GSW Hoops Fan wrote:Last night exposed our bench in my opinion. We have a excellent starting 5, but they are young and will be turn over prone untill they get more experience, and start to get familiar with how to play with eachother well. It takes about one season for a team to start knowing the little details about eachother. It doesn't help when you have a team that is young and learning to cut it in the NBA. Curry is not an eliete point guard (yet), but he is a great point guard. His ability to run the pick and roll, and his ability to keep the defense honest because he can finish at the rim and he can shoot the ball, will make him an eliete point guard in the future.

Eliete point guards don't become eliete in one year, it takes time. Everyone questioned Rondo when he came in, and he had help from 3 all stars. It took him 2 years, if not more to get to where he is out now. IN his second year in the league, there were times when Derick Rose was almost none existent, he was injured, turned the ball over, and at times didn't have an impact on games. It takes some time to become eliete. It will probably take another year for Curry, as he is undersized and not as quick or athletic as other PGs. But he has the two most important skills for a PG, high basketball IQ, and he can shoot. Plus, he is getting stronger, he looks and is a lot stronger then he was last year. I am looking for year 3 to be the year he really shines. He will be more comfortable with his team, with the system, and also more used to how other teams are going to play.

This year is really just a warm up for next year. We have a set starting 5, and really just need to establish a bench. We need a difference maker off the bench. Hopefully the CBA passes before there is a lock out, because i think we are growing into a good team and can become an eliete team... but it will take a couple of years. Need to extend Monta's and Bean's contracts if they can continue to play like this and also grow and get better. Making the playoffs would be nice this year so they can have that under their belt, also to give them a taste of playing on a big stage where every possesion counts, and hopefully become hungry to improve and do better next year.

8th ave wrote:we did beat a good team in utah, but i think everyone else we've beat so far is mediocre at best... we lost horribly to the lakers.

ESPN's Tom Haberstroh
Warriors' strong start more an illusion than sign of things to come
"Looking deeper into their opening act, there are signs that the Warriors' hot start should be attributed more to beginner's luck than actual talent. Take a good look at the teams the Warriors have beaten so far: the Detroit Pistons, Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Clippers and the Houston Rockets. Not exactly a murderer's row. Aside from their Jazz victory, which shouldn't be entirely disregarded, Golden State's wins have come against losing teams with a combined record of 17-38. Adding to this skepticism is Golden State's negative scoring margin, as they've been outscored by their opponents on the season by an average of 1.3 points per contest. In fact, outside of the Warriors' matchup with the one-win Clippers, none of their margins of victory has been more than seven points ... In addition to the 22-year-old Stephen Curry, the Warriors have solidified their front line, with prized free agent David Lee and center Andris Biedrins signed for the long haul. But their depth up front is paper thin, making Lee's freak elbow injury even more troublesome."

8th ave wrote:^^^

ESPN's Tom Haberstroh
Warriors' strong start more an illusion than sign of things to come
"Looking deeper into their opening act, there are signs that the Warriors' hot start should be attributed more to beginner's luck than actual talent. Take a good look at the teams the Warriors have beaten so far: the Detroit Pistons, Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Clippers and the Houston Rockets. Not exactly a murderer's row. Aside from their Jazz victory, which shouldn't be entirely disregarded, Golden State's wins have come against losing teams with a combined record of 17-38. Adding to this skepticism is Golden State's negative scoring margin, as they've been outscored by their opponents on the season by an average of 1.3 points per contest. In fact, outside of the Warriors' matchup with the one-win Clippers, none of their margins of victory has been more than seven points ... In addition to the 22-year-old Stephen Curry, the Warriors have solidified their front line, with prized free agent David Lee and center Andris Biedrins signed for the long haul. But their depth up front is paper thin, making Lee's freak elbow injury even more troublesome."

It happens every year about this time -- a basement dweller from the previous season soars out of the gate and looks like a playoff contender in the first month of the season. The 2010-11 nominee? The Golden State Warriors.

With a 7-4 record heading into their Friday night matchup against the reeling New York Knicks, the Warriors have the league's attention. It's a new beginning in the Bay Area; new ownership, a new head coach, a new color scheme and a new highest-paid player give this team a promising sense of rebirth after a miserable ending to the Don Nelson era.

But looking deeper into the opening act, there are signs that the Warriors' hot start should be attributed more to beginner's luck than actual talent.

The bad news

Take a good look at the teams the Warriors have beaten so far: the Detroit Pistons, Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Clippers and Houston Rockets. Not exactly a murderer's row. Aside from their Jazz victory, which shouldn't be entirely disregarded, the Warriors' wins have come against losing teams with a combined record of 17-38.

Adding to this skepticism is Golden State's negative scoring margin, as it has been outscored by its opponents on the season by an average of 1.3 points per contest. In fact, outside of the Warriors' matchup with the one-win Clippers, none of their margins of victory has been more than seven points.

The semigood news

But that isn't to say the Warriors aren't playing good basketball. Newly promoted head coach Keith Smart made a pledge this past summer to build his team around defense, a tune that hasn't been sung in the Warriors' camp in what seems like a decade. As expected, Smart's offseason aspirations were greeted by a barrage of snarky comments within the basketball community.

The Warriors? Play defense? No chance.

Well, look who's laughing now. The Warriors are actually playing defense. Not just trying, mind you, but legitimately stopping opposing offenses. In fact, they enter Friday night's game as a top-10 defensive team, allowing just 102.9 points per 100 possessions. That's 0.6 points stingier than Larry Brown's Charlotte Bobcats, who led the league in defensive efficiency last season, and 1.4 points better than the defending champs, the Los Angeles Lakers.

But just when we feel it's safe to tout the Warriors' progress on the defensive end, strength of schedule rears its ugly head. Golden State has faced the league's worst offenses. (The Raptors, Knicks, Pistons, Grizzlies, Clippers and Bucks all rank in the bottom 10 in offensive efficiency.) What's worse, Golden State has been lit up by its more capable opponents, allowing an average of 118.3 points to the Lakers, Rockets and Chicago Bulls.

The silver lining

Although the Warriors have reached 7-4 with mostly smoke and mirrors, it may be the perfect time to cash in and start shopping guard Monta Ellis, who's averaging 26.5 points, 4.8 assists and 2.5 steals on the season. The 25-year-old undersized 2-guard is this generation's answer to Allen Iverson, a scorer who built his reputation on gaudy point totals as opposed to efficiency that would help his team win more games.

One Western Conference general manager believes that Stephen Curry, not Ellis, should be the franchise cornerstone, pointing out that Ellis could be an asset providing a scoring punch off the bench for a contender. That's if you can persuade him to go there. "He's definitely a quality NBA player," the GM said. "I just think he's overpaid.

"Curry, to me, is the closest player in the NBA to [Steve] Nash. I don't think there's going to be another Nash since he's so skilled with the ball, but Curry's the closest thing to his set of decision-making and shooting skills. He's the one to build around."

In addition to the 22-year-old Curry, the Warriors have solidified their front line, with prized free agent David Lee and center Andris Biedrins signed for the long haul. But their depth up front is paper-thin, making Lee's freak elbow injury even more troublesome. The former Knicks big man's infected elbow should table him for at least a week, leaving the Warriors short-handed against New York on Friday and the Lakers on Sunday.

But the team's biggest surprise out of the gate has been former Heat forward Dorell Wright, who's starting for the Warriors after signing a three-year deal for their midlevel exception this offseason. The 25-year-old's red-hot 3-point shooting has been key in their wins, especially when he drilled seven treys against the Grizzlies. But he should regress a bit from his current rate of 44.1 percent, which is almost 10 percentage points above his career mark of 34.4 percent. He's doing his best Anthony Morrow impression from beyond the arc, but don't expect it to last much longer.

The 7-4 start should raise the spirits for a franchise in need of a serious confidence boost. But rest assured, after some fortuitous scheduling, this Warriors start is more fluke than for real.