Let's crunch the numbers

[AbeVigodaLive]

Has anyone else yet noticed this ESPN article that gives pretty positive view about Wolves potential to defend against Golden State?

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/17904295/the-switching-hour-nba-defensive-versatilityhttp://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/17904295/the-switching-hour-nba-defensive-versatility

Yes, I remember reading this. It's all well and good in theory - and we did have that signature road game late last season where we were constantly switching - but as we've seen early in the year, we still have a long ways to go defensively. Perhaps we'll do better against more finesse teams like Golden State.

Speaking of Golden State, I see that Klay Thompson is losing a few shots to Durant, not unexpected of course. That dude seems like he has a pretty big ego. I wonder how long he's willing to play 3rd banana on that squad (in terms of scoring) after emerging last year as probably the best SG in the league.

Egos are a problem for every NBA team at some point or another. (Yes, even the Wolves, eventually)

But I don't know whether Thompson is going to be the problem... or if it'll be Draymond Green. After all, it was Green who despite being the face of unselfish basketball last season... was behind the scenes chasing triple doubles and whining about shots.

And ripping Klay Thompson. A lot. In any event, Kerr has his hands full with that team. Chemistry still matters in the NBA.

And that's a wonderful thing. Take that venture capitalists and business analytics guys and Excel spreadsheet nerds!

It does, but I sometimes wonder how much. When you have that big of a collection of talent assembled all in their peak years, it can overcome a lot of conflict and clashes behind the scenes. There are countless stories of organizational success - in business and sports - that straddled between brilliance and dysfunctional chaos.

My hope is less about how potential discord could affect their hopes for a title in the near term and more about their ability to stay together over the long run. I kind of wonder if Klay wants to strike out on his own at some point.

I think we have too-many-to-count examples of teams being undone by selfishness, egos or just a mish-mash of talents on the same team, don't we? Whether it's chemistry on the court... or off it.

I think the James-led Miami Heat is a good example to follow here. That team never really took off until a pecking order was finally established. Wade relented and it became James' team... and that allowed everybody else to follow in line because they knew their roles... from Wade to Bosh to Mike Miller to Udonis Haslem.

I think GSW's issues will transcend X's and O's for the short-term. But I think we agree on this... ?

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Abe, I think we agree that Golden State is ultimately vulnerable to breaking apart at some point due to egos, conflicts, etc. I think Klay Thompson could be the first domino.

That being said, it in no way affects my view that they are absolutely the team to beat for the foreseeable future in the Western Conference. Three or four years from now? May be not.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Abe, I think we agree that Golden State is ultimately vulnerable to breaking apart at some point due to egos, conflicts, etc. I think Klay Thompson could be the first domino.

That being said, it in no way affects my view that they are absolutely the team to beat for the foreseeable future in the Western Conference. Three or four years from now? May be not.

Yeah. We agree.

I might choose D. Green as the guy though. There are too many off-court vices that could lead to on-court troubles there... especially since he's already working at a disadvantage of sorts physically. But I get the Klay Thompson angle, too... especially in a basketball sense because some of his attributes are redundant with two former MVPs.

[Monster]

Abe, I think we agree that Golden State is ultimately vulnerable to breaking apart at some point due to egos, conflicts, etc. I think Klay Thompson could be the first domino.

That being said, it in no way affects my view that they are absolutely the team to beat for the foreseeable future in the Western Conference. Three or four years from now? May be not.

Yeah. We agree.

I might choose D. Green as the guy though. There are too many off-court vices that could lead to on-court troubles there... especially since he's already working at a disadvantage of sorts physically. But I get the Klay Thompson angle, too... especially in a basketball sense because some of his attributes are redundant with two former MVPs.

This conversation is why i think Cheryl Reeve has done such a terrific job she has gotten legit star players to take a reduced role and play as a team.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Abe, I think we agree that Golden State is ultimately vulnerable to breaking apart at some point due to egos, conflicts, etc. I think Klay Thompson could be the first domino.

That being said, it in no way affects my view that they are absolutely the team to beat for the foreseeable future in the Western Conference. Three or four years from now? May be not.

Yeah. We agree.

I might choose D. Green as the guy though. There are too many off-court vices that could lead to on-court troubles there... especially since he's already working at a disadvantage of sorts physically. But I get the Klay Thompson angle, too... especially in a basketball sense because some of his attributes are redundant with two former MVPs.

This conversation is why i think Cheryl Reeve has done such a terrific job she has gotten legit star players to take a reduced role and play as a team.

I think you're joking... but...

[Monster]

Per Marc stein

Small Sample Size Theatre: The Chicago Bulls are tops in the NBA after one week ... shooting 43.5 percent as a team from 3-point range.

[Coolbreeze44]

Abe, I think we agree that Golden State is ultimately vulnerable to breaking apart at some point due to egos, conflicts, etc. I think Klay Thompson could be the first domino.

That being said, it in no way affects my view that they are absolutely the team to beat for the foreseeable future in the Western Conference. Three or four years from now? May be not.

Here's the problem with Golden State:

1) They gave up a large chunk of their depth in order to sign KD. They may be more star studded, but they are much, much thinner and their margin for error is much less.

2) Most important - I'm sure you all know about the law of diminishing returns. The idea that they can just keep adding offensive weapons, and the whole will equal the sum of the parts is wrong. They were already the best offensive team and best shooting team in the league. After getting KD, they still are. There's only so many shots to go around. KD takes some away from the other big 3, and they will ultimately take some away from him. Sure, they will be tougher to guard with Durant in the lineup. But how much better? They were pretty unstoppable last year. But now they are going to have problems they didn't have last year:

- Matching up on defense
- Absorbing injuries
- Building chemistry

I don't see any way they match last seasons victory total (going out on a limb I know), and I make them only a 50/50 bet to win it all.

[Monster]

Abe, I think we agree that Golden State is ultimately vulnerable to breaking apart at some point due to egos, conflicts, etc. I think Klay Thompson could be the first domino.

That being said, it in no way affects my view that they are absolutely the team to beat for the foreseeable future in the Western Conference. Three or four years from now? May be not.

Yeah. We agree.

I might choose D. Green as the guy though. There are too many off-court vices that could lead to on-court troubles there... especially since he's already working at a disadvantage of sorts physically. But I get the Klay Thompson angle, too... especially in a basketball sense because some of his attributes are redundant with two former MVPs.

This conversation is why i think Cheryl Reeve has done such a terrific job she has gotten legit star players to take a reduced role and play as a team.

I think you're joking... but...

Nope I was actually serious.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Abe, I think we agree that Golden State is ultimately vulnerable to breaking apart at some point due to egos, conflicts, etc. I think Klay Thompson could be the first domino.

That being said, it in no way affects my view that they are absolutely the team to beat for the foreseeable future in the Western Conference. Three or four years from now? May be not.

Yeah. We agree.

I might choose D. Green as the guy though. There are too many off-court vices that could lead to on-court troubles there... especially since he's already working at a disadvantage of sorts physically. But I get the Klay Thompson angle, too... especially in a basketball sense because some of his attributes are redundant with two former MVPs.

This conversation is why i think Cheryl Reeve has done such a terrific job she has gotten legit star players to take a reduced role and play as a team.

I think you're joking... but...

Nope I was actually serious.

Making $110k in the sorta well-publicized WNBA is a far cry from making $5 - $25M with constant eyeballs on you in the NBA.

[Monster]

Abe, I think we agree that Golden State is ultimately vulnerable to breaking apart at some point due to egos, conflicts, etc. I think Klay Thompson could be the first domino.

That being said, it in no way affects my view that they are absolutely the team to beat for the foreseeable future in the Western Conference. Three or four years from now? May be not.

Yeah. We agree.

I might choose D. Green as the guy though. There are too many off-court vices that could lead to on-court troubles there... especially since he's already working at a disadvantage of sorts physically. But I get the Klay Thompson angle, too... especially in a basketball sense because some of his attributes are redundant with two former MVPs.

This conversation is why i think Cheryl Reeve has done such a terrific job she has gotten legit star players to take a reduced role and play as a team.

I think you're joking... but...

Nope I was actually serious.

Making $110k in the sorta well-publicized WNBA is a far cry from making $5 - $25M with constant eyeballs on you in the NBA.

Yeah the situations are very different including a smaller league etc but I do think Reeve should get credit for getting the players to buy in. Just sayin that's all.