After last season, we knew the Golden State Warriors were good. Coming off of an NBA title, led by league MVP Stephen Curry, all was well in Oakland. They were able to avoid both the Spurs and the Clippers in the playoffs, and that surely helped. When they did reach the Finals, they faced a Cleveland Cavaliers team that was severely depleted by injuries, and Golden State was fully healthy, leading them to a series win and the team's first NBA championship since 1975. So, a detractor might say that the Warriors caught some breaks along the way. However, in the end, they were the ones lifting the championship trophy, and that is all that really matters. The team was young, talented, and coming off a dream season. Coming into the 2015-16 season, no one could take Golden State lightly, but I don't think anyone could have predicted the kind of start they have gotten off to so far.
Going into a game tonight against a very poor 2-11 Los Angeles Lakers team, the Warriors have a chance to win their 16th straight game to begin the season, something that has never been done before. Stephen Curry has been by far the best player in the league so far this season, and I think everyone not named Kobe Bryant expects the Warriors to win tonight and go to 16-0. In any sport other than football, it really isn't reasonable to look at the schedule and be able to predict each game because there are just too many games and teams and players are bound to have bad games here and there. At least, I think that is the case. What the Warriors have done out of the gate this year is making me give that a second thought though.
After tonight, the Warriors go to Phoenix to face a sneaky good Suns team, who have been led by a very formidable backcourt combo of Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight. I wouldn't be surprised if Phoenix handed Golden State their first loss of the season there. After that, they get a below average Sacramento Kings team at home, and then go to Utah to face an average to maybe slightly above-average Jazz team. With the ups and downs of the NBA, and the daily grind of an 82 game season, anything could happen, but you have to say that the Warriors are clearly better than all of those teams, and that brings me to the real question. Is this team good enough to challenge Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls team for the best single season record in the history of the NBA? I think the answer is yes.
I will not go into a soliloquy on Michael Jordan, because lord knows we get enough of that anywhere you talk about the sport of basketball. Let's just say that team that went 72-10 was really, really good. However, what the Warriors are in the midst of doing is literally changing the way the game of basketball is played at the highest level. While this shift did not begin with Golden State, they sure are a prime example of how the game has evolved over the past few decades. In the 1990's and into the new millennium, so many teams were built from the middle out. The goal was to find a big man to hold down the paint, and then surround him with players who could get him the ball. The Houston Rockets won titles with Hakeem Olajuwon as their centerpiece. The Lakers had Kobe Bryant, but they didn't become a dynasty until they added Shaquille O'Neal to the mix. The Spurs did everyone one better by having two great big men when they had David Robinson and Tim Duncan in the middle.
Somewhere in between now and then, teams began to focus less on the center position, and more on the wings. No more Michael Olowokandi or Kwame Brown or Greg Oden. Teams wanted guys who could score inside, but score from the perimeter as well. The bogged down, low tempo style of play became a thing of the past, and guys like John Wall, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Derrick Rose were being picked at the top of the draft. Blake Griffin and Anthony Davis have been first overall picks, and they are big men, but they are two guys who can do more than just stand in the paint and wait for someone to get them the ball. They might be big, but they are far more versatile than guys their size were 20 years ago.
You now need a strong perimeter game to win in the NBA, and that is why the Warriors are 15-0 right now. They won last year because of their outstanding perimeter players, and that is a large part of the reason they are winning this year as well. Curry is the centerpiece, but his supporting cast is extremely formidable. Klay Thompson, who by his lofty standards, is actually off to a pretty mediocre start can knock down shots from all over the court. Harrison Barnes plays his role perfectly. Andre Iguodala might be getting a bit older, but he fits perfectly as well. Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli do what they need to do in the paint, and Draymond Green has to be one of the most overlooked stars in the league. Obviously, it is easy to overlook someone who plays alongside the reigning MVP, but Green fills up the stat sheet night in and night out.
So, is making a run at 72 wins really possible for this team? They have been very fortunate to be able to avoid injuries, and that will surely play a role in whether or not they can get there. We have seen the San Antonio Spurs rest their players somewhat frequently in recent years in order to stay fresh for the playoffs, and the Cavaliers have said that they will try to do the same with their guys since they were so devastated by injuries last year. As of right now, the Warriors do not have that to worry about. The core of their team is young. The older players are all role players who do not play a ton of minutes each night anyway, so keeping them fresh is much easier than it is for other legitimate contenders who have older rosters.
The next thing you need to look at is just exactly how significant trying to break Chicago's record is to Golden State. While most of their players will not say anything publicly, you know that behind closed doors, these guys have to be thinking about it. What started as a few wins could now turn into the best stretch to open the season in league history. Questions are already being asked, and they will only be asked more and more if the wins keep piling up like this. As I said before, the NBA season is a long grind. What really matters is what happens in the postseason, and that is when teams need to be at their best. But that doesn't render everything that happens in the regular season meaningless. 72-10 is the best it has ever been, but records are made to be broken.
Golden State is as good as it gets right now in the NBA. Stephen Curry is following up his MVP season with another one that seems like it may be even better. When I first read this I thought it could not have been correct, but he has actually already surpassed his father in career three-pointers made. Dell Curry was surely not an MVP caliber player, but he was a very good shooter in his day. In 16 seasons, Dell hit 1,245 threes. Stephen has connected on 1,265 and this is only his seventh season in the league. That is unbelievable. And did I forget to mention that all of this has gone on without their head coach even on the bench? Steve Kerr led the team to a title last year, and after back surgeries following last season, he is still not fully recovered and no one knows exactly when he will return. That is unbelievable as well. The team lost its head coach after he announced he was taking a leave of absence soon before the season tipped off, and they have not missed a beat. Luke Walton has taken his place, and at only 35 years of age, he is only three years older than Leandro Barbosa, who is his backup point guard.
I have been asking the question to all of the basketball fans I know for a week or two now. Is 70 wins possible? While it is still far too early to tell, I have not heard anyone say no. Over an 82 game haul, things might get dull or boring, but having a team like this able to seemingly make a run at history like this is something that will drive up interest each and every night they play. Injuries are always the ever-looming equalizer, but barring that, I don't see why this team should not want to make a run at 72 wins. In the end, what you do in the regular season doesn't mean as much if you don't end the season with a championship, but if the Warriors were able to do what the Bulls did in breaking the wins record and winning a title, they could go down as one of the all-time greatest teams in the history of the sport, and that is a conversation anyone should love to be included in.
Daily Giants Update: The bye week worked out pretty much as well as we could have hoped. Dallas won, and I still don't think they are out of the hunt (which is pretty sad since they are 3-7). If they win every game from here on out, I think 9-7 is good enough to win the NFC East. They get Carolina on Thursday though, and the Panthers are 10-0. The only way spending Thanksgiving with a big plate of food and family could be any better is if we all got to watch the Cowboys lose as well. Speaking of Carolina, they are coming off a blowout win over the Redskins, which dropped Washington to 4-6. The Giants get the Redskins next Sunday, and having already beaten them once, a win on Sunday for the Giants would go a long way in trying to finally finish off Washington's season. The news is just as good in Philadelphia where the quarterback situation is a mess, the team is coming off an ugly loss to Tampa Bay, and I heard radio clips today from Philadelphia of fans going off on Chip Kelly and the team. Hopefully the implosion continues and we can all laugh while Chip Kelly and the Eagles sink.
Daily Rangers Update: The Rangers shut out the Predators last night, and Rick Nash has come alive in the past few games. Next up is a battle between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference, as the Canadiens visit Madison Square Garden tomorrow night. Montreal shut out the Rangers early in the season, so winning tomorrow would not only put the team alone atop the Eastern Conference, but it would be some nice revenge on the only team who has shut the Rangers out so far this season.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Still pretty much no news at all in the MLB offseason, but there are obviously discussions underway all over the league. The winter meetings are still a few weeks away, and that is usually the official beginning of the MLB offseason. Until then, I don't expect much news to come.
Daily NBA Update: Obviously, the Warriors go for history tonight, but aside from that, at the complete opposite end of the spectrum, the 76ers still have not won a game, and I really don't know why anyone would want to pay money to go see them play. They have a potential four picks in the first round in the upcoming draft, but until then, it is going to be painful to watch basketball in Philadelphia for quite a while.
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