Golden State Warriors 2014-2015 Preseason Press Conference

[Bowtothebill23]

Welcome everyone to the preseason press conference for the Golden State Warriors. We had a bitterly disappointing end to last season, losing again in game 7 to a badly injured Blazer team. This year, we're back, and we got an excellent deep team ready to make a run. We'll take a look at how we got here.

Last year, we made the controversial move to send Zach Randolph out in exchange for Arron Afflalo. Although Randolph was likely the better player in a vacuum, we loved Afflalo's fit as a 3 point shooter on our team. Randolph was also a bit redundant as we had traded for Ryan Anderson, a stretch 4 who's only 26 years old. So this year, we came into the off-season with our starting lineup set. So we moved onto looking for depth.

In the draft, we selected KJ Mcdaniels as a defensive project. His training camp didn't go over very well, but he wasn't a guy we had invested much in so we'll survive. From there, we moved into free agency with goals to find 3 point shooting depth and then a rebounder/defender at center. Our big signings were Kirk Hinrich, a good 3 point shooter, facilitator, and defender to back up Curry, Steve Novak, a 3 point sniper we drafted a while back, and Ben Gordon, whom we felt deserved 6MOY last season. We added some big man depth in Charlie Villanueva, Jamal Sampson, Anderson Varejao, and Eddie Griffin. We likely only need 1-2 of those guys so we'll be trying them out in the beginning of the season and cutting/trading the odd men out.

Training Camp both gave and took away this year. Steph Curry took a huge blow, losing 64 points, while Ryan Anderson received a boost, not only adding to his scoring ability, but raising his ability as a defender. We would like to address the decision not to insure Curry this training camp again (for those who didn't listen to the podcast). At 26, Curry only had 2 more training camps of gaining points before reaching 29, where the average result of TC this year was -3. So to insure Curry, I would be paying 10 points for the off chance that he got hit (which, obviously, he did). But even then, averages say that he'd gain about 15 next season and 8 the season after that. Even if he had better than average camps and received 20 next season and 10 the season after, that's still less than half of what he lost. We simply felt Curry was at an age where our points would be more prudently spent on saving for the luxury tax. Or, ya know, YOLO. With that said, Curry still looks to be an elite scorer in this league. I don't personally care for jump shots as I want to eliminate jump shots from my team anyway. Curry still has a 94 3 point rating and a 71 inside rating, both of which are very, very good. The losses in handling, passing, perimeter D, and steals hurt worse, but even then, he should still be passable. And if preseason is any indication, Curry still is a max-level player. And with Ryno boosting up, we can't complain too too much about TC.

We're extremely excited entering this season. Our starting lineup boasts Steph Curry, Anthony Morrow, Arron Afflalo, Ryan Anderson, and DeAndre Jordan. Outside of Jordan, who is the favorite to repeat as DPOY, the lowest rated 3 point shooter in our starting lineup is Ryan Anderson with an 89 rating. Our other rotation players in the backcourt consist of Kirk Hinrich (85 3pt), Ben Gordon (72), Nic Batum (67), and Steve Novak (91). Then we have a backup stretch big in Villanueva (67) and some defenders and rebounders in Varejao, Griffin, and Sampson. We have a starting lineup with scorers at every position besides center where we have the guy with 100 rating in ORB, DRB,PSD, and BLK. Then we have 3 point snipers coming off our bench. We want to fire away the entire game, and we want to run teams out the building. We're relying heavily on Jordan to keep our defense afloat, and we believe he is capable of doing that.

With that said, we will open the floor to questions.

[JNR]

GWR: Who are you most wary of in the division? With the Kings stepping back, do you think you'll cruise to the title?

[NickMalone77]

Nick Melon; The Advocate: What kind of factor/role so you figure Nic Batum could play for your rotation?

[NOLa.]

Do you feel that since I decided to step back, you are in prime position to at least run away with the Pacific title?


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[kucoach7]

You start two very one dimensional players in Jordan and Afflalo? Do you think you can make a long run in the playoffs with those guys?

[garbageman]

As the only 6-0 team in the Western Conference in pre-season, you have to be feeling good coming into the season. Your team has the most potent offense in the league and you are lethal from the 3. That being said, you have noted that you have a bevy of specialists from beyond the arc. Do you feel like there are other skills that you'd like to have to bolster your team that would take precedence over having more sharpshooters than a Hart brothers cage match at Summerslam 94?

[Bowtothebill23]

GWR: Who are you most wary of in the division? With the Kings stepping back, do you think you'll cruise to the title?

I'm most wary of the Suns. Owning Kemp for over a decade, I know how valuable having the clear-cut best player in the game is. Love is terrifying, and he's got a very nice team around him. I honestly don't personally consider myself the favorite in the division, but I wouldn't count myself out.

[Bowtothebill23]

Nick Melon; The Advocate: What kind of factor/role so you figure Nic Batum could play for your rotation?

Batum is a very solid rotation player in this league. He'll always be a guy who'll get minutes. He and Novak will compete for the backup 3 and some backup 4 minutes, but he'll be a hard guy to keep out of the rotation. He's a good 3 point shooter, and he's just solid at a lot of things. He's a good handler/passer for his size which is always intriguing. That should help him find more minutes should we go with a higher motion offense.

[ballsohard]

Do you ever have hopes that DeAndre can be a 2 way superstar?


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[false9]

Based on his preseason, it appears DeAndre Jordan has taken a step back with his free throw shooting. Are you concerned this could carry over into the regular season?

[Bowtothebill23]

Do you feel that since I decided to step back, you are in prime position to at least run away with the Pacific title?


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I am quite honored that the Kings viewed me as such a threat, they decided to rebuild. I guess losing GMOY took a greater toll than we thought. But as I said before, I think the Suns are the team to beat.

[Bowtothebill23]

You start two very one dimensional players in Jordan and Afflalo? Do you think you can make a long run in the playoffs with those guys?

One-dimensional players are fine so long as they are elite at that end. With Jordan's being the best defender in the league, I'm not worried at all about him. Also, I think he's a contributor on offense. He's an elite offensive rebounder, and he's pretty efficient with the few shots he does take. Afflalo worries me a bit, but I think we just have so much offensive firepower and he fits in so well on offense, it's ok that he can't defend. I think we can make a long run because, if we hit our shots, I don't think there're many teams that can keep up with us.

[Bowtothebill23]

As the only 6-0 team in the Western Conference in pre-season, you have to be feeling good coming into the season. Your team has the most potent offense in the league and you are lethal from the 3. That being said, you have noted that you have a bevy of specialists from beyond the arc. Do you feel like there are other skills that you'd like to have to bolster your team that would take precedence over having more sharpshooters than a Hart brothers cage match at Summerslam 94?

I think it'd be very nice to have a wing defender, but those guys are somewhat difficult to acquire. There are a bunch of ok defenders, but to find a really good one and, ideally, one who wouldn't hurt us much offensively, it's just hard to acquire. With that said, we still believe we're very deep, can rebound, and can score more than anyone else in the league.

[Bowtothebill23]

Do you ever have hopes that DeAndre can be a 2 way superstar?


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I don't think he'll ever be an offensive superstar. Honestly, what he is right now is more than I ever wanted from him when I drafted him. He's the DPOY, and he's a capable offensive player. Ideally, he'll get a little better offensively to where he's scoring about 10 a game on maybe 55% TS%, but that'd just be icing on the cake given how dominant he is defensively and on the glass.

[Bowtothebill23]

Based on his preseason, it appears DeAndre Jordan has taken a step back with his free throw shooting. Are you concerned this could carry over into the regular season?

I'm not at all concerned. Firstly, it's a very small sample size. He took 14 free throws. If he makes 6, that'd be the third best percentage of his career. He makes 5, and it's the 2nd lowest percentage of his career. Also, he only takes about 2 free throws a game. He's an abhorrent free throw shooter, but it doesn't kill the team cause it's not like he's living at the line.

[78#]

You get great support from the fans every season? Do you feel any pressure to finally take this team over the hump especially after the training camp Anderson and Jordan had?

[Inner_GI]

You may claim 5 points for your presser.