Golden State Warriors 2015 Press Conference

[Bowtothebill23]

3-Time Sim League Champion Bow Bill steps to the Podium

Wow. What a ride. This time last year, we were coming off a season where we lost in the first round in 7 games at home to a badly injured Blazers team. We were coming off a training camp where our future of the franchise player had been murdered. Things weren't looking great. I had made the tough decision to simply run it back, improve around the edges, go all in for one more season, and gameplan my ass off in the playoffs.

The regular season was ho-hum. We finished with the 3rd best record in the West again, about as expected. Steph Curry took a step back with his hit in TC, but was still trucking along. DeAndre Jordan repeated as DPOY. Now was our time to make a run. Our road to a championship consisted of an absolute gauntlet: the Mavs simply weren't as talented as we were, but after that, we had the Nuggets who were the preseason favorites to win the title, the Suns led by one of the best players I've ever seen, and then whichever Central team made it out alive. I knew I'd have to win 3 straight series on the road, each against a really good GM and a really freaking good team.

We swept the Mavs in 4, but I was less than pleased. We struggled to really separate ourselves from a team that I thought we were noticeably better than. Each game was decided by single digits, and I didn't believe a sweep properly showed the competitiveness of that series. But beating the Mavs was huge. It allowed us some rest and some time to start scouting the Nuggets.

We went to Denver knowing we had to steal at least 1 on the road. After losing the first 2 games, we were heartbroken. We lost twice in narrow margins. In the regular season, I count that as a win. We went toe-to-toe with a top team and had a chance to win each game. In the playoffs, that's a disaster. We went back to Oakland knowing we had to win both games and then we had only 2 more chances to steal a game. We dominated in Oakland, and I felt confident that we had a good chance to close it out in 6. Game 5, we lost by 1 point in the final minute. Despite dominating game 6, we now had to find some way to win in game 7 or our season was over with yet another disappointing 7 game series loss in the first 2 rounds. What followed is one of my proudest wins in 25 seasons. For the first 5 seasons with Curry, I'd never made it out of the second round, losing in 7 games 4 times. I knew something needed to change. For the first time ever, I played DeAndre Jordan at a position that wasn't center. Klay Thompson was going to get his, but I knew if I could slow down Aldridge for just 1 game, that was my shot to win. Jordan stepped up and absolutely dominated. Afflalo and Curry carried us offensively, and we were on our way to the conference finals.

In the Conference Finals, we matched up against the Suns and Kevin Love. Seeing how well our strategy of DeAndre at PF against Aldridge had worked, we let DAJ take a shot against the best player in Sim League. He stepped up to the challenge, and we walked out of Phoenix up 2-0. After that, the series was pretty standard. We came oh-so-close to sweeping the Suns, and there were some tense moments when were dominated in game 5, but we won game 6 in Oakland, and we were headed to the Finals for the first time without Shawn Kemp!

In the Finals, we met arguably the best team in the league in the Toronto Raptors who, in my opinion, had it all: a superstar big man, an elite defensive center, a top 5 point guard who might be the best defender at the position, scorers off the bench, and just no real weak spot. We again let DeAndre match up against Bosh where he excelled, and we stole a game in Toronto. That momentum subsided when we gave up homecourt with a loss in Game 4. But after that, I saw some matchups we could exploit, I had some ideas, and 2 games later, we were Sim League Champions.

This one means a bit more than the first 2. While I always felt accomplished with the first 2 championships, having this one means that even those who felt I wasn't an elite GM before since I had Kemp must recognize that I was able to build a good team despite making tough trades and having my #1 pick knocked around in TC. I honestly feel incredibly proud of my gameplanning in the playoffs, and I think this was my best coaching job to date.

After the season, I knew I needed to get under the tax this year. I would've been a 4th year repeater, and I want to reset my tax bill for another run, especially since my team was losing Afflalo, Morrow, and Cassipi to free agency which left me with only 10 million in cap. I made the controversial decision to trade Stephen Curry for Rudy Gobert, Brian Stark, and a future first. Stephen Curry is one of the top 2-4 players to ever put on a Golden State uniform. He helped lead this team to its 3rd title, and he is only the second Warrior ever to win Finals MVP. We cannot thank him enough for helping with this incredible accomplishment.

But we felt this deal was too much to pass up. I was wary about handing out another huge contract to Curry after this past TC. I know he's worth his contract, but I also knew one more bad TC would destroy him. So when Rudy became available, I jumped at the opportunity. I saw firsthand how dominant an elite DPOY level big man can be in the playoffs, and I see Rudy as the next DeAndre Jordan in our league. With these 2 manning the paint for the next 5 years, we'll be an elite defensive and rebounding team. Brian Stark is also a young scorer and will give us something we've rarely had on the Warriors: a rookie contract who will actually contribute.

Altogether, we have a team with a lot of flexibility and 2 elite defenders. We have a lot of assets, and we feel as though we are really one piece away from being a contender for the next 5 seasons. Our hope is to find that final piece before next season. This isn't a rebuild. We already have 2 players who we feel can be elite players on a contender. We're simply looking to find that third piece, and we have 5 first rounders and 3 good rookie contracts to help us find him.

This season, we just want to help our future. If we get the opportunity to land that third piece, we'll jump at it. If we can't get him, we'll try and acquire more points and maybe another pick with our cap space to better help us get that player. We want to play hard-nosed defense, and we want to get a feel for what defensive system best fits our 2 bigs.

With that, we'll open the floor to questions.

[NickMalone77]

Nick Melon; The Advocate: A lot was made out of the Warriors team that was so heavily perimeter oriented and won the title last season, what led to change that ideal this past offseason to a more interior type design offensively speaking, maybe?

[Inner_GI]

Do you think Jordan and Gobert can actually share the court together for the majority of games long term? Who will be tasked with guarding the PF position that now requires a lot more quickness and perimeter defense than before?

[NOLa.]

Who will your starting PG be this season? Will we see Stark at the PG position even though his handles and passing are not up to par, or will you look at the available free agents for a potential starter?

[JNR]

GWR: Given your willingness to blow up a championship team, would you say that the luxury tax rules are effective in enforcing parity in the league?

[Bowtothebill23]

Nick Melon; The Advocate: A lot was made out of the Warriors team that was so heavily perimeter oriented and won the title last season, what led to change that ideal this past offseason to a more interior type design offensively speaking, maybe?

The change in ideal is a bit overblown. Frankly there are a lot of ways to win in this league. In my opinion, the best way to win is to gather the most talent that fits together. Last year, we weren't the most talented team, but we fit very well together. This year, moving to a 2-big system, it wasn't some huge change in philosophy. We simply lost some role players that helped make our team great, and we needed to get under the tax, and we were offered a deal where we felt we got great value for Curry.

[Bowtothebill23]

Do you think Jordan and Gobert can actually share the court together for the majority of games long term? Who will be tasked with guarding the PF position that now requires a lot more quickness and perimeter defense than before?

I do think they can fit together. Right now, Rudy is going to get the first crack at power forward. We were able to train his quickness, and we felt with DeAndre's weight, rebounding, and defense, we thought he'd be better utilized at center. I think the pair can work. I think having 2 guys who can be DPOY candidates can always fit together. It's not their fit I worry about. We'll just need to find scoring from the perimeter.

[Bowtothebill23]

Who will your starting PG be this season? Will we see Stark at the PG position even though his handles and passing are not up to par, or will you look at the available free agents for a potential starter?

Honestly, no idea. Stark will get to play his natural position of SG. We'll mix and match point guard this year, but right now, we're looking at Gaines because his defense would be very helpful.

[Bowtothebill23]

GWR: Given your willingness to blow up a championship team, would you say that the luxury tax rules are effective in enforcing parity in the league?

I think the luxury tax and point system are working very well together. I think you can go over for 3-4 seasons. I could've afforded going over this year, but then I would've had this monstrosity of a tax bill and wouldn't have any relief next season. I think the luxury tax is working as intended. I think you can afford to abuse it for a season or 2 if you're really good and going all in, and even then, you need to immediately tear it down.

[kucoach7]

Your new banner and the verbal victory lap to which we were just treated suggest you feel a certain amount of pride about winning another championship. Please expound upon the vindication you feel right now because I don't think we're getting it.

[Darth Vegito]

Darth Vegito: Not sure I said this to you but, I truly congratulate you on your 3rd ring. You now have one more than I do and I know that makes you very happy. But let me ask you, does it bother you that there are always asterisks attached to your rings? The first two with having Kemp and now this one only winning it while your bitter rival, *cough* myself *cough*, was not in the league?

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: Two questions. With Artest, Gobert, and Jordan, you look to be a defensive juggernaut. Who are you relying on to do the bulk of your scoring?

Second, now that I mention Artest, have you taken any measures to lower his risk of injury?

[Bowtothebill23]

Your new banner and the verbal victory lap to which we were just treated suggest you feel a certain amount of pride about winning another championship. Please expound upon the vindication you feel right now because I don't think we're getting it.

This legit made me laugh out loud.

[Bowtothebill23]

Darth Vegito: Not sure I said this to you but, I truly congratulate you on your 3rd ring. You now have one more than I do and I know that makes you very happy. But let me ask you, does it bother you that there are always asterisks attached to your rings? The first two with having Kemp and now this one only winning it while your bitter rival, *cough* myself *cough*, was not in the league?

Judging by my bitter rival's current team and preseason, I don't think it would've changed much

[Bowtothebill23]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: Two questions. With Artest, Gobert, and Jordan, you look to be a defensive juggernaut. Who are you relying on to do the bulk of your scoring?

Second, now that I mention Artest, have you taken any measures to lower his risk of injury?

We will rely on 0 pace, and hoping we can just score enough to win games. Stark and Artest will be options and hopefully Gobert and Jordan can swallow up offensive boards.

We will not be taking any extra measures to keep Ron healthy. We view his injuries as freak and random, so we don't view him as having a higher injury risk than others.

[NOLa.]

Glol


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[Inner_GI]

bow, you may claim 5 points for your presser.