The Lineups Don't Matter

[floppymoose]

I may be exaggerating for effect. But I do think that this team is a lot more flexible on lineups than in prior recent seasons. Even if you put, say, TJD/Dray/SlowMo all on the floor at the same time, it's really not a disaster. I doubt lineup choices are going to be what makes or breaks the season this year.

[HiRez]

For sure, although some are better than others. You can see at various times spacing is an issue, lack of scoring, lack of defense, etc. The good news is Kerr has a large toolbox to work with, and as we have seen it still works pretty well when some players are out with injuries/illnesses.

That said, Boston, Cleveland, OKC, Dallas is going to be a good test of how well it holds up against playoff-level competition. Still some concerns with blowing a 31-point lead to Houston, letting Washington hang around a little too long, and losing to the Clippers.

And FFS they need to start hitting freethrows, they are literally the worst in the NBA. There's only 2 guys shooting 2 or more per game who are shooting over 74%. Stabilizing free throwing could help some of the letdowns.

[DonaldSanders]

They will matter when we face contending teams the next 3 games.

[whatisacenter]

I’m waiting for the next stretch of games before judging anything about this squad.

[Impuniti]

I’m waiting for the next stretch of games before judging anything about this squad.

Bingo. Lets see whether these lineups matter or don't in the next 2 weeks.

[floppymoose]

How will you know? Does losing mean the lineups were bad?

[Impuniti]

How will you know? Does losing mean the lineups were bad?

If they get their ass kicked vs elite teams, all that flexibility means nothing outside of beating mid to poor teams.

[floppymoose]

Well sure. But will that mean the lineups were bad? Or just that the team isnt good enough to beat the best teams?

[Twinkie defense]

The Warriors are very flexible, for sure. The one lineup that I don't think works though is the starting lineup that Kerr was trotting out to start the season, with Wiggins at the two and Kuminga at the three. I think it's just too crowded and there's not enough shooting. Now TJD/Dray/SlowMo works because Dray and SlowMo are very smart, good defenders, good passers, and they know how to play together, even though none of those three are scary three point shooters.

It seems like Kerr has already abandoned that lineup? And not only does the starting group work better with a small instead of Kuminga, but Kuminga looks better as a four with the backup unit as well - win/win.

[Raonak]

I personally think people are completely underestimating what this depth can mean.

It means the ability to adapt at any time to any opponent, and also to have injury insurance, not just for the regular season, but also the playoffs, where injuries and fatigue will take a toll. If Steph or Dray get injured it's game over. But if any of the others get hurt it won't derail us much.

[wco81]

Tatum kept hunting for Buddy and Curry, especially in his big third quarter.

That’s where I suspect this roster is vulnerable. Or certainly teams will try to look for weaknesses in some of the lineups. If Jaylen Brown played they might have looked to attack more instead of start the offense outside the arc.

But Steph had 4 steals and he often got switched to their centers. Moody offers some more size but he was negative among the starters and gave up wide open 3 looks to White early on.

If Anderson can hit at least 35% whenever they give him wide open 3s he can bring more size. But they didn’t play him as much in the second half. Waters has more length but he hasn’t been hitting.

If Melton can hold up against larger wings that would help too but he isn’t shooting like his Memphis days and may also be brittle.

If they’re in the hunt for a top 4 seed in January, they may look for a consolidation trade for a wing.

[EvanZ]

This year we don’t have any Brad Wanamaker, Cory Josephs or Darios. We also don’t have CP3 completely slowing down the offense. It’s basically Nellie ball but with guys who can defend. I don’t know that the ceiling is championship level but they have way exceeded my expectations coming in. It’s fun to watch right now.

[CDM_Stats]

This year we don’t have any Brad Wanamaker, Cory Josephs or Darios. We also don’t have CP3 completely slowing down the offense. It’s basically Nellie ball but with guys who can defend. I don’t know that the ceiling is championship level but they have way exceeded my expectations coming in. It’s fun to watch right now.

Definitely a much, much wider margin of error here this year. I'm curious to see how it plays out... is it Kerr pushing the right buttons? Or will it be that there are hardly any wrong buttons to push? I guess it doesnt matter much as fans - success is success - but if its the latter, then Mike Dunleavy Jr might be the best GM we've had in a while

[EvanZ]

The only niggling annoyance to me is when Lindy Waters is getting 14 minutes and Moody is getting 13. Lindy hasn't done much at all since that first game he played.

[KevinMcreynolds]

Lindy has been a lot better defender than I thought he'd be

plus he has a cool sounding name

[wco81]

Windhorst says Kerr is coaching this years Warriors like he coached the Olympics team, with a lot of depth he regularly played 10 or 11 -- except Tatum .

So lineups are going full bore, which wouldn't be sustainable with a more traditional 8 or 9 man rotation.

But these players aren't young so we'll see if they're going at this pace in January and beyond.

[Scoots1994]

I personally think people are completely underestimating what this depth can mean.

It means the ability to adapt at any time to any opponent, and also to have injury insurance, not just for the regular season, but also the playoffs, where injuries and fatigue will take a toll. If Steph or Dray get injured it's game over. But if any of the others get hurt it won't derail us much.

I think the biggest thing about it is consistent high defensive and rebounding effort.

[Twinkie defense]

Speaking of lineups...

Read on Twitter

[Twinkie defense]

Tatum kept hunting for Buddy and Curry, especially in his big third quarter.

That’s where I suspect this roster is vulnerable. Or certainly teams will try to look for weaknesses in some of the lineups.

That's what always happens in the playoffs, and every team has a weak spot defensively.

Regarding Hield, the game plan was to force Tatum left, into help defense, and instead he let him go right and Tatum drew a foul. Hield said Draymond's on him. Stackhouse is on him. Everyone is on him and he's learning the small details that make Championship basketball. Everyone is bought in.

[wco81]

Buddy is making over 50% of 3s at 9 attempts a game.

That is what makes a lot of the lineups "work."

Though after the Celtics game, people are weighing in and saying they believe the defense is sustainable, because Buddy's 3P% is likely to revert to his career mean and teams will load up for him and Curry, like they used to for Curry and Klay.

So after another dozen games or so, it should be interesting to compare this defense to the 2021-22 defense after 20 games, when they started out red hot that year, with OPJ and a much more dynamic GP2.