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Weird how locked on Warriors podcast didn't once mention Warriors defense after crushing Dallas. IMO, that was the best part of the win.

I remember watching the warriors the year they signed Iggy. All of the sudden they were flying around, getting steals and just destroying teams defensively.

Butler reminds me of a combination of Draymond Green and Iggy....less explosive offensively than Iggy....but still has that defense dawg mentality the incredible NBA IQ.

I'm not sure I recall seeing more than three Dallas possessions where someone was wide open.

Podz, Jimmy, Draymond, Moody, GP2, Looney and yes...a legit 7' on the back line at times....this team is going to be a special defensive team (also because of Jimmy going to foul line so defense can reset).

And just wait until they had the defensive size of Kuminga....

Yea the defense has been really good even though they’ve let some high scoring outputs by some guards. The help defense is swarming. We get so many deflections. Jimmy and dray just cover so much ground and clean up any mess ups. The starting 5 has everyone that understands the defense and the rotations. Podz, moody, jimmy, dray have been really good as a foursome and with post have been dominating the other bench. Their numbers have been crazy good as a 4some.

The defense was decent even before the trade, it is the offense that went nowhere to winning games.

marthafokker wrote:The defense was decent even before the trade, it is the offense that went nowhere to winning games.

Good consistent offence also creates pressure on the opposing team to keep up, which can create an uncomfortable offensive mindset for the opposing team. They very much go hand in hand.

When we started blowing teams away on offence several years ago, other teams just couldn't keep up so they started rushing things and made our D look genius.

I'm encouraged that they are playing better since the Butler trade but I am going to need to see them play like this against a contending team before getting carried away.

The schedule was set up perfectly with winnable games at the deadline to incorporate Jimmy into the roster.

By the way, I'm not saying anyone here is getting carried away.

whatisacenter wrote:I'm encouraged that they are playing better since the Butler trade but I am going to need to see them play like this against a contending team before getting carried away.

The schedule was set up perfectly with winnable games at the deadline to incorporate Jimmy into the roster.

By the way, I'm not saying anyone here is getting carried away.

The thing is even before the trade we were holding our own against the elite teams of the league outside of Cleveland.

Draymond and Jimmy look like a powerhouse defensive duo. It's a joy to watch. I wanted to trade for Jimmy, but I had no idea he could be this good on defense. Add Podz & Moody and the defense looks great -- possibly better than when we had Wiggins (of course, offense is the biggest help Jimmy has provided as a 2nd creator).

Coxy wrote:

marthafokker wrote:The defense was decent even before the trade, it is the offense that went nowhere to winning games.

Good consistent offence also creates pressure on the opposing team to keep up, which can create an uncomfortable offensive mindset for the opposing team. They very much go hand in hand.

When we started blowing teams away on offence several years ago, other teams just couldn't keep up so they started rushing things and made our D look genius.

Yes, and.

It is harder to run the ball out of the basket. When we were missing tons of shots, we were having to defend in transition a lot. The more we defend after made baskets (or free throws...) the easier it is to play defense.

The IQ on defense to rotate and switch off and cover the next man is beautiful to watch

Chris Porter's Hair wrote:

Coxy wrote:

marthafokker wrote:The defense was decent even before the trade, it is the offense that went nowhere to winning games.

Good consistent offence also creates pressure on the opposing team to keep up, which can create an uncomfortable offensive mindset for the opposing team. They very much go hand in hand.

When we started blowing teams away on offence several years ago, other teams just couldn't keep up so they started rushing things and made our D look genius.

Yes, and.

It is harder to run the ball out of the basket. When we were missing tons of shots, we were having to defend in transition a lot. The more we defend after made baskets (or free throws...) the easier it is to play defense.

Not even to mention all the turnovers

I like the movement on offense too. These guys seem to know when and where to cut and how to find each other. Jimmy's playmaking ability is just something we've lacked with wiggins.

parsnips33 wrote:

Chris Porter's Hair wrote:

Coxy wrote:
Good consistent offence also creates pressure on the opposing team to keep up, which can create an uncomfortable offensive mindset for the opposing team. They very much go hand in hand.

When we started blowing teams away on offence several years ago, other teams just couldn't keep up so they started rushing things and made our D look genius.

Yes, and.

It is harder to run the ball out of the basket. When we were missing tons of shots, we were having to defend in transition a lot. The more we defend after made baskets (or free throws...) the easier it is to play defense.

Not even to mention all the turnovers

Yes, all of this. The decrease in TOs, increase in FTs, decrease in bad shots/long rebounds/run outs, increase in good shots/long possessions/floor balance. The increase in offensive efficiency feeds the defense and leads to better effort on that end for a whole host of reasons (more confidence, less energy wasted on offense, less second guessing about the prior shot, etc.). That's before you even get to the opponents' energy on offense after chasing the ball for the prior 18 seconds only to get a 3 in the eyeball.

Speaking of TOs.... Curry and Dray both need to stop Hail Mary passes that almost never works. Cutting down on those alone is 2 to 3 less TOs.

And with Butler being very good ball handler and decision maker, that alone reduces 3 TOs that was in Wiggins.

And then all those FTs to slow down other teams' long pass Dubbs don't defend after a miss.

marthafokker wrote:Speaking of TOs.... Curry and Dray both need to stop Hail Mary passes that almost never works. Cutting down on those alone is 2 to 3 less TOs.

And with Butler being very good ball handler and decision maker, that alone reduces 3 TOs that was in Wiggins.

And then all those FTs to slow down other teams' long pass Dubbs don't defend after a miss.

Aggressive passing like court length passes have other effects that than just the single opportunity to score. It keeps defenses on their toes. A couple of turnovers might be worth being able to prevent the opposing team to commit to a certain defensive plan.

WarriorGM wrote:

marthafokker wrote:Speaking of TOs.... Curry and Dray both need to stop Hail Mary passes that almost never works. Cutting down on those alone is 2 to 3 less TOs.

And with Butler being very good ball handler and decision maker, that alone reduces 3 TOs that was in Wiggins.

And then all those FTs to slow down other teams' long pass Dubbs don't defend after a miss.

Aggressive passing like court length passes have other effects that than just the single opportunity to score. It keeps defenses on their toes. A couple of turnovers might be worth being able to prevent the opposing team to commit to a certain defensive plan.

Not when there is a defender there on the outlet pass. Might as well just throw it out of bounce. So far, Jimmy doesn't do these stupid passes... he rather gather the ball and break down the defense.

Oh... the only player that can work with deep passes is JK. The rest are a bunch of snails.

whatisacenter wrote:I'm encouraged that they are playing better since the Butler trade but I am going to need to see them play like this against a contending team before getting carried away.

The schedule was set up perfectly with winnable games at the deadline to incorporate Jimmy into the roster.

By the way, I'm not saying anyone here is getting carried away.

I'm less cautious than I was at the beginning of the season because we don't have any major (predictable) anomalies like Buddy going nuclear

Although Podz production might be inching into anomaly territory at the moment

Onus wrote:

whatisacenter wrote:I'm encouraged that they are playing better since the Butler trade but I am going to need to see them play like this against a contending team before getting carried away.

The schedule was set up perfectly with winnable games at the deadline to incorporate Jimmy into the roster.

By the way, I'm not saying anyone here is getting carried away.

The thing is even before the trade we were holding our own against the elite teams of the league outside of Cleveland.

Agreed, it's mind boggling how we play down to our competition at times.

Dubs 707 wrote:

Onus wrote:

whatisacenter wrote:I'm encouraged that they are playing better since the Butler trade but I am going to need to see them play like this against a contending team before getting carried away.

The schedule was set up perfectly with winnable games at the deadline to incorporate Jimmy into the roster.

By the way, I'm not saying anyone here is getting carried away.

The thing is even before the trade we were holding our own against the elite teams of the league outside of Cleveland.

Agreed, it's mind boggling how we play down to our competition at times.

[quote="Crazy-Canuck"]

Onus wrote:

Dubs 707 wrote:

Onus wrote:The thing is even before the trade we were holding our own against the elite teams of the league outside of Cleveland.

Agreed, it's mind boggling how we play down to our competition at times.

Crazy-Canuck wrote:

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Well they have a one game advantage over better teams and I know for sure those wins had guys out for those teams.
Then they are 4-6....and dismal against the middle tier teams. I think the Warriors WERE a middle tier team and were awful in close game situations.