How The New Players On The Warriors Have To Change

By Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA - Kevin Durant, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

A team doesn't just win 73 games by being amazing players. They win because of their offense and defense. They win by doing what works. But when new players come in, things can change. Here's how guys like Kevin Durant and Zaza Pachulia must adapt to the Warriors offense.

Last year, the Warriors lead the league in points coming off an off-ball screen with 1139 points that season. The Thunder on the other had were 17th with only 411 of their points coming off of off-ball screens. Durant is going to have to get used to always coming off of screens. It's not about just getting open, it's about getting in  the best position to score right off of the screen. The Warriors are always moving, and Steve Kerr wants to cut down in isolation this year. KD needs to be moving all the time. In fact, the Warriors also lead the league in points off of cuts with 1225 points. OKC had 892. To get these wide open looks, isn't a talent thing, it's a movement thing. The whole team gets points by players cutting, something that KD has to get used to.

Zaza has to get used to playing more high post. The Dallas Mavericks last year had an offense that really revolved around the low post. The Warriors were at the bottom in those terms. Andrew Bogut and the other bigs for the Warriors started up top behind the three point line, made a pass, then would go to set a screen for someone to come back up to the top, cut, set a ball screen and then roll. There was very little posting up for the big men in that offense. Zaza isn't going to be able to camp out in the paint this year. He's going to be moving and moving. He will also have to learn how to work the high post like Bogut was able to. Bogut did a lot of work in the high post hitting cutters and doing hand offs. Players would curl off him and he would hand off the ball for wide open layups. The Warriors loved to keep the paint open for baseline cutters so Zaza's going to have to learn how to play outside the paint.

The Warriors' most deadly lineup last year was their small ball lineup. The reason why this lineup was so successful was because of cutting and passing. KD is going to have to learn that it isn't about getting off good shots, it's about getting off the best shot possible. Draymond's ability to move at the 5 made it tough for the big to help on guys like Curry and Thompson, but get back onto Draymond. This made it easier for guys to cut and get to the rim. It also made it so the baseline was open a lot. They'd have most of the offense working behind the 3 point line which would make it easy for cutters to come in baseline. There was very little isolation in this lineup and lots of passing and cutting, something that KD isn't that used to. The bigs are his friends, they are going to get him open, and he's going to have to help them by moving and hitting them while they are moving.


It's not just the new players that have to adapt though. Curry is going to have to realize he can't go into isolation as much. But KD is on a totally new team with a totally different offense, and him and Zaza have some changes to make.

NBA Finals Game 5 Preview

By Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA - Kevin Love, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36918954

The Cavaliers are down 3-1 to the Warriors. A lot of people are saying, "Hey, the Warriors came back from a 3-1 deficit this post-season, why can't the Cavs. Now I'm not saying that the Cavs can't do it, but I am going to say that what the Warriors did was totally different. The Warriors only had to play 1 game on the road while they had 2 home games left. The Cavs only have 1 home game left and have to win 2 games on the Warriors home floor. Now, this isn't impossible because 2 of the 10 teams to comeback from a 3-1 deficit only had 1 home game left after being down 3-1. One was the Celtics from the Bill Russell days, and the other team was the Houston Rockets and their clutch city team. These are two historic teams. And no one has comeback from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA finals, so if the Cavs were to accomplish this feat, it would be a very historic moment in NBA history.

Now, if you haven't heard, Draymond Green has been suspended for game 5 of the NBA finals due to his encounter with LeBron. He will be out of the lineup. I don't know what Steve Kerr is going to do, but I have to assume he'll start Iggy at the 3 and slide Barnes to the 4. What I do if I'm the Cavs, is start Love at the 5. Now you might think I'm crazy, but I can explain. Love at the 5 would most likely match him up with Andrew Bogut and Kevin Love is a guy that can really stretch the floor. Through the whole time Andrew Bogut is on the floor, I'd suggest the Cavs go into pick and roll/pop with Love. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving should just go into pick and roll/pop with Love until Steve Kerr decides to take Bogut out of the game. With shooters like Jefferson and J.R., if the Warriors help off of the pick and roll, these guys will have wide open shots and lanes to the basket. We've seen how the Warriors do against the small line-up in pick and roll when they have Bogut or Ezeli out there; it isn't pretty. With them down 3-1, they have to try something, and Love at the 5 might actually work for at least the first quarter.

With Draymond Green out, this really takes away the Warriors' versatility and option to go small. This is going to force them to have a big throughout most of the game and what the Warriors are going to have to hope to do is out-score the Cavs. I expect Anderson Varejao to play a big role for the team because of his versatility and hustle he brings. He can also somewhat stretch the floor. Same with Speights and I think he will also get some key minutes.









Game 5 is going to be Cleveland's best chance to steal a game in Golden State and you have to think if they can win the next 2 games, they will have a good shot at winning game 7 in Golden State.

The Warriors Are the Superior Team

Warriors Lead Series 2-0

I hate to say it, but sorry Cavs fans, the Warriors are just superior to your team. Now, I'm not saying the series is over at all. I'm just saying that the Warriors are the better team and the Cavs are going to have a really tough time trying to win against them. Game 2 was a prime example of it. The Warriors wore down the Cavs and the Cavs really just gave up.

The biggest thing I took from game 2 was the Warriors heart and will to win. And what I saw was the Warriors team rebounding. They out-rebounded the Cavs 46 to 34. The Warriors hit the offensive glass hard. The Cavs just didn't seem to want to board and the Warriors did. You could tell what team wanted to win that game.

Something I want to really point out is how underrated of a defender Andrew Bogut is. The guy had 5 blocks last night. Cool, right? But there is a lot more to defense than blocking shots. Bogut's positioning and timing defensively is amazing. He reads the defense so well. You can't forget that this guy also had 2 steals in the game. I also want to point out that Bogut is a great passer. While his own offensive game is lacking. Bogut plays the high post position exceptionally well and sees the floor better than most big men.

Richard Jefferson is honestly probably the best player on the Cavs right now. Now before I get a bunch of hate mail from you Cavs fans, let me explain this. Let this soak into your brains... This guy on defense was really good. Just like Bogut, Jefferson's defense was amazing as far as positioning. He was stopping his guy. He also did an amazing job on help defense and double-teaming. Offensively, Jefferson was just as good. The veteran made great cuts to the basket as he drew the defense towards him in the game. In fact, Rich might have to start from now on. And you might say LeBron James is the best player on the Cavs; well, he's been pretty brutal when he's been on the floor. LBJ had 7 turnovers and gave up a lot of points defensively. I was very impressed by Jefferson's play and I think he should start instead of J.R. Smith. This is for a few reasons. I think J.R. will be much more productive off the bench and he will provide a ton of bench offense. Also, I think that when he comes in to guard Thompson, the Warriors will have more limited options offensively. Richard Jefferson will be a big spark for the starting lineup too. His veteran presence would hopefully start the Cavs off the right way next game.

And let's not overlook just what the Warriors did defensively. They held the Cavs to under 80 points and under 36% shooting. This defensive effort was held out by almost every player on the floor. Draymond, Bogut, Curry, Thompson, and especially Iguodala were just amazing defensively. If they keep this level of defensive play, they are going to be really tough to beat since the Cavs aren't going to be able to rely on their offense to get them to the finish line.

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 Trailblazers (Game 3)

Warriors Lead Series 2-1

I want to start out this post by saying that Damian Lillard did what Damian Lillard needed to do to win this game. The kid had 40 points and 10 assists in the game. He took over for this Traiblazers team. He took advantage of this team not having the defensive presence of Steph Curry. No matter the shot Lillard was given, he made sure he made it.

Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were amazing. Klay had 35 points! But Draymond had 37 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, and he shot 8-12 from 3-point range. A lot of his shots were wide open too. He played great but the Warriors couldn't come out with the W.

There were two reasons why the Trailblazers won. First, they didn't turn the ball over. They took great care of the ball. They only had 10 turnovers on the night. Portland made sure that they always got back in transition and the best team in transition only had 2 fastbreak points. When you limit the Warriors to 2 fastbreak points, you are doing a pretty good job at defending them.

The other reason was that the Trailblazers hit tough shots. The Warriors did a good job defensively but the Trailblazers just hit tough shots as they were lead by Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.

As you can see, the Trailblazers deserved to get this win because they worked hard. If they keep this up, they could look and making this series a lot more interesting.

Warriors VS Trailblazers (Game 2)

Warriors Lead Series 2-0

Portland was winning. They were doing great. That was until the 4th quarter came. The Warriors executed just as Steve Kerr wanted them to.

The first point I'm going to make is that Portland was kept off the boards. Mason Plumlee was limited to 11 rebounds. The team had only 39 boards on the game while the Warriors had 48. It was sheer hustle from Draymond Green who ended the game with 14 rebounds himself.

What really had the Trailblazers going was the defense from Al-Farouq Aminu. He contested a total of 15 shots. His defense was amazing and his offense wasn't bad either as he hit a few threes and ended with 14 points. He was the second best player to have on the floor according the plus/minus advantage.

The Warriors took the lead and pulled away from the Blazers in the 4th quarter. If we take a look at just what happened in that quarter, there is a big difference between the teams. That difference is the free throws. The Blazers shot and made just 2 free throws in that quarter while the Warriors shot 11 and made 10 free throws in that quarter. In the other 3 quarters, Golden State shot just 9 free throws while Portland shot 19. The Blazers were in great position defending and they were aggressive themselves until that 4th quarter. This was what really stood out to me. The Blazers just lost their aggression and they bailed out the Warriors with fouls.

As you can see, the Warriors and Blazers flip-flopped in that 4th quarter and that seemed to decide the game. For game 3, the Blazers just need to get to the line and play great defense like they did in the first 3 quarters. 

Warriors VS Trailblazers (Game 1)

Warriors Lead Series 1-0

I enjoyed watching this game. However, I had a weird dream last night, it was that Shaun Livingston went for 50 points in this game. I seriously thought this actually happened for a little while. However, I do like watching Shaun Livingston on the court. I loved watching him on the Nets and I'm glad he has this opportunity with the Warriors.

I thought that the Trailblazers did a great job with a lot of things. When Damian Lillard wasn't producing, they moved the ball really well. They had 26 assists on the night. However, 3 key guys played very insufficiently. Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and Mason Plumlee shot just 13-50 from the field combined! These are the guys that need to be leading the team. That is why they lost.

The Warriors played great. Klay Thompson had 37 points on the night. Draymond Green also added 23 points to that total. They were not lacking on offense. They rebounded very well. Draymond, Bogut, and Harrison Barnes had a total of 37 rebounds on the night. The Warriors got out and ran the court as well. They had 19 fastbreak points. Shaun Livingston seemed to always be pushing the tempo, leaving Portland in the dust. He was a great floor general.

All I can really say is that the Warriors played great while the Trailblazers had a lack of offense from their star players. They need more production. The Warriors are doing great and they are looking great without Curry. They are putting doubts to rest it seems like. And when Curry comes back.... you could only imagine.

Warriors VS Rockets (Game 5)

Warriors Win Series 4-1

The Warriors closed out the series last night, and they blew out the Houston Rockets. Jason Terry guaranteed a Rockets win in game 5. The funny thing is, Jason Terry obviously put too much pressure on himself because he was 0-7 from the field.

The Warriors were great offensively. They shot 54.9% from the field. They could not be stopped. The team had 30 assists in the game. Klay Thompson had 27 points on the night as he took advantage of James Harden's poor defensive effort. Klay took 9 uncontested field goals and made 8 of them. That is just a very poor effort from the Rockets.

The Warriors weren't just good offensively though. They held the Rockets to 32.6% from the field. They contested most of the Rockets attempts. The Rockets took 55 contested shots and only made 18 of them. That is great defense! I also notice that they crashed on Dwight Howard whenever he got the ball. He never could get up a clean shot as he shot 3-13 from the field.

As you can see, the Warriors dominated on offense and played great defense. If they keep this up going into next series, they could win the whole series without Curry. And Kevin Durant would agree with me that anyone who can't see that is an idiot.

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 3)

Warriors Lead Series 2-1

The Rocket finally decided to take advantage of the Warriors sitting Curry out of the game. The Rockets were great offensively and looked like they actually wanted to play defensively, or did they. Let's break it all down.

If you look at the Rockets defense, you will notice it wasn't all as it seemed. They did a good job of contesting field goals shot by Klay, but they failed to contest any other shots. This actually worked with them somewhat as the Warriors couldn't hit shots, but then Maurice Speights was left wide open. He took advantage of this as he contibuted to 22 points off the bench and was a big reason why this Warriors team stayed in the game. If you take a look at the shotchart you will notice that the Rockets defense wasn't that great. Guys were left open but were just missing outside shots. The shots inside were usually not defended well and they got quality looks inside. 

Warriors Team - Shot Chart - www.nba.com/stats

James Harden, Dwight Howard, and Motiejunas were the guys that really made this Rockets offense go 'round. The pick and roll with Dwight Howard and James Harden wasn't guarded that well by Golden State until the second half where Motiejunas started spacing the floor and hitting shots. The Warriors got off to a very poor start defensively. It wasn't til the 4th quarter where the Warriors really cracked down defensively.

The Warriors did not rebound well. They lost the rebounding battle to Houston as the Warriors had 43 rebounds while the Rockets had 52. The Rockets had 16 second chance points. The Warriors also didn't take care of the ball well. Draymond Green had 7 turnovers in the game and had a turnover at the end of the game in which the Warriors could have possibly won the game. The turnovers really hurt Golden State and it kind of cost them the game. The Houston Rockets had 20 points off turnovers so it was a case of not getting back on defense either.

Stephen Curry has said that he would be very surprised if he didnt' play in game 4 so the Rockets should expect him to play. They have a lot of changes that they must make if they are going to keep this series alive.

Warriors VS Rockets (Game 2)

Warriors lead series 2-0

The Rockets had their best chance to win against the Golden State Warriors last night, and they failed. With Stephen Curry out, this was a game that the Rockets needed to win. But the Warriors executed where the Rockets fail.

Houston shot 44.3% from the field and 40% from the 3-point line. That wasn't their problem though. Their problem was turnovers. It's really as simple as that. Houston had 19 turnovers and Golden State 23 points off turnovers. If you turn it over against Golden State, they are going to convert.

The other problem was that Houston played very poor defense, especially their interior defense. The Warriors had 56 points in the paint. They shot well above average in close as well, just take a look at this shot chart.

Warriors Team - Shot Chart - www.nba.com/stats

 So the Rockets obviously need to step up their defense. Let's give the Warriors some credit though. Their guys stepped up, because they are capable of doing that. Shaun Livingston had 16 points, Andre Iguodala had 18 points, Andrew Bogut had 10 points, and Klay Thompson had 34 points. It was a great overall team game. When Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green couldn't get anything going, they found the open man instead. They did a great job moving the ball and the Rockets just sat there and watched.

We don't know if Curry will play next game, but if he doesn't, the Rockets need a win. They need a win either way, but they must take advantage of Curry being out from injury.

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.

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!

 

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.