eminence wrote:Haven't followed the whole discussion, but I wouldn't say I had a major problem with KD 'going-iso' too often or at the wrong times (obviously it doesn't work all the time, no strategy does). Steph/Klay/the whole feng shui of the offense will be off at times and KD isos are a very strong option to fall back to. I was more disappointed in how he fit in when things were gelling and going well. A bit of the old floor vs ceiling debate. It may just be the true ceiling wasn't much higher than where the Warriors were already at, but I have to say I was a bit disappointed in how little their best lineups/results improved switching from Barnes to Durant.
I guess then I’d ask you what practical things you want him to do to raise that ceiling. What could he have done better to make them gel more? There’s really very little ways for a star scorer to fit into an established offense like that other than be extremely efficient with his touches, which KD absolutely was.
The team was unbeatable at its peak. They basically went undefeated over an entire playoff run which is virtually unheard of. That’s a damn high ceiling.
KD is right in that Warriors fans treated him like an outsider. When Steph had bad games it’s because KD is a ball hog and when KD had bad games it’s because KD is a ball hog. To some degree this is inevitable because the core is already “proven” but people way overreacted to the Warriors’ rise and decided their style of play was the unimpeachable way to basketball nirvana and anything KD did would ruin that. I mean there’s a lot of people here that still think this way.
The truth is the Warriors offense has periods where it really struggled before KD, after KD, with KD, without KD. And the Warriors have had to bail themselves out with iso ball before like for example game 5 against the Cavs in 2015 or game 6 against the Thunder in 2016.
The Warriors are a fun team to watch when they’re vibing but people take that too far. They don’t have some unbelievable advantage over the rest of the league because they pass a lot.