OT: golden state - klay that great?

[Ratso]

so steph’s doing steph stuff...even when draymond comes back. they’re not even close to being that splash bros threat in the west.

without klay, i have zero faith in the warriors. thoughts?

 

[BleedHuskyBlu]

It’s Klays defense that’s the biggest loss. Best 3andD guard in the world. Can lock up the other teams best guard now they don’t have that. Also spreads the floor for Steph to operate. Klay and Steph are the 2 best shooters in NBA history, no offense to our guy Ray.

 

[Lefty2one]

Klay's loss is huge but they won't be a terrible team. Don't forget Steph missed nearly all of last season and they opened the season against arguably the two best teams in the East. A lot of my friends are already writing them off but I think they'll compete for the 7-8 seed.

 

[WeAreUCONN]

so steph’s doing steph stuff...even when draymond comes back. they’re not even close to being that splash bros threat in the west.

without klay, i have zero faith in the warriors. thoughts?

I hate the warriors and I hope klay never comes back. If they played in the era of the 80’s, 90’s, early 20’s. The warriors would suck because they are soft and play zero defense

 

[WeAreUCONN]

It’s Klays defense that’s the biggest loss. Best 3andD guard in the world. Can lock up the other teams best guard now they don’t have that. Also spreads the floor for Steph to operate. Klay and Steph are the 2 best shooters in NBA history, no offense to our guy Ray.

Kawai can lock down klay and put up 40 on him. He’s done it before.

 

[Kemba'sYogurt]

I hate the warriors and I hope klay never comes back. If they played in the era of the 80’s, 90’s, early 20’s. The warriors would suck because they are soft and play zero defense

What are you talking about? The Warriors lead the league in defensive efficiency twice during their run the last few years and were still top 10 the other years. Klay is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and draymond can switch 1-5. And when they had KD that's another all world defender in their lineup.

 

[Adios]

Warriors made out with Wiseman and are probably going to aim for another lottery pick in a much deeper draft.

 

[gtcam]

Take what Draymond and Klay offer off the court and anyones starting 5 is going to suffer
Curry has gotten a bit too Hollywood in my mind but he is a shooter and his distribution is better
I am not a Steve Kerr fan but GS is OK in my book

 

[Mike Honcho]

What are you talking about? The Warriors lead the league in defensive efficiency twice during their run the last few years and were still top 10 the other years. Klay is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and draymond can switch 1-5. And when they had KD that's another all world defender in their lineup.

Also, it's kind of an awful thing to wish that someone coming off of two season-ending injuries never comes back. Klay is a stand up guy by all accounts.

 

[formerlurker]

Kawai can lock down klay and put up 40 on him. He’s done it before.

I'm not sure if Kawai can drop 40 on Klay but I know Kawhi hasn't.

He's put up 37 against him though but averages around 19 head to head. I'll thank Google for those stats and admit I'm a Knicks fan. I just wanted to put a little more clarity to your post and way more respect to Klay's game.

Games Played Between Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson

This is the detail of NBA games in which Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson played against each other, including head-to-head record, stats average, game highs and game-by-game data both in the Regular Season and Playoffs.

www.landofbasketball.com

 

[WeAreUCONN]

What are you talking about? The Warriors lead the league in defensive efficiency twice during their run the last few years and were still top 10 the other years. Klay is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and draymond can switch 1-5. And when they had KD that's another all world defender in their lineup.

Steph can’t guard anyone. Green is so overrated it’s painful. If he was on a different team, you wouldn’t even know who he was. This new nba is a different game than it used to be. The rules are much different and the refs call the games much differently. The Bulls would sweep the warriors best team. That’s my opinion.

 

[WeAreUCONN]

I'm not sure if Kawai can drop 40 on Klay but I know Kawhi hasn't.

He's put up 37 against him though but averages around 19 head to head. I'll thank Google for those stats and admit I'm a Knicks fan. I just wanted to put a little more clarity to your post and way more respect to Klay's game.

Games Played Between Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson

This is the detail of NBA games in which Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson played against each other, including head-to-head record, stats average, game highs and game-by-game data both in the Regular Season and Playoffs.

www.landofbasketball.com

Fair enough but I hate the warriors so my views are obviously biased

 

[gtcam]

Steph can’t guard anyone. Green is so overrated it’s painful. If he was on a different team, you wouldn’t even know who he was.

Wow you really hate GS and these absurd statements are a testament. Thanks for the comic relief

 

[Kemba'sYogurt]

Steph can’t guard anyone. Green is so overrated it’s painful. If he was on a different team, you wouldn’t even know who he was. This new nba is a different game than it used to be. The rules are much different and the refs call the games much differently. The Bulls would sweep the warriors best team. That’s my opinion.

Fair enough, I’d probably pick the bulls too.

 

[formerlurker]

Fair enough but I hate the warriors so my views are obviously biased

Haha. I get it.

 

[WeAreUCONN]

Haha. I get it.

I’m a former Spurs fan. I quit watching the nba but I’ll forever love my spurs.

 

[Ratso]

I’m a former Spurs fan. I quit watching the nba but I’ll forever love my spurs.

gross

 

[WeAreUCONN]

gross

Why is that?

 

[Ratso]

Why is that?

i hate the spurs?

 

[WeAreUCONN]

i hate the spurs?

Sorry you’re a sixers fan. I would tell you that times will get better but that would be a lie.

 

[BParkDog]

Klay Thompson is a phenomenal basketball player, very heady, and an all time great shooter. Is he "top 2" of all time? That's a hard sell.

The combination of Thompson, Green, Curry, and Iguodala, with Livingston being a great guy off the bench, was why they were so great. Lots of gestalt there, if you ask me. I particularly thought Green was always underrated - guy just had "it," and knew how to win, led the team in defensive win shares through the dynasty, and was super clutch. He was the 4th or 5th best shooter on the team, but I remember one stretch where he hit 3 or 4 huge 3s in a row late in finals games (iirc). Never thought Durant added as much as his individual greatness would suggest.

Curry is a great shooter, but is, and has always been, in my view, overrated - not by a lot - say, elevated from excellent player for his time and the greatest shooter ever to "among the greatest ever." 2010, 11, 12, no playoffs. 2013, bounced in 2nd round, 2014, 1st round. In his first 5 years, only sniffed the second round one time.

It wasn't until Draymond Green's 3rd year, when Green started playing 30 minutes a game, and Iguodala being added in 2014 that they became what they did.

By comparison, LeBron, in this 3rd year, dragged a pack of nobodies to the 2nd round, then, in his 4th, another pack of unknowns to the finals.

No fanboying LeBron here, just offering up a comparison.

This year, without Klay, Curry has Green, who doesn't appear to be healthy, and a pack of also-rans with which to work. This year will tell you more about where Steph Curry belongs on the "best ever" list than will the year he had 2 hall of famers and a border-line hall of famer (Green, a tremendous defender) on the court with him.

So, to the original question - the combination of Curry, Klay, Green is what was so great.

I think there's a real chance Curry will have his worst year as a pro this year. I would love for him to prove me wrong, however, because the NBA is a lot more fun when he's playing his best and in the playoffs.

 

[Kemba'sYogurt]

Klay Thompson is a phenomenal basketball player, very heady, and an all time great shooter. Is he "top 2" of all time? That's a hard sell.

The combination of Thompson, Green, Curry, and Iguodala, with Livingston being a great guy off the bench, was why they were so great. Lots of gestalt there, if you ask me. I particularly thought Green was always underrated - guy just had "it," and knew how to win, led the team in defensive win shares through the dynasty, and was super clutch. He was the 4th or 5th best shooter on the team, but I remember one stretch where he hit 3 or 4 huge 3s in a row late in finals games (iirc). Never thought Durant added as much as his individual greatness would suggest.

Curry is a great shooter, but is, and has always been, in my view, overrated - not by a lot - say, elevated from excellent player for his time and the greatest shooter ever to "among the greatest ever." 2010, 11, 12, no playoffs. 2013, bounced in 2nd round, 2014, 1st round. In his first 5 years, only sniffed the second round one time.

It wasn't until Draymond Green's 3rd year, when Green started playing 30 minutes a game, and Iguodala being added in 2014 that they became what they did.

By comparison, LeBron, in this 3rd year, dragged a pack of nobodies to the 2nd round, then, in his 4th, another pack of unknowns to the finals.

No fanboying LeBron here, just offering up a comparison.

This year, without Klay, Curry has Green, who doesn't appear to be healthy, and a pack of also-rans with which to work. This year will tell you more about where Steph Curry belongs on the "best ever" list than will the year he had 2 hall of famers and a border-line hall of famer (Green, a tremendous defender) on the court with him.

So, to the original question - the combination of Curry, Klay, Green is what was so great.

I think there's a real chance Curry will have his worst year as a pro this year. I would love for him to prove me wrong, however, because the NBA is a lot more fun when he's playing his best and in the playoffs.

I don't hold it against Curry for taking his time figuring out how to win. For comparison, Jordan only won one playoff game in his first three years in Chicago and his bulls teams were swept twice, and actually had a losing regular season record before Scottie got there. However, I'm not sure LeBron or Jordan are really fair comparisons for Steph given that they are probably the 1A and 1B GOAT for most people.

I think you're spot on with the Kevin Durant take. To me it felt like they were mostly always clicking after the Christmas day game in 2016 against Cleveland, but it never seemed like they ever hit that extra gear. Which feels weird to say considering they won 67 games in 2016-2017 and won 2 straight titles.

With the bench they had and that "lineup of death" they threw out at the end of games just oozed of great culture. You mentioned it with that bench they had. Kevin Durant bought into it from day one. I think once Curry gets his running mates back who know how to win games in Klay and Draymond they'll be back to what they were. Also throw in Wiseman and likely another lottery pick after this year, they could be set up for a really nice run to close out Curry's career.

 

[husky429]

I hate the warriors and I hope klay never comes back. If they played in the era of the 80’s, 90’s, early 20’s. The warriors would suck because they are soft and play zero defense

Ahh yes, one of the Boneyards many reasonable takes.

 

[auror]

Green might be "overrated" now based on salary, but I'd say the general consensus agrees that he's fallen off the last couple years and so is properly rated. He really only had that 1 great shooting year, but it lined up with his undeniably great defensive peak and Curry's offensive peak and so they won 73 games.

What made the Warriors so devastating was that they had 5 3-point shooters AND 5 playmakers on the court at the same time in an offense that emphasized passing and attacking the space, while not sacrificing on the defensive end AT ALL (becuase Draymond and Iguodala are all-time defenders and Klay is quite good). Draymond's playmaking and passing with the ball as a 5 is/was ridiculous.

 

[WeAreUCONN]

Ahh yes, one of the Boneyards many reasonable takes.

Well considering half of the fans stopped watching the nba. Maybe it’s not so unreasonable.