Signs that the Golden State Warriors are a different team this season

It may be only four games, but the Warriors are 4-0 and have looked like a team that is certainly going to contend in the West- a stark difference from last year.

Bob Fitzgerald, the Warriors play-by-play announcer, made an interesting remark about a huge change in this year’s squad. Fitzgerald alluded to the inexperience and young rotation surrounding Draymond Green and Stephen Curry last year as a reason for failing to make the playoffs.

The Golden State Warriors are different this season, and through four games, we’ve seen them shine as one of the West’s top contenders.

However, the longtime commentator said that he is confused by this widespread narrative around the league that the Warriors are still this young team in the NBA this time around.

The man behind the mic is right on this one. Fans who continue to say that Golden State is loaded with young players must not have taken a good look at guys like Otto Porter Jr. who has been all over the floor for the first three games, Andre Iguodala who early on has appeared to find the fountain of youth or even a guy like Damion Lee who has been around for a while now.

Sure, the Warriors have budding talent who can light it up in Jordan Poole, James Wiseman, and guys like Moody and Kuminga, but at the end of the day, the aforementioned older players have really helped give a glimpse of what is in store this year.

A lot of the concerns in the offseason stemmed from the direction of this squad moving forward. Critics were wondering if this team going to be able to contend with an interesting mix of young players and experienced role guys around the stars.

Through the first four games, some of these critics have been quieted at least for now.

Last year, a stellar performance from Steph was the only recipe for a win especially in April when he had the best month of his distinguished career. This year, Curry can afford to impact the game in other ways when his shot is not falling.

The Warriors came from behind on Opening Night against the Lakers due to Curry’s triple-double, a rare feat for him. The next game against the Clippers….. Steph was Steph.

The recently named top 75 player of all-time torched the Clippers for 45 points on eight threes, hitting five of them in the first quarter. Against the Kings, it was a 27 point, 7 rebound, 10 assist outing by Curry that was enough to propel the Warriors.

My main early takeaway through the first three games is the opportunity for this team to win in different ways, which has definitely been showcased already. The last time the Warriors started 4-0 was 2015-16 when they won 73 games.

Nobody is predicting that win total even with Klay returning, however, the role guys must continue to take pressure off of Stephen Curry if the team has a shot at being a legitimate threat this year. The “Strength in Numbers” mantra is very much alive and it has to be all year.