Game Thread GAME# 34: WARRIORS @ BLAZERS - MARCH 3, 2021 - WEDNESDAY, 7:00 PM, ESPN & NBCSNW

[stampedehero]

Warriors vs. Trail Blazers - Box Score - March 3, 2021 - ESPN

 

[kjironman1]

Maybe Lillard needs to

After his clutch daggers?

That way he might get voted into a starting role for the All Star game.
Might get a few more MVP votes as well?

 

[tlongII]

We won. That's all I care about at this point.

 

[handiman]

Since the Warriors have had 4 all-stars in their prime (two MVPs) and a finals MVP on one roster, I would like to pick up Bob Myers.

If Kerr couldn't kick ass with that, he should be embarrassed. He hasn't done much of anything with only 1-2 all-stars.

Not sure I buy that narrative. From a star perspective, this year's iteration is only down Klay Thompson from their first title run. (Green has slowed down some, but Curry is as good as ever.) The real difference is how thin the roster is now, without guys like Iggy-Livingston-West-Bogut. They had veterans filling roles to near perfection, whereas now they have a lot of young guys and cast-offs and are only a Curry-injury removed from being the worst team in the league.

That's not a coaching issue, it's a personnel issue. Which makes it a bit ironic that you see Meyers as the more valuable element than Kerr.

 

[Tince]

Not sure I buy that narrative. From a star perspective, this year's iteration is only down Klay Thompson from their first title run. (Green has slowed down some, but Curry is as good as ever.) The real difference is how thin the roster is now, without guys like Iggy-Livingston-West-Bogut. They had veterans filling roles to near perfection, whereas now they have a lot of young guys and cast-offs and are only a Curry-injury removed from being the worst team in the league.

That's not a coaching issue, it's a personnel issue. Which makes it a bit ironic that you see Meyers as the more valuable element than Kerr.

Myers built up to a roster with 4 all-stars in their prime (two MVPs) and a finals MVP. This allowed them to reach the finals 4 times in a row and win 3 titles. To sustain a roster with 3 all-stars and a finals MVP for 4 years in today's NBA is amazing.

If we had that made the run and then dipped back down to where the Warriors are now, that would be massive success in my eyes. I don't expect coaches/GM's to produce a championship team for 10 straight seasons, do you? Heck, I'd be happy with one season anywhere closer to the Warriors talent during that run!

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

I don't know, Rodney passed the ball quite a few times tonight.

Interesting that Rodney was in at the end of the game; haven't seen that much.

 

[wizenheimer]

Not sure I buy that narrative. From a star perspective, this year's iteration is only down Klay Thompson from their first title run. (Green has slowed down some, but Curry is as good as ever.) The real difference is how thin the roster is now, without guys like Iggy-Livingston-West-Bogut. They had veterans filling roles to near perfection, whereas now they have a lot of young guys and cast-offs and are only a Curry-injury removed from being the worst team in the league.

That's not a coaching issue, it's a personnel issue. Which makes it a bit ironic that you see Meyers as the more valuable element than Kerr.

a very underrated component of those Warrior championship teams is that they had Curry and Klay signed to contracts at a fraction of true market value:

Curry:



and Klay:



they won 2 titles with Curry being paid a third of his value, and all three titles they won were with Thompson being paid half of his value (actually, Klay was paid 3M the year they won their first championship). That's how they were able to assemble those nearly perfect complimentary rosters and benches. It's also how they were able to create the space to sign Durant

The warriors had another major financial advantage for their rings: they were a big market team with a local TV contract bringing in several times the revenue of Portland's TV contract. It gave them a margin to lean on when staring at luxury tax bills

And of course, the Warriors caught lightning in a bottle several times: at the dawn of the NBA's 'everything-depends-on-the-three-ball' age, the Warriors had Curry shooting from another dimension. the Warriors landed one of the most impactful 2nd round picks of the modern era drafting by Draymond Green, who was the perfect complement to the Splash Brothers. And they had a one year window of cap-space when Durant was a free agent

Blazers have had none of those advantages. Dame's 2nd and 3rd contracts have been max & super-max. And Olshey has paid CJ like a perennial all-star. Portland is a small-market team with a small-market local TV contract. Portland can't sign elite free agents and they have been unable to draft a 2nd all-star level player even though the opportunities have been there.

but now the Warriors have the Blazer problem: they will be paying their starting back court over 80 million/year. Hard to assemble any complementary roster or add another top player with that kind of salary commitment. The difference is the Warrior back court has won 3 three NBA championships and 5 western conference championships

 

[wizenheimer]

just in case you think the Warriors were not paying attention to Dame last night:

*********************************************************************

just in case you think the game didn't mean a lot to Portland, watch the reaction of the Blazer bench when Dame takes the charge:



**********************************************************************

and, is anybody a lip-reader?

 

[Wizard Mentor]

From the warriors realgm boards.

Re: Game 36 : Golden State Warriors (19-16) @ Portland Trail Blazers (19-14) - 10:00 PM

• Quote

Post#101 » by 5paceman » Today 9:28 am

azwfan wrote:Hmm... maybe i don't know my rules, but Lillard was still moving while Green was in the air. How could he have been set before upward shooting motion?


100%. A player needs to have two feet on the floor in legal guarding position before the offensive player is already in the air gliding to the hoop. Dray was fully off the floor in shooting motion when Lillard was sliding in trying to get his second foot on the floor. Very bad night from the refs, Zarba is usually better. There were several calls just completely and utterly wrong, embarrassing calls. Like the one where Kanter fouled Wise twice and got the and1, or the JTA Carmelo phantom one on the screen with a couple minutes left where Melo gives him a little shove and draws a foul. Like what. Blazers made it the ugly game it was with constant bitching to the refs. Like the whole team being up arms over that Curry foul to end a quarter. And I'd just like to add that Mike Breen should never give his opinion on basketball. Stick to promoting the espn Gobert covid special and Gargling Harden like he did the game before; call the game, don't try to analyze it.

It says a lot that they get REVIEWS wrong. You hate to see a game decided by refs, but when they have the chance to make it right and still fail, that makes me think reviews need to be scrapped completely. Even when they bring on the head of officiating to give his opinion, it's half the time different than the decision made. This shouldn't be the case. Maybe the league needs challenge challenges. Zarba is an older ref these days, a playoff ref, he has to be better.

 

[Natebishop3]

From the warriors realgm boards.

Re: Game 36 : Golden State Warriors (19-16) @ Portland Trail Blazers (19-14) - 10:00 PM

• Quote

Post#101 » by 5paceman » Today 9:28 am

azwfan wrote:Hmm... maybe i don't know my rules, but Lillard was still moving while Green was in the air. How could he have been set before upward shooting motion?


100%. A player needs to have two feet on the floor in legal guarding position before the offensive player is already in the air gliding to the hoop. Dray was fully off the floor in shooting motion when Lillard was sliding in trying to get his second foot on the floor. Very bad night from the refs, Zarba is usually better. There were several calls just completely and utterly wrong, embarrassing calls. Like the one where Kanter fouled Wise twice and got the and1, or the JTA Carmelo phantom one on the screen with a couple minutes left where Melo gives him a little shove and draws a foul. Like what. Blazers made it the ugly game it was with constant bitching to the refs. Like the whole team being up arms over that Curry foul to end a quarter. And I'd just like to add that Mike Breen should never give his opinion on basketball. Stick to promoting the espn Gobert covid special and Gargling Harden like he did the game before; call the game, don't try to analyze it.

It says a lot that they get REVIEWS wrong. You hate to see a game decided by refs, but when they have the chance to make it right and still fail, that makes me think reviews need to be scrapped completely. Even when they bring on the head of officiating to give his opinion, it's half the time different than the decision made. This shouldn't be the case. Maybe the league needs challenge challenges. Zarba is an older ref these days, a playoff ref, he has to be better.

This is just wrong. Nothing in the rules says your feet have to be set. It's a myth. God I love the irony of Warriors fans bitching about the refs. I really hope their team sucks for the next 10 years.

 

[HolyBackboard]

Uh oh... really bad news: We lost the all-important assist battle 27-15.

Nevermind, I'm no longer happy with this win!

I'm happy we won. At the end of the day, it's all that counts.

But we can't continue to disregard Portland's lack of movement on the offensive end of the floor. A slightly better team beats us tonight. I know that's not who the opponent was, but if we're projecting into the postseason, we'll be facing a much better team than Golden State in Round 1.

These quick, contested 3's are going to send us home early if we don't start valuing the possession more. 14 of 49 is atrocious from downtown. I understand Stotts wanted more 3-pointers attempted this year, but there's a huge difference between a 3 off of dribble penetration and a pull-up 3's in transition with a defender in the face.

Dame saved us again, and it was exhilarating, but our shot selection must improve.

 

[Tince]

I'm happy we won. At the end of the day, it's all that counts.

But we can't continue to disregard Portland's lack of movement on the offensive end of the floor. A slightly better team beats us tonight.

I'm happy we won as well! If there were a correlation between assists and winning, I would be much more concerned about this ball movement thing, but there is not. I do agree it's more enjoyable to watch teams move the ball though.

I agree a slightly better team would be us tonight. We were underdogs for a reason, so the fact we won is fantastic, and I would expect a better team than Golden St to beat us because they would have more talent than us! That's how it should be.

 

[maxiep]

Effing CP3 and the Suns are playing great ball right now... I loathe him

The worst part is we softened up the Warriors for them. Kerr is sitting Curry and Green tonight against the Suns. Any chance they stood just went out the window.

 

[maxiep]

This is the best I have seen Melo play in a long time. He looks to be in excellent shape too.

I wonder if he ever thinks what could have been if he would have had a player like Dame when he was in his prime.

 

[maxiep]

I'm happy we won. At the end of the day, it's all that counts.

But we can't continue to disregard Portland's lack of movement on the offensive end of the floor. A slightly better team beats us tonight. I know that's not who the opponent was, but if we're projecting into the postseason, we'll be facing a much better team than Golden State in Round 1.

These quick, contested 3's are going to send us home early if we don't start valuing the possession more. 14 of 49 is atrocious from downtown. I understand Stotts wanted more 3-pointers attempted this year, but there's a huge difference between a 3 off of dribble penetration and a pull-up 3's in transition with a defender in the face.

Dame saved us again, and it was exhilarating, but our shot selection must improve.

I was watching our movement (or lack thereof) all night tonight. I think this team is just SPENT. No one looked like they had any energy tonight. The NBA can be a grind even when you're healthy. When you're messing with rotations, playing players out of position, playing guys an addition 5-8 minutes per night, going deeper into your bench (meaning usually there's less of a pad for your starters), it all takes a toll.

I bet this team can't wait for the All Star Break. They deserve it. I'm so impressed with their grit.

 

[handiman]

Myers built up to a roster with 4 all-stars in their prime (two MVPs) and a finals MVP. This allowed them to reach the finals 4 times in a row and win 3 titles. To sustain a roster with 3 all-stars and a finals MVP for 4 years in today's NBA is amazing.

If we had that made the run and then dipped back down to where the Warriors are now, that would be massive success in my eyes. I don't expect coaches/GM's to produce a championship team for 10 straight seasons, do you? Heck, I'd be happy with one season anywhere closer to the Warriors talent during that run!

I don't count Durant, as that was a fluke with the huge salary cap spike and an MVP level player wanting out at the perfect time. Any defending champ with the cap space likely would have landed him that summer. GS didn't do anything special.

Thus we're left with the core of Curry-Green-Thompson that Myers gets credited for, which brings me back to the point that Klay is the only star component missing from their first championship run. That's a roster issue. Even with a healthy Klay this year, I doubt GS would be anywhere near "championship favorites" status.

a very underrated component of those Warrior championship teams is that they had Curry and Klay signed to contracts at a fraction of true market value:

True, Curry's ankle problems may well be the key to the Warriors dynasty. Who knew, "break a leg!" is a positive, after all.

 

[Tince]

I don't count Durant, as that was a fluke with the huge salary cap spike and an MVP level player wanting out at the perfect time. Any defending champ with the cap space likely would have landed him that summer. GS didn't do anything special.

Thus we're left with the core of Curry-Green-Thompson that Myers gets credited for, which brings me back to the point that Klay is the only star component missing from their first championship run. That's a roster issue. Even with a healthy Klay this year, I doubt GS would be anywhere near "championship favorites" status.

I'm not following your point. If you don't want to credit Myers with Durant, fine (though an MVP in his prime is a big deal). Still a big difference between 3 all-stars, plus Iggy (finals MVP), and Bogat vs what we put together here, no?

 

[handiman]

I'm not following your point. If you don't want to credit Myers with Durant, fine (though an MVP in his prime is a big deal). Still a big difference between 3 all-stars, plus Iggy (finals MVP), and Bogat vs what we put together here, no?

The point is, going back to:

http://www.sportstwo.com/posts/5111604/

Kerr's coaching is not the reason this year's Warriors team is far from the pre-Durant level, as you were indicating. Myers has given him a supporting roster that's a shell of what it used to be.

You're basically saying Meyers is the driving force, not Kerr, and I'm saying Meyers has failed with the current roster. Thus the irony.

 

[Tince]

The point is, going back to:

http://www.sportstwo.com/posts/5111604/

Kerr's coaching is not the reason this year's Warriors team is far from the pre-Durant level, as you were indicating. Myers has given him a supporting roster that's a shell of what it used to be.

You're basically saying Meyers is the driving force, not Kerr, and I'm saying Meyers has failed with the current roster. Thus the irony.

I'm still missing your point I guess.

I don't think Kerr's coaching is why they won championships or won 15 games last year. I agree with you that Myers has not kept the GS roster at championship level for 6 straight years. He did however produce a a championship level roster for 4 years, which would be 4 years more than we've had a championship roster.