Golden State Warriors

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rodfromcranston
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Golden State Warriors

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

Congrats to the most fun to watch basketball team ever.
The way they move the ball is magical.
Kevin Durant has been exactly what he was brought in for.
Playoff MVP.
Steph Curry is an amazing player.
A ball handling wizard, great passer, and the
greatest shooter in NBA history.
Plus, he's a pest on defense.
If he stopped playing tomorrow, he'd be a first round Hall of Famer.
Klay Thompson would be THE star on almost any
other team. Yet, he accepts his role on the Warriors,
and plays all out defense, and superb shooting.
Draymon Green is a guy who does everything,
and is a little bit nutty, but it works.
Great bench with guys like Iguodala and company.
Steve Kerr and Mike Brown make it all work as a total team game.
These guys are not going anywhere, but towards a real dynasty.
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TruePoint
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by TruePoint »

I successfully fulfilled my goal of not watching one second of the Warriors this season, which I made the day Durant signed there. Winning only matters if the talent is evenly distributed. Loading teams cheapens the result. This ring means the same for Durant's legacy as it would if he bought it on eBay. If Golden State had signed me instead of Durant, or if Durant had gone down in preseason and not played one minute, GS still would have won. That makes him irrelevant and it makes GS one all-NBA player too loaded, cheapening everything they "accomplished."
Last edited by TruePoint 6 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
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SGreenwell
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by SGreenwell »

TruePoint wrote:I successfully fulfilled my goal of not watching one second of the Warriors this season, which I made the day Durant signed there. Winning only matters if the talent is evenly distributed. Loading teams cheapens the result. This ring means the same for Durant's legacy as it would if he bought it on eBay. If Golden State had signed me instead of Durant, or if Durant had gone down in preseason and not played one minute, GS still would have won. That makes him irrelevant and it makes GS one all-NBA player too loaded, cheapening everything they "accomplished."
The NBA has always been an unbalanced league though, with superstars clustering on teams. Before the free agency era, it was done by GMs and owners, and once unrestricted free agency happened, it was done by the players. I'm not sure why, but the latter seems to bother some fans way more than the former.
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TruePoint
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by TruePoint »

SGreenwell wrote:I'm not sure why, but the latter seems to bother some fans way more than the former.
I don't think it is that complicated. GMs and owners were competing against each other to cluster talent and build teams. The players are not competing in roster-building or on the court, they are colluding to eliminate competition. A sport where there is no competition and no intrigue into who will win or lose and the only entertaining aspect is the supposed "artistry" of the game is not actually a sport; it is the Harlem Globetrotters.

When you were a kid and you went to the courts with your friends, did you put the five best kids on one team so you could win every game 21-0? Is that fun? No, you made the two best kids captains and they picked their teams and tried to beat each other. Because competition is what is good and fun about sports. Yes, winning is obviously important, but winning without competition is meaningless.

If every once in a while you have a dominant team, that can be kind of fun, too - if it was built organically. If you build a great team by nailing draft picks and winning trades, that is FAIR. Everyone had the same chances to compete in the roster-building phase and you won it. But signing the second best player in the league to a team that was already the best in the league isn't a genius move, it doesn't require cunning or savvy. It just makes literally the entire league and everything that happens in it predetermined and irrelevant.
Last edited by TruePoint 6 years ago, edited 3 times in total.
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Rhodymob05
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by Rhodymob05 »

KD over came the media/fan hatred, a mid-season injury and then averaged 35 ppg with Lebron guarding him. He hit massive shots including a game winner in Game 3. Make no mistake, the warriors are loaded, but SO are the cavs. Good for KD.
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TruePoint
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by TruePoint »

All KD needed to win a championship was a team that did not need him to win a championship. There is something to be proud of.
Last edited by TruePoint 6 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
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Rhodymob05
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by Rhodymob05 »

TruePoint wrote:All KD needed to win a championship was a team that did not need him to win a championship. There is something to be proud of.
No way Warriors beat Cavs without KD.
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TruePoint
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by TruePoint »

That is obviously not true. They did it two years ago and would have done it last year if Draymond Green hadn't gotten himself suspended.

Without Durant, it would have probably been a pretty competitive series that GS could have lost if they played poorly. That is how sports are supposed to work.
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Ramulous
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by Ramulous »

I advocate re shuffling the teams every year....like a fantasy draft......the worst team picks first, the second worst team picks second and so on....all players in the league go into the player pool and then add in any college players who want to be selected....who would object?
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RhowdyRam02
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

That's a horrible idea
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rodfromcranston
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

How anyone who claims not to have watched one second of the
playoffs, say Durant was irrelevant?
Trolling at its best!
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TruePoint
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by TruePoint »

rodfromcranston wrote:How anyone who claims not to have watched one second of the
playoffs, say Durant was irrelevant?
Trolling at its best!
I watched plenty of the playoffs. I did not watch any Warriors games from the beginning of the season, but there were plenty of non-Warrior playoff games. Also, I never said Durant isn't great. He obviously is - that's the whole problem with him joining a team that was already the best team.

It is sad that he chose to make himself irrelevant by going to a team that did not need him to win, but that was his choice. If you aren't required, you aren't relevant.

Sports is all about competition. Having one team that is clearly the best team removes competition from the game, and I struggle to understand what is left to enjoy at that point.
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rodfromcranston
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

Must be why he was Finals MVP.
All those irrelevant 35 point games.
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TruePoint
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by TruePoint »

That has nothing to do with it, rod. I'm sure he played great in the finals. He's a great player. That is not the point. The point is that the Warriors were good enough to win without him, so when he went there he made himself irrelevant. If he had any of the kind of competitiveness I admire about athletes, he would have wanted to build his own version of the Warriors or Cavs in OKC or Boston or Washington or wherever. Instead, he basically signed up for a mail-order title.

If the Warriors had signed me instead of Kevin Durant, they still would have won the championship. When it would not make a difference whether you used a roster spot on me or a real basketball player, that is the definition of that real basketball player being irrelevant.
Last edited by TruePoint 6 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
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Stop! Rammer Time
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by Stop! Rammer Time »

I lean towards what TP thinks on this one, the stacking of a roster in that way makes me enjoy the game less. I watched so little of the playoffs this year because the ending seemed inevitable.
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ramster
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by ramster »

Same here. I used to be an NBA Fan but no more. I watched zero of the playoffs.
Now the players get together with their buddies and decide who they want to play with. Lebron, Wade, etc did it in Miami, now this in Golden State.
Everyone knew Golden State would win it. This picking you who want to play with has ruined the game for me.
In the old days Red Auerback was a genius in managing the team and making trades. All time great trade was the draft pick of Joe Barry Carroll for Robert Parrish and then they drafted Kevin McHale. Two All Star Starters for Joe Barry Carroll. Then a genius move to draft Larry Bird to get the rights to him when he wan't coming out in that year's draft anyway. 3 All Stars right about the same time.

But now it's money, money, money and players, players, players. Never will I watch another NBA All Star Game - those are hideous.

But I don't begrudge anyone who likes it, just turned me off several years ago.
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rodfromcranston
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

I would point out that the Warriors were an NBA champion and finals
team with a core built solely on players drafted, and signed role players
supplementing them.
They added Durant, who didn't seem to have had "buddies"
on the Warriors.
Lebron will drift off to try to form another "super team".
At age 33 in December, he needs to win three more titles to
equal Jordan, but Jordan was 6-0 in Finals and James is 3-5.
Bear in mind, Jordan missed the better part of two years to play
baseball. During his prime.
He came back and the Bulls 3 peated.
He also attended college, so his clock began much later
than James'.
ESPN just keeps writing articles trying to put Lebron as
equal or better than Jordan.
Jordan was a closer. He didn't bitch and moan on every call
he didn't get.
If refs ever called travelling and offensive fouls on Lebron,
he'd be lucky to score 15 points a game.
Last edited by rodfromcranston 6 years ago, edited 4 times in total.
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ramster
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by ramster »

However Durant got there he still got there and once that happened whatever interest I had in the NBA disappeared. I knew it was all over.
Players decisions made Golden State unbeatable and no contest.
Will be the same thing next year.
But won't matter because I won't be watching
And have not watched an NBA All Star game in over 10 years - total joke
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TruePoint
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by TruePoint »

rodfromcranston wrote:I would point out that the Warriors were an NBA champion and finals
team with a core built solely on players drafted, and signed role players
supplementing them.
They added Durant, who didn't seem to have had "buddies"
on the Warriors.
Lebron will drift off to try to form another "super team".
At age 33 in December, he needs to win three more titles to
equal Jordan, but Jordan was 6-0 in Finals and James is 3-5.
Bear in mind, Jordan missed the better part of two years to play
baseball. During his prime.
He came back and the Bulls 3 peated.
He also attended college, so his clock began much later
than James'.
ESPN just keeps writing articles trying to put Lebron as
equal or better than Jordan.
Jordan was a closer. He didn't bitch and moan on every call
he didn't get.
If refs ever called travelling and offensive fouls on Lebron,
he'd be lucky to score 15 points a game.
I'm not a Lebron fan, so you're not going to get a spirited defense of him from me.

Your first sentence explains the whole basis for my attitude toward Durant: "the Warriors were an NBA champion and finals team with a core built solely on players drafted, and signed role players supplementing them. They added Durant." If Durant were the kind of competitor I like my athletes to be, he wouldn't have gone to get a free ring on a team that was already championship caliber. A guy that good should want to put together his own team to contend with GSW and Cleveland.

I'm not one of these guys that think he had to stay in OKC, but the team he was on there was good enough to win and they almost did. If you lose a close series, don't give up an join the team that beat you; get back in the lab and figure out what you can do better, help your management and ownership figure out what piece was missing so they can go get it. He could have come to Boston or Washington and took the reigns of ready-built teams that were a Kevin Durant-caliber player from challenging the Cavs. But instead he went to one of the only two teams that literally did not need him, one the best players in NBA history. Not just a good Warriors team, but a historically good Warriors team. It is inexcusable in my mind.
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Rhodymob05
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by Rhodymob05 »

Watching 30 for 30 Celtics Lakers, which is amazing and makes me miss basketball so much, that aside, todays NBA is pathetic in terms of toughness and officiating compared to the 70s/80/90s. Bunch of girls today.
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rjsuperfly66
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Re: Golden State Warriors

Unread post by rjsuperfly66 »

1) The 2015 and 2016 versions of the Golden St. Warriors were a lot more interesting to me. As has been stated, that was an organically built team and was something to trumpet as the team that "built through the draft." While it is certainly no one in the organizations fault that Durant signed there, I can't help but feel that it cheapened this Championship. Last years Warriors team was up 3-1 in the Finals. That team was more than good enough to compete for a Championship this season, perhaps not has dominant a performance, but would have given the Cavs another run, if not enough to beat them.

2) That said, it's hard to blame Curry, Thompson, or Green for what happened. For me, the blame for this falls on Durant. He could have stayed in OKC, a team that was also up 3-1 in the conference finals last season, who has some very exciting pieces to build around. He could have signed with Washington (his hometown team) or Boston, both teams in the upper-eschelon of Eastern Conference teams, and tried to build those teams into a contender. But instead, he chose the team that won 73 games last year, and was winning late in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, a team that came back and beat his ass last season.

3) So now, the only way anyone will have any reason to celebrate an NBA Championship in the next 5 years other than the Warriors will be a) superstars like Lebron and George decide to team up and build their own super team or b) Durant or Curry blow out a knee and miss a postseason somewhere. Because as of right now, Cleveland is the only NBA team within a stones throw of the Warriors, and even they do not appear to be that close. For another team to be able to get in a position to win a Championship, it's going to require a lot of luck.

4) Can say the C's are close, but if Brown can only max out at a low-level starter, or Fultz can't become the next "Steph Curry," or the 2018 pick ends up being a bust, how close are they? They need every single move to hit in a big way to even have a chance. They got destroyed by the Cavs who got basically destroyed Warriors. There is a huge gap there to make up.
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