T mac 3 all star 2016
They will put a little flash onto a pass that doesn't require it or even start over-passing, making things more difficult for themselves. The Warriors also have a tendency to become trapped in the moment. But when they're missing shots they'll start fighting for the offensive rebounds, and sacrificing their transition defense for another scoring opportunity. Eventually the Warriors would fall back on their shooting and when they're hot there's pretty much nothing that can be done to stop them.
In my last article I alluded to the idea that having players who will make Curry work defensively to try and tire him out is important both J.R Smith and Kyrie Irving would be capable of that.Ĭleveland knows all too well that all it takes is a single misstep for the Warriors to punish you however, last season they did a great job of staying in front of the Warriors defensively during the finals. They would then have J.R Smith to guard Curry, Shumpert to guard Klay Thompson, LeBron to guard Kevin Durant and Tristian Thompson to guard Draymond Green. The fifth player could be almost anybody for example let's take Iman Shumpert:ĭefensively they could hide Irving and his mediocre defense by having him guard Iguodala who usually acts as a playmaker for others, aside from the occasional spot up three. Assuming they manage to retain J.R Smith, although that is beginning to look unlikely, Cleveland could roll out a lineup with Irving, Smith, LeBron, Tristan Thompson and whoever. The Cavaliers have arguably some of the best match ups (on paper) against Golden States’ death lineup. Do Cleveland tick all of these boxes? Almost.
T MAC 3 ALL STAR 2016 SERIES
But there are few teams in the league that possesses offensive weapons such as LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.Īt the start of this series I highlighted four key requirements for defeating the Warriors Defense, rebounding, dominant big men and taking care of the ball. However the more I thought about it, the more it became clear that the biggest threat to the Warriors was and still is the Cleveland Cavaliers.Ĭleveland might seem like an obvious choice considering the reigning champs upset the Warriors during the NBA Finals last season (as if you needed reminding). Ranking them from most likely to win to least likely was the difficult part. When I started this three part series, I already knew the teams that I considered most likely to snatch a win from the Warriors in the regular season. Boris Diaw is a great playmaker for a big man, and his passing ability could add something special. In addition to this, their offense, which has been relatively lackluster the past few years, has some intriguing new options. They now have solid defenders at every single position and were already one of the better defensive teams in the league. What Utah has been needing for a while is a point guard that can run their offense, and they have that now with the addition of George Hill. Utah Jazz - Utah are poised to make a serious run at a top four position in the Western Conference this year I'm certain of it. At the end of the day it's a significant mismatch and for the sake of his ankles, I wouldn't wish it on him. I'm not convinced that if Karl-Anthony Towns was switched onto Curry that he would be able to contain him, but I do believe he could do as good a job as almost any other big man. They have players with good length and versatility defensively they are also a very young and uncommonly athletic team. On paper Minnesota might be the best team for this. Few teams have the necessary talent to switch defensively on everything. Minnesota Timberwolves - One thing I didn't explore during this article was the idea of switching against the Warriors. In the past two installments I examined the L.A Clippers and San Antonio Spurs.īefore I move onto the team that ranked number one, I want to round up some of the "dark horse" candidates that could upset the Warriors during the regular season. With that in mind I ventured to find the teams most likely to cause the Warriors problems during the regular season.
If the 2016 season taught Warriors fans anything, it's that you can't take anything for granted.