[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

I was at the game tonight and wanted to share my thoughts. I paid a fortune for great seats, so I was able to see (and hear lol) a lot. 

Warriors 

Steph – He’s as advertised. I love his warm-up routine. From the moment he comes out of the tunnel. He’s the first one out… He dribbles onto the court and slams the ball hard on the floor making it bounce high in the air… Then he catches it and does one of his signature layups where he scoops it high in the air (2K16 nailed this lol). He’s just entertaining to watch. He’s very meticulous about what he does… Like the way he dribbles, his follow through on his jumper, where he shoots, what moves he does and where, etc. Like he does different dribbling moves, jabs, stepbacks, etc from different spots on the floor and he has to make a certain amount before he moves to the next spot. He puts on a dribbling clinic when it comes to pounding the ball and the fundamentals of dribbling. I mean, his confidence/swag is just on unlimited. And it’s not like an arrogant swag. It’s just an extremely confident type of swag that knows he’s put in the work to be great. What really surprised me was his athleticism. I know a lot of guys can dunk, but after stretching for about five minutes… He casually just throws the ball up to himself and easily does a 360. He may not be a freak athlete, but you can tell he’s strong as hell in his core/legs and just like extremely flexible. Amazing balance and body control. 

During the game, his passing ability stood out to me right away. He has special vision. He can get a little too flashy at times, but I love his vision and unselfishness. He’s so tough to defend just being able to shoot, dribble and pass like he can. He can make his teammates better in so many ways with and without the ball, which is what makes him so special in my opinion. 

I was really impressed with his leadership too. Draymond Green picked up a technical late in the game and Steph really let him have it. I also just like the way he interacts with his teammates on the bench. You can just tell they love playing with him. 

Defensively was the only area where he really didn’t impress me. Sometimes he’ll pressure the ball, but he’s honestly just hacking and reaching. He’s not a liability, but he’s just not that good I feel. You can break him down and get by him off of the dribble. 

I could write an entire post about him, but I’ll end with the last thing I noticed… When the Pacers made a big run in the 4th and the crowd got into, it’s like his confidence became even greater and he wanted to shut the crowd up. The bigger the moment or just the more the crowd is against him, the bigger he plays. 

Klay – He’d have broken the three-point record had he not sprained his ankle. You can’t even leave this guy open for a second. Then once defenders start closing out on him hard, he just lets them run right by him or pump fake and go to his 2-3 dribble pull up. With how quick he can set his feet and release the ball, he’s a nightmare. He’s not just a shooter. You can tell he’s put a lot of work into his all-around game. He and Steph are like the perfect backcourt. 

Festus Ezeli – He’s going to get paid… He’s HUGE in every way. You can’t keep him off of the offensive glass. He’s very athletic and strong. They don’t really run any plays for him, but he is a solid offensive player on the low block. The Warriors have the luxury of going to the P&P with Green or the P&R with Ezeli where he definitely can finish above the rim with the lob. It’ll be interesting to see how the Warriors can afford to pay all of these guys. Andrew Bogut was good tonight too, but I just came away very impressed with Ezeli. 

Draymond Green – He had a rough night shooting the ball. The best thing he did tonight was run his mouth. Seriously… He never shuts up. Even after the game, he was still arguing with the ref who called him for a technical. Ezeli had to come pull him away. He was talking trash to Paul George whenever he was matched up against him. The most impressive thing I saw him do tonight was get the rebound and immediately just push the ball hard up the court. He seriously was pushing that ball with his head up like a point guard with Steph, Klay and Rush running to the wings. It was nuts.

I literally don’t know how you can beat the Warriors. Offensively, they’re amazing. They’re not just playing small and spreading the court (like the Pacers). It’s not that simple. The way they set picks, when and where is very creative. A lot of strongside and weakside action. Double screens. Their weave play is something else. The move the ball so well. A lot of misdirection. They just do a lot out there offensively and it happens fast. Tonight they didn’t even have Harrison Barnes. I mean, my best guess to beat them would be to try to slow the game down and just grind them down. If you try to play small and run against them, you’re not going to beat them that way. Their team really has no holes. And they play so unselfish. They move the ball to the open man. I’d be surprised if they lost more than 5-10 games this season. 

Pacers 

PG – He was the best overall player on the court tonight. He ripped Curry at half-court and there were possessions where he really defended him well in one on one situations. He closed out perfectly several times on Thompson (even though Thompson got some off on him a few times too), stayed with him and contested his shot (blocked his shot once)… He was great defending against the famed Curry/Green P&P where he showed the ability to switch on Curry or show and get back to Green quickly before he could shoot or drive. He just can’t do it all by himself. He can’t score 30+ and be expected to defend the three best offensive players. You could tell he was a little frustrated at times to tonight. 

Offensively, he had no issues tonight whether it was Igoudala, Thompson, Green or Livingston defending him. Like I said above, Green tried to talk ish to him all night, but PG really didn’t let it phase him. He’s improved so much offensively, but what’s scary is you can tell he still doesn’t have 100% of his lift back finishing around the rim. Like he’s not back to that dunk over the Birdman type of finishing around the rim yet. He’s settling for a lot of jumpshots, stepbacks, etc.  

CJ Miles – He’s no Steph or Klay, but he can really shoot the ball. When he’s hot, he’s hot. Tonight he had it going making 5 threes. I just wish he had a little more to his game than shooting. He was good defensively too when he was matched up against Green. 

Overall, the Pacers struggles continued at the defensive end. Their issues defending against the P&R continued from last game. So did the miscommunication on switches and getting out to shooters. This is the problem they had in the loss to the Blazers. They really didn’t defend well until the 4th quarter. While they did get more offensive rebounds than the Warriors overall, I felt like they were unable to rebound the ball during key possessions. 

Offensively, the team just didn’t get enough from Ellis, G Hill and Stuckey. Vogel cannot play Ellis and Stuckey together… The offense struggles everytime because neither of them can shoot. Stuckey’s shooting last year was fool’s gold apparently. G Hill was garbage tonight. He had a short spurt where he hit a couple of three-pointers, but he didn’t show up tonight defensively. He consistently didn’t switch on screens, communicate, etc. Ellis’ turnovers KILLED them… I’m starting to worry about Ellis. 

That’s now three consecutive losses for the Pacers. Miami will be in town Friday. Hopefully, the Pacers can tighten up defensively, especially in P&R, and get a win.

Long post, but hope you enjoyed!

 

[Reptilian MonkParticipant]

Great analysis. Thought this was the game Warriors would lose. Starting to think the Warriors might go 76-6 and Philly will be the 6-76’ers

[Reptilian MonkParticipant]

Great analysis. Thought this was the game Warriors would lose. Starting to think the Warriors might go 76-6 and Philly will be the 6-76’ers

[2quick4uParticipant]

 what about bogut? he looked amazing out there..not to talk about his athleticism after all those injuries and his age..

[2quick4uParticipant]

 what about bogut? he looked amazing out there..not to talk about his athleticism after all those injuries and his age..

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Oh yea most definitely… He beat the Pacers up on the boards and was a very good rim protector. The Pacers really had nobody to pull him outside. I was hoping Jordan Hill could do that tonight. Bogut also caught three ridiculous lobs in P&R to start the 3rd quarter. It’s so tough to stop… Do you let Steph come off a P&R easy and shoot or do you focus on him and just try to stop the lob? Fans in the crowd were getting frustrated and yelling "Stop the lob!" and I was thinking "It’s not that easy." The team defense is really hesitant to help too because usually there’s a shooter in the nearby area (see Brandon Rush shooting wide open shots). 

The Warriors just have so many different ways to demolish you offensively. I don’t really know how you can beat them.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Oh yea most definitely… He beat the Pacers up on the boards and was a very good rim protector. The Pacers really had nobody to pull him outside. I was hoping Jordan Hill could do that tonight. Bogut also caught three ridiculous lobs in P&R to start the 3rd quarter. It’s so tough to stop… Do you let Steph come off a P&R easy and shoot or do you focus on him and just try to stop the lob? Fans in the crowd were getting frustrated and yelling "Stop the lob!" and I was thinking "It’s not that easy." The team defense is really hesitant to help too because usually there’s a shooter in the nearby area (see Brandon Rush shooting wide open shots). 

The Warriors just have so many different ways to demolish you offensively. I don’t really know how you can beat them.

[OaktownWarriorsParticipant]

Pretty good game last night.  The only thing I would add, I saw no defense from the Pacers bigs or CJ Miles.  Remember Klay made 10 3pts and many of them he was completely open. 

[OaktownWarriorsParticipant]

Pretty good game last night.  The only thing I would add, I saw no defense from the Pacers bigs or CJ Miles.  Remember Klay made 10 3pts and many of them he was completely open. 

[doubledribblerParticipant]

It seems like Curry’s confidence increased quite a bit after the finals. Not only that, but he definitely put in the work to keep improving. Prior to Curry coming out I thought of him as a more aggressive Steve Nash, minus the vision and ball handling. The last two things he has improved on a ton, as well as his finishing at the rim and his defense though it’s still not very good. At this point it seems he is past the ankle issues, but he has already surpassed what I thought he could become and I figured he had a few all star appearances in him.

As a whole, people need to give that entire team respect. Curry is great and as much as he makes life easier for everyone else, they do the same for him. His only real weakness is defensively and he’s surrounded with quality defenders. Offensively you have this great shooter that is surrounded by other excellent shooters and passers. You just can’t attempt to play the same game as them offensively and expect to win. Defensively you pretty much have to unlearn all the conventional things you have been taught because they shoot and pass too well.

 

[doubledribblerParticipant]

It seems like Curry’s confidence increased quite a bit after the finals. Not only that, but he definitely put in the work to keep improving. Prior to Curry coming out I thought of him as a more aggressive Steve Nash, minus the vision and ball handling. The last two things he has improved on a ton, as well as his finishing at the rim and his defense though it’s still not very good. At this point it seems he is past the ankle issues, but he has already surpassed what I thought he could become and I figured he had a few all star appearances in him.

As a whole, people need to give that entire team respect. Curry is great and as much as he makes life easier for everyone else, they do the same for him. His only real weakness is defensively and he’s surrounded with quality defenders. Offensively you have this great shooter that is surrounded by other excellent shooters and passers. You just can’t attempt to play the same game as them offensively and expect to win. Defensively you pretty much have to unlearn all the conventional things you have been taught because they shoot and pass too well.

 

[PulseGlazerParticipant]

I agree Curry is better this year, but a lot of his improvement is just shooting more. His percentages, particularly contested where he shoots as well covered as the best mortals do covered, are just nuts good, so his shooting more is just great for his team and himself.

[PulseGlazerParticipant]

I agree Curry is better this year, but a lot of his improvement is just shooting more. His percentages, particularly contested where he shoots as well covered as the best mortals do covered, are just nuts good, so his shooting more is just great for his team and himself.

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