How much pressure are the Warriors under?
By Paul Matli
The Golden State Warriors are the top team in the league and the favorites to win the title. How much pressure is on them to win the whole thing?
The Golden State Warriors enter the postseason as the best team in the NBA and odds on favorite for the NBA title for the third year in a row. As the overwhelming favorite and coming off a Finals loss last season, how much pressure do the Warriors face to reclaim their throne?
The simple answer is: loads. Some people will say since the Warriors are the hunters and not defending champions they are under less pressure. This is not correct.
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If the Warriors don’t win the championship this season, they will be seen as a bigger failure than the 2011 Miami Heat. The Warriors know anything less than a championship will once again mean big changes to the team.
To their credit, they are saying the right things. Both Stephen Curry and Draymond Green have said there’s no pressure on them because they are not the defending champions, which is the right mindset to take. If the Warriors put high expectations on themselves it will take a mental toll on them, like what happened last year when they were trying to become the best team of all time.
When the Warriors relax and have fun playing basketball they are unbeatable. It’s easy to play this way during the regular season, but postseason maximizes everything.
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson want to bounce back from a subpar performance in the NBA Finals. Draymond Green wants to prove he’s matured as a player on the court and not cost the Warriors like he did last year. Finally, Kevin Durant wants to show all the fans and media critical of him that he can perform in the biggest moments and be the main reason why the Warriors win the title.
These three things will all be big storylines in the Warriors quest for a second NBA title in three years. Another reason the Warriors are the team with the most pressure is because they have the greatest collection of talent in NBA history. No other team has five All-Stars on their team, two scoring champions and two different MVPs in their prime on their roster.
It’s these reasons alone why the Warriors are the best team in the league and have the most pressure on them. They are expected to win by everybody, and they know if they come up short they will not hear the end of it; just like the 2011 Miami Heat are still hearing about their failure to win an NBA Championship.
The only cause for concern for the Warriors will be fourth quarter offense. This has been a theme all season long, but it will be magnified more in the postseason.
The silver lining of Durant’s injury was seeing Curry return to his MVP form. The downside is fitting their new superstar back into late game situations because the Warriors still don’t know their pecking order late in games. Durant and Curry both want the ball and close the game in the fourth quarter, so there will still be growing pains in this regard.
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The good thing is the Warriors will win most of their games very easily, so this issue might not come up that often. This postseason marks an important time in the Warriors franchise considering the offseason moves they made this season. Getting Durant was the Warriors way of showing the rest of the NBA they aren’t content and always looking to get better.
If the team doesn’t win this season what happens?