The Golden State Warriors are the best NBA team I've ever seen. I wasn't old enough to really see the 1995-96 Bulls. I somewhat remember the 2001 Playoff Lakers, the team that went 15-1, with the one loss coming in OT. These Warriors are better. They seem umbeatable. They have the greatest trump card in the NBA, maybe the greatest ever since peak LeBron. They are eight or nine deep with quality players who excel at either offense or defense or both, and most of them are in that 'both' camp. The Warriors seem unbeatable, and even in examining their nine losses, there doesn't seem to be anything we can pull from those games. If anything, it seems the key to beating the Warriors is to be an average team with a high ceiling and having the Warriors take you a little lightly, or be the Spurs that one time. My question, as the playoffs just began and we were treated with blowout after blowout, is that has the Warriors dominance kind of undercut the playoffs?
The best comparison for the Golden State Warriors is the 2007 New England Patriots, regular season edition. The Patriots, like Golden State, utilized a generational talent to craft an unstoppable offense (by the way, that talent is Randy Moss - and I guess Tom Brady). Behind that offense lied a damn good, Top-5 defense as well. Together, they ran roughshod over the league for the most part, aside from a close win against their main rival in their rival's building (Super Bowl 41.5 - their 24-20 win in Indianapolis) and a few mental lapses and close games against middling teams (back to back close wins against Philadelphia and Baltimore). They finally won their last game to finish a historic 16-0 finish against the Giants in a close game, and while for Golden State win #73 was fairly routine, win #72 was anything but, a close win against Memphis. The Patriots were the class of the league, and while that stirred so much interest in the 2007 regular season, their dominance did ruin some of the playoffs.
The 2007 playoffs, even before we get to Super Bowl XLII, was great. There were loads of close games, from the Jaguars / Steelers Wild Card Game, to the Cowboys wins over Dallas and Green Bay, to even the Chargers shock upset over the Colts. That said, hanging over all these great games and stunning results, was a sense that none of it really mattered since in the end it would be New England standing on top. 11 other teams will fight and claw and battle for the right to not be the Patriots. Of course, it ended up playing out a little bit differently, and the Giants win in Super Bowl XLII almost retroactively made the rest of the playoffs that much greater, but the sense of inevitability was there.
I still remember watching the 2007 NFC Championship Game, played out on the literally frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. The Giants and Packers staged a great game, back-and-forth (no one had more than a 6 point lead at any time), incredible mini-battles and singular performances with a surreal setting adding to the drama. Yet, I also remember thinking "Does any of this matter?". The winner of this game showed just by needing to go to such lengths to beat the other that they are no match for New England. Where this ties back to the Warriors is here there is even a larger sense of inevitability.
The Giants ended up ruining the Patriots perfect season, but they needed to do that the one time. All they needed to do was outplay New England for one single 60-minute stretch. They barely did so, but they did. Here, with the Warriors, 9 different teams have outplayed them over a 48 game stretch, but no one did it more than once and the prospect of anyone doing it four times seems ludicrous. It would be an upset of anyone even pushes Golden State to 6, and the idea of a 7-game series, even with the Spurs, an historically great outfit themselves that are the analogue of the pre-Freeney injury 2007 Colts, seems farcical.
Golden State's dominance and brilliance is to be treasured and I have no qualms with anyone putting them on a pedestal. What they've constructed is such a perfect encapsulation of the modern game. Apart from an extremely off-putting owner, they are a very respectable and likable bunch. They deserve the heaps of praise they are getting, and the fact they went 67-15 last year and won the title and somehow got demonstrably better is commendable. Still, their brilliance does have the negative impact of lessening the importance or impact of the 11 series that will not feature them.
I'm sure the NBA will get their ratings anyway, and maybe someone will shock them and play the role of the Giants, and make this whole thing moot, but I just can't see it. It seems far more daunting to beat the Warriors than beating New England did in 2007. Both had or have a true air of invincibility and both place so much pressure on their opponent to essentially play perfectly and know that perfect basketball itself may not be good enough. Discount the random game that Dame Lillard basically became Steph 2.0, the best example of a team beating the Warriors is the Spurs win when they held Golden State under 80. They played a perfect game, and they are a great team, and won by 7. For the Patriots, the Giants played rather perfectly on defense, and still needed a helmet catch and a 3rd & 11 conversion right after. It takes so much to even be in position to win.
And even being in position may not be good enough. The Warriors most famous escape was that incredible win over Oklahoma City. The Patriots best was probably their win in Baltimore. Both times they played a charged-up opponent in primetime in a hostile environment, took the other teams best punch, seemed completely dead, and then just won anyway at the end. The 2007 Patriots were the most daunting challenge I have ever seen given by a sports team. There was nothing they did worse than good, and a whole lot of things they did extremely well to historically great. The Warriors are basically right there. If anything, they have a few more apparent weaknesses (rebounding, turnovers) than New England did - but that is where the Best-of-7 hurts the NBA further.
The NBA, with its high scoring system, as it is has fewer upsets than any other sports playoff system. If even so much as a #3 seed makes the finals it is as an accomplishment. There are no cinderella stories. Take away the lockout 1999 season, and the last non-Top-4 seed to make the finals was the 1995 Houston Rockets, who happened to be the defending Champs. But now with the Warriors we are limiting that even further.
The Golden State Warriors are an incredible team that achieved more than incredible levels of success this year. They were the central focus of the NBA season, from their 24-0 start, to their 41-4 record at the all star break. They created more interest in the NBA regular season than anything since at least the first year of the LeBron Heat. But when you think to yourself as the Raptors and Heat stage an intense 2nd round series 'What is the point of playing this?', the Warriors might just be the ones to blame.
The best comparison for the Golden State Warriors is the 2007 New England Patriots, regular season edition. The Patriots, like Golden State, utilized a generational talent to craft an unstoppable offense (by the way, that talent is Randy Moss - and I guess Tom Brady). Behind that offense lied a damn good, Top-5 defense as well. Together, they ran roughshod over the league for the most part, aside from a close win against their main rival in their rival's building (Super Bowl 41.5 - their 24-20 win in Indianapolis) and a few mental lapses and close games against middling teams (back to back close wins against Philadelphia and Baltimore). They finally won their last game to finish a historic 16-0 finish against the Giants in a close game, and while for Golden State win #73 was fairly routine, win #72 was anything but, a close win against Memphis. The Patriots were the class of the league, and while that stirred so much interest in the 2007 regular season, their dominance did ruin some of the playoffs.
The 2007 playoffs, even before we get to Super Bowl XLII, was great. There were loads of close games, from the Jaguars / Steelers Wild Card Game, to the Cowboys wins over Dallas and Green Bay, to even the Chargers shock upset over the Colts. That said, hanging over all these great games and stunning results, was a sense that none of it really mattered since in the end it would be New England standing on top. 11 other teams will fight and claw and battle for the right to not be the Patriots. Of course, it ended up playing out a little bit differently, and the Giants win in Super Bowl XLII almost retroactively made the rest of the playoffs that much greater, but the sense of inevitability was there.
I still remember watching the 2007 NFC Championship Game, played out on the literally frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. The Giants and Packers staged a great game, back-and-forth (no one had more than a 6 point lead at any time), incredible mini-battles and singular performances with a surreal setting adding to the drama. Yet, I also remember thinking "Does any of this matter?". The winner of this game showed just by needing to go to such lengths to beat the other that they are no match for New England. Where this ties back to the Warriors is here there is even a larger sense of inevitability.
The Giants ended up ruining the Patriots perfect season, but they needed to do that the one time. All they needed to do was outplay New England for one single 60-minute stretch. They barely did so, but they did. Here, with the Warriors, 9 different teams have outplayed them over a 48 game stretch, but no one did it more than once and the prospect of anyone doing it four times seems ludicrous. It would be an upset of anyone even pushes Golden State to 6, and the idea of a 7-game series, even with the Spurs, an historically great outfit themselves that are the analogue of the pre-Freeney injury 2007 Colts, seems farcical.
Golden State's dominance and brilliance is to be treasured and I have no qualms with anyone putting them on a pedestal. What they've constructed is such a perfect encapsulation of the modern game. Apart from an extremely off-putting owner, they are a very respectable and likable bunch. They deserve the heaps of praise they are getting, and the fact they went 67-15 last year and won the title and somehow got demonstrably better is commendable. Still, their brilliance does have the negative impact of lessening the importance or impact of the 11 series that will not feature them.
I'm sure the NBA will get their ratings anyway, and maybe someone will shock them and play the role of the Giants, and make this whole thing moot, but I just can't see it. It seems far more daunting to beat the Warriors than beating New England did in 2007. Both had or have a true air of invincibility and both place so much pressure on their opponent to essentially play perfectly and know that perfect basketball itself may not be good enough. Discount the random game that Dame Lillard basically became Steph 2.0, the best example of a team beating the Warriors is the Spurs win when they held Golden State under 80. They played a perfect game, and they are a great team, and won by 7. For the Patriots, the Giants played rather perfectly on defense, and still needed a helmet catch and a 3rd & 11 conversion right after. It takes so much to even be in position to win.
And even being in position may not be good enough. The Warriors most famous escape was that incredible win over Oklahoma City. The Patriots best was probably their win in Baltimore. Both times they played a charged-up opponent in primetime in a hostile environment, took the other teams best punch, seemed completely dead, and then just won anyway at the end. The 2007 Patriots were the most daunting challenge I have ever seen given by a sports team. There was nothing they did worse than good, and a whole lot of things they did extremely well to historically great. The Warriors are basically right there. If anything, they have a few more apparent weaknesses (rebounding, turnovers) than New England did - but that is where the Best-of-7 hurts the NBA further.
The NBA, with its high scoring system, as it is has fewer upsets than any other sports playoff system. If even so much as a #3 seed makes the finals it is as an accomplishment. There are no cinderella stories. Take away the lockout 1999 season, and the last non-Top-4 seed to make the finals was the 1995 Houston Rockets, who happened to be the defending Champs. But now with the Warriors we are limiting that even further.
The Golden State Warriors are an incredible team that achieved more than incredible levels of success this year. They were the central focus of the NBA season, from their 24-0 start, to their 41-4 record at the all star break. They created more interest in the NBA regular season than anything since at least the first year of the LeBron Heat. But when you think to yourself as the Raptors and Heat stage an intense 2nd round series 'What is the point of playing this?', the Warriors might just be the ones to blame.
