NBA Playoffs - Golden State
Are the Golden State Warriors the most exciting team to watch in the past ten years? I remember watching the Lakers and Spurs in the early 2000s. I remember watching the Bulls in the late 90s. This is different.
The 2007 Golden State Warriors are fantastic. They shoot more ill-advised threes than I've ever seen in a basketball team. The irony is that they nail enough of them to warrant the gameplan. They are well coached and have almost too much raw talent. Guys like Stephen Jackson (conduct problems), Al Harrington, Matt Barnes, Ellis; they are good, but not refined. Baron Davis is refined. Jason Richardson is almost refined.
I have watched every game they've played. Last night, I heard the commentator mention that the Warrior's gameplan was to launch at least 30 3-balls. That is fantastic. In fact, they threw up 40 and made almost 40% of them. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough, but watching is intense.
However, the question remains: Are the 2007 Warriors the most exciting playoff team of the past 10 years?
2 comments:
Don Nelson is a great coach, but I am afraid he will never win a championship. Nelly ball is unbelievably fun to watch, the three guard, no real big man system leads to expected wild shots and big score swings, which makes it very fun to watch, but without a big man to keep it steady, they will always be playing from the 'hunter' position, and you can't win a championship like that. Also, any high powered offense will beat out that team because of fatigue alone, they can't run at the same pace the entire game. They slow down at the end, and that is why, time after time, you see them let the game slip away in this year's playoffs.
Now to answer the question posed. No. The '97 and '98 Bulls are the winners, in my opinion. The 1998 Finals was the one where there were two buzzer beaters by Jordan and Kerr, and where Pippen got elbowed in the head and had the biggest bump I have ever seen. That lineup of Jordan, Harper, Pippen, Kucoc, and Rodman is maybe the best all around. That was the height of the popularity of the NBA, and they never let you down. (6 Championships will do that)
The Warrior's run and gun mentality is insanely fun to watch, the sore swings are ridiculous. I watched them come back from 21 back at one point in game 5 with the Mavs. You can never count them out, and they are emotional as hell to boot. I love Baron Davis. He is the face of that franchise, and he has Jordanesque abilities with that fade away jumper on the baseline. The number of threes taken is ridiculous, and when I first started paying attention to them I was confused.
After the lockout in 98-99, basketball has sucked, up until last year. The Spurs are boring, and the Lakers were divas, The Mavs are the pre '07 Mannings. The Warriors are the most fun team to watch since the 97-98 Bulls.
Interesting assessment. Well put. The last Jordan championship was awesome to watch and I think I actually remember that bump on Pippen's head.
New Question:
What's more interesting, Pippen's bump, Dee Brown convulsing on the floor, or Steve Nash's ever-bleeding nose?
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