First week of the season for the “new” Golden State Warriors is in the books and a lot can be examined.
The dismantling of the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night (yah, I know these aren’t your grandmother’s Lakers…but still satisfying, right?)
A back-forth war lost between the Los Angeles Clippers on national television.
An absolute route of the previously undefeated Philadelphia 76ers on the road.
But, we are only 4 games into a long, long season.
So, what can we really take from just a few games?
WHAT WE KNOW
1: No problem meshing Andre Iguodala with the core stars
After a “quiet” 3 games of quality passing and ball-handling, Iguodala erupted in Philadelphia for 32 points and seven 3-pointers.
Iguodala had already grabbed the attention of the home faithful with his jaw-dropping assists to Lee and Curry on opening night.
This game, however, showcased all the skills that had been advertised when the Warriors acquired him during the off-season.
Running, dribbling, passing and scoring were all on stage as the Warriors ran the Sixers off their own court.
But, what’s interesting to note so far, is that WITH the addition of the Iguodala the Warriors are leading the league in assists at 29 per game.
AND both Curry & Iguodala are leading their squad with this most crucial “team-oriented” stat at 9.8/5.8 assists per game, respectively.
2: No problem with court spacing between Stephen Curry & David Lee
There was some concern that Lee’s return to the court (following his hip flexor injury) could ruin the court spacing and offensive flow for Curry (and Klay Thompson) that was so fluid in last years playoffs.
That hasn’t materialized in the first 4 games.
Lee is doing exactly what he needs to do.
Post low and suck the defense in giving the “Splash Brothers” all the room they need to kill from the outside.
It may be a small sample size, but so far Lee is third in team points at 19.8 per game and first in rebounds at 8 per game.
Curry and Thompson?
They’re doing just fine by leading the team at slightly more than 22 points per game each.
Lee seems very aware about this role as discussed in the recent Rob Mahoney Sports Illustrated article.
“The NBA is all about spacing,” Lee said. “It’s all about reading defenses and taking what the defense gives you. I’ve noticed that as Steph and Klay have really made their mark as elite shooters in the league, it’s changed the whole spacing of when I have post-ups and when I set pick-and-rolls. There are certain things that a defense can do when there are non-shooters out there that they can’t even think of doing when Steph and Klay are out there. It’s really a step and a half difference in how much help [the defense] can give, and that opens me up.”
3: Andrew Bogut looks healthy and effective
The team signed the “big Aussie” to an extension right before the start of the season and so far they’ve looked awfully smart for doing so.
Leading the team in blocks and second in rebounds only tells part of the story.
Bogut looks fresh, full of energy and very comfortable in being the “last line of defense”.
He’s getting down the court, mixing it up down low to alter opponents shots and making it easy to see why the Warriors are currently third in the league in defense.
WHAT WE DON’T KNOW
1: How seriously injured is Harrison Barnes?
Barnes has yet to play a regular season game and has had his first projected minutes pushed back several times.
This is not uber serious, yet.
But, one has to wonder how injured is Barnes?
Is this just extra pre-caution or something that could possibly linger deep into the season.
Barnes is going to be an integral part of an already questionable bench.
Let’s hope this question is put to rest by the end of this current road trip.
2: How effective is the bench?
The good news is that the Warrior starters have been so effective that the bench has had plenty of minutes in “garbage time” situations to get their feet wet.
The bad news is when they’ve been in, they’ve struggled to generate offense or keep substantial leads.
I may be nit-picking, but sooner or later the second unit is going to be summoned to keep the team humming in a close game.
Marreese Speights is slowly establishing his mid-range shot and Draymond Green continues to add some much needed energy and rebounds to the second squad.
When Barnes returns this will certainly help, but who else off the bench is going to step up when needed most?
3: Are the Los Angeles Clippers our biggest threat and rival?
The Clippers gave the Warriors their only loss in the first week as well as knocking of the perennial off-season favorite Houston Rockets.
It’s a bit early to determine who the long-term powerhouses in the West will be.
But, judging from the atmosphere and physical play in Los Angeles, the Clippers and Warriors don’t like each other too much.
There’s a good chance these two may meet again in the playoffs.
It will be quite interesting to see where they are and what happens when they next meet in Oakland on Christmas day.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
