Few members of the Golden State Warriors know what it’s like to play with opponents gunning for them. Andre Iguodala and Stephen Curry have some experience playing with Team USA, but just Jermaine O’Neal has ever played for a NBA team that reached at least 50 wins.
Most of the Warriors roster got their first playoff experience just last season. No one outside O’Neal has ever been to the Conference Finals. Iguodala has a better grasp than most of the team’s main contributors of what’s it’s like to be the hunted, rather than the hunter, having been a member of the Denver Nuggets team that the Warriors upset in last season’s playoffs.
From Marcus Thompson:
Andre Iguodala, the veteran of NBA playoff battles and Olympic gold medal games, knows the challenges that lie ahead for the Warriors. He also knows his new teammates won’t truly be ready until they experience taking opponent’s best shot.
“It’s something you’ve got to experience, getting hit in the mouth,” Iguodala said.
When the hits come, how will the Warriors respond? Is this group ready for the pressure that comes with being among the NBA’s hunted? Can they find the extra toughness and consistency required of a true contender? Aside from health, those are the primary questions for the Warriors, who kick off the season Wednesday against the visiting Lakers.
Andrew Bogut, David Lee and Stephen Curry all made their post-season debuts in that Nuggets series. While they don’t have experience playing the favorites, they have spent quite a bit of time playing for bottom feeders in their 20 combined NBA seasons:
Lee, entering his ninth season in the league, knows exactly the mentality his team faces this season since it’s the one he’s had to adopt personally. Lee has spent the last three seasons with Golden State taking down the league’s better power forwards — repeatedly outplaying the likes of Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Love.
Lee went at those big names with a point to prove so he knows the zeal with which underdogs attack. He knows how motivated opponents seize every opportunity to dethrone.
“In the past,” Lee said, “you could see teams almost playing somewhat disrespectful against us, like they didn’t think we had a chance to beat them. Now I think they’ll come in giving the best effort for different reasons. … The easy answer is for us to ramp it up some.”
How will this Warriors team respond with similar targets now on their respective backs? They responded well when challenged last season, but this a lot to ask of a young roster going through a significant amount of turnover. They’re still working to find the necessary chemistry.
If this team is really ready to compete for a championship, we’ll see it in the way they respond to being knocked down by teams looking to prove a point. No one’s going easy on them anymore, because the Warriors have arrived.
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