A playoff spot will be opening up in the West soon, does Golden State have enough to capture that seed? The Los Angeles Clippers have a tough schedule ahead of them for their remaining games in March. They play 8 games on the road and only 4 home games. They will play only 5 sub .500 teams and 7 plus .500 teams during this stretch. Oh and as for those 4 home games, they just have to play Detroit, Utah, Washington, and Houston. Furthermore, those away games include trips to Chicago, Houston, and San Antonio. Take this all in stride with their recent slump and we have a spot open in the West. The Warriors have a tough schedule ahead as well, but they are playing well. What do you guys think, is this spot yours?
The spot is not ours and we have just as tough of a schedule ahead as any team. The difference is and hopefully will be that now we are finally at full strength for the first time all season and our team is better with Jackson and Harrington than it was with Murphy and Dunleavy. I think we will make a run for it, but what hurts us is that we have played more games so those other teams can take a lead over us while we are idle. We basically have to have a mentality that we have to win EVERY game from here on out for the rest of the season. If we drop a few here and there that might be ok. We basically need to go at least on as good of a run to end the season as we did when we first acquired Baron Davis...
Why would your team want to make the PO and lose to Dallas in the 1st round when they could go into the lottery and get a nice pick in this deep draft.
<div class="quote_poster">stalefish_27 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Why would your team want to make the PO and lose to Dallas in the 1st round when they could go into the lottery and get a nice pick in this deep draft.</div> Probably because they get paid to play hard and they want to win. Those silly athletes... trying to be competitive and all.. they should just try to lose all their games on purpose and then go on vacation in Maui.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Why would your team want to make the PO and lose to Dallas in the 1st round when they could go into the lottery and get a nice pick in this deep draft.</div> I'm not a proponent of tanking, but to tank now would be useless. It's not like the W's have a shot at the number one or two picks. I think they are at the 7th-9th pick currently. Plus if you remember the year that Yao was drafted. The Warriors were tied for the worst record, then proceeded to lose the coin flip with the Bulls, and then got the third pick while Houston got the first. My point is that tanking doesn't guarantee the first pick.
Second of all, who is to say that we will lose to Dallas if we meet them in the playoffs? I think we have won 4/5 against them or something like that. Upsets actually happen sometimes...
<div class="quote_poster">stalefish_27 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Why would your team want to make the PO and lose to Dallas in the 1st round when they could go into the lottery and get a nice pick in this deep draft.</div> The Warriors have been in the draft lottery 12 straight seasons, this franchise needs to break the streak and repair the image of the franchise. Making it to the playoffs is the first step in bringing some credibility back to this team. Making it to the playoffs builds confidence and provides valuable experience for your younger players. Competing against a top team like Dallas in a 7 game series, allows the coaching staff and GM to evaluate what exactly the team needs to advance and what areas they can improve on for the upcoming year. Winning is addictive for athletes, and even if they get swept, the players will have a new energy of motivation for the upcoming season. Last year the Warriors finished strong, and made it a goal to get back to the playoffs this season. They need to reach that goal, and then set the bar higher for next year to get even deeper in the playoffs. I'm not sure if the Warriors will secure the 8th seed or not, I think New Orleans has the best shot to make a late season run. They have the easiest schedule, and Peja could return soon. The Hornets are getting healthy at the right time.
<div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Last year the Warriors finished strong</div>Ehhh...they won 4 of their last 5 games. However, they also won 4 of their last 10 and 4 of their last 14 games. I'm not so sure I'd qualify that as finishing stong, especially since the 4 teams they beat really had nothing to play for. Dallas and Phoenix were resting people and Portland was out of it and likeyly shooting for a better pick at that point.
<div class="quote_poster">HiRez Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Ehhh...they won 4 of their last 5 games. However, they also won 4 of their last 10 and 4 of their last 14 games. I'm not so sure I'd qualify that as finishing stong, especially since the 4 teams they beat really had nothing to play for. Dallas and Phoenix were resting people and Portland was out of it and likeyly shooting for a better pick at that point.</div> You're right, I was thinking of the 2004 season.
<div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">You're right, I was thinking of the 2004 season.</div>OK, that makes more sense. But to go on that kind of run they clearly need Zarko back.
<div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">The Warriors have been in the draft lottery 12 straight seasons, this franchise needs to break the streak and repair the image of the franchise. Making it to the playoffs is the first step in bringing some credibility back to this team. Making it to the playoffs builds confidence and provides valuable experience for your younger players. Competing against a top team like Dallas in a 7 game series, allows the coaching staff and GM to evaluate what exactly the team needs to advance and what areas they can improve on for the upcoming year. Winning is addictive for athletes, and even if they get swept, the players will have a new energy of motivation for the upcoming season. Last year the Warriors finished strong, and made it a goal to get back to the playoffs this season. They need to reach that goal, and then set the bar higher for next year to get even deeper in the playoffs. I'm not sure if the Warriors will secure the 8th seed or not, I think New Orleans has the best shot to make a late season run. They have the easiest schedule, and Peja could return soon. The Hornets are getting healthy at the right time.</div> I agree. This team is one of the youngest teams in the NBA. Making the playoffs would be a great boost in confidence for these players and a great accomplishment for this organization. Golden State vs. Dallas would be AWESOME. Baron/Stephen/JRich/Harrington/Andris vs. Terry/Harris/Howard/Dirk/Dampier is a good matchup. Not to mention Don Nelson vs. Avery Johnson. Who doesn't want to see that? Obviously some of the teams ahead of the Warriors do, since they seem to be stuck on losing to keep the Warriors in it. Now if the NBA wants to see that, maybe that is a different story. Hopefully they do and then the Warriors get a couple of (maybe due) breaks from the officials However there is a lot of work for the Warriors. I don't think that the 8th spot is owned by the Warriors. Sure the Warriors have a shot to win it, but that is what they have to do, WIN. Obviously the Warriors haven't shown that they can do that quite enough this season, which is apparent from the Warriors just winning their first 3 game win streak since November or December. But I think Golden State faces Dallas more than once from now until the end of the season. So I guess if things go well for the Warriors then, those can be some good previews to a potential first round playoff series. Sometimes I think I am a little too gullable to optimism...especially for the Warriors... haha
<div class="quote_poster">stalefish_27 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Why would your team want to make the PO and lose to Dallas in the 1st round when they could go into the lottery and get a nice pick in this deep draft.</div> A) We haven't made the playoffs in 12 seasons. Right now we're a game and a half back of the 8th spot with all the other teams competing falling apart while we're healthy and possibly getting hot (3 wins in a row so far). We're way too far up to tank into a top 8 pick. After around 6-8 the talent level is about even, no one around there is going to make a hue impact on the franchise. C) We own the Mavs recently and match up extremely well with them. That team was completely built by Nelson and he knows all the strengths and weaknesses and how to play them, he also taught Avery everything he knows. We have several guys who matchup well on Dirk: Jackson, Powell (hes very mobile and athletic and played against Dirk in practice every day last season), Biedrins and Harrington occasionally and maybe Pietrus or Barnes. We also matchup well with Terry and Harris (Baron, Monta, Azu) and Josh Howard (Jackson, Pietrus, Azu). I'd rather face them than Phoenix and SA who completely own us.
<div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">The Warriors have been in the draft lottery 12 straight seasons, this franchise needs to break the streak and repair the image of the franchise. Making it to the playoffs is the first step in bringing some credibility back to this team. Making it to the playoffs builds confidence and provides valuable experience for your younger players. Competing against a top team like Dallas in a 7 game series, allows the coaching staff and GM to evaluate what exactly the team needs to advance and what areas they can improve on for the upcoming year. Winning is addictive for athletes, and even if they get swept, the players will have a new energy of motivation for the upcoming season. Last year the Warriors finished strong, and made it a goal to get back to the playoffs this season. They need to reach that goal, and then set the bar higher for next year to get even deeper in the playoffs. I'm not sure if the Warriors will secure the 8th seed or not, I think New Orleans has the best shot to make a late season run. They have the easiest schedule, and Peja could return soon. The Hornets are getting healthy at the right time.</div> Truer words were never spoken shape. I would not mind if this team made the POs and lost in the first round. Of course, the loss would be tough to take, but the playoff experience would be so valuable to the team. We know we could build around this team with even a mid round pick and some smart trades. But three wins against playoff teams doesn't convince me out of twelve years of misery. Maybe if the Warriors could climb into the 8th spot, then I'll start rooting for them again. The schedule the next two weeks will be telling. The Ws have some easy games at home and on the road. They need to win and climb into the 8th spot or higher: @POR-DAL*, MIN-@SEA*, @UTA and WAS (revenge). 4-2 or 5-1 would be good. The Clips have a horrible schedule and could fall out of the 8th spot: DET, @SAS-@HOU*, @CHA, @NJN, @CHI-@MIL*, UTA-WAS* * back-to-back games
<div class="quote_poster">Warriorfansnc93 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">The spot is not ours and we have just as tough of a schedule ahead as any team. The difference is and hopefully will be that now we are finally at full strength for the first time all season and our team is better with Jackson and Harrington than it was with Murphy and Dunleavy. I think we will make a run for it, but what hurts us is that we have played more games so those other teams can take a lead over us while we are idle. We basically have to have a mentality that we have to win EVERY game from here on out for the rest of the season. If we drop a few here and there that might be ok. We basically need to go at least on as good of a run to end the season as we did when we first acquired Baron Davis...</div> I'm inclined to think that its a good thing for the Warriors that the other teams have more games than the other teams. First of all fatigue and injuries can set in because they're playing more games. 2nd of all they've all been crappin it up compared to the Warriors. I have more faith that those teams will crap it up rather than the Warriors go on a crazy run. While I do see the 7th seed as a possibility I'd much rather play the Mavs. That would be an exciting series and we have a chance to steal one game.
Well the Kings and Clippers have lost today and the Warriors have a chance to be .5 games out of the 8th spot with an important win vs. the Blazers tonight.
<div class="quote_poster">AnimeFANatic Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">If they don't want to face the Mavs theres always the 7th seed...</div> nice Well guys, it's going to be a lot of bottom seed lead changes... so I guess for a lot of us we already know that we can't really count our chickens before they hatch. But it's good to feel some hope. If Baron gets hurt again, we might as well be the Clippers (minus Elton Brand). I think the secret to the clippers is Cassell and Brand (with guys like Mobley and Kaman contributing strongly along with the bench). With our starting five we need Baron and Beans with strong, consistent contributions from everyone.
