5 things casual basketball fans should know about the Golden State Warriors.
I started this piece out with the title “5 things casual fans of basketball should realize about the Golden State Warriors” and their unprecedented, spectacular run of success….but as you’ll see, it has transgressed somewhat…as always, thanks for taking the time to check this out, any and all feedback appreciated.
“It’s a Make, or Missive, League”
1) #1) The Warriors “hang their hats” on defense, not offense.
Despite all the long-range, phenomenal shooting by Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, this team’s signature identity is DEFENSE. An early sign that the new ownership and front office understood the need for this critical change in emphasis was when they traded their leading scorer and “star” player, Monta Ellis, for an oft-injured and off the radar big man in Andrew Bogut. Many fans were flabbergasted. Monta Ellis, drafted out of Lanier High School in Mississippi, provided a steady supply of high-flying highlights and points, if not victories. More astute fans, however, understood that the trade amounted to “addition by subtraction”, since moving Monta opened up prominent roles — and minutes — for what the W’s brain trust saw as the backcourt guard tandem of the future: Klay Thompson and Steph Curry.
Changing up the guard situation wasn’t the only factor in this trade, however. People forget that after leading the University of Utah Ute’s to the Final Four (coached by Rick Majerus), the Aussie Andrew Bogut became the #1 overall draft pick in the NBA. He had a few stellar, seasons before hitting a bad string of atypical and serious injuries. The Warriors were hoping — some would say gambling — that with time to heal, and then with sensible minute allocation and a laser focus on conditioning, Bogut could once again become the all-around post player he had been when starting his career. The gamble paid off, as “Boge’s” is now a key contributor to the current W’s run.
What this move also did was signal an organizational shift to one that understood that “defense wins championships” is not just some cliché, but an actual philosophy that has been proven time and time again. The current team, led by Draymond Green, Bogut, Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson, takes pride in getting stops when it matters, trusting their defensive schemes, and having each others backs possession after possession. Add Shawn Livingston, Harrison Barnes and the mobile Festus Ezeli to the mix, and you see a team that can switch coverage seamlessly and instantaneously during games, stifling their opponents conventional strategies to create open shots. Playing great team defense allows teams to weather cold shooting spells or inopportune turnover stretches.
Finally, one can’t really talk about the Warriors and defense without mentioning that Draymond Green (with his ability to guard almost any player on the floor at any time) is well on his way toward being recognized as one of the all-time GREAT defensive players in NBA history. Yes, he’s that good.
Another truism needs mentioning here: good defense leads to good offense….which leads to factor #2:
#2) An intentional (and practiced) strategy of “playing fast” at all times on defense and offense is a critical element in the success of this team.
Along with the individual and team commitment to team defense, Steve Kerr and his coaching staff made a conscious decision to play fast — really, REALLY fast. This doesn’t mean necessarily just getting shots up quickly — though that’s part of it. What this means is that the W’s tact is to overwhelm teams with the speed of their attack, on both sides of the ball. They have a deep team with almost the whole active roster ready to see action and contribute every night. And, they support this strategy of playing fast by practicing fast.
What this means is, the ball moves, and so do the players, at all times. Unlike the static individual one-on-one style of the 1990’s — which was also the major element of Mark Jackson’s offensive scheme during his tenure as W’s coach) — the Warriors create an intentional frenzy on defense and offense. You don’t see the ball being held by a single player for very long. They know that the best way to attack the defense is to keep the ball moving, thus preventing the defense from ever being able to lock-in their focus on a stagnant player. This is why we don’t see “ball-stoppers” on this roster like James Harden, Carmelo Anthony, and Kobe Bryant. Even our great scoring backcourt the Splash Brothers are consummate un-selfish players that understand this fundamental concept: move the ball and the defense has to always play catch-up. Make the extra pass to turn a good shot into a better shot. Front office and coaching fidelity to this exceptional basketball strategy means that there are many, many players in the league — even established “superstars” — that will never be considered as candidates to join this team. Chemistry matters, and in fact, is embedded in every decision and personnel move the Warriors make.
#3) Trust.
This team has been assembled and built upon a cultivated and nurtured deep level of collective trust. Players don’t just play with each other, they play FOR each other. They bust their asses in practice together, hang out on the road together, and have genuine appreciation and fondness for each other. In the sport of basketball, chemistry is arguably more essential than in other team sports. The roster is smaller, and only 5 players play at a time, and to win teams need maximum contributions from as many teammates as possible. This team was also assembled with this in mind. Iguodala saw that quality when he chose to come play in Oakland, despite being offered a larger contract by at least two other teams. Kerr saw that same trusting, team-first and unselfish character in Leandro “The Brazilian Blur” Barbosa and brought him on board.
What’s important to remember here is that having these kinds of players, and this kind of across the team buy-in, collective goals and visions, and yes, trust, also leads to something else unique and profound in professional sports: this special and mystical (and somewhat atypical of American values) elevating the collective over the individual creates a vibration and spirit whereby individuals also improve simultaneously along with the collective improvement of the group.
The 2008 Boston Celtics won the NBA championship employing this same formula. Doc Rivers introduced a word “Ubuntu” that captures that all for one and one for all faith.
Ubuntu is a simple yet profound way of being and of approaching challenges that can propel individuals to do great things — collectively. Though the Celtics and other teams have utilized it in the realm of team sports, it has more glorious connections to Nelson Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu, and the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa.
(here’s a brief story about how they came to embrace the Ubuntu approach on their way to the title):
There have been other NBA champions that exhibited this beautiful formula for success, such as the Chauncy Billups led Detroit Pistons and the Dirk Nowitizki and Jason Kidd led Dallas Mavericks.
These Warriors definitely have Ubuntu. And it is as big of a reason for there success as any other reason, including Steph Curry’s unprecedented long-range shooting. Here’s a clip of the concept of unselfish trusting of your teammates by our Warriors in the waning moments of Game 4 against Portland….you remember, the one that culminated in Curry’s record-setting 17 point overtime thriller victory.
(start this youtube clip at the 2:45 mark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzLnX3H27-E
The Warriors are down 3 in the last minute of regulation. Curry drives the baseline and draws the attention of multiple defenders. The Blazers, expecting Curry to pass to their other “star” Klay Thompson in the corner, quickly snuff that option. Curry makes the next smart basketball play, hitting Harrison Barnes, who calmly drills a game-tying, overtime forcing 3 pointer. It was his first and only 3 pointer of the game. Trust. Ubuntu.
#4) The Definition of a “Superstar”
What is the difference between a “super-star” and a SUPERSTAR? I’ve always believed it came down to a simple criteria: a TRUE superstar is a player that makes their teammates better. And Steph Curry fits this description perfectly. Michael Jordan was a star who figured out — with some guidance from his Zen master coach Phil Jackson — that if he helped his teammates get better together they’d have far more success. Bird, Magic, Bill Russell — these were also players that understood that the key to success was fitting into a team, playing unselfishly, and putting the success of the team first, always.
One of the questions/critiques on him coming out of Davidson College had to do with doubts about his ability to be an NBA point guard. He had only officially played PG one season at Davidson, mostly playing off the ball at shooting guard. Without going into too much detail on this hilariously wrong scouting reports, here’s a 1 minute clip of Steph himself reading one of these reports on him:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLb8AwuZ7N8
Although many (if not most) of the draft “experts” got it wrong on Steph, it was none other than legendary Hall of Fame coach Bobby Knight who knew just how special Curry is as an ALL AROUND player. This is an awesome 2:33 segment called “Knight Watch” where Bobby breaks down some film and illustrates why Steph Curry is the “best passer in college basketball.” If you only watch one of these Curry videos, watch this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JyTIQq5H-g
If you want to hear more analysis on what the scouts said about Curry, here’s the ESPN Draft Report on Curry on the eve of the 2009 draft. All the conversation was on whether the Knicks could somehow nab Steph with the #8 pick, or if Minnesota would grab him at #6. Pretty interesting 5 minute video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abUJaDmi_to
If you really want to go down a gleeful, spectacular Steph Curry highlight youtube wormhole, I recommend checking out some of his college highlights….knowing what we know now, it all makes sense, but it’s fun to look back now and see just how dominant of a shooter he was, blowing minds along the way.
Really, though, with Curry and with the Warriors, it’s not first and foremost about the amazing skills, talent, athleticism, and so one. Curry may be the greatest long-range shooter of all time (ok, he IS indeed, we know now)….he may be an incredible passer….he has continually worked on his game — ball handling, strength and conditioning, etc. But what really makes him, and his team, special still goes back to the transcendent qualities of selflessness, chemistry, and trust.
#5) “It’s Not About Basketball”
Bill Simmons, in his 700 page “The Book of Basketball” describes a conversation with Isaiah Thomas centered on an insight on the game that describes Ubuntu, and helps us better understand these critical qualities of trust and chemistry. I’m no fan of Thomas (GREAT player, terrible GM, coach and front office guy after playing career, now fairly decent analyst on NBA TV). In Simmon’s book, Isaiah says “The secret of basketball is that it’s not about basketball.” In a nutshell, what Thomas is saying here reiterates what I’ve been putting forth here in this (waaaaaay too long) missive.
What Thomas and Simmons are trying to convey is that the guys with the best numbers don’t necessarily make the best team. In fact it’s not about stats at all, or, the only stat that matters is TEAM success. It sounds simple, but it’s an evolved and enlightened mind-set that is far less common — in sports as well as other collective human endeavors — than we might think. Here’s an excerpt from Simmons’ book talking about a trade the Pistons had made:
“Maybe Dantley was a better player than Aguirre, but Aguirre was a better fit for the 1989 Pistons. If they didn’t make that deal, they wouldn’t have won the championship. It was a people trade, not a basketball trade. And that’s what Isaiah learned while following those Lakers and Celtics teams around: it wasn’t about basketball. Those teams were loaded with talented players, yes, but that’s not the only reason they won. They won because they liked each other, knew their roles, ignored statistics, and valued winning over everything else.”
More from Simmons:
“Fans overlook The Secret completely. Nobody writes about The Secret because of a general lack of sophistication about basketball; even the latest ‘revolution’ of basketball statistics centers more around evaluating players against one another over capturing their effect on a team. Numbers help, but only to a certain degree. You still have to watch the games. The fans don’t get it. Actually, it goes deeper than that — I’m not sure who gets it. We measure players by numbers, only the playoffs roll around and teams that play together, kill themselves defensively, sacrifice personal success and ignore statistics invariably win the title. We have trouble processing the ‘teamwork over talent’ thing. But how do you keep stats for ‘best chemistry’ and ‘most unselfish’ or even ‘most tangible and consistent effect on a group of teammates’? It’s impossible. That’s why we struggle to comprehend professional basketball.”
Bill Walton knew this secret, though he likened it more to what he called a “choice”:
“It’s not a secret as much as a choice. Look at the forces fighting against that choice. Look at the forces pushing you to make the other choice, the wrong choice. It’s all about you. It’s all about material acquisitions, physical gratification, stats and highlights. Everywhere you go, you’re bombarded with the opposite message of what really matters. And you wouldn’t even know otherwise unless you played with the right player or the right coach: the Woodens, the Auerbachs, the Ramseys, the Russells, the Birds. How many people get that lucky? Kobe was blessed to have Phil (Jackson) and eventually realized that. With a truly great coach, it’s not about a diagram, it’s not about a play, it’s not about practice, it’s the course of time over history. It’s the impact a coach has on the lives around him. That’s what Phil done for Kobe. This history of life is that most people figure it out. Most of the time it’s too late. That’s the real frustrating part — the squandered opportunities that you can’t get back.”
This Warrior team, and particularly Jerry West, Bob Myers and Steve Kerr, understand “The Secret” and the “choice” players have to embrace it. The players they have intentionally and deliberately assembled to create this magical team now know about this secret and choice.
(The excerpts from Simmons and Walton above I found in this article here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/judging-the-royals/article342766/Bill-Simmons-and-the-secret-of-basketball.html)
Understanding the “Secret” leads us into a discussion on Steve Kerr’s “4 Core Values.” This has rambled on too long, however, and so I’ll save that topic for it’s own missive down the road. For a quick reminder though, Kerr has 4 Core Values he brings to basketball, generally, and coaching in particular: joy, mindfulness, compassion, and competition. Here’s Luke Walton briefly describing them here:
And one more on Kerr and his team that ties much of this together:
“Steve Kerr’s real genius was letting the Warriors have fun.”
http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/6/17/8794843/steve-kerr-warriors-fun-nba-finals-2015-tactics-coach
OK, that’s it for now. There’s still a bunch of stuff I need to knock out today before settling in tonight to watch Game 1 of the Warriors and Thunder Western Conference Finals series. Forgive the ridiculously long diatribe here, but that’s what a three-day weekend with half my family out of town will get you. Why the 3-day weekend? BUSD acknowledges and honors the legacy of Malcolm X with a school holiday for his birthday (May 19 actual). I’m especially grateful for this because Malcolm is my all-time favorite American. His life example of continuing to better himself and seek the truth, while working for justice, is one that should resonate for all of us. As he himself wrote after his revelation about race while in Mecca:
“This “adjustment to reality” wasn’t to difficult for me to undergo, because despite my firm conviction in whatever I believe, I have always tried to keep an open mind, which is absolutely necessary to reflect the flexibility that must go hand in hand with anyone with intelligent quest for truth never comes to an end.”
Had Malcolm X not been assassinated by Nation of Islam killers (with tacit complicity from the FBI), I believe he would have continued his process to becoming a global leader and voice for justice and human rights. He would have become another Nelson Mandela, on a global scale. He and Dr. King were moving closer and closer together, beginning to understand and connect racism, injustice and oppression at home (in the US) with colonialism and imperialism across the planet.
Happy Birthday Malcolm X!
Meanwhile, in the non-NBA “real” world, there’s an unfolding political coup taking place in Brazil as we speak. With the Olympics looming just 3 months from now, this potentially takes on even more international impact than it might otherwise. This photo should tell us a lot:
http://rairun.tumblr.com/post/144313849346/beforeafter-the-parliamentary-coup-in-brazil
It’s a “before and after” the coup. The composition of people in those two photos informs us everything we need to know about the essence of what is happening in Brazil. See this revealing picture for yourself.
OK, gonna send this off now. Thanks for reading (if you’ve made it this far).
Peace, out, and in-
John
