As the new Warriors’ season begins this week it is pretty clear what the narrative is. It goes:
All the way baby! It’s all set. Pick up superstar Chris Paul, keep the Critical Core together and say hello to another NBA title.
In fact, what you really should be doing is taking a couple of lawn chairs down to Market Street to leave on the sidewalk as placeholders so you’ll have a seat for the Championship Parade next June.
To which I reply . . . er, I don’t think so.
It’s just math. Because the problem with going for broke every single year is that sooner or later you’re going to go broke.
And yes, we’ve all read enough “End of an Era” think pieces on the aging Warriors. And, to the delight of the loyal fanbase (and God bless ‘em) the Dubs continue to prove the doubters wrong.
But years ago there was an SF columnist who wrote every year that Joe Montana was going to retire. People would scoff, but as someone once said, “You know, sooner or later he’s going to be right.”
I feel like we have something like that happening. The changes to this year’s version of the Golden Statesmen have made them less youthful and shorter. Those are rarely aspirational goals in the NBA.
“Next year we’d like to be older and smaller,” said no general manager ever.
I’ve got my doubts, ranging to from hard numbers to a couple of far-fetched conspiracy theories that should probably be ignored — unless it turns out one of them might be true.
(Also, this is written before the Warriors lid lifter this week. If Steph Curry goes for 50, feel free to send “I told you so’s.”)
Anyhow, here are some thoughts, by category.
AGE: Duh. But you have throw it out there. Caught up in the feel-good fog of Steph and the supporting cast, we tend to forget the numbers. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are 33 (each with some injury history. And Thompson’s were really serious.)
Steph is 35 and last season had two concerning injuries, one to his knee and one to his shoulder, that cost him games. It’s a trend. He missed 18 games the year before. Getting older, it turns out, is overrated.
And Paul is a remarkable 38. That’s a year younger than LeBron James, who enters the season as the oldest player in the NBA. Paul can play at a high level, but he’s got an extensive injury history. And unfortunately they’ve come in the playoffs pretty regularly.
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JORDAN POOLE PART II: Oh geez, here we go. Back to the Draymond punch? More analysis of team chemistry?. Do we really have to put Poole on the couch and go through this again?
I think we do. Stepping back and looking at this from a distance, it is an important pivot point for the franchise.
It was the moment the team gave up on the mercurial Poole and pushed the chips into the pot for Green. It was a clear choice.
They cut ties with Poole, who they’ve just given a lucrative extension, and traded him to the Wizards last June, along with some other assets, to get Paul.
And then, just days later, the team gave Green the four-year, $100 million contract he wanted.
It doesn’t get much clearer than that.
The go-for-broke crowd cheered. Keeping the band together for another national tour.
And let’s be clear. It seems like Poole can be an enormous, entitled pain in the butt. He’s already got his new Washington teammates complaining about his me-first shot selection.
Here’s a viral clip of Deni Avdija standing wide open, waving for the ball, while Poole takes a contested, fall-back three. (Which he made.) As you can see Avdija then confronts Poole on the bench, who brushes him off.
That sounds like the Poole who so annoyed the Warriors’ vets. Here’s Andre Iguodala on J. J. Redick’s podcast talking candidly about Poole. It’s worth a listen. At one point he says, “If you fall down on purpose one more time and don’t play defense . . . “
But Iguodala is even-handed. As he says, Poole was the second-leading scorer on the team. He was a big part of the last championship. He got a big contract. Can you blame him for thinking he ought to have some freedom on the court?
Poole talks about how he learned from the best, but all he seems to have picked up from Curry is the let-it-fly mentality. What he could really use is Curry’s generous interactions with teammates and Steph’s knack for saying and doing the right thing.
But part of me thinks that’s what coaching is for. Was Poole really a lost cause? He couldn’t have been saved?
I just wonder if the team doesn’t miss his 20+ points a game. (And remember, Poole played EVERY game, all year.)
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CHRIS PAUL: Another well-plowed furrow of discussion. Can he play with Steph? Will he come off the bench? Is he the missing piece?
No idea.
What I would say is the game changes when Paul comes in. There’s a lot less of Steph and a lot more of Paul as “Point God.” He runs things, directs traffic and barks at slackers.
That’s fine. And maybe that’s what the team wanted. But this is a core group that is very specific and set in their ways. They expect things to be done a certain way. It’s something to watch.
THE WEST: There are a thousand prediction takes on how the NBA season is going to play out. This time of year it is all about predicting the future.
But they pretty much agree on one point. The West is packed with talent.
Denver won it last season and the height-challenged Warriors had no answer for MVP big man, Nikola Jokic.
The Lakers, still led by LeBron, have actually upgraded their roster.
Phoenix has retooled, including adding Kevin Durant.
The Clippers are looking for that full healthy season from Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. And may add James Harden.
The Sacramento Kings, young and upcoming, were a surprisingly pesky opponent in a seven-game playoff series last year and have only improved.
And there are others. It’s not insurmountable. And maybe Jonathan (This is the year, really) Kuminga finally puts together an All-Star season.
The Warriors have done it before. They were basically a .500 team for much of last season, then turned on a little playoff magic before faltering. It can be done.
I’m just saying, for now better leave the lawn chairs in the garage.
Contact C.W. Nevius at cwnevius@gmail.com. Twitter:
All you say is true and logical. Basketball success usually follows the taller teams who can put more people closer to that 10 foot rim. And most of this years contenders have gathered more tall players together to stand taller over our steady, noble, experienced Champions. And in the end of a long, harrowing season through unknown changes only one team will emerge as the crown bearer, the cup holder. That’s life in the Big City, some say. Others tartly reply it’s winner take all. Ok.
Maybe my favorite Warriors won’t come out on top this year. If all I care about is who gets the trophy or all the credit at the end, maybe I’d be better served by waiting to just watch the playoff finals. However, as our endearing and favorite baller bard keeps telling us, it’s the journey that’s the thing that leads to the destination. And I’m most into that. I’ve loved watching this group grow from draft board possibles, through hit and miss choices, into improbable contenders, then world class icons and now tested and weathered veteran champions held together by a shared history that shines often so brightly through their eyes when they play that we can all see it happen again. And we cheer again and walk tall again. Often, not always. And that’s what this season means to me. God willing, I’ll watch every game and exult and spit and worry and lose sleep. I’ll read and talk and follow and try to ESP the team to be their better selves.
We’ll see who gets the Trophy at season’s end. But I already feel a winner. Our Warriors, my Warriors, are playing again.