Fun going back and reading my comments on Berserkers about the warriors last year. Considering the historical run the Warriors are on, I guess I am just ahead of my time (you could say the same thing about Premier Cru, but I digress)
May 18 (Paul Battaglia wrote): klay's near max will kick in next year, as will dray's near max, which will be right around the same number. warriors are still in fantastic shape financial wise. they can either dump lee's salary before the trade deadline next year, or they can go over the hard cap for one year, but with the salary cap exploding in the 2016-17 year, they will not be subject to the onerous repeater tax. also, iggy and bogut have interesting contracts in that their salaries are de-escalating. each player will make less money over the next two years than in the previous year. the core has at least a 3 year window to really cement their place in the history of the nba.
May 18 (Bob Hughes wrote): Wow, I thought Alan Rath was the most irrational Golden State fan on the board,but Paul is already talking about them cementing their legacy over the next three years.
So much for waiting for a team to, you know, actually win something before we coronate them
May 18 (Paul Battaglia wrote): didn't say they will... but like the bulls heading into their first finals in the 90s, the pistons heading into their first finals in the 87-88 season (they lost, but only because of a severely sprained ankle suffered by isiah thomas in game 6), or the shaq-kobe lakers once phil arrived, you can tell that this warriors team is destined for greatness. this year's team is the 3rd best team i have ever seen in my life: 95-96 bulls, 85-86 celtics, this year's warriors squad. right now, no team can match up with their defense and shooting.
May 19 (Glenn Levine wrote): the fantasy that this is the third best basketball team of the past 30 years can end any time now.
May 19 (Paul Battaglia wrote): 95-96 bulls, 85-86 celtics, this year's warriors... 3 best teams I have seen in my life. I stand by it.
May 20 (Paul Battaglia wrote): I think half the criticisms of the warriors are from people that must not be watching the games. I watched every single minute of warriors basketball this year- a lot of their supposed "flaws" are in actuality, strengths.
May 20 (Glenn Levine wrote):
I'm not bashing the Ws, I love some aspects of their game. You live on this coast though the past few weeks and hearing about them in historical contexts, c'mon that is just nuts.
They are the best team this year but the stars aligned for them too. Even with all the good mojo they haven't been wiping out opponents. They win 3 championships in 6-7 seasons we can talk about them historically.
May 20 (Paul Battaglia wrote): you hear them talked in historical contexts for one reason- their season was historically great. they haven't been wiping opponents out? they were top 8 in the history of the nba in point differential. of the 7 teams that finished with a higher point differential than them, 6 won the nba title that year. coincidence? i think not.
May 20 (Paul Battaglia wrote): their regular season winning percentage was .817... they are at .818 in the playoffs. you don't need to win 3 championships in 6-7 seasons to cement your place as one of the best teams in history... they win the championship this year, and their body of work over the entire year speaks for itself amongst the greatest teams.
May 21 (Paul Battaglia wrote): one of the three best teams of my life… EOM
May 22 (Paul Battaglia wrote): what do you know.... posted just this morning. has the warriors as the 4th best team EVER. oh, those two teams i said were better... yea, they are the ones ranked ahead of them. maybe i should write for five-thirty-eight. BALL DON'T LIE! http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the ... ng-to-elo/
Go warriors!