The Return of WE BELIEVE: Can the Warriors Make the Playoffs "This" Season? The Return of WE BELIEVE: Can the Warriors Make the Playoffs "This" Season? By Jason I modified the WE BELIEVE logo from the 2006 - 07 season to be a symbol of the Warriors hinting that this "is" a playoff team. The logo should be updated to reflect the 2010 - 11 season, but for now, it can serve as a place holder to get the playoff message across. In one of my earlier articles, I outlined the following key points that I got from the preseason. “First, David Lee and Andris Biedrins were playing TOGETHER. On the court at the same time.” So far, they have combined for 169 rebounds, 8 blocked shots and 17 steals in eight games. That averages out to 21.1 reb, 1.0 blk and 2.1 stl per game between our starting big me. If one adds Dorell Wright, at 6-9, he’s gobbled up an extra 40 reb, 8 blk and 10 stl. It means that the Warriors are sixth in the league in defense when counting rebounds, blocked shots and steals. That’s a huge improvement from years past, but the defensive work needs to continue. It can get rusty in a hurry if players do not work at it. “Second, Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry were starting in the backcourt. Ellis appears to still have a tendency to try and do too much by himself, but he’s gotten better and he may have a 3-pt shot.” One usually thinks about offense when Curry and Ellis are mentioned. The dynamic duo has combined for 347 pts, 78 ast, 15 3-ptv after eight games. On defense, they have 39 stl and 3 blk. The 39 steals with 28 from Ellis are impressive numbers. Next, the rebounding has improved even though the 3-pt shooting has not. The defense has improved, too, but it can be better. What was disappointing was the Warriors perimeter shooting at times. They were cold and needed a go to guy to get them going again. I’m still not sure who the go to guy will be, but he should be somewhere on the bench this year whether that will turn out to be Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, David Lee or all three. Don’t count on defense, shooting or rebounding to be there at all times, but hopefully during the season, we’ll be able to see what the identity of this team will be and who the real leader or leaders of this team will be. The things this year’s team has shown from past year’s teams are — better rebounding, better defense, no Cohan, Larry Riley may be a good GM, no Don Nelson and his weird rotations, pretty good offense and great team chemistry. Take a look at the facts: - Offense is 6th in the league at 104.6 ppg vs 102.6 ppg for the opponents - FG % is .461 (at about the average of .457) - 3-PT% is .361 (thirteeth in the league; .36 is about average) - APG is at 23.0 (eight in the league) - Rebounding is 44.6 RPG (fifth in the league) - 5.8 BLK is (eighth in the league) - 9.6 STL (third in the league) The big negative is the .72 FT% as the Warriors are twenty fifth. They have Mark Price, who averaged 90% at the free throw line, as coach so he needs to get cracking. The Warriors also need better shot selection and improve their potent offense. On defense, they have to improve their in the paint and perimeter defense. Andris Biedrins still has not gotten his blocks and steals back to where they were during the 2008 - 09 season when he averaged a double-double. He had 1 stl and 1.6 blk back then. When Lou Admundson and Ekpe Udoh return the Warriors should be better in the paint on defense. The Warriors can beat the LA Clips and Sacramento, but they will have to beat Houston, Utah, Denver, Memphis and Phoenix to be sure they're in the playoffs. Sure to make it are the LA Lakers, Dallas, Portland, Oklahoma City and maybe San Antonio. New Orleans looks excellent so far. Usually, it takes a .500 record to get in the playoffs, but in the WC, it is better to shoot for beyond that mark. Still, the West has gotten weaker and teams in the East have gotten better, so a .500 record may do it.
Re: The Return of WE BELIEVE: Can the Warriors Make the Playoffs "This" Season? We're seeing now how much of a difference the Lee acquisition made on us. We all knew he had a bloated ppg in NY and played horrid defense- and both are true- but his impact has been huge and its painfully obvious that when he plays we look like a legit playoff team and when he doesn't we look like we're destined for another #6 pick in the lotto in 2011. The injuries have been absolutely brutal for us but if we're to believe that this team will get healthy we have plenty to be optimistic for IMO. The team that we saw go 6-2 looked legit with Curry seemingly developing into a closer, Monta running rampant on opposing teams, and Lee and Beans crushing the glass. We got by with some decent play from DWright and the bench barely getting it done by committee. What I'm excited about is that we know we're going to be adding at least one legit NBA reserve in the next couple of weeks when Lou Amundson returns. How good can we be when that 6-2 club adds a very solid reserve who is another top level rebounder, has boundless energy, and gives us much needed toughness and defense in addition to general depth? I'm still trying to taper my expectations for Udoh as hes only a rookie without a training camp but man can we use a 6'10 240 lbs (read that he said hes up to around 245 lbs now) PF/C who prides himself on defense and rebounding. I can't help but think he'll be able to swat shots and alter shots like BW but also give us a little muscle and willingness to body someone up downlow. Not to mention REBOUND. Oh and based on the 4 or so games I saw of him in college the dude can shoot and pass pretty well for his position. I'm trying not to expect anything out of him but he seems like such a perfect addition to this roster. It seems like we desperately need all of those attributes that are listed as his strengths on draftexpress and any weaknesses he has are no longer an issue. Who cares if he was a 6 pick and may only ever be a role player. We need that role player BAD right now.
Re: The Return of WE BELIEVE: Can the Warriors Make the Playoffs "This" Season? I'm trying to see how well the new front line meshes. So far, Lee and AB haven't been the greatest, but they're making progress. It's definitely an improvement, but they need to clog the paint. I have to give them about twenty games to see how well they're doing. As for DWright, he's been great. He seems like the glue guy and Monta could end up being the go-to guy. I'm pumped about Udoh, too, since Greg Monroe seems to be a bust.
Re: The Return of WE BELIEVE: Can the Warriors Make the Playoffs "This" Season? No one's mentioned the new ownership yet... I think that's a feel-good reason to believe this year, too... PS you forgot the Comcast logo on your sign lol
I should have mentioned Joe Lacob, Peter Guber and the new 20% ownership, too. As for Comcast, I did not think the original had a Comcast logo until Cohan realized he could make money off it. ORIGINAL: COHAN GETS INVOLVED: Anyway, I'm sure we're going to get a new "We Believe" or other campaign, whether from the fans or from new management once the Warriors start getting close to the magic .500 W-L number.
Lol I feel like this wasn't discussed enough at the time: Why the hell was Snoop Dogg a Warriors fan during that We Believe run? I think hes a Laker fan right? Hes got the BD jersey on so maybe he and Baron know each other? Still very odd and I would imagine the Lakers were in the playoffs that same postseason so why the hell was he in Oakland cheering the W's instead of cheering the Lakers at Staples? Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson made some sense and there were back stories explaining why they were there but Snoop? I guess technically anyone in CA can root for us.
Because the Warriors were straight up "street" for that playoff run. Jax poppin his gat up in da club... B-Dizzy throwin down bling-bling G-Money style... Harrington gettin all Crunk up in this shizzle... you can tell I'm from the hood too...
Man, We Believe was awesome! But I sure hope we get to experience games deeper in the playoffs than just the 2nd round!
Definitely they basically have 3 allstars. The rest of the teams sucks, but 3 allstars should be enough to get them a #8 seed.
Thanks again for your detailed evaluation of our team. Actually, their starting lineup is pretty legit and is one of the most efficient starting lineups in the league. Biedrins and Lee need each other and D. Wright solidifies the perimeter. The bench is a concern through.
Its actually a point I hadn't considered. You always hear the mantra about how you need 2 stars to make the playoffs and 3 stars to be a contender. Granted, none of these guys are "superstars" IMO but they are all all-star caliber players. And yeah, the rest of our starting rotation- DWright and Beans- seems to compliment them very well. Additionally the team is playing very unselfishly and its playing much tougher than it did before. We can grind and out rebound teams. It seems like we're kind of learning how to close out close games (now we need to learn how to win blowouts lol). The west is a little weaker than it was before too. I'm still regarding playoffs as unlikely but certainly possible.
