Frank Isola: on resentment towards Stephen Curry, bitterness of Mark Jackson and who can beat the Warriors

Posted on December 27, 2015 by Steinmetz

New York Daily News sportswriter Frank Isola joined the “NBA This Week” show and talked all things Warriors and NBA. Isola addressed a variety of topics, including resentment toward Stephen Curry, the motives behind what Mark Jackson says and whether or not any team can beat the Warriors.

Here are some excerpts of what Isola said.

–On players resenting Stephen Curry and his success:

“I don’t understand the resentment towards him. I get the feeling a lot of players in the league resent him. Why else would those knuckleheads vote for James Harden as the MVP in those player awards?

“The media was smart enough to give it to Steph Curry. It’s weird. There’s resentment towards Steph Curry and the Warriors. Last year, it was a bit of a novelty, getting to the Finals. They’ll become, I don’t want to say a hated team, but maybe people will get tired of them. Some segment of the population anyway.

“As far as Curry goes, maybe there’s a little jealousy and resentment towards the fact he grew up a kid of privilege, grew up in a wealthy family, in the suburbs. Maybe that has a little something to do with it. I think there’s resentment toward that.

“You identify him with his mom and his dad and you see him with his wife so maybe people think he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and that may be true. But that doesn’t guarantee you becoming a player. … I think it’s a little weird, a little bizarre. I think they view him as a rich kid, kid of privilege who is taking over the NBA and I think that’s why there’s some jealousy there.”

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Cavaliers’ problem vs. Warriors: LeBron James has to do too much; Kevin Love doesn’t do enough

Posted on December 26, 2015 by Steinmetz

The Warriors have passed every single test that’s been put in front of them in the past year-plus, and Christmas Day was no exception. The Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 89-83 at Oracle Arena, and it was just another example of how good this team is.

The Cavaliers did a nice job of getting the Warriors to play their style – a physical, halfcourt game – but it still wasn’t enough. What the Warriors are proving to everyone watching basketball is this: they can beat you regardless of the style you want to play.

Here are some takeaways from the Warriors’ victory over Cleveland:

–LeBron James has to do too much. The bulk of Cleveland’s strategy on Friday was to simply put the ball in James’ hands and let him go to work. James alternated between contested jumpers and drives into a crowded lane. Neither was effective.

The Warriors have plenty of bodies to throw at James individually, but they also play the kind of team defense that make it very difficult for James to be efficient. If you take a mental picture of the game, what you constantly see is James driving into a congested lane and trying to make a play while being smothered by more than one defensive player.

Bottom line: It’s tough to see an isolation team beating the Warriors.

–Kevin Love doesn’t do enough. The question to ask, though, is this: Is Love capable of doing any more? It wasn’t long ago that Love was one of the most valued players in the NBA. Where is that guy? Was he ever that guy?

Love seemingly has been reduced to being a 3-point shooter and defensive rebounder for the Cavs and that’s not going to be enough. Ideally, Love would do some damage on the interior – like in the low post – but it doesn’t look like he can score consistently down there against competent defensive teams. And that’s what the Warriors are.

The Cavs might have been missing Love in last year’s NBA Finals, but they had him yesterday and he didn’t do a hell of a lot.

–The Warriors all-substitute lineup needs to improve or be revamped. Interim coach Luke Walton hasn’t been afraid to play five subs at the same time, particularly early in the second and fourth quarters. But that lineup is getting outplayed a little too often, and you’ve got to wonder if Walton – or Steve Kerr – will start to play some starters with the subs … mix it up a little bit.

Then again, this might not be an issue when Harrison Barnes returns. The reason? Barnes is usually on the floor at those times because he gets subbed out for early in the first quarter. If there’s one place where the Warriors are missing Barnes, it’s in that role: a scorer for the Warriors’ second unit.

 

 

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Even when Warriors don’t impress, they’re still very impressive

Posted on December 24, 2015 by Steinmetz

The Warriors raised their record to 27-1 on Wednesday night with a 103-85 victory over the Utah, setting up a doozy of a Christmas day game with the Cleveland Cavaliers at Oracle Arena. Perhaps what was most impressive about the Warriors’ win over the Jazz was that it wasn’t very impressive.

And they still won by 18 points against what looks to be a playoff team in the Western Conference.

In a season of thrilling wins and spectacular plays, you could probably count on one hand the number of times the sellout crowd “ooh-ed and aah-ed.” In other words, the wow factor was missing a little bit.

Stephen Curry had a season-low 16 points and went just 2-for-8 from 3-point range. Klay Thompson was just OK, finishing with 20 points but going 6-for-16 to do it. As a team the Warriors shot 47 percent from the field and 41 percent from the 3-point line. Those are nice numbers but we’ve seen better this year, no doubt.

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