I’m a huge Warriors fan. I can’t say I’ve been one since day one, but even before I moved to the Bay Area I still felt an affinity for my beloved Warriors. So after the departure of Kevin Durant, Andre Iquadala (great book by the way), and cool veteran Shaun Livingston, I was ecstatic to see D’Angelo Russell and all these young bucks join the squad.
From what I saw in their season opener, however much it felt like watching the Dubs of 2007, it still felt different. It felt like, “yes, we’re getting blown out, but I see some great things in this new Dubs team.”
The Clippers–granted–are finally on a whole new level than the rest of the league, but the Warriors still battled and competed. That’s something we didn’t see for a long time as Warriors fans before the dynasty–nightly competing.
Here are the main takeaways from the season opener and reasons to not count these fresh-faced Warriors out of the playoff hunt:
- Rebounding – with the short-lived return of Kevon Looney, the Warriors actually out rebounded the bigger Clippers and absolutely smoked them on the offensive glass, pulling in 12 more offensive boards than the Clips. Given the glowing size difference and guard-heavy rotation for the Warriors, this means the Warriors gave max effort the entire game. When you go against a rebounding fanatic like Montrezl Harrell, out rebounding your opponent is no small feat.
- Free Throws – until the waning minutes of the game, Golden State was perfect from the line. In the overall game they went an extremely solid 29 of 30 from the charity stripe. Even the big men–including Draymond Green–hit their free throws. This was a very pleasant sight to behold, not only as free throws continue to torment the rest of the league, but because without Klay Thompson, the points need to come from somewhere.
- Assists – even as the Warriors’ offense struggled to find the hoop and their offense looked out of sorts, they still managed to work the ball around for 27 assists. This is a very surprising figure if you watched the game. There wasn’t a whole lot of fluidity to the offense and baskets didn’t come easy against the defensively stout Clippers. Yet, the Warriors managed to run their offense and share the ball.
- Shooting – although the Warriors’ shooting was abysmal, shooting only 39.4% from the field, they can only improve in this category. I really don’t expect the Warriors to shoot this poorly each night, so look for them to get hot as they figure each other out and know where each other likes the ball in order to score. What’s more, the Dubs got up 19 more shots than the Clippers (99 to 80). That’s a huge differential. The volume is there, the accuracy not so much (yet).
- Young fellas – the biggest takeaway from the season opener for me is that the young fellas: Pashcall, Poole, Robinson III, Evans and Lee are ready to compete. Did they look lost at times? Sure. Did they miss shots? Sure. Did they lose their defensive assignment? Sometimes. Overall, though, they looked like we can depend on them for big plays and solid minutes in the future. They were out there competing!
In all, the Warriors sure don’t look like the dynasty of yesteryear, BUT, no one does! Thanks to NBA League Pass, I’ve watched quite a few early season games. What I’ve seen is the Clippers are on their own echelon, while everyone else–including the Lakers–are still trying to figure how to play together. The Warriors are no exception. With all the new bodies, the Dubs will figure out how to play together, look more cohesive on both ends and resemble winning teams we’ve grown accustomed to watching the last five years. Add Cauley-Stein to the mix and…
I like our playoff chances.
