NBA history, why old-timers are criticizing Curry, what’s up with the Cavs, & more