The Golden State Warriors, Mad and Happy?

November 28, 2015

There was too much chatter and blabbing about how the Golden State Warriors dodged a lot of bullets en route to the NBA championship last year. It was either that they missed playing this team or that team, or they played injury-riddled teams. It has appeared that not only did that make them upset, but it also motivated them to repeat the task. On the contrary, nobody thought they were this pissed and inspired to lay barren waste of the opponents at the beginning of the year. All of their statistics are up; points, assists, and defensive stops. Now what? Do they have to wait until they play San Antonio, Oklahoma City, and Cleveland to get some respect from the naysayers?

Sure, Stephen Curry is scoring like a madman and dishing out crazy passes like Pistol Pete, but it's the upside improvement of the supporting cast that is amazing. Draymond Green has established himself as an all-around performer who is probably one of the top ten players in the league. Harrison Barnes is ascending as well, getting more consistent, and seems to be more aggressive around the rim. Andrew Bogut lost twenty pounds and looks like he wants to keep his starting job in front of Festus Ezeili, who is developing an offensive game that is hard to deny. Of course, you have Klay Thompson, the perfect complement to Curry, who can score from anywhere on the court, and Andre Iguodala, the super sub who does everything.

All of this magic is guided by the interim coach Luke Walton, with Steve Kerr cell phoning inputs from his Lazy Boy recliner while he mends back surgery. All things are clicking right now for the Warriors, with contagious winning fever spreading throughout the team and organization. Some games have been so lopsided that even the twelfth man gets significant minutes in the fourth quarter. This will pay off big time when the injury bug comes around or when rest is sorely needed in the grueling late part of the season.

This well-oiled machine will eventually lose after going 17 and 0 to start the season, which can come any night in any town. Most likely, it will come when they have been on the road and have to play back-to-back games. Every team will measure themselves against the Warriors and try to get physical on Curry. The one thing that would worry any Warrior fan is that a second-team guard on a bad team is out to hack Curry with authority. If that never happens, Curry is still the league MVP again this year by unanimous decision. Enjoy the ride, Warrior fans, because this is as good as it gets!!