I've watched more basketball games in the last two months than I'd care to admit, and the more I watch, the more I have seen the Warriors as one of the top teams in the league, rather than a fluke. We've gone 15-4 as a healthy team, beating Houston, Phoenix, Dallas, Utah, and Detroit ALL BY DOUBLE DIGITS in that span. We've dominated almost every team we've faced, and are thought of to be a problem for the Mavericks solely because of the matchup problems.But here's another way to look at it: We're simply as good a team as they are. And we've been proving it to the rest of the league.The healthy Warriors average 112.3 points per game, and give up 104.5. This win margin is heavily deflated by our combined 50 point losses to the spurs, and games against Phoenix and Minnesota where we've lost some of our lead during a meaningless fourth quarter when the game is already won. Our average win margin, which is 7.8 points per game, could easily be double digits, but even as it stands, it is a very impressive one. The Warriors when healthy, have had an equivalent win margin to what the Phoenix suns have gotten for the year, and far more than Dallas. The only team whose healthy squad has a better win margin than the Warriors is the Spurs.Pythagorean wins, derived from win margin, have a 96% correlation with actual wins and are historically a better predictor of future play than real wins. The Warriors' level of play over their healthy games extrapolates to a 63 win level of play. You may think that is preposterous, but it is actually a lower number than the Warriors' 79% winning percentage in this span that would indicate a 65 win level team. When both of these numbers line up, you know you don't have a fluke.Some people might try to blame it on level of play, pointing out their four losses are all to playoff teams, but we all know that is ridiculous. We've beaten Houston, Phoenix, Dallas, Utah, and Detroit by considerable margins, as I went over earlier. The SOS, or strength of schedule, the Warriors have endured over the final quarter of their schedule is very similar to the average for the west - about a 50.5% winning percentage for their opponents.The strength of schedule number invariably leads to the other stat besides win% and pyth% that often tells how good a team is; RPI, or ranking percentile index. RPI is calculated as 1/4 winning percentage, 1/2 SOS, and 1/4 opponents' opponents' winning percentage. This is designed to even the playing field and reward teams for beating superior teams. The Warriors' RPI as a healthy team is .576, once again second in the league, this time after Dallas.With all this in mind, and the lack of evidence to the contrary, I think it's time for the world to accept that a healthy Warrior team is an elite team, capable of taking on any team but the Spurs.
I agree and I have seen that the warriors are a better than average team over the last month or so, I do not see how anyone can argue that they are not a team that can give pretty much anyone out there a real game.
Yeah, congratulations guy. Your team has been playing amazing. The stupid Pacer's organization got ripped on the trade. But congrats on a great team!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (The Legacy @ Apr 22 2007, 09:01 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Yeah, congratulations guy. Your team has been playing amazing. The stupid Pacer's organization got ripped on the trade. But congrats on a great team!</div>So now your trying to sound like the exact opposite of PFF all of a sudden? Dude just admit it already. Like I just told you through pm I was gonna let you have your fun when I figured it out, but now that everyone knows, just admit it. No one here is stupid enough to believe you really aren't PFF. Anyways, while I agree with what your saying for the most part I don't think you can consider the Warriors an elite team in this league when healthy yet. Who knows, they could prove me wrong in the playoffs but I still say Dallas will beat them in 5 or 6 games.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (iversonfan268 @ Apr 22 2007, 01:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>So now your trying to sound like the exact opposite of PFF all of a sudden? Dude just admit it already. Like I just told you through pm I was gonna let you have your fun when I figured it out, but now that everyone knows, just admit it. No one here is stupid enough to believe you really aren't PFF. Anyways, while I agree with what your saying for the most part I don't think you can consider the Warriors an elite team in this league when healthy yet. Who knows, they could prove me wrong in the playoffs but I still say Dallas will beat them in 5 or 6 games.</div>dude I'm not pacers fanI'm happy that jackson and harrington got into a situation that was better for them and I'm glad they're having success
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (The Legacy @ Apr 22 2007, 10:58 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>dude I'm not pacers fanI'm happy that jackson and harrington got into a situation that was better for them and I'm glad they're having success</div>like I said, now your just trying to sound like the exact opposite of PFF...
