The State of the Horrid Warriors || Play-In Recap and NBA News.

Edition #76

INTRO:

We’re heading to the playoffs baby! (Yeh the play-in doesn’t exactly count as the playoffs.)

It’s been an exciting weekend of work. Few surprises, but expected results were just there. But, the games were definitely exciting and nail-biting.

But, today… I wanna focus on one team. This team was eliminated from playoff contention. This team is in the Western Conference. This team played the Kings in the first round of the play-in.

The Golden State Warriors.

Yeah yeah. There are smaller questions, but for sports fans and writers? It doesn’t get better than this question

And it’s a big one.

Is the dynasty over?

Play-In Recap

That was the play-in round. If you didn’t watch any of it, well, you saved a lot of time. The only upset, seed wise, and interesting game, we even saw were the Lakers vs Pelicans. The 7 (Lakers) vs 8 (Pelicans). Other than that, I guess many people in the nation saw these results coming… I certainly didn’t (Warriors and Hawks *sigh*).

Why did the Hawks lose?

HAWKS ON LEFT. BULLS ON RIGHT.

You need to make shots to win. You need to be able to play defense so no one scores 72 points in the paint, an easy place to make a shot in the NBA. You also need to limit turnovers and make them turn the ball over.

The Hawks did none of that.

Why did the Warriors lose?

Explanations are in the stats. Plus, the Warriors have no energy. They’re a bunch of oldies.

Why did the Bulls lose (last part of the tournament)?

In this game, the Bulls just didn’t give themselves more opportunities. If they had fouled less times, got more rebounds, made more threes, and had a few more shots fall in, this would’ve been their’s. But, they just didn’t get enough production from EVERYONE on the team (AKA Alex Caruso and Ayu Dosunmu).

Why did the Kings lose (last part of the tournament)?

This team did not have all of its players., They played away from home. Their players energy was depleted. That all had to play a factor.

“We have to be able to get the ball in the paint,” added Brown, whose team was outscored 58-44 inside and missed seven of 22 free throws. “You’ve got to be able to finish and you’ve got to get to the free throw line and convert.”

Who’s Playing Who?

The Horrid Warriors || Is the dynasty over?

What do you define a dynasty?

Do you define it as a team which has the same player and is successful? Do you define it as a team which gets championships consistently? Do you define it as a team which makes the playoffs every year for a decade?

The bolded question above is the first clue to answering the big picture question about a dynasty ending… Why? How can you answer a question without knowing what one of the terms, one of the key terms, actually mean? English!

What I define a dynasty? You know, I’m not exactly sure. It could mean anything. Anything I stated above. Maybe I might change my answer at the end, so read EVERYTHING.

The big question:

To answer the big question, I have very mixed feelings. Yes. It could end with Klay’s decision. After all, the dynasty was headed by the core 3 (Steph, Klay, Dray). But, is that a dynasty? Don’t players always move around?

But, here’s the thing.

It will end when Stephen Curry retires.

Steph is the man of the franchise. To me, so is Klay and Dray, but they aren’t the top guy. Steph makes the plays. Steph is the advertised man. And when it’s like that, it will end with him gone, as there will be no more Warrior advertisements with Curry. Nothing.

Who I pick? Well, I have Klay leaving the team. He’s going to New York, a team fresh off a championship (my pick). The Los Angeles Lakers would be another place he definitely has a chance of going. I remember hearing on the radio something about winning a championship with Curry and then winning a championship with LeBron. Imagine if it was against Curry.

Keeping it alive

Unless the Warriors draft another Curry who will keep the dynasty alive, we’re currently looking at the final years of the amazing Warriors reign.

Wanna know something else I heard on the radio? So, this guest came on the show and he was talking about the Warriors drafting all the other Wembanyamas in the world. Why? The Warriors need height. They need to get someone who’s tall. The good players nowadays? They’re tall. I mean… Look at Nikola Jokic, Giannis, and Wembanyama!

We’ll look into the draft when it becomes draft season, but another way they can keep it alive, is completely on the GM. Mike Dunleavy Jr. needs to do some Bob Myers work. He MUST fill in all the Warriors needs this offseason. If not, it doesn’t matter if Curry is there or not, the Warriors aren’t going to make the play-in, which means the dynasty is… over…

Why wasn’t it over during the 2019-2020 season? After all, the Warriors were 15 and 50!

You can argue that Covid-19 played a factor… because the next season, the Warriors were back in the play-in, finishing as the 9th seed. The Warriors were rolling again the next two seasons, not even having to go through the play-in both times. One year. It was just one year they played bad. They fell apart.

I can’t give the same Covid excuse I gave for the 2019-20 season. This time, they fell apart because of age. 5 years ago, Steph was 31. Their are many ballplayers who are 31 now. Not many who are 36. Why? Because your not good at 36. 31 is your prime in sports (it’s also a prime number).

Answer:

I’m going to say a no here, but it only beats the yes by a nanometer. Only because I trust Mike Dunleavy to do something big in the draft or in free agency. If it was Bob Myers, it would be no by a million square miles. The projected end if this happens is 2031.

If what I say DOES NOT HAPPEN, then the dynasty is crumbling. The projected end will be 2026 (Kerr and Steph’s contract expires).

POLL OF THE DAY:

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Conclusion & Updates

Thanks for reading this article. Be sure to like and subscribe to Sports Square if you haven’t already.

Yes. I was only able to publish one article this weekend. I’m super sorry and I think that’s how it’s going to be until the summer. I’m completely swamped with life right now, and just can’t find time to write an article (takes me over 2 hours to write 1…).

I just wanted to update y’all on that.

That’s it then! See y’all later (idk when… hopefully Wednesday before the NFL draft.)