Post by ducksruleall51 on Aug 19, 2014 23:12:10 GMT
A lot of discussion has been going on about whether or not the Golden State Warriors are legit. This article will discuss what my feelings are about the team and whether or not I agree with the criticism.
This team has been criticized for not having a premier scorer on the team. This statement is true. Not a single player on this team has scored 30 or more points in a game. Some of the premier teams in the league have players who are averaging more than 30 points per game, while this team has not had a single player even hit 30. After 16 games, this team has had 6 different leading scorers. The question though is, “Can this style of play actually work?” As GM of this team, my honest opinion is NO. I truly believe that this style of team can be the number 1 seed in the West, but from what I have noticed in most sim league and in the NBA in general. You need a premier player/scorer to lead your team in the playoffs.
Here is a look at the leading scorer for the Warriors for each game this season:
1. TJ Ford - 26
2. TJ Ford – 20
3. Anthony Randolph – 29
4. Andrew Bynum – 23
5. Tyreke Evans – 22
6. Andrew Bynum – 18
7. Andrew Bynum – 22
8. Harry Giles/Andrew Bynum – 20
9. Andrew Bynum – 17
10. Andrew Bynum – 24
11. Ben McLemore – 28
12. Andrew Bynum – 22
13. Tyreke Evans – 16
14. Andrew Bynum – 26
15. Anthony Randolph – 23
16. Andrew Bynum – 22
The next form of criticism that this team has received is that no team has ever done this well with such a bad PG. I also agree with this criticism. TJ Ford is old, short, not very good, and probably is going to retire after this year. In fact, I was actually kind of upset when he signed the LLE, because I was hoping to get someone a little better. The only compliment that I was ready to give him at the beginning of this season, and the only reason I gave him the starting job is because he has a B handling rating, which is better than Russell Westbrook and Damian Lillard, so I thought why not. After these 16 games, though, I have realized that his B- defense rating must be perfectly designed to fit this team. He must be good enough at perimeter defense to handle the shooting and he is using the great defensive big men on this team to keep the PGs he is facing from driving.
Here are some of the top matchups in the West that he has faced in the league that he has performed great against:
Day 2 vs Russell Westbrook allowed 13 points
Day 7 vs Derrick Rose allowed 25 points
Day 10 vs Chris Paul allowed 19 points
Day 20 vs Damian Lillard allowed 14 points
Day 21 vs Damian Lillard allowed 7 points
So far I have discussed why I don’t think my team can win the Finals this year, but now I will show you my analysis of my team grade wise. More than likely I will be writing another article grading the rest of the west in more detail.
Golden State Warriors
C: Andrew Bynum / Harry Giles Starter Grade: A- / Backup Grade: B-
PF: Anthony Randolph / Thaddeus Young Starter Grade: A- / Backup Grade: C
SF: Ben McLemore/ Marvin Bagley Starter Grade: B / Backup Grade: B-
SG: Courtney Lee / Tyreke Evans Starter Grade: B / Backup Grade: B-
PG: TJ Ford / Emmanuel Mudiay Starter Grade: C- / Backup Grade: C
While this team is lacking in Elite talent, they make up for it with their depth. At SG and SF when Tyreke and Bagley come into the game my team actually gets better at scoring.
My prediction for the rest of this season will depend on how the West shakes up. I predict that the Warriors will be the 1 seed. The playoff prediction, though, is where there are some variables. I believe that of the top 4 teams in the West the Grizzlies are the only team that will beat the Warriors in the playoffs. The problem though is that I believe that the Timberwolves and Lakers can beat the Grizzlies but not the Warriors. So if the Lakers and Timberwolves get the 2 and 3 seed with Warriors and Grizzlies as the 1 and 4, then I believe that the Warriors will lose in the semis. But if the Grizzlies get either the 2 or 3 seed, then I believe that the Warriors will make the finals and lose there.
We will see if the Warriors can keep up what they are doing. I strongly believe that they will continue to dominate in the regular season, but will fall in the playoffs unless they make some form of a big move to change their team up a bit.
