Was 73-9 worth it?

[Da_Realist]

Was it worth going for? YES. Always strive for the stars. Will not winning the championship smear the glossy shine? A thousand times YES. Even GS fans won't want to think about this season with all the dancing and shimmying, unanimous MVP award and the record breaking 73 wins. It will only serve as build up to a tragic ending.

GS is not just losing, they are getting their asses kicked on a historic level. An average 26 point loss the last two games. One more loss and they will go down as the poster child of regular season excellence but a tragic example of the merit of facing a determined team every other day for two weeks (or much less).

One more loss, Golden State loses but playoff basketball wins. This is also a cautionary warning of not shimmying at the opposing bench during a regular season game. Who wants to rewatch the Feb 27 game at OKC this summer? Right... I never thought I'd see it but OKC has knocked the arrogance right out of Steph. I never thought OKC would have the focus and discipline to beat GS. I'm surprised, too.

[ArbitraryWater]

Kind of like how Golden State struggled with a Portland team that no one thought had a chance to make the playoffs while OKC was, after an embarrassing G1, destroying the Spurs.

GSW were ~2:1 to win this series but just based on how good they looked up to that point, OKC should not have been overlooked by ANYONE. I almost bet a pile of money on them.

same.. I was so close to putting 100 (not exactly a pile) for 800.... ahh fck

[ScalsFan21]

I'm not disputing the Pats losing in the Super Bowl wasn't an epic upset and massive disappointment, but the Pats level of play dropped off SIGNIFICANTLY in the second half of the season, a point I feel is always ignored.

Again, not saying it wasn't a huge upset, but in retrospect, you could just see the Pats performance diminish greatly as the season wore on.

And lot of people forget how reliant that team was on the Brady-Moss deep connection, I feel like eventually teams got wise to their "blueprint". It wasn't exactly an unpredictable team. I've never seen a team even approach their same level of success while going to the "take the top off the defense" strategy so frequently. It was really the key to that offense and you could make a very valid argument that team was very overrated, and that one loss really highlights this beyond what anyone ever would have mentioned had they won.

They go 19-0, "they were just too good, any flaws they had don't matter", but given they struggled to a degree in the second half (at least by GOAT standards) and then capped it off with a loss at the end, flaws become more glaring.

[DCL]

people should not be shocked because this OKC team was always legit. people should had paid more attention since Feb 27. the story the next day was all about curry's crazy buzzer-beater, but it should had been that OKC almost beat that team when curry was 100% healthy. in the playoffs, OKC took care of business against san antonio, another team that had a historically dominant season, and now they're giving serious challenge to golden state team with curry not playing at 100%. so why should people be shocked out of their minds?? OKC got two of the top players in the league that one can count with, at most, two hands, who are healthy and in their primes.

so yeah yeah, GS beat everyone to get 73 wins in the regular season and that's the hype of ESPN all season, but this OKC team ain't no joke. just because you get 73 wins, it doesn't mean the playoffs in the west was gonna be a simple walk in the park. the warriors are dealing with that cold reality right now.

[r0drig0lac]

I believe it was worth, but Thunder is clicking at the right time (the team has a lot of talent and athleticism) and gsw seems to be mentally worn out (nothing less than the championship is a failure and they know it)

[Da_Realist]

people should not be shocked because this OKC team was always legit. people should had paid more attention since Feb 27. the story the next day was all about curry's crazy buzzer-beater, but it should had been that OKC almost beat that team when curry was 100% healthy. in the playoffs, OKC took care of business against san antonio, another team that had a historically dominant season, and now they're giving serious challenge to golden state team with curry not playing at 100%. so why should people be shocked out of their minds?? OKC got two of the top players in the league that one can count with, at most, two hands, who are healthy and in their primes.

so yeah yeah, GS beat everyone to get 73 wins in the regular season and that's the hype of ESPN all season, but this OKC team ain't no joke. just because you get 73 wins, it doesn't mean the playoffs in the west was gonna be a simple walk in the park. the warriors are dealing with that cold reality right now.

Excellent article of how Billy Donovan prepared his team for the playoffs -->

http://www.sbnation.com/2016/5/26/11...rriors-stopped

[sportjames23]

GSW = Only Built for the Regular Season

OKC = Only Built 4 Cuban Linx




Someone manip GOATbrook and KD on this.

[Hey Yo]

Personally, as someone who actually has really fond memories of multiple Warriors teams who never really accomplished much of anything (the Run TMC squads and the Baron Davis "We Believe" run), the current Warriors era has had more than enough awesomeness for me to always reflect back fondly (and I say that as a diehard Pistons fan).

I think if Golden State hadn't won a ring last season, then talk of their repeated failures and inability to succeed would be overwhelming and maybe a little more justified. However, again only speaking on my behalf, an NBA team with a guy like Curry shooting like no one ever has in the history of the world, winning an NBA championship then coming back to win an NBA-record 73 games while playing some of the most thrilling basketball we've ever seen... I don't see that as a footnote.

There's been a lot of teams throughout history who remain pretty well remembered (say, the Shaq-era Magic or Ewing's Knicks) yet never accomplished a microcosm of what this squad's brought to the table.

Also, if OKC takes this, it's going to be worth noting that they didn't just plow through a 73-win Warriors team, but they did so after taking out a Spurs team that was also pushing 70 this year (aka the squad that was supposed to be the only threat to Golden State in the first place).

If OKC wins the title this year (say they face the Cavs in the Finals) I would have to think it would have be considered the toughest road to a title in the modern era.

The combined reg. season W-L record of the 4 teams OKC would have beaten to win the title would be 233-89.

[ScalsFan21]

If OKC wins the title this year (say they face the Cavs in the Finals) I would have to think it would have be considered the toughest road to a title in the modern era.

The combined reg. season W-L record of the 4 teams OKC would have beaten to win the title would be 233-89.

100% agree. It's debatable but I'd take this road over any others. They will have won 3 series as the road team, each with a top 3-4 player in the league. It's an awesome feat if they are able to do it.

[ArbitraryWater]

100% agree. It's debatable but I'd take this road over any others. They will have won 3 series as the road team, each with a top 3-4 player in the league. It's an awesome feat if they are able to do it.

OKC has been the betting underdog in every single WCSF and WCF game so far.. if they win both series', pretty sure thats unprecedented.

[guy]

It would actually be 239-89. And the 95 Rockets's opponents were 238-90. So yes, I would assume this would probably be the toughest road based on W-L.