Tag: Klay Thompson (Page 2 of 2)

Jim Park: If Warriors Fall Short, Disappointment Would Be the “Understatement of the Century”

May 26, 2017 / Aaron Fischman / 0 Comments

Jim Park most looks forward to Stephen Curry proving he can perform at his best on the grandest stage of all (Keith Allison/Creative Commons).

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In advance of the NBA Finals, Aaron catches up with former Sheridan Hoops writer Jim Park about the Golden State Warriors’ dominance, Steve Kerr’s health-related absence and what, if anything, can slow down these rolling Warriors.

A season after winning an NBA-record 73 games and falling one win shy of their second straight championship, the Golden State Warriors are back to the Finals with a vengeance. There, they’ll be meeting a familiar foe in the form of the Cleveland Cavaliers, setting the stage for the third consecutive NBA Finals matchup between the teams. Storylines abound, including Kevin Durant’s long-awaited rematch with LeBron James on the biggest stage imaginable, but these teams’ recent dominance makes it all even more intriguing. Carrying over from the regular season, the Dubs have won 27 of their last 28 games, including a perfect 12 for 12 this postseason. For their part, the Cavaliers are enjoying a league-best 120.7 Offensive Rating these playoffs and, of course, have only been defeated once, a three-point loss to the Celtics in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. Each team’s 2017 playoff Net Rating tops +16 points per 100 possessions.

Golden excerpts can be found below:

Jim Park 3:55-4:03: “Curry really found himself [basketball-wise] while KD was gone, and he really hasn’t looked back even when KD did come back.”

12:20-13:04: “They don’t let teams come back. It’s set up in such a way where other teams have trouble coming back, because, to start the fourth quarter, they have Curry sitting and they’ll have KD starting the game in the fourth quarter, and usually he’s eating. The second-unit guys can’t stop KD, let alone first guys usually, so that’s a tall order for most teams to try to overcome, especially when they’re down. So you really have to play perfectly and try to get out ahead of the Warriors in order to have any kind of chance. Because if you get down, forget it. No chance.” Continue reading

Missing Kawhi, “Peak Powers” LeBron With Paul Garcia, Tas Melas

May 19, 2017 / Aaron Fischman / 0 Comments

Kawhi Leonard’s ankle injury has sadly removed any remaining suspense as to whether or not the Warriors are likely to coast into the Conference Finals (Mark Runyon/Creative Commons).

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In this two-part episode, The Starters’ Tas Melas joins us to discuss the league’s biggest storylines, such as the highly anticipated third straight Warriors-Cavaliers Finals matchup, the Celtics’ rapid and robust rebuild and Paul George and Gordon Hayward not qualifying for max extensions. But first, Paul Garcia of Project Spurs and Analyzing the League stops by to detail the incredible impact Kawhi Leonard’s injury has had and will continue to have on San Antonio’s prospects of upsetting the mighty Warriors. If you need to get in the mood, peep a handful of excerpted quotes below:

Paul Garcia: 8:45-9:28: “If there’s one lineup I think that can work, it’s [Dewayne] Dedmon at the 5. The only problem with that, which is why Pop hasn’t really been playing him, is that he slows down the ship on offense. He can’t shoot from the outside, he’s obviously just a rim runner, but defenses are good enough in the playoffs are good enough to take that away… They can try to go small… but they don’t have a team built to play small. They have a team built to play big, so that’s something they have trouble with. And the Warriors haven’t even thrown out their best stuff yet.” Continue reading

Andy Liu Actually Believes the “Warriors Are Underrated”

March 31, 2017 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Stephen Curry has gotten the Golden State Warriors back on track, and there’s now only one player in the NBA that Andy Liu is concerned about on their road to a championship: LeBron James (Erik Drost/Flickr).

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Our favorite Golden State Warriors guest, Andy Liu of Warriors World, is back for a record fourth episode to discuss his team with us. After a brief stumble during which they lost five of seven games when Kevin Durant went down with injury, the Warriors look like they’ve righted the ship. They’re currently on a nine-game win streak, including four convincing wins against teams that will make the playoffs in the Western Conference: the Thunder, Grizzlies, Rockets and Spurs. Andy explains how a team that has by far the best Net Rating in the NBA, the best Offensive Rating and the second-best Defensive Rating, could possibly even be underrated heading into the playoffs. Check out these golden excerpts from the episode:

7:22-8:09: Andy explains why he never bought into overreaction that the Warriors were collapsing during the team’s recent slump:

“Kevin Durant had just gone down, and these guys were really shook up about it, and they had to adjust. In that adjustment period, Steph couldn’t hit a shot, the worst slump of his entire career. Klay was going through a slump as well. Draymond Green hadn’t shot the ball well all year and still isn’t. So they had a lot of issues on that end. They ended up going 2-5, and they played eight games in 13 nights. Since then, they’ve been great. They’ve also played a ton of trash teams. And the scheduling is going to get better from here. They’ve got six of seven at home to end the season…If there was a Finals game today, [Durant] would be playing, but he’ll be back in a week and a half or two weeks, so the team is fine again. That’s why I was never too worried about it.”

Rest for the Weary in Today’s NBA

March 24, 2017 / Aaron Fischman / 0 Comments

LeBron James and Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers both did not play during a recent national TV game against the Clippers, prompting a memo by Commissioner Silver about the issue. (Erik Drost/Flickr)

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Resting healthy starters is not exactly a new phenomenon, as LeBron James recently pointed out; heck, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has been doing it for more than a decade. However, there hasn’t been a time in NBA history where the practice has stirred up such a high level of controversy and discontent. The panel aims to explore the issue from the perspectives of the commissioner, NBA coaches, current and former players and, of course, the fans. Be sure to get your rest in advance of the stretch run (we won’t blame you for taking care of yourself), but don’t sleep on this episode. Just don’t do it.

Music: “Who Likes to Party” by Kevin MacLeod

Marina Mangiaracina: Thunder “Need Roberson Out There to Stop Klay” in Game 7 vs. Warriors

May 30, 2016 / Joshua Fischman / 0 Comments

Foul trouble limited Andre Roberson to 29 minutes in Game 6, as Klay Thompson erupted for 41 points (Erik Drost/Creative Commons).

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Despite Oklahoma City’s Game 6 collapse and squandering of a 3-1 series lead, Welcome to Loud City‘s Marina Mangiaracina explains why the Thunder stand a legitimate chance of upsetting the mighty Golden State Warriors in a decisive Game 7. Her prescription? Lots of minor adjustments, which include extra shots for Dion Waiters and Serge Ibaka, smarter defensive switching and Andre Roberson logging more court time to help counteract Klay Thompson’s explosive scoring. Below are some noteworthy excerpts:

1:59 –2:26: “I think the No. 1 key is getting more shots for Serge Ibaka and Dion Waiters. Waiters had about the same amount of shots (in Game 6) – five or six – that (Andre) Roberson and (Steven) Adams had, and given his offensive abilities, it’s an embarrassment that he’s getting so few opportunities…(Kevin) Durant and (Russell) Westbrook were just taking too many bad shots. When you move the ball around more, it helps out.” Continue reading

Andy Liu: Warriors Should “Put Draymond Green at Center, Speed Everything Up” vs. Thunder

May 18, 2016 / Joshua Fischman / 0 Comments

Andy Liu advocates for more use of the small ball that got the Warriors this far to begin with (Keith Allison/Creative Commons).

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The mighty, 73-win, defending champion Golden State Warriors squandered a 13-point halftime lead, as the Oklahoma City Thunder stole Game 1 at Oracle Arena Monday night. While Golden State of Mind‘s Andy Liu admits the Thunder are playing their strongest basketball at the most ideal time, he believes the Warriors and Stephen Curry will have enough to get through to the Finals. He does, however, express concern over the MVP’s health, Golden State’s shot selection and which coach is currently doing the better job. Entertaining, informative segments have been transcribed below:

1:46-3:22: “They (the Warriors) should probably panic – like a controlled panic obviously. We don’t want (head coach) Steve Kerr to suddenly start making wholesale schematic changes. It’s not like they lost by 30… If Steph was 100 percent healthy, I think that he would’ve bailed them out last night, which would’ve been fine, but moving forward I don’t think he’s gonna get to 100 percent for the rest of the playoffs. So it’s a matter of ‘Can he play at 80, 85 percent and still carry this offense when it counts throughout the rest of the series?’”

4:30-4:49: “It’s just a matter of ‘How are they going to do it (start strong) again in Game 2, and then when OKC comes back and hits them, are they gonna lose composure again?’ You would believe that a championship team like this wouldn’t lose composure like that again, but, hey, OKC’s already done this to the Spurs three straight games; that was super-impressive.” Continue reading

Waxing Warrior, Media Negativity and Locker Room Reporting

December 5, 2015 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Kevin Durant had some pointed comments about the media’s treatment of Kobe Bryant this season (Keith Allison/Flickr).

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The podcast warriors wax Warrior, as they delve into why Splash Brother Klay Thompson has not been splashing as much, Festus Ezeli’s promising development and coach Luke Walton’s reluctance to rest his stars. The trio also takes sides on a couple of juicy player battles with the media: Kevin Durant vs. the media on their treatment of Kobe Bryant and Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut’s beef with Utah Jazz writer Ben Dowsett on locker room reporting.

Music: “Who Likes to Party?” by Kevin MacLeod

The Still Undefeated Warriors and the Aesthetically Pleasing Hawks

November 21, 2015 / Aaron Fischman / 0 Comments

Reigning MVP Stephen Curry has managed to add 9.8 PPG to last season’s scoring average as his team sits pretty at 14-0 (Noah Salzman/Wikimedia Commons).

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Despite Aaron’s absence, Joshua and Loren revisit the Hawks conversation that began with Lang Whitaker earlier in the week. We touch upon Atlanta’s mounting injuries and how those might impact such a well-balanced Hawks squad even more than a typical star-centric team. Although new acquisition Tiago Splitter might not be garnering too many minutes in the early season, we talk about the types of contributions he can make come playoff time.

In the second segment, we reflect on the Warriors’ exhilarating comeback Thursday night against the Clippers. The Dubs’ small lineup of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green has been killing teams in their limited minutes together so far. Should that unit be utilized more? And how integral is the team’s second MVP, Draymond Green? Finally, despite the embarrassing national TV loss, Joshua details what encouraged him about the Clippers’ performance Thursday.

Music: “Who Likes to Party?” by Kevin MacLeod

Tag: Klay Thompson (Page 2 of 2)

Jim Park: If Warriors Fall Short, Disappointment Would Be the “Understatement of the Century”

Missing Kawhi, “Peak Powers” LeBron With Paul Garcia, Tas Melas

Andy Liu Actually Believes the “Warriors Are Underrated”

Rest for the Weary in Today’s NBA

Marina Mangiaracina: Thunder “Need Roberson Out There to Stop Klay” in Game 7 vs. Warriors

Andy Liu: Warriors Should “Put Draymond Green at Center, Speed Everything Up” vs. Thunder

Waxing Warrior, Media Negativity and Locker Room Reporting

The Still Undefeated Warriors and the Aesthetically Pleasing Hawks

On The NBA Beat

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