Questions linger as Warriors begin climb toward title
The Golden State Warriors and their fans caught a glimpse of what’s to come in the preseason.
The Golden State Warriors and their fans caught a glimpse of what’s to come in the preseason.
The Warriors and their fans caught a glimpse of what’s to come from this team with Friday’s victory over the Trail Blazers.
And with the NBA preseason mercifully ending, Golden State will finally get to show off their new weapons for real.
But that’s not to say they have everything figured out headed into their regular season debut Tuesday against the Spurs.
Here’s a look at some lingering questions for the Dubs headed into the 2016-17 NBA season.
How much will the Warriors miss Andrew Bogut?
You’ll notice this question is how much — not if — they will miss the big Aussie. For as much grief as Bogut got from fans for his limited offense and poor free throw shooting, he was unquestionably the leader on defense.
It’s no coincidence the Warriors ranked in the top eight of defensive efficiency according to teamrankings.com the three full years Bogut was in the Bay Area, after finishing in the 20s every year since 2006.
Bogut was also able to finish above the rim when healthy, which is one thing the Warriors lack from their current crop of bigs.
Zaza Pachulia may have similar court vision, he also can’t bring the strengths that Bogut showed off for the last three years.
Will Ian Clark be the backup shooting guard all season?
Clark had what can only be described as an eye-opening preseason. He shot 50 percent from three, while scoring a little over eight points per game in 16 minutes.
And he seems to have held off the impressive rookie Patrick McCaw and his cult-like fan following for the backup SG spot.
But how long can Clark hold off the skinny 20-year-old? Everyone has been singing McCaw’s praises from Klay Thompson to Steve Kerr, who said the rookie will be part of the Warriors rotation.
McCaw, out of UNLV, is more of a playmaker than Clark, can play probably three positions, and is a very good defender at each. McCaw jumping Clark may seem like an inevitability, but don’t count him out, as Clark just keeps proving people wrong.
What kind of crazy lineups will we see?
The mega-death lineup of Stephen Curry, Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Durant and Draymond Green is a definite, apologies to the rest of the league.
But the Warriors can throw out some insane lineups with all their new toys. Durant at center? We saw that against Portland in the last preseason game.
They can dispatch a lineup of Curry-Clark-Thompson-McCaw-Durant, that happens to have five players who shot over 40 percent from 3 in the preseason.
What about an all-wingspan lineup of McCaw-Iguodala-Durant-Kevon Looney–JaVale McGee? Anything is possible this year and you for sure will see some strange bedfellows.
How many records is this offense going to break?
This could potentially be one of the greatest offenses in NBA history. The most obvious record that looks to be in danger is the one for most 3-pointers made in a game, which is 23, set by the Rockets against the Warriors in April.
But really anything seems within reason, especially when you have potentially three 20-point scorers and a routine triple-double threat in your starting lineup.
With Leandro Barbosa and Marreese Speights gone, who will be the bench celebration leader?
The early leader has to be James Michael McAdoo, but don’t count out Anderson Varejao or McGee.
A sleeper pick, though, has to be Curry or Green, since it could be routine that the Warriors will be so far ahead, the starters will be on the bench for at least the final quarter.
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