How to beat the Warriors - discussion thread

[90sgoat]

The Warriors are a very difficult team to beat as we've seen.

I break it down into 3 parts:

1) Rules
2) Coaching
3) Personell

Take away either of those factors and they are nowhere the same team. Without Curry they don't win, without no-touch D rules they don't win, without Kerr/Pop based coaching they don't win.

The problem is, even if you play almost perfect defense and slow pace like Spurs did, you still end up with the Curry wildcard cause you can't lapse a single second when guarding him. One second of watching basketball instead of playing defense and he scores.

Second, you must have a team which can switch 1-4 and even better 1-5.

Third you must have strong coaching like Pop.

Ideally, you must load up on strong, physical, smart point guards. Boston comes close.

You must have at least 3 strong physical pg/sg comboguards who can switch.

You MUST have a quick and strong stretch 4 who can go against Green.

Which team is closest to matching Warriors next season?

[SpaceJam]

Be ahead on the scoreboard when that final buzzer sounds

[Lebron23]

Bring back the Handcheck rule. And adopt FIBA Rules.

[navy]

The thing about the Warriors is that they have different ways to beat others. The reality is the Warriors only excuse for losing is if Steve Kerr ****s ups.

Curry is the best player in the world, but what makes the Warriors next level is that they no real weakness in personnel so they can mix and match any team. Other teams in the nba are stuck cause outside of their stars/starters they have scrubs.

[sd3035]

ref help is the only way to beat them

[Real Men Wear Green]

The Warriors are a very difficult team to beat as we've seen.

I break it down into 3 parts:

1) RulesNo one is going to change any rules before the upcoming postseason. Don't hold your breath for next season either.

2) CoachingLuke Walton went 39-4. No coach is going to come in and change what they're doing.

3) PersonellTrades are also unlikely before the playoffs. We've heard rumors that they will try to bring in Kevin Durant in the offseason which would of course be a major change but who the hell wants to face KD, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green?

[keep-itreal]

1. Shaq
2. Hakeem
3. Prime Duncan

[fragokota]

You need a mixture of two-way players, length, fast feet & 3pt specialists.

Butler, Kawhi, D. Green, A. Bradley, Conley, Paul George, Wall, Gobert, Milsap, DeAndre etc. These type of players imo.

[PP34Deuce]

Boston defensively matches up perfect with them to a tee.

Bradley can switch on Klay or Curry along with Smart. I believe you need strong combo guard depth to fight through screens and nullify their advantage when Livingston is out there.

You need to force Green into a scorer. He's passed up multiple 3 point looks even if he's open. Rattle him and you can shake their offense up.

Curry is going to get his and if he hits 7-8 contested 3's you just live with it. He will force the issue because he believes every 3 pointer is going in.

[DukeDelonte13]

cavs have the personnel to match up with the warriors but their execution and focus is sh*tty.

[navy]

cavs have the personnel to match up with the warriors but their execution and focus is sh*tty.
Not really. Kevin Love and Kyrie are defensive liabilites, made much worse since Mozgov is no longer good after his injury. He was a key piece for them.

[hold this L]

Boston is the closest thing to match up to them in terms of players, Spurs second. Spurs of course have a better chance since they have better players and Pop as coach to beat them. Problem with both teams is Curry is too much of an x factor. Assuming no injuries happen, I suspect GSW to have one of the most dominating playoff runs.

When their top players play, there is a monumental difference in terms of points and since it's playoff time, the main 6 players will play 7-9 more minutes than they did during regular season.

[90sgoat]

Boston is the closest thing to match up to them in terms of players, Spurs second. Spurs of course have a better chance since they have better players and Pop as coach to beat them. Problem with both teams is Curry is too much of an x factor. Assuming no injuries happen, I suspect GSW to have one of the most dominating playoff runs.

When their top players play, there is a monumental difference in terms of points and since it's playoff time, the main 6 players will play 7-9 more minutes than they did during regular season.

Spurs are too short handed on guard positions. Parker is a defensive liability now. Green can't hit the side of a barn. Kevin Martin is a poor defender.

Actually, Green is the key, he needs to be able to reliably hit 3s again.

[Team_Chemistry]

If we talk about Spurs, they

[Prime_Shaq]

Flop

[I<3NBA]

post Curry up and just bang down low on him every time. make him work on the defensive end. just keep at him for 4 straight games. just tire him out until his body gives out.

it will eventually.

[Sarcastic]

Play physical, just like Minnesota did.

[Thorpesaurous]

Flexibility at the guard position defensively is absolutely essential. You've got to be able to switch on both on ball and off ball screens. A Four who can come out and guard would be nice when they run the Green / Curry PnR. In fact, I'd be tempted to play a SF on Green and hide my PF on Barnes / Iggy / or whoever else and let them try to beat me. I'd make Green prove he can punish someone like Kawhi Leonard in a way that makes me move my PF back onto him. And for the love of god, try to deny Curry the ball once he gives it up.

It would also help if that defender on Curry had some length, and just general toughness. Someone that could hold up on a switch to Green at least long enough to get some help to scramble over.

There's also some weakness to exploit on the other end. Memphis has had moments looking good by killing them on the Offensive Glass. I'm sure that's part of San Antonio's success. Overwhelming them with size. They look best with Draymond at Center, but that's not easy all the time, even though the league has made it harder to excel using your bigs as focul points.


Boston does match up well. I'd play Crowder on Green and see if he holds up. And would even trust Smart or Bradley to not get exploited on a switch to Green in a Screen and Roll. Thomas has to get hidden at times.

The Bucks are really switchy on the perimeter, and match up better than their record indicates they should.

The Spurs are just really really good in their own right.

Going into the not so distant past, a guy like KG would do a great deal of good against a Green / Curry PnR. Anthony Davis should be able to do something like that, with the right group around him.

Memphis still has Tony Allen as a perimeter defender, not what he used to be, and can punish the glass some.


It's obviously not easy, but there are approaches you can take to improve your chances, and it will be fun to watch teams with more time to prepare try to exploit some of this stuff. And it is interesting to see if GS can make adjustments, when they really haven't had to make any all season.

[Rocketswin2013]

bring blunt objects.

[robby712]

The Cavs are the only team that can beat the GSW.
The Thunder don't have the defense to deal with all the weapons of Golden State, they don't execute well and WB is not good when you slow the game down.
The Spurs can push the Warriors, but I think in a 7 game series the GSW will figure them out and the Spurs don't have the firepower to go head to head with the warriors when they get hot.
The Cavs meanwhile, if healthy, have all the tools to beat them. With Love on the floor they can go small with him and TT. Frye also comes in handy playing that stretch 4 role, something they did not have last finals. Delly did probably the best job on Curry out of all the guys that defended him and Kyrie also played him well in game 1 last year. And Kyrie will surely give him trouble on the other end, making him work. Most important, they have the shooting to keep up with the gsw when they get hot. I think JR will shoot well being the 4th option instead of the 2nd, and if lbj keeps playing like this they have a good chance.

[Wa88iors]

You catch the Warriors on the back end of a back to back, 7 game, 6,500 miles road trip matinee tip off. Play your starters 35-40 mins. When Curry is sitting. It's your only chance.:rolleyes:

[eriX]

honestly the biggest thing is their personnel and thats possible with their current contracts.

PLAYER NAME 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20
Klay Thompson
$15,501,000
$16,663,575
$17,826,150
$18,988,725

Draymond Green
$14,260,870
$15,330,435
$16,400,000
$17,469,565
$18,539,130
$0

Andrew Bogut
$12,000,000
$11,027,027
$0
$0
$0
$0

Andre Iguodala
$11,710,456
$11,131,368
$0
$0
$0
$0

Stephen Curry
$11,370,786
$12,112,359
$0
$0
$0

Their starting 5 is making a combined total of 63million this year, not to mention Barnes and Ezeli making combined 6million too. Curry alone should be making 25million+ every year, double what he is being paid right now. The warrios will 3peat and then maybe we will see some changes to the team with Curry's contract and others and then someone will be able to beat them because this team is way too stacked at this moment

[kshutts1]

I think the best way is to slow the game down on offense by executing a series to find a great shot, and/or hammer it down in to the post. Further slow the game down by crashing the glass, hard. Does not have to be everyone, obviously, but crash the offensive glass with 2-3 people; almost no team does that anymore, and it would work against a smaller lineup.

On defense, it's about focus and intensity. Switching on picks would help, as would a strong hedge if you're not comfortable switching. As another poster wisely pointed out, try some ball denial on Curry. Live with anyone but Klay or Curry taking the three, but you can't sell out because they'll burn you on cuts.

You don't have to be smarter; I'm not sure there are many, or even any, smarter teams in basketball than the Warriors. You don't have to be more talented. You just have to play really hard, really focused, and stick to your game plan even through that spurt that you know the Warriors will go through.

On a personnel standpoint only, I think Houston matches up ridiculously well. They lack all the other factors though, unfortunately.

OKC could match up pretty well, but they like to run, and I don't see anyone out-running this Warriors teams.

A healthy Memphis team, or a smart Houston team, are the best bets to beat the Warriors in the West.

In the East, Miami and Cleveland would do well against them. Atlanta could do well, on paper. I have not watched Atlanta play often enough to see if they're able to slow the game down, but Horford and Millsap should be able to exploit their matchup in the post, while being mobile enough on defense. And as for Cleveland, another poster said it well when they said that they lack the focus.

[rzp]

Play physical, just like Minnesota did.

This... also watch those first 3 final games last year. Play like that australian boy.

[Goldrush25]

post Curry up and just bang down low on him every time. make him work on the defensive end. just keep at him for 4 straight games. just tire him out until his body gives out.

it will eventually.

This, and everyone needs to chip at him off-ball.

Everyone treats this guy like a porcelain doll. If they beat him up a little bit he's not going to be bouncing around the court clowning everyone anymore.

[hold this L]

This... also watch those first 3 final games last year. Play like that australian boy.
Curry is a lot better than last year though. He's one of the most improved players in the league this season.

[sammichoffate]

Their bench isn't as consistent as the Spurs, they have trouble scoring half the time

[choppermagic]

I think the best way is to slow the game down on offense by executing a series to find a great shot, and/or hammer it down in to the post. Further slow the game down by crashing the glass, hard. Does not have to be everyone, obviously, but crash the offensive glass with 2-3 people; almost no team does that anymore, and it would work against a smaller lineup.



This for sure. In previous years, small ball would be punished on the glass. Offensive rebounds would chew up time and beat up smaller defenders, as well as keep the running game to a minimum. Coaches invariably had to sub in bigger players from stopping giving up all the second chance points. Too bad there are not enough talented big men around to balance the small ball game out.

[inclinerator]

not even without curry, without green or thompson they dont win

[97 bulls]

The Clippers are the only team with the personal to be GS. Theyre just not focused. They have three guards that can score in Paul, Crawford, and Reddick. So they ca make Curry work. The problem is they don't have the mental concentration to make Curry works for a significant amount of time. They try to outscore the Warriors in stead of trying to beat them.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

The Clippers are the only team with the personal to be GS. Theyre just not focused. They have three guards that can score in Paul, Crawford, and Reddick. So they ca make Curry work. The problem is they don't have the mental concentration to make Curry works for a significant amount of time. They try to outscore the Warriors in stead of trying to beat them.

Totally agree

If only we had been able to pick up Pierce last year, or even the year prior. Obviously he'll help the team this postseason because of his experience, but with his age and attrition that will only take us so far.

Griffin needs to basically play perfect for us to even have a chance. He and CP would have to slow games down and mostly do work in the HALF court.

[97 bulls]

Totally agree

If only we had been able to pick up Pierce last year, or even the year prior. Obviously he'll help the team this postseason because of his experience, but with his age and attrition that will only take us so far.

Griffin needs to basically play perfect for us to even have a chance. He and CP would have to slow games down and mostly do work in the HALF court.
Yep. But it goes deeper. What happens is they lose sight of Curry far too often. They never go after him on defense. And, like you said, they don't play to their strengths. Or at least expose the Warriors weakness.