What You Missed From Game 7

By Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA - LeBron James, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36918817

Game 7 was quite the game. At half-time, there were Warriors fans were saying that the Warriors were going to win it all. Then came the final minutes of game 7. It was neck and neck and the Cavs pulled ahead to win it. That's when everyone went nuts and surprisingly everyone missed a lot of stats and things that happened in this game. People jumped to things saying, "Curry lost the game, LeBron James won it, Kevin Love was still horrible in the series and he'll be traded." Well, here I am, and here is what you probably missed from game 7.

Curry Lost The Game?
While Curry really did blow away any chances to win the game towards the end, did he really lose the game? Towards the end, Kevin Love was guarding Curry, and of course, Curry thought he could take advantage of it. But Kevin was on Curry tight. This left room for Curry to get to the rim, but instead of trying to drive, he was set on shooting a 3; a 3 that was well off. This was a big possession and was really the turning point in this game. Curry even said after the game he "settled". He settled for shots. While it didn't lose them the game, it really hurt their chances to get back in it. Instead of closing it out, Curry settled, and that led to the loss.

But What About Klay?
While Curry got a beating from the media, Klay left without a scratch, besides the fact that he left the game without congratulating the other team. Tell me, do you remember Klay making shots in this game? Because he didn't make many. Klay had only 14 points and shot 2-10 from 3-point range. He shot worse than Curry from 3 and didn't show up to the game, yet no one really mentioned Klay at all.

LeBron Carried The Team?
LeBron did a great job in this series, but right after the game, Kyrie's performances were forgotten. This guy was on fire throughout the whole series. While I think LeBron was no doubt the MVP, everyone seemed to forget about guys Kyrie, Richard Jefferson, and Tristan Thompson. Sure, LeBron was great, but recognition for the whole team wasn't there. After all, without these guys, would've they even come close to winning the championship?

Kevin Love Hurt The Team?
People wouldn't stop talking about Kevin Love's performance throughout the series and after it was over. What people missed was Kevin Love's amazing defense and rebounding in game 7. But if they didn't miss that, they sure didn't see his +/- advantage. Kevin Love was a +19 on the floor while Kyrie was only a +10. And LeBron James, he was a +4. When Kevin Love was in the lineup, it was extremely beneficial to the team. The fact that the guy had 14 rebounds in only 30 minutes of play alone was amazing. 

Draymond...
Everyone seemed to forget about Draymond's play after game 7. The guy had 32 points, 15 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 steals. He also shot 6-8 from 3. However, no one said a word about it after the game.


And Last... Is Tristan Thompson Defensive Player Of The Year?
The media went crazy after LeBron's block on Iggy. Yet here is the thing, If Iggy didn't change his shot in mid-air, it never would've been blocked. It was a blocked shot. Now, LeBron was good defensively, but guess who was on Curry and Klay chasing out to the 3 point line through the whole game. It was Tristan Thompson. Let me make this clear... Tristan Thompson had 3 rebounds in game 7. Only 3. The reason why? He was chasing guys out on the 3 point line. Tristan Thompson contested 7 three point shots during game 7. That was more than anyone else on the team. He contested more 3 point shots than J.R., more than Irving, more than Shumpert, and more than LeBron. And guess who was doing it, that's right, the starting center for the Cavs. And even while he was out of the paint, he still managed to fit in 2 blocks. When your starting center can guard Stephen Curry, that does a lot. We see a block from LeBron and think he's the best defender, when people don't realize, there is a lot more to defense than that. LeBron might have saved a couple plays, Tristan Thompson might have saved the whole game.


 

Warriors VS Trailblazers (Game 4)

Warriors Lead Series 3-1

Stephen Curry, he's back alright. I remember watching the Starters and Tas Melas was saying that Curry will probably be rusty when he comes back and he'll need a game or 2 to get going again. But Tas couldn't have predicted this. Listen, Curry had 40 points, 17 in overtime! Klay Thompson and Draymond Green had 44 points combined. That's 84 points from those 3 players.

Listen, the Trailblazers put out their best effort, but they didn't win. If you are the Blazers, what do you do? Dame was amazing, so was McCollum. Mason Plumlee played great. Unfortunately, their turnovers cost them the game, but where do you go from here. You played a great, great game and lost in overtime. If you give a really great performance and lose, you aren't going to feel good at all. I just don't know how they can even win game 5 after this loss.

There is absolutely no way to describe this game in words or stats, you have to watch it to experience it so I'll let these videos do the talking.



 

Warriors VS Rockets (Game 4)

Warriors Lead Series 3-1

Curry played the first half of the game. He then slipped on a wet spot that wasn't wiped up on the court. Curry would not return to the second half of the game. It was today that it was found out after an MRI scan that Curry is out for 2 weeks with an MCL sprain. The game was tied at halftime. That was when this Warriors team broke away from the Rockets. This was without Curry. Let's take a look at what they did.

In the second half of the game, the Warriors shot the ball extremely well. They were 12-20 from three in the second half as well as shooting 57.1% from the field. They weren't just hitting shots though. They were getting great looks. They moved the ball so well. The Warriors had 21 assists in the second half alone! They had 38 assists in the game! Shaun Livingston lead this with 9 assists in the second half. They weren't satisfied until they got an open shot. The Warriors had 51 uncontested shots on the night! They looked great without Curry.

A part of this did have to do with the defense of the Rockets. Their defensive rotation were horrible. Completely horrible. Nobody seemed to communicate and players were losing their man. It was just bad. The Rockets can't win against the Warriors with the defense they had.

The Rockets also turned the ball over 18 times. The Warriors took advantage of this. The Warriors had 20 fast break points and 23 points off turnovers. The Rockets turn the ball over a lot, but you can't against the Warriors because they are the best in converting off turnovers.

The Warriors also played great defense. The Rockets shot 5-27 on three point attempts and didn't get many open looks. The Warriors were going for steals as they had 10 steals and 12 deflections. The Rockets had a hard time getting into an offense. While the Warriors had 16 turnovers, the Rockets only had 9 fastbreak points.

If the Rockets are to come back in the series, they need the same bench production they had in this game. Beasley was an instant scorer. He had 17 points on the night. Jason Terry also added 9 and Brewer had 10 points.

Anyways, the Warriors played great without Curry, but they really need to continue the play through the rest of the series and through the next series.

Warriors VS Rockets (Game 1)

Warriors lead series 1-0

If you are a Rockets fan, this was probably a tough game to watch. Nothing was really working for the Rockets. I thing I really notice was that the Rockets seemed to be forcing shots. Every miss Corey Brewer had in the paint was because it didn't look like he was trying to make it, he was just trying to throw up a shot. It just wasn't a good game. The Rocket kept missing which lead to major frustration.

One thing the Rockets have to realize it that you can't try to outrun the Warriors. They are so talented in a full court offense that you have to slow them down into a half-court offense. The Warriors ended the game with 33 points off turnovers. The Warriors thrive off turnovers. When you turn the ball over 24 times against the Warriors, they are going to convert on those mistakes. There is more the whole Warriors lead right there in points. You have to score and you can't turn it over against this team.

Stephen Curry was the leading scorer for both teams with 24 points on the night, and he didn't even clock 20 minutes. That means 2 things, you team didn't score, and you let a guy score 24 points in about 20 minutes, that is more than 1 point per minute. If you can't keep your composure and contain Curry, you at least have to match the Warriors scoring, which they didn't because they turned the ball over and forced up shots.

Now let's give some credit to the Warriors though. They played great defense. They held the Rockets to 78 points. Not only that, but they limited their fouls too. James Harden, a supreme free throw shooter in the league, didn't register a single free throw in the game. He was so frustrated that he created contact to get a call, but instead, Harden was called for an offensive foul. Their defense was so great that the Rockets suffered with their shooting, and the Rockets are a great shooting team. The Warriors really protected the paint as guy just forced up shots in there.

Houston Rockets - Shot Chart - www.nba.com/stats

One of the more impressive stats that I noticed was the rebounding battle. The Houston Rockets had an amazing total of 51 rebounds! 51! The Warriors had 53. They topped the Rockets total of 51. That is impressive.

As you could tell from this game, it looks like it's going to be a scrappy, one-sided series, but if the Rocket can make these changes, they could make it more interesting.

Aaron's Awards For The 2015-16 Season

As you might not have known, last year I made a post giving who I thought the award winners were for last year. This year, I am doing the same thing. So here we go...

Coach Of The Year: Before I jump into this, I do want to give a shout out to Dave Joerger; a guy that I think should be in the running for coach of the year. The guy had to deal with 28 different players this season. A regular team only has to deal with about 15-18 different players. The best thing about this, is that Joerger still managed to help this team get the 7th seed in the west even without most of their starters that they started the year with. But enough of me ranting on about the Grizzlies, I'll make sure I'll have a different post to do that in. Right now, we need to bring back the meaning of the Coach of the Year award because right now it seems like the team with either the best or the second best record gets the award. I think that doesn't really mean much. In fact, I don't think Steve Kerr even deserves this award. While they did great, I don't think it was their coaching staff that went above and beyond, I think it was their players. I also think it shouldn't be the "Coach" of the year, I think it should be the "Coaching staff" of the year where the whole coaching staff gets this award. While the head coach does so much, assistant coaches, coordinators, all of the film guys, and especially the medical staff do so much. Now, who is the Coach of the year? It could really go to Terry Stotts, who has done such a great job coaching Portland, or even Dave Joerger. But my coach of the year has to go to Gregg Popovich. He has lead to a great Spurs record of 67-15. Not only that, but they were able to do that while resting guys. With their best player, Kawhi Leonard out of the lineup, they were 7-3! That is why Pop is my pick.
Winner: Gregg Popovich

Sixth Man Of The Year: Jamal Crawford has the points but he has done nothing other than throw up shots. Enes Kanter, on the other hand, has been grabbing rebounds and has stepped up his defense. Kanter is shooting a career high in FG percentage and 3-point percentage as he has been a big help off the bench. Crawford, meanwhile, has been shooting poorly and has tied his career low in assists per game. Kanter has affected the team to be able to win while Crawford hasn't put up good shooting percentages or assisting numbers. While Crawford hit some big shots for the team, Kanter has been the better bench player.
Winner: Enes Kanter


Rookie Of The Year: While Porzingis and Okafor played pretty good, Karl-Anthony Towns was amazing. Here is what he lead the rookies in; points, rebounds, double-doubles, and minutes. He was second in blocks, shot 54% from the field, and averaged a double-double. Not to mention, he is the only rookie this year to get a player of the week award. He has played the best out of the rookies by far.
Winner: Karl-Anthony Towns

Most Improved Player: You could make a case for Isaiah Thomas or Kemba Walker, but C.J. McCollum has gone from a 6 PPG player to a 20 PPG player. I really can't give the award to anyone else, because no one has done that this season. Nothing even close to such change. Not to mention, he has been a big part in Portland making the playoffs.
Winner: C.J. McCollum

Defensive Player Of The Year: Draymond Green and Kawhi Leonard, how do you pick between the 2. Well, Draymond has been the better defensive player. While Kawhi has been putting tons of effort on offense, Draymond has been focusing his game on defense. Even though both guy negatively affect the team when they are taken off the court, Draymond has a bigger impact. When Draymond is taken off, the Warriors allow about 12 more points per 100 possessions, while the Spurs allow about 5.5 more when Leonard is off the court. Draymond averages 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks while Leonard averages 1.8 steals and 1 block. As you can see, both are great defensive players, but Kawhi is more of a focused offensive player.
Winner: Draymond Green
 
Most Valuable Player: Tied for 1st in steals, 11th in assists, 45.4% from 3 while shooting 11.2 3-pointers per game, made over 400 3's as he broke his own record of most 3s in a season, lead his team to the best record ever of 73-9, lead the league in points with 30.1 per game, and was only 10th in turnovers, Stephen Curry. Any arguments?
Winner: Stephen Curry

Do you agree? Disagree? Comment your thoughts down below!

Should The 3-Point Line Be Moved Back?

Last Friday, Dallas Mavericks owner gave reporters his thoughts on moving the 3-point line back. Cuban told reporters:

"It's getting too close, guys are shooting a foot behind it anyways. ... That's something we should look at. It's worth looking at."

Of course for Cuban, this is bad timing on this statement noting that Stephen Curry has become probably the most popular player in the league and 3-point shooting has become something that fans want to see. However, Cuban explained that this wouldn't be to hurt 3-point shooters it would be to help other players who aren't 3-point shooters. He told the media:

"I don't think the number of shots would decline, but I think it would reward skill and open up the court some more. So guys would still take [3-point] shots if it's seven inches back or whatever, but at the same time, it opens up the court for more drives, more midrange game. I think it'd open it up more so guys with different skill sets could play. It would open up play for more drives. Guys with midrange games would be rewarded and that would stay in the game. There would be more diversity of offensive action in the game."

While Cuban has a point, he doesn't seem to understand that the mid-range game is just fine. Since, the 2011-12 season, mid-range shot attempts have been fairly similar. Not to mention the mid-range game is still used by many of the league's stars including, Carmelo Anthony, John Wall, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and Dirk Nowitzki. And besides that, it doesn't matter where you put the 3-point line, the teams are already spacing the floor more because of guys like Stephen Curry and it is opening things up. Teams can create that without moving the line back and the Warriors have proven that. Also, moving back the line would create problems such as the corner shot. How would you move that back? Would you move it back? Not to mention, an NBA 3-pointer is hard enough to hit. It is 23ft. 9in. It would take away from the stretch 4 position such as Kevin Love, DeMarcus Cousins, and Ryan Anderson's game.

Teams such as the Spurs and the Grizzlies have proven you can win without the 3-point shot. The Timberwolves have big men Gorgui Dieng and Karl-Anthony Towns that constantly use the mid-range shot to force defenders out on them. Marc Gasol uses Mid-range all of the time. And lightning quick John Wall uses mid-range to not allow players to sag off of him and protect the basket. However, Mark Cuban is missing the fact that players are having to be guarded different. By having defenses more perimeter orientated, they are having to pressure at the 3-point line more, making the inside of the paint so much more open. Big men are having to come out from underneath the basket to get out on shooters making it acutally easier for players to get to the rim. I acutally think that moving the line back could actually counter what Cuban says it will cause.

Of course, this wouldn't affect Stephen Curry, it would acutally cause the players such as DeMarcus Cousins not have as much skill. Stephen Curry already broke his own record of 3-pointers made in a season (again) and if you move the line back, it will actually cause Curry to have an even bigger advantage against a lot of players such as John Wall and Chris Paul.

So as you can see, Mark Cuban's logic doesn't make much sense to me. While I see what he is trying to get at by moving the line back, it seems like so much a hassle for something that really wouldn't change much and would probably be changed back in later years. If you want to see the whole article with all of Mark Cuban's quotes, you can check it out here. As always, hope you all loved the breakdown and I'll be hoping to give you guys more here at NBA Inside The Play Nation!

 

All-Star Saturday Night Breakdown

By TonyTheTiger - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29372049

All-Star Saturday Night is one of my most favorite nights of the year. It's entertainment at it's best. You have the dunk contest, three point contest, and the skills competition along with things in between for our amusement. I've decided to breakdown every event from All-Star Saturday Night so everybody can see how every player participated and what their outcome means.

First off, it just didn't feel right when we started off with the Skills competition. I was very disappointed that there was no Shooting Stars competition. That was such a fun event. I felt like, once the first half court was made, that is when All-Star Saturday Night officially began. In case you don't know what the Shooting Stars event was, there is a video on it below. Anyways, onto the Skills competition...

The Skills Challenge had a different format this year as the "bigs" went up against the "smalls", the smalls being guards and the bigs being F/Cs. I'll breakdown each participant's performance below.

• Jordan Clarkson had a tough time as he was out in the first round. He wasn't that fast dribbling and did absolutely horrible in the passing section of the competition missing all 3 passes. He let C.J. McCollum get the layup before him and Clarkson was out before he even got to put up a shot as sharpshooter C.J. made his first shot. Clarkson isn't the most talented guard as you could see in the competition even though he is a dynamic scorer.
• Emanuel Mudiay struggled in this competition as he went up against Isaiah Thomas. He ended up losing because he couldn't get the passing as he missed all 3 tries while Thomas got it on the first. Mudiay then came down and lost control of the ball. By the time Mudiay made it to the 3-point shot, Thomas had already made the shot on his second attempt. Mudiay might have had a better shot if he was able to make the pass on his first try, but considering how this guy averages quite a bit of turnovers per game, maybe that is why he struggled with the passing station.
• Draymond Green did pretty well in this contest, though he didn't make it past the first round. He zoomed through the dribbling course and made the pass on his first try. He then did the layup with ease but failed to make a three pointer as he clearly rushed the first one and it was flat. He then missed the second and Karl-Anthony Towns made his before Green could get up another shot. However, Green had given us a look at his guard like skills for a big man and they were impressive to say the least.
• Anthony Davis really took it easy in the contest going pretty slow throughout the whole thing. He couldn't seem to get the three point shot to fall either as DeMarcus Cousin got the shot before he could. Davis looked really tired and slow in the game and if you looked at his face, he looked like he had been a victim of fatigue.
• DeMarcus Cousins had a big disadvantage in this competition. He was probably the slowest one out their. He was no match for Karl-Anthony Towns' speed and Cousins isn't the best ball handler. While we didn't see that much skill from him in the passing as he really couldn't get on pass though, we did get to see Cousins' range as he did hit a clutch three against Davis.
• C.J. McCollum did great in the first round as he went through the competition with ease and hit his first 3. The second round was a different story. He lost the ball through the dribbling course to start it and couldn't catch up with Isaiah Thomas. It is clear that he may be a sharpshooter, but McCollum could work on his dribbling and passing a little more.
• Isaiah Thomas was amazing in this competition. He was so speedy through the dribbling course and he never missed a pass at the passing station. In the final he sped past Towns to get his layup first. In the other rounds, he hit the 3-pointer easily. Of course, when he went against Towns in the finale, he couldn't make the 3-pointer. Isaiah Thomas really showed the world just how talented he was though.
• Karl-Anthony Towns was a beast as he lead the bigs to the win. He showed off his speed dribbling and gave the most effort out of all of the contestants. Towns made it to the end and shot the 3 well enough to win. He is a really talented big man and like Green he shows guard like skills with his passing ability. It was a joy to see Towns in this competition.

The 3-point contest was cool to see as the Splash Brothers took on the rest of the contestants. Let's take a look at how they all did

• J.J. Redick started off great. He hit his first 5. Then he cooled off. Last year if you remember, Redick kept stepping on the line so they didn't count. Well this year, he made sure he was behind the line. Redick started to get tired and that is probably a result of how much jump he has on his shot. Redick tried to win in the tie breaker to get into the final round, but he was taken down by Devin Booker. He really isn't made for the contest because of the jump he has to his shot.
• James Harden just isn't made for this contest. He never seems to be able to just set up and hit shots. Honestly, he can't seem to make them consistently in this contest and he is more of an in game shooter. Nevertheless, I was surprised that Harden did as well as he did.
• Kris Middleton did horrible in this contest. He just couldn't make that many shots. If looked at his shot, it seemed really off center. I was disappointed that Bosh wasn't in the contest, instead we got Middleton who didn't perform well in the contest at all.
• Kyle Lowry shot the ball flat and strong in the contest. That is why he had such a hard time getting shots to fall. He kept hitting back rim. Towards the end, he got tired and started shooting short. It just wasn't that great of a contest for Lowry.
• Devin Booker came out with the jitters. He started off poorly but ended great. This kid is going to be the next Steph Curry in the league. He is a great shooter and he will win this contest sometime in his career. He was nothing short of amazing. I was really impressed with how he played.
• Stephen Curry played real well, hitting the clutch 3 to get him to qualify for the final. He did even better in the final, he just couldn't compete with Klay's 27. The thing I liked about Curry is he didn't really jump on his shot. It was a great set-shot.
• Klay Thompson lit it up just like Curry did last year. He had 27 in the final round. Klay is such a great shooter and if you think about it, it's kind of scary to think that both him and Curry are on the same team. Both of them are too good of shooter.

Now if you know all-star weekend, you know that the dunk contest is usually where it's at. And it was true for this year. The contest was thrilling. Let's take a look at how the players did.

• Will Barton was really disappointing. He just couldn't make the dunks that LaVine and Gordon could make. He just can seem to get enough air on his dunks.
• Andre Drummond was pretty disappointing too. I thought he was going to do great in the contest. When he brought Steve Nash onto the court, I was expecting something really special, but it wasn't that great of a dunk.
• Aaron Gordon was great. He had the style. He did great, especially for a two foot jumper. His under-the-legs dunk was the dunk of the night by far. What he did was beyond amazing. He really set the bar high. In fact, he might have set it a little too high as he ran out of dunks towards the end and couldn't find something really creative like his other dunks. But that is besides the point. Gordon put on a show, a great show for the whole NBA nation. Even though he didn't win, he did some amazing dunks that left my jaw dropping from a dunk contest that hasn't been that good for years.
• Zach LaVine was just as great as Gordon was. The two dueled it out with some amazing dunks. Just when you saw one of Gordon's spectacular dunks, LaVine would could out with something spectacular as well. He gave us an alley-oop, between the legs, and a windmill FT line dunks, dunks that have never been done in an NBA dunk contest before from that far out. While Gordon had the better dunk, Zach LaVine's performance was just as amazing as he came out to win the contest. When Zach was handed the award, he said that Gordon was the dunk contest too. Not to mention, after the dunk contest, LaVine said that the dunk contest win was a win for his old head coach that recently passed away, Flip Saunders. Flip was the won who drafted LaVine and LaVine said that "He's the one that always believed in me and drafted me!". LaVine and Gordon's performance was completely amazing and I'm still in awe about that contest.

As you can see, All-Star Saturday night is one of the best event of the year. It is sad though, that it is once a year, and we have to wait another year to see the next one. But that, it was makes it so amazing. It doesn't happen that often. And it doesn't happen that often when we get to see an All-Star Saturday night as great as this. As Kenny Smith always says, "it's over ladies and gentlemen, it's over". Now we wait, til next year.

The Golden Run

"Stephen Curry (16640524995)" by Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA - Stephen Curry. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons.

It is over now. Ended by the Milwaukee Bucks. And while you may not have liked it, you have to admit that it was fun to think that they could have gone 34 games in a row to beat the Lakers record. However, the Warriors feat is still amazing considering that they blew out the past best start to the season which was the 15-0 as the Warriors made it to 24-0. Now, in this post, I'm going to look at how the Warriors made this run, and how to beat the Warriors.

How The Warriors Went 24-0
What did it take to win 24 games in a row? It took a combination of multiple factors. The fact is, Stephen Curry can't win 24 games in a row on his own. As great of a shooter he is, he just can't win by himself, and we saw that in the game against the Bucks. The first factor that I want to look at is offense. Let's take a look.

The Warriors lead in a lot of categories offensively, take a look at all of them

• 1st in PPG:                           115.3
• 1st in 3-point %:                   42.5%
• 1st in 3 pointers made:         13.1
• 1st in FG%                           48.7%
• 1st in FGs made:                  42.3
• 1st in Offensive Rating:       112.9
• 1st in APG:                           28.6
• 1st in Transition Points         577
• 1st in Off-ball screen points  312

So as you can see; they are very efficient offensively. They do this as you can see by shooting the ball really well from 3. They also just outscore you. There offense is really spread and is great in PnR. 176 of Stephen Curry's points have come from pick and roll.That is 7 points for Stephen Curry on PnR. In fact, Curry's 2 man game with Draymond is one of the best in the league. 30 of the passes that Curry receives are from Draymond. The next person is Bogut with 8.

What else you really need to look at is moving without the ball. Stephen Curry isn't a player that just plays isolation. He can also play off ball. Stephen Curry actually leads the league in points off of off-ball screens with 120. Guess who is second. That's right, Klay Thompson. He has 109 on the season. The Warriors offense is so great that everybody is coming off off-ball screens getting wide open shots. That is what you want in an offense; guys coming off screens getting the high percentage shot. That is another reason reason why Stephen Curry is so hard to guard. Not only is he deadly when he gets past half-court, not only can he take you off the dribble as well, but he also can score on you without the ball. 

The other big thing offensively, is the Warriors transition game. The Warriors lead the league in transition points. That is lead by Stephen Curry as he leads the league with Transition points. He also is second in the league in Effective FG% for player that takes more than 1 transition shots per game. Patty Mills is first. When your team runs the floor that well, you are going to get easy points.>
Defensively, the Warriors are great. They have the 5th best defensive rating in the league. They make every team earn every shot. They give up no easy shots. In fact, they give up the 3rd least amount of spot up jumpers with just 16.3 PPG against them off of spot-ups. That is why teams have to find other ways to score against this team because the Warriors won't give you that open jumper.
 
So how do you stop a team that plays offense near perfection, a defense that gives you nothing easy, an MVP player who can shoot from literally anywhere from the floor, and a lineup that somehow can't be beat? That is a great question. Let's take a look at the best way to take down the Warriors.



How To Beat The Warriors
The Warriors play fantastic offense. To really get it out of rhythm, you are going to have to take some chances with Stephen Curry. If can double him on cuts, deny the ball as hard as you can, and just double him as much as you can. The best thing to do is to let the ball get to the post. If you are playing the Warriors, you have to let the post get touches. The Warriors are not a post orientated team. They only shoot 39.2% from the post. That is 24th in the league. Never double in the post because Bogut and Draymond are great passers at the post. You really need to lets them get down there and play straight up defense.

If Stephen Curry starts to get going with 3 threes in a row, you have to foul Iguodala if he is on the floor. You need to take Curry out of his rhythm.

Offensively, your team needs to have guys that can post up. The Warriors allow a lot of post-up points. It is a big lapse in their defense. They allow the 4th most points from the post in the league. You need to have players who are willing to take it in the post because they don't defend the post that well.

Another big thing is just forcing turnovers. If you really press up on the Warriors, you will force lots of turnovers because of their up-beat tempo. You really have to take it to them in transition though. Warriors have one of the worst transition defense's in the league as they have given up 433 points in transition this season. The Warriors are 7th in the league in turnovers, so you just need to use lots of pressure.

Another thing to do is to get your guards in to isolation and pick and roll to start the game. Warriors have given up tons of points in isolation and aren't really that great in isolation on the defensive end. If you have a dynamic point or shooting guard, you need to take it at the Warriors. Also make sure that when Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are out of the game that you make a basket on almost every possession. The Warriors are know to have their offense and defense fall apart a little while these 2 players are out of the game, and with Harrison Barnes out right now, it's even worse.

So how did the Bucks and the Celtics almost beat them? Well, if you watched the video above, you would have seen that it had to do with Steph being out of the game. That isn't all though. What did they do when Curry was in the game?

Well, Greg Monroe really pounded down low in the post, a key to beating the Warriors as he had 28 points. The other thing was that they contested tons of shots. Also, a thing worst noting is they pressured Klay so much. They didn't give him an inch and really took him out of the game. Same thing with Draymond. They limited him to 5 assists and forced 6 turnovers out of him. 


They really took it to them in transition as well as they outscored the Warriors in the transition department. They also let the Warriors have there points in the paint. The Warriors had 56. What the Warriors did was let them get inside and finish, but the Milwaukee Buck outscored them from the inside, which if what you want to do if you are the Bucks and you don't shoot many 3-pointers.


They let Iguodala get the ball. They didn't let Steph get as many touches as he has been but they sure let Iggy get a lot of touches. Iggy of course just can't convert like Curry especially with a great defender like Giannis guarding him. Curry still had a great night, but the Buck did a great job letting the posts get their points and playing the wings where they couldn't score. Curry is going to score, there is nothing you can do about that. But you have to let the posts put up shots and you have to take away the wings, and that is what the Bucks did.

The Warriors are a great team and are going to be hard to stop. Doing all of this won't stop them from winning, but it will give you a much better chance in winning against them. The Warriors are going to win a lot of games this season, but they aren't going to have a cake walk if teams play them right.

NBA Inside The Player Of The Week (Dec. 1-7)

Hey, anybody know who this Stephen Curry fella is? I here that almost every shot he takes is cash money. I hear that every time he passes half-court, he is willing to shoot it. I hear that he broke Chris Paul's ankles last season. So who is this guy named Stephen Curry? Even if you don't watch NBA basketball, you have probably heard about him. Not only that, but why is everyone talking about Curry? Why is he so special? Here is why:

Curry has been amazing this week. He has completely just been flat out amazing for the Warriors. When you look at the Warriors 22-0 record, you have Stephen Curry to thank for a lot of it. Of Course, the Warriors went perfect again this week, so let's take a look at Curry's contributions to the team.

In 3 games, Curry had 28, 44, and 40 point performances. That itself pretty much really gives him this award. However, Curry's performance was not nearly finished. He shot so well from beyond the arc. He shot 22 for 35 from three point range last week. That is 62.8% from deep.

Just the fact that Curry was getting in the driving lanes made it so he was nearly impossible to guard. When you have a guy shooting as well from 3 as he is on layups, then he is bound to get backdoor cuts. Curry did well off pump fakes and just getting in the lane and taking it to the rim. There is just no guarding him. When a defender is within 2 feet of him, he is 50%. Yep, 50%. How is that even fair? If you look at any percentages on his shot dashboard, they are all over 50% of his shots. No matter the shot, he is making over 50% of them. Curry is just simply lighting it up.

One thing that Curry should watch out for is his turnovers. He accumulates 41% of his teams turnovers when he is on the floor. However, the Warriors could care less. Curry can turn the ball over as long as he still shoots as well as he has been shooting as well as he has from beyond the arc.

Congratulations to Stephen Curry on grabbing his second NBA Inside The Player Of The Week Award. He has earned it this week. It is likely that he will win many more of these awards if he keeps it up.

NBA Inside The Player Of The Week (Oct. 27- Nov. 2)

I am proud to announce that we will have an award every Tuesday and the first one will be given out today (yes, I know today is Wednesday, just go with it). Every week, I will give out the NBA Inside The Player of the Week award to whoever I believe is worthy of the award. Then I will go into depth on their performance that week and why they deserved it. So, without further interruptions, I present, the first ever, NBA Inside The Player Of The Week Award!

"Stephen Curry shooting" by Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA - Stephen Curry. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons.

Yes, the first award goes to the one and only, Stephen Curry. Now Curry has obtained many award, so this really isn't that amazing of one for him, but he still should be proud. Not really because of the award but because of his amazing performance. Let's take a look at those stats Curry!

This week, Curry has averaged 37 PPG, 6.3 APG, and 5 rebounds. If that isn't enough for you, well, then you must not be very convinced on a lot of things, but I will do my best to show you that Curry is deserving of this award. Not only that, but he is shooting 59.5% from the field, which is really tough to do at the guard position considering that most of his shots are from around the perimeter. He also shot 48.8% on 3-pointers, and 96.4 % from Free Throw. These are what I call, BTKKN, otherwise known as, Better Than Kyle Korver Numbers. Now for all you fantasy freaks, he only averaged 2 turnovers per game while averaging these numbers!

Take a look at the defensive side too. He has averaged 2.5 steals in 4 games. He is also helping lead his team to a jaw-dropping number of a 90.4 defensive rating! He has played great on both ends of the floor. In fact, his offensive rating is even more impressive as it is a whopping 119.8. While we are judging this off of 4 games, it has been a very impressive. This guy scored 53 points in the 3rd game of the season, you just can't say that it isn't impressive.

In conclusion, Curry should obviously earn the award because he has put up amazing numbers and has helped his team to a 4-0 start to the season. If this guy keeps it up, expect him to gather many many more of these awards. Congratulations Stephen Curry on winning the first ever NBA Inside The Player Of The Week Award!