Warriors - at this point in time

 I've been on social media via the WELL since 1986.  The WELL is basically the predecessor and paywall version of Reddit.

One thing that's always irritated me about the behavior of others   😄  in social media is when they'll react to something that just happened in a game, but give absolutely no context to it.   Like posting just "Panda!" after watching Sandoval hit a home run.  I mean, the great benefit of social media is that it doesn't have to be experienced in real time.  So I always set the context.

Well, more than context... I like to write little recaps.  Sometimes it's fun to look back over a long period of time at a group conversation.  When I do that, it's really helpful to have point-in-time recaps for context.

In this case, the Warriors are at a point in time where you know there's a big story before and a big story after.  So I wrote this up about last night:

One of the Warriors storylines this year is that Klay Thompson tore his achillies on the day of the draft and has to miss his second consecutive complete season.

The Warriors did not alter their draft strategy and still took James Wiseman #2 as their big man/centerpiece of the future.  Nobody knows whether or not they'd have taken SG Anthony Edwards if the T Wolves had taken LaMelo Ball at #1 instead.

The Warriors then spent what it took to sign Kelly Oubre for their Klay vacancy, and what it took was about $75 million when you account for the luxury tax hit.  Then Oubre, who was coming off a 35% shooting from three (career 32%) started ice cold with the Warriors, having only one good game from deep, sinking only 2 all season otherwise.

Kerr had been starting both Oubre and Wiggins, then pulling Wiggins first to let him come back and lead the second unit in the second quarter when Steph sits.  But last night against the Lakers, he did two things:

1)  Switched their rotation so that Oubre became the 2nd unit lead
2)  Put Oubre in charge of defending LeBron.

Result:  Oubre's signature game of the year!

>>  Oubre had 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting and four rebounds, and the Warriors outscored the Lakers by five points during his 37 minutes of effervescent play. James was held to 19 points on 6-of-16 shooting and committed five turnovers, and the Lakers were outscored by nine points during his 38 minutes.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/Warriors-unlock-Kelly-Oubre-s-potential-by-15880695.php


Nobody's dreaming about a title run, but best case scenarios for Wiggins, Oubre, and Wiseman would make them a team that shouldn't be taken lightly in the playoffs.  While LeBron did bring the Lakers a title after his "year off," he did it with the advantages of a shortened season and adding Anthony Davis.  It'd be remarkable if Curry is able to get the Warriors to the second round after having lost KD, Klay, Andre, Shawn, and Boogie.