“It’s not only too soon, it's blasphemous what you just said" – Stephen A. Smith goes off on Jalen Rose, says Golden State Warriors defense won't hold them back from winning title
The Golden State Warriors are fresh off an NBA title, but many believe that they might not be the same team that they were a season ago. Although the season has just started, the Warriors do have certain things that they're going to need to work on.
Unfortunately for them, their defense has not been the same elite setup that we have seen over the past five to seven years. Not only were Golden State one of the best on the offensive sides in league history, but their defense was also able to do more than enough to get stops at high levels before.
They did decide to trade some interesting pieces a year ago, but they also added a few others, JaMychal Green and Donte DiVincenzo.
The Warriors were hopeful of them stepping and doing enough so they didn't miss the players that they lost. At the moment, that doesn't look like that's going to be the case.
On ESPN NBA Countdown's Wednesday show, Mike Greenberg, Jalen Rose, and Stephen A. Smith discussed what could hold the Warriors back this season.
Mike Greenberg questioned whether it was too soon to predict that defense could prevent the Warriors from repeating as champions. Jalen Rose said it was not and explained why the Warriors could struggle.
"It's not too soon," Rose said. "We got to see Klay Thompson play back at that elite level. He's playing limited minutes and coming back from a couple of major injuries and he's the catalyst on their perimeter defense... They're not the same defensive team they were... It ain't too soon."
Stephen A. was quick to respond.
"It’s not only too soon, it's blasphemous what you just said. I can't believe it. We're talking about the reigning, defending NBA champions and four games in you're going to talk like this?... Come on Jalen, you got to be crazy... There's nothing to be worried about."
Mike Greenberg: "If I said defense is going to prevent [the Warriors] from repeating, too soon?"
Jalen Rose: "It's not too soon."
Stephen A: "What?! What?!"
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Can the Golden State Warriors win the title this season?
The Golden State Warriors have only played four games this season and although their defense hasn't played well, it's not a big enough sample size to worry about this team.
As we all know from years past, they're going to do everything they can to make sure that they can defend at a high level, while shooting the basketball at one of the best levels the league has ever seen.
The loss of Gary Payton might come back to hurt them in the long run, but for right now, the Golden State Warriors should be able to find the guys who can do the job.
It's not going to be an easy task for them to continue doing what they were able to do throughout the past few years with their new additions at the moment, but once the season truly gets going, they should figure it out sooner rather than later.
They currently sit at 2-2 and will take on the Miami Heat on Thursday night. This should be one of the better games of the week considering that Miami are also one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference. Perhaps this is a potential match-up in the NBA Finals if both teams play to their potential.