How the Warriors need to be like the Sixers
The Golden State Warriors have title hopes, but they can learn from the lowly 76ers. Kinda.
The Golden State Warriors were supposed to come out of the gate explosively. They retooled with Kevin Durant during the offseason and they were supposed to be nuclear. Instead, they put out a dud in their first game.
Fortunately, it was only their first game. There are 81 more of them. They have a chance to get back to .500 on Friday.
The Warriors are looking to win a championship. Steph Curry and friends already have one under their belt and they were two baskets from another one last season. But this year presents a different challenge. They have seven new players on the roster, including Durant.
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The expectations are sky-high which is exactly why they need to emulate a team that has won just 47 games over the last three seasons. The Warriors need to adopt the mindset of the Philadelphia 76ers. The Warriors need to…TRUST THE PROCESS.
Golden State isn’t really going to put it all together right away. They won’t have it all together on Friday when they visit the New Orleans Pelicans. They might not even get it right before the All-Star Game.
The first game of an 82 game season doesn’t mean all that much. Did it show that the Warriors have certain flaws? Sure. Are there things that can be taken away from this game? Absolutely.
The Warriors need to find ways to limit their opponents’ offensive rebounds and second chance opportunities. They got careless with the basketball. They gave up a lot of points to the Spurs.
But it is, after all, just one game. There are going to be growing pains, but not so much with the Big Four. Steph Curry and Durant were fantastic. Draymond Green ended up doing a lot of good things and Klay Thompson got all of the looks that he could have possibly wanted.
The biggest challenge will come in the form of rotations. Steve Kerr as an interesting collection of talent that he needs to put together in some cohesive manner. Last night wasn’t it. This is perhaps what we should all be looking at.
Don’t freak out over one game. Don’t freak out over the next time they lose because, believe it or not, they will lose again. Durant did not ruin this team.
The Sixers have been patient. Like, so patient that their patience has become a joke. But the Warriors need to adopt that.
They need to trust that Kerr will figure it out, Zaza Pachulia will grab some rebounds, and that Thompson will knock down his open shots. Trust that David West will not throw errant passes everywhere and that Ian Clark will knock down open shots. Trust that Jonathan Simmons will not turn superhuman during every Warriors game.
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We have yet to consider how this might just be another one of Golden State’s #LightYears ahead maneuvers. Perhaps, they allowed themselves to fall apart so they could trade for the #TrustTheProcess champion himself, Joel Embiid. That would solve a lot.
No? Ok, nevermind then. Just checking. But seriously, it’s been 48 minutes. LeBron James’ Miami Heat also struggled to start the season and they went on to win two championships in four years together.
They’ll right the ship soon enough and, when they do, it’s going to be a whole lot of fun.