Fast Break

Let’s run down the typical criticisms thrown up by Warriors’ skeptics: (1) they play no defense; (2) they can’t win without Baron Davis on the floor; (3) they get beaten up by bigger teams; and (4) they lack a killer instinct to finish close games. Now let’s talk about the Warriors’ last two victories.

The Warriors’ wins over the Jazz and the Spurs haven’t answered all the question marks on their season (the team still needs to beat a few good teams on the road), but it’s time to take this team seriously. Don Nelson entered the season with a game plan. He’s kept the parts that worked (fast pace, small ball), chucked the parts that didn’t (Murphy and Dunleavy starting, Monta and Andris on the bench, man-to-man defense), and delivered a team that believes it can beat any squad in the NBA.

Here’s my take on how the Warriors’ weakness suddenly became strengths:

The Warriors may have caught the Jazz by surprise with their 1-2-2 zone, but they played a legitimately solid defensive game against a tough Spurs team Monday night. The defense came together for a lot of small reasons, but the improvement starts and ends with Andris in the middle. With Andris’ mobility and shot blocking, the other defenders are learning that they can stay home on their men or in their zone spots. Gone are the days of throwing three men at Tim Duncan to try to slow him down. When help came Monday night, it came to poke away a ball or block a shot from behind, not to try to stop a runaway train heading for the basket. Once the perimeter defenders were freed up to guard on the outside, they were able to focus on frustrating entrance passes and stopping the advancement of the ball. When the Warriors go big with Barnes or Dunleavy at the top of the key, it’s hard for guards to pass over them to big men, as with the Jazz on Saturday night. When the Warriors go fast with Monta or McLeod up top, penetrating point guards like Parker find it hard to get to the rim and drop off short passes underneath. And with Andris holding down the middle, both types of defenders are able to commit more aggressively, knowing that the Latvian is taking care of the basket. There are still mental lapses, but for the first time since Monta and Andris had two digits in their age, the Warriors have a legitimate defensive philosophy.

After these two games, any so-called basketball authority citing Davis’ injury proclivities as a force holding the Warriors back should give back a paycheck. He or she is simply not hitting the books on this team. The Warriors were a mess last year without Davis, but they’ve matured and grown deeper in the new year. Although Monta isn’t confident running the team yet (zero assists against the Spurs), he’s confident being the go to guy on the court. Despite an awful start Monday night, he came up huge in the fourth quarter to seal the win. With Dunleavy continuing to thrive off the bench, Andris developing an offensive game, and end-of-rotation guys like Barnes and McLeod now chipping in, this team has a lot of weapons. The biggest change, however, is the Warriors’ selfless play. Monday night, six players had three or more assists. The team has learned to find the open man, play for the easy shot, and get guys the ball where they want it. They have less need for a spectacular playmaker like Davis because they’re learning to make the simple, mundane plays that transform basketball into a beautiful and deceptively easy game.

Excluding Foyle, the Warriors only have one legitimate defender over 6-10 (Andris). Yet, somehow, they managed to throw both Carlos Boozer and Tim Duncan, two of the game’s best low post players, off their games. Of course, Andris deserves a lot of the credit, playing major minutes and coming up with huge stops. In the Spurs game, however, Nelson’s fast pace also deserves praise. Big men have a lot to carry, and Duncan wore down as the Warriors continued to press the tempo. He missed some big shots in the fourth quarter, when fatigued had to play a factor. The Warriors also found themselves able to attack the rim late in the game, despite Duncan’s typically formidable shotblocking presence. The Warriors can’t make their players bigger and stronger, but they can make the opposing team slower and weaker. Nelson’s insistence that the team push the tempo does exactly that, as Duncan learned tonight.

Following the Phoenix and Denver losses, the Warriors looked like a team without a leader. Richardson, responsible for some of the team’s biggest shots in the past few years, had come up short. No one else on the roster – from Monta to Roberson – had stepped up to fill his void in the clutch. Suddenly, after putting away both the Jazz and the Spurs with decisive late game pushes, the team seems to be overflowing with guys making big plays. Give some credit to Nelson, who obviously kept the team from settling into a funk after a few tough losses, but also thank the team’s bad injury luck. With Davis, Richardson, Murphy, and Pietrus all hobbled to various degrees, the younger players had responsibility thrust upon them. They didn’t answer immediately, but they seem to have grown from the challenge. Monta’s fourth quarter Monday night was a revelation. Andris is hitting his free throws with near perfection when they count. Dunleavy and Barnes have cut the mental mistakes and are playing within themselves in pressure situations. The cumulative effect, at the moment, is a team overflowing with confidence.

Finally, I couldn’t end this post without a little gloating. We will lose quite a few more games this season, but we should savor a win over the Spurs. I’m convinced there’s not a more annoying team in the NBA. Commentators heap praise upon them, ignoring Duncan’s endless whining, Bowen’s shamelessly dirty and dangerous tactics, Parker’s deceptively limited point guard skills and, as my friend Andrew never lets me forget, Manu Ginobili’s woefully disguised bald spot. And dare I forget P.J. Carlesimo sulking on the bench. The NBA’s future is bright and, thankfully, the Spurs should only have a bit part in it. That said, even if this is a champion team on the way down, it still feels great to hang a win on them.