The Golden State Warriors have created history with 16-0, but is that the best they can do?
The Golden State Warriors can certainly make it a repeat of titlesWith a 111-77 blowout of the hapless Los Angeles Lakers, the Golden State Warriors waltz into history winning their 16th straight game to start the season. The Warriors followed their tried and true blueprint to wins this year, summed up in one simple statement: blow the doors off the other team.This marked their 11th win in 16 games by more than double digits, and with a 19 point lead at the end of the first quarter, there was never any doubt that we would be witnessing history on this night. The Warriors were able to get contributions from up and down the roster, as it seemed that anyone interim coach Luke Walton put in the game came up roses. The only Warriors who had a minus rating in plus/minus were the subs who played the fourth quarter, when pace slowed down and the game turned into a glorified pick-up game.Playing their 5th game in seven nights, Golden State showed no ill effects of travel and tired legs, playing surprisingly crisp basketball, complete with only eight turnovers and a defense that allowed very little open room for which the Lakers to run an offense.Granted this is a Lakers team that can barely get out of their own way, but to come out and win the first and third quarters by a combined score of 65-28 showed the Warriors weren’t going to mess with history.After watching all or parts of their last five games, I want to dive into just what makes this Warriors team so awesome this year. A perfect blend of small and big ball, offense and defense, and joy and execution that can draw any observer in.
#1 Passing
Plain and simple, the Warriors are passing fiends. They have used the space and pace direction the league has taken in the last four or five years, put multiple unselfish, high IQ players on the court and pushed the pace while allowing these guys to have free reign with which to express themselves.
Now while most basketball players love to express themselves with one-on-one scoring exploits, players such as Draymond Green, Stephen Curry, Andre Iguodala, and the like love doing this by setting up their fellow teammates for wide open threes, layups, and dunks.
It becomes readily apparent that the Warriors’ passing is something seen rarely, because they just get open shot after open shot after open shot. Most teams will pass the ball around and look to get one shot that is pretty open, but the Warriors chase the wide open shot, the one where there is absolutely nothing a defense can do to contest it.
This was never more apparent than against the Los Angeles Clippers and Chicago Bulls this past week, as the Warriors found themselves in a tight game late in the fourth quarter, needing a few shots to put them over the top.
Their record shows that they did, but how they got there, on eerily similar plays is what has the rest of the league grasping for ideas with which how to stop this juggernaut. In both games, they started the penultimate action of the possession by having a player breakdown the defense with a drive down the middle of the key, sucking the defense in and beginning the sequence of death passes.
From here the driver, kicked it to a guy in the corner, who followed it up with a pass to a player on the wing. With the defense now scrambling, the Warriors and everyone watching knew what was coming next. In the Clippers game, it was a pass back to the guy in the corner, in the Bulls game a pass to a player on the opposite wing, but in both instances, it resulted in a wide open three for Harrison Barnes and he did what every Warrior seems to do with wide open threes these days. He drained it.
At this stage of the season, Warriors are the clear leaders in assists per game, dishing out 29.6 per game, with the next closest team the Atlanta Hawks at 26.2. No doubt, they have the guys who can make the shots when the passes come, but they just consistently work so hard to get the wide open shot, it is going to surprise me if this number drops with any significance.
Take this stat for example, in their game against the Toronto Raptors last week, the Warriors assisted on 14 of their first 18 baskets. These guys just want easy shots and will work tirelessly until they get one. The best part about these numbers is they don’t do them with a big assists guy, but with everyone in their nine-man rotation, except rock hand center Festus Ezeli and instant bench offense Leandro Barbosa who is averaging at least two assists a game. This is an equal opportunity group that is more worried about getting the good shot than who actually sets it up, and it is a joy to watch.