10-31-2023, 10:31 AM
(10-31-2023, 05:38 AM)OutsiderFan Wrote: The sports world uses the phrase "statement win" a little too liberally. We need only look at the hype around the Colorado football team and what they have proven themselves to be, to see barely beating a mediocre team like 2023 TCU in the first game of season, is not really a statement win, as the entire mediasphere hyped it to be.
Last night's Warriors 130-102 smackdown of the Pelicans in New Orleans, with Klay Thompson and Jonathan Kuminga sitting out, was a real statement win by the W's. I saw the W's were leading by a few points late 2nd Quarter before going to bed. Then I wake up and see what happened and my attention was grabbed in a serious way.
Thompson and Kuminga can't play? No problem. We'll just plug rookies Brandin Podziemski and Trace Jackson-Davis into the rotation and watch them go 7-14 with 17 boards, 4 blocks, and a combined +26. Rookies and role players are suppose to be better at home and struggle on the road. That game in New Orleans was a hostile environment and the W's drubbed them. Ten players played at least 20 mins and they were all at least +6.
The Warriors had three primary objectives in the off-season:
- Develop a strong second unit from the outset of the season
- Get the defense back to a Top 10 level
- Improve team chemistry
Done, done, and done.
GP2 has to be the most unique player in the NBA. He's a 6-2 Guard who hounds the ball on the perimeter on defense, and then he plays like a big man on offense. If he can shoot 40% 3-pt FG, wow.
The Warriors have won three in a row on the road. They didn't do that all of last season. And last night, they beat a 2-0 Pelicans team by 28 points on the second night of a back to back with Thompson and Kuminga out, giving significant minutes to their #19 and #57 overall pick rookies. GP2 is 6'3" and had four rebounds in 20 minutes, Podziemski is 6'5" and had 8 rebounds in 23 minutes, fellow rookie TJD had 10 rebounds in 20 minutes. The second unit had 15 offensive rebounds, 40 rebounds overall. The first unit only had 24 rebounds.
The other goal was to reduce turnovers. They only had 14, which is Kerr's standing goal for the season, 14 per game. Chris Paul has been a superb addition, demanding near-greatness of the second team. Meanwhile, Poole's Wizards team is sinking, 1-2. Poole is averaging 4.0 turnovers per game.
Audaces fortuna iuvat