With playoffs looming, Barnes’ struggles get more concerning

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Steinmetz

If there’s been a backdrop to this wonderful Warriors’ season it’s been this: What’s going to happen with Harrison Barnes when it’s all over? Barnes, if you don’t know, is a restricted free agent and there are questions about whether he’s part of the Warriors’ long-term future or not.

Before the season began, Barnes turned down a four-year, $64 million contract extension, a move that left many Warriors’ fans scratching their heads. How could a player such as Barnes, the fourth or fifth option, turn down that kind of money?

Barnes, of course, knew what he was doing. With the salary cap poised to jump in a big way this offseason with the influx of television money, Barnes was betting on himself. One solid season and he was going to be able to make more than that.

Problem is, Barnes’ season hasn’t been solid. It’s been barely OK. After starting out the season well, Barnes missed 16 games because of an ankle injury. In his absence, Golden State went 14-2. Fair to say, Barnes hasn’t been the same player since returning. And lately, he’s been closer to awful than good.

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Posted in NBA, San Antonio Spurs, Warriors | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Good things happening for Warriors and Speights is latest

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Steinmetz

When you win 67 games, an NBA championship, then follow that up with 60 wins in your first 66 games of the next regular season you’ve had quite a run, that’s for sure. Every once in a while you have to take a look at some numbers and realize how extraordinary they are: The Warriors are 143-26 since the start of the 2014-15 season. Unreal.

When you’re doing something that farfetched, it’s not just a few things that are going right … It’s lots and lots and lots of things going right. One of the latest examples of something going right for the Warriors is Marreese Speights.

Speights has been terrific for the Warriors in recent weeks, interjecting himself into the rotation in a big way – with, of course, some nudging because of the injury to Festus Ezeli. Nevertheless, Speights has been a potent scorer for the Warriors off the bench in Ezeli’s absence, and it’s something they’ve never really had before this stretch. When Ezeli does come back, who knows how the minutes will be divvied up among the big men, but Speights will be considered.

Speights has scored in double figures in nine of his past 16 games, compared with just seven double-figure point games in his first 40. But it’s not just that, it’s how explosive Speights has been while doing that. His past three double-figure scoring games have looked like this: 14 points in 18 minutes; 25 points in 18 minutes; 16 points in 15 minutes. That, my friends, is called scoring in a hurry.

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Warriors’ road to championship will be tougher than last season

Posted on March 14, 2016 by Steinmetz

When Clippers coach Doc Rivers said the Warriors were lucky they didn’t have to play the Spurs or Clippers during this past offseason, it obviously struck a nerve with the Golden State organization and fans.

The implication was that if the Warriors would have met either of those teams in the 2015 playoffs, Golden State might not have won the title. That sounded like sour grapes from a coach whose team melted down during the Western Conference semifinals, but nevertheless the criticism stung … and has been remembered.

Well, without addressing how hard or easy it was for the Warriors to go 16-5 in the postseason and win their first title in 40 years last year, one thing does seem apparent: Winning a title this year is going to be a lot harder than winning one last year.

Here was the Warriors’ run to the title last season: New Orleans, Memphis, Houston, Cleveland. The reality was that the Pelicans and Rockets had virtually no chance to beat the Warriors in a seven-game series, given health. The Warriors had owned both teams heading into the playoffs … had each team’s number in a big way and still do. Golden State swept last year’s season series with Houston and the Warriors entered the playoffs having beaten the Pelicans 6 of their past 7.

To further pile on, the Warriors are 2-0 vs. New Orleans this year and 3-0 vs. Houston. That’s been flat-out ownage of those teams by Golden State. Those two teams struggle to beat the Warriors in a game, let alone a series.

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Posted in Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, LA Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, NBA, New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs, Warriors | Tagged | 4 Comments