Greatness or Just Perfect Timing?

Amidst their popularity, the Warriors still have many doubters.

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By Onie Dator
Balling and Blogging

When the Golden State Warriors won the NBA championship last year, it was attributed to luck more than the team’s greatness per se. Given the fact that they really had a brilliant season overall, was it really fair for even the average fan to say that they just won because they got lucky? Did they not do enough to convince basketball pundits to believe that they were truly “great”? And if this was the case, what did they NOT do? Was it not enough for them to win 67 games during the regular season and then, go on to win 16 more to bring the Larry O’Brien trophy back to the Bay Area after 40 years? Was their highly efficient offense and defense not convincing enough to at least, persuade people to put them as title favorites again for the following season? The fact that the Dubs were not even chosen as title favorites to win it all again was proof that whatever they accomplished last year were not enough. Yes, to be blatantly honest, no one gave them any love and were just flat out disrespected.

And so, as everyone had been witnessing for the past eight months and counting, the Dubs came into this season wanting to literally, shut everyone up. And, how did they go about doing this? Well, by setting records all over and playing their way into basketball immortality. Right? Nah. In fact, this whole process of “we want to shut everyone up” has resulted into more critics and doubters for the defending champs. And so, I ask myself, “Why did it result into more hate and doubt?” And for me, it all boiled down to two things: 

1) The way the game of basketball in the NBA has changed or evolved. 

2) The lack of acceptance (specifically, the doubters) towards this change.

When the NBA eliminated hand- checking, the main goal was to help their offensive players showcase their full potential by having more leeway, space and freedom to operate. To complement the no hand- checking rule, they also revised the rule on illegal defense, thus allowing teams to zone more and take more chances on ball movement, player movement and spacing. As a result, being versatile and having well developed basketball skills became the name of the game. Physicality and athleticism were no longer the duo that would bring players the money. In fact, being overly physical is not something to go with anymore because of how quickly flagrant fouls and technical fouls are now being called. Plus, suspensions and fines are being given away like souvenirs.  As the game evolved, the emphasis shifted into having a variety of basketball skills that players could consistently showcase. To simply put it, the NBA game has changed a lot. As a result, the teams had to adjust and change as well. Otherwise, if they didn’t, then, they would surely be left behind. Classic example is on how teams now integrate analytics. Whether they like it or not, Analytics has become a major part of the game and teams have to go and comply with it.

As expected, change was not something everyone was willing to embrace. Players from previous decades view this new school era as being very soft and being merely dependent on that three- point line. What used to be normal, hard fouls then, had now evolved into flagrant 2 fouls in today’s game. The big centers who used to be the focal points of the offense have now been relegated to just being rebounders, shot blockers, and screeners. Most of these older players would even say that they would dominate more in this era without considering that teams would never play according to how they would want to play. It is easy to say that you would just pound it inside due to all the small ball being played. Yet, in essence, even if they do it and succeed at times, the opposing team would continue killing them on the other end by taking and making threes.

Anyway, going back to the Dubs and the two things I mentioned that probably could have led to all the doubt and the hate that they had been getting, let me start by saying that their GREATNESS would forever be questioned. Sad as it may seem, but they would never get a chance to prove that their small ball, pace and space, killer offense, stifling defense brand of basketball could translate in the more physical eras of the NBA. The way that the Dubs have remastered the genius offense of Mike D’Antoni and have implemented the stifling defense of the San Antonio Spurs has instantly put them on top of the pedestal on how basketball should be played and how an NBA team should be managed in today’s version of the League. Of course, it also helped that the team was constructed through solid drafting, player development and timely free agent acquisitions of role players. Still, at the end of the day, they would always be looked at as a team that thrived immensely because of rule changes and how they worked themselves through these changes. In addition, they would always be viewed by some, as mere hustlers who gamed the system by building something that would favor them. Yet, was it really their fault that they were brilliant and coy enough to outsmart everybody else? Was it their fault that they landed the two best shooters on the planet and developed them to perfection? Was it their fault that many people passed up on an undersized, overweight power forward who ended up being the ultimate neutralizer of the NBA’s most unstoppable force? Was it their fault that the many risks they took like trading their best scorer for an often injured seven footer or giving a long term contract to their point guard who used to sprain his ankle as often as his 30 point games nowadays all paid off? Was it their fault that they changed the coach who led them to the playoffs in order to get a coach who could lead them to a title? Was it their fault that they remained healthy and their opponents did not? The very answer to all of these questions is a big fat NO!!!

I may not be a fan of this team that could end up winning two straight titles and officially, start the conversation of a new dynasty. Yet, as a basketball fan who has loved the game since childhood, I would never go out and take away the credit that they truly deserve. This Golden State Warriors team is legit. They will go down as one of the greatest teams ever. Will they ever be considered the greatest team ever? Yes, statistically speaking. Yet, in terms of being regarded as “The Best Team Ever”, definitely, NOT, especially because of all the doubters who would forever be inclined towards the greatness of the past. It is almost next to impossible to say that teams during the previous eras would finally give this team the credit they deserve. Still, at the end of the day, do you think that it really matters to these guys? Of course, but all the doubt and the hate have all contributed to how they had learned to become who they are now--- CHAMPIONS. And for any great team, regardless of era, it is all that matters.