Now let’s apply those standards to the current Warriors team.
- Shooting: The bread and butter for this team. At the moment, the Warriors are accomplishing an astonishing double by leading the league in eFG% on offense and holding opponents to the lowest eFG% on defense with notable leads in both. If you want to explain their success in a single sentence, look no further.
- Turnovers: We know about their problems here. Right now the Dubs are 28th in turning the ball over but a respectable 13th in forcing them. Less games like what happened in Detroit and more like the one in Charlotte could help the offensive ranking substantially.
- Rebounding: While the switch to Draymond Green has been a huge success for the team, it does have consequences on the boards. Golden State went from middle of the pack in offensive rebounding last season to 27th right now. The gains in other areas make that choice worth it since a team making tons of shots does not need as many second chances but keep an eye on this during rougher starts. Defensive rebounding has been worse than last year as well (5th to 18th) but that could improve as the year goes along.
- Free Throws: Not a strength on either end. Even with Klay and Steph improving at getting to the line, the Warriors are 21st in FTA Rate themselves and 17th in opponent FTA Rate. Having other strengths makes this tolerable but getting better on either end of the court would help them win some playoff games.
The Week to Come:
The Warriors have a short home stretch and a short road trip in the same week. Even though Anthony Davis has been a destroyer (and New Orleans’ next appearance at Oracle is in March, so I would highly recommend seeing him in person this time if you can), the Dubs should take both home games.
Even below full strength, I cannot pick against the Bulls in a big regular season game so with a win against non-threatening Minnesota a 3-1 week is my call.