Bump for 2014/15.
The Warriors with their recharged Kerr/Gentry offense just visited SoCal and blew the Clippers and Lakers off the floor in all three games.
Last night they jumped out to a 39-13 lead on the Lakeshow en route to a 41 point humiliation. Kobe's in awe:
Kobe on the Lakers' back-to-back blowout losses to GSW: "You have to consider the opposition. We're not as bad as we look against them."
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi)
Curry scores 25 points on 11 shots; Kobe and Nash go a combined 3-18. Kobe is a -39 in 24 minutes. Ethan Sherwood Strauss is saddened by the state of Nash:
Poor Nash ran one of the slowest fast breaks I've ever seen. Defense rushed past him like a tsunami
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss)
The Warriors had the top-ranked defense in the Western Conference last season. If this offense is remotely for real, look out Western Conference. With Durant out a couple months, Curry may currently be the best player in the conference. Thompson was a revelation this summer for Team USA (described by announcers as the best two-way performer on the team); Green and Barnes both look to have taken pretty big steps forward; Lee and Iguodala look healthier than they did last year; Bogut is looking spry, playing "point center," and shooting his free throws with a smoother, left-handed (!) stroke; and serious reinforcements have been added in Livingston, Barbosa, Brandon Rush and Ezeli.
Perhaps most importantly, the Kerr/Gentry/Adams offensive system already looks much faster, more-structured, and more Spurs-like than at any point during the Mark Jackson era.
With Durant out, and Duncan and Manu now 38 and 37 respectively (and Pop making noises that he might slightly sandbag the regular season), the door is open for a new #1 seed in the West. From what I've seen in three pre-season games, I think the Warriors have as good a shot as anyone. Maybe 1a/1b with the Clippers. Who are you guys picking?
(Edit: I can't embed tweets),