- Draymond Green
As a Warrior’s fan you would think, “Oh, when I’m missing my
all-star power forward, David Lee, my team is done for” Well, not really,
because the Warriors have Draymond Green. This third year stretch-4 out of
Michigan State has really picked up the slack. Green is averaging 12.5 points,
3.3 assists, and 7.5 rebounds per game. He plays with a lot of energy,
which fuels the team. In one of his earlier games, the ball was going out of
bounds, and he saved the ball, crawling on his back in the process. In a film
session, they showed a clip of it, and next showed a clip of a bug on its back
fighting for its life. The entire staff and team burst out laughing. When he
plays, he plays a lot of energy, being very aggressive and vocal. It seems very
contagious. All of this gives Steve Kerr a little breathing room when it comes
to the power forward spot.
2.
Marreese
Speights
Also helping out with the Warrior’s loss of David Lee is
Marreese Speights, who is also picking up the slack after starting the season
slow. The seventh year veteran is averaging 11.5 points and 4.3 rebounds, but
in his last five games he is averaging 17.4 points and 5.4 rebounds. He
currently leads the NBA in points per 48 minutes.
3.
Turnovers
The Warriors may have started 5-0, but they averaged 22.1 in
their first 7 games, and that led to two losses after the 5-0 start. Since
then, the Warriors have been averaging 12.8 turnovers after that. For
example, in their current 7 game-winning streak, Stephen Curry dished out 60
assists and only 15 turnovers. Before that, when the team was 5-2, he had 48
assists and 32 turnovers. The Warriors are able to keep the ball, and that is
another reason why they are so good.
4.
The Offense
We all knew the Warriors could score. After all, they did
average 104.3 points per game in the 2013-2014 season. The problem was the
consistency. Mark Jackson did a great job coaching this team, I will give him
credit for that; he improved the defense and the offense to a certain extent.
With his offensive mindset, it was more of an isolation heavy offense. With
Steve Kerr now coaching the team, there is more of a Triangle offense with a
lot of passing involved.
5.
The Defense
As I stated earlier, Mark Jackson made the defense stronger.
Last year, they ranked 5th in defensive efficiency. This year, under Ron Adams,
they rank 2nd in defensive efficiency. In the starting lineup, they took out
their best defender, Andre Iguodala, but put two good defenders, Harrison
Barnes and Draymond Green. That way, the starters are still very good at
defense, and the bench is better too.
6.
The Splash
Brothers
How could I go through this without mentioning Steph Curry
and Klay Thompson? Not only are they shooting better than ever, they are
improving the other different aspects of their game. Ever since Klay signed a
4-year extension worth $70 million, he has been lights out. Steph Curry is
nearly averaging a triple-double; also leading the league in steals.
7.
Chemistry
All those other reasons are pretty big, but the team’s
chemistry is at an all time high. They are passing the ball around more, and
when there are mistakes, each of the players fix them as one. No one is dissing
their teammates, everyone loves playing there and watching them play. Even the
new players, like Leandro Barbosa and Shaun Livingston have fit right into the
system.
The 7 reasons listed above are why this Warriors team is one of
the best in the history of the franchise. The players all love playing with
each other, and we all love watching them.
-Aditya
-Aditya
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