WEBVTT - How the Warriors got to the Finals 0:00:04.280 --> 0:00:10.200 How in the world does it shock anyone that a 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:18.520 team that made five consecutive finals and had three rigs 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:24.280 in five years, How would they be shocked that that 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:28.720 same team would make it to the finals again after 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:33.040 their top two guys got healthy again. I mean, I 0:00:33.080 --> 0:00:35.800 don't know. This team had the fourth best odds to 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:40.040 win it all, but let's be honest, this team looked 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:43.479 like they were different than that team. The team they 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:46.159 team like like look like trash. They were in the 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:49.120 watery two years in a row, and you wondered if 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:52.159 they would ever be like as healthy or as dominant 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:56.560 as they were after Clay's injury. Right, Clay's up there 0:00:56.600 --> 0:00:59.080 in age, Clay got inn acl and an Achilles' tear 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:02.000 and back to back come back, thinking he's gonna get 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:05.400 back under the court, go scrimmage, sus scrimmage, wasn't supposed 0:01:05.400 --> 0:01:07.759 to be doing it, tears his ac al boom boom. 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:11.720 Steph Curry breaks his hand out. I think he played 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:14.240 six seven games that year. Don't quote me, but I 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:17.360 think it's about that. Two solid years offered Clay two 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:20.920 years in the lottery, and people started to question, is 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:24.959 this Warriors team the same Warriors team? Without Kevin Durant, 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:30.880 I started to question, and that's when Warriors Twitter decided 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:33.760 that they were gonna hate me. But don't mistake it. 0:01:34.240 --> 0:01:36.880 Don't mistake it my dislike of Warriors Twitter. With the 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:40.520 team itself, I very very much liked them, and I've 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:43.360 said this time after time. Those Twitter Warriors, though they 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:47.000 have such short memories, but there were very real questions 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:50.040 that even they had coming into the season. They weren't 0:01:50.560 --> 0:01:55.240 all hearts and roses and popcorn and lollie pops. We 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:59.080 all thought, would Clay be Clay or when he got 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:03.120 healthy healthy, would he be a slow, older, less mobile 0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:07.600 version of Clay. Could Golden State overcome the fact they 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:11.560 never really had a true center? How would they actually 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:16.880 operate with said no true center without Kevin Durant, the 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:19.360 fact that they had multiple lottery picks that they could 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:21.800 have used to get a star. Was it a mistake 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:26.600 to draft Kaminga and Moody at seven and fourteen instead 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:29.960 of getting someone like Bradley Beale or trying to go 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:33.040 after someone like Karl Anthony Towns or Ben Simmons, Like 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:35.720 lots of people in the Bay thought that they should 0:02:35.760 --> 0:02:37.799 go out and get a star instead. Of drafting those 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:41.040 two young guys and they'll never of course submit it 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:42.880 today though no o that was part of the plan 0:02:42.919 --> 0:02:45.760 were light years ahead. Bah blah blah. They had role 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:50.840 players that were overpaid and awful. Kelly ou Bray, for example, 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:52.320 who said he was going to be the next Kevin 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:54.760 Durant and he was making like eighty million dollars with 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:59.800 including the luxury tax payments that Warriors owed. Andrew Wiggins 0:02:59.880 --> 0:03:03.280 was overpaid and awful at that point in time. James Wiseman, 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:05.880 who I said would miss the entire year, who also 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:10.400 missed the entire year to a lesser degree. Kent Bazemore, 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:14.160 who was just literally happy to be there, always the 0:03:14.240 --> 0:03:17.639 vibe every time he was in. Some mistake made that 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:23.560 would cost them not only like points a possession many games. 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:27.520 How would all this work moving forward? How would they 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:29.600 shed those guys and get other guys back because they 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:32.799 didn't have much cap space. Their big pickup this year? 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:37.400 Was it iguadala? Was it be a leecha like? Was 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:43.440 it Otto porter? Ugh? How was this gonna work? Gary Payton, 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:46.120 the second at that point in time, the man was 0:03:46.200 --> 0:03:51.440 operating as like just the guy who hangs around. He 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:54.800 was literally not getting paid. Can I just hang here? 0:03:55.000 --> 0:03:59.320 Can I just be around? Wiggins? Go back, going back 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:04.280 to Wiggins. Wiggins was a combined negative seven in the 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:09.640 play in games against Memphis and LA playoff Wiggins. Were 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:12.560 we going to see that again? When it mattered most 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:18.200 the gross ass bricking' ass like literally non clutch ass Wiggins. 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:21.480 I needed to know, We all needed to know. Would 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:25.880 injuries derail the Warriors all over again? Lots of questions 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:31.760 which were very valid at the time, But just like 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:34.920 the Celtics, Honestly, some of the Warriors, what they did 0:04:35.080 --> 0:04:37.760 was very similar to what the Celtics did in the offseason. 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:41.039 They got help for Steve Kerr on the bench, guys 0:04:41.040 --> 0:04:44.760 that were focused on development, Guys who could execute that 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:47.760 and were known for that in Kenny Atkinson and John 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:52.240 Malayla Malalayla as well. Hard to say they got rid 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:54.760 of the dead weight, just like the Celtics did. They 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:58.200 got rid of Ubre. You're gone, Camp Bezemore, You're gone, 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:02.840 Alan Smiley, Jeck, You're gone. Eric Paschal, Fine, you want 0:05:02.839 --> 0:05:06.080 to go play with your best friend in Utah? Go go. 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:08.680 People wanted them to go and get a big guy 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:12.640 like JaVale McGee. Maybe try to find somebody else that 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:15.160 they could have contribute right now, or a small five 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:18.080 like Nicktum. Nick Batum said no to the Warriors said 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:21.080 yes to La and instead they also picked up key 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:24.400 role players quote unquote key role players like Auto Porter. 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:28.280 He ends up being really important for them, Biolichia ends 0:05:28.320 --> 0:05:30.880 up being somewhat important for them, and to a degree 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:33.120 in the middle of the year when Steph Curry gets hurt, 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:37.000 even Chris Chiosa ended up being somewhat important for them, 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:40.240 and Gary Payton played some point guard when Steph was 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:45.239 injured too. The tweaks and the coaching changes worked. Gary 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:47.640 Payton stepped up and became one of the best on 0:05:47.720 --> 0:05:51.599 ball defenders that they had after literally playing for nothing. 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:54.839 He literally stayed around the team after they cut him, 0:05:56.520 --> 0:06:00.640 and he became this huge role player and this on 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:04.000 ball defensive presence. While Clay got healthy, Jordan Poole stepped 0:06:04.080 --> 0:06:06.240 up to a place where people thought he would win 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:09.320 Most Improved Player of the Year. Ten games. End of 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:13.280 the season nine to one. As we know, they looked unstoppable. 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:17.400 Splash Brothers appeared to have not missed a beat. Then 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:20.640 injuries did plague the Warriors just like we thought. Just 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:24.080 as Clay came back, Draymond goes down for what thirty 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:26.839 six games with the back injury and a back injury 0:06:26.839 --> 0:06:28.640 that looked like it could be night nice sleep mask 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:32.599 for his career. Wiseman had setback after setback after setback. 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:35.520 Didn't play one game. Steph sprained his ankle at the 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:38.720 end of the season. Missed the final twelve games of 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:41.200 the year. Folks and people wondered if he would be 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:44.719 ready for the playoffs. He came back in time for 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:49.120 the playoffs, but looked hampered, hobbled. The return of Clay 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:52.880 in the middle of the year coincided with Jordan Poole 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:56.760 having a mental meltdown. We talked to the Light Years 0:06:56.800 --> 0:06:59.280 boys and they said, not really sure what's going on 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:01.560 with Pool. He does understand that he's no longer a 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:04.359 starter and he's not having a very high ability to 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:08.200 cope with that situation. He now couldn't score. He now 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:11.320 was turning the ball over like crazy. What was he 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:13.560 going to be on this team now that he was 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:15.960 a role player. But at the end of the day, 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:18.920 as all dynasties do, they figure it out. They figure 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:20.960 out a way to lean into the fabric of their 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:24.680 identity and stick true to that ball movement. They did 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:28.240 nothing at the trade deadline, by the way, unlike the 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:33.120 Celtics ball movement, sharing the ball selflessly, relentless defense that 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:39.120 turns into what a deluge of a masculating, humiliating bucket 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:43.840 after bucket after bucket until you surrender and succumb you 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:49.160 basically have you basically have like a symbolic ballgag in 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:52.800 your mouth when you're done with that. During the playoffs, 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:56.160 they have been number one in points per game, number 0:07:56.240 --> 0:08:00.000 one in offensive efficiency number one, and assists number one, 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:04.080 points on cuts, number one in points off screens, so 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:06.960 many number ones. Add this to their number six team 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:10.320 defensive rating this season and that makes them a nightmare 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:15.560 for most teams. So not much has really changed. However, 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:18.160 a ton has changed in terms of how this team plays. 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:21.160 When you get your guy back, like Clay, he doesn't 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:23.040 need to be back all the way in order to 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:28.480 be effective Steph Clay Drey just needed some effective role 0:08:28.560 --> 0:08:32.200 players to do their job Wiggins, and now the Wiggins 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:36.000 is doing his job and Jordan Poole is doing his job. 0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:40.720 Kevon Looney is doing his job. This team looks somewhat unstoppable. 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:44.760 An overlooked aspect though, of this Warriors team this year, 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:49.400 is that Steve Kurry, Steve Kerr is really coaching well, 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:52.080 like he has changed some of his things that he's 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:54.400 done in ways that have made this team better. He 0:08:54.440 --> 0:08:57.720 gave a speech at Harvard this year. The quote was interesting. 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:00.240 He said, I think the biggest lesson that I I've 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:03.800 learned is that culture is way more important than scheme. 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:07.440 I would say coaching is maybe twenty to thirty percent 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:11.520 strategy and everything else is about communication and what your 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:14.400 players feel when they come into the building every day. 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:18.920 Side note that is what we would call a subtweet 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:23.000 on how he let Kevin Durant get away like that 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:26.560 right there? How your players feel when they come into 0:09:26.559 --> 0:09:29.199 the building every day. Oh, I don't know. You mean 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:31.600 the fact that Kevin Durant felt isolated from the rest 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:34.040 of the group and the fan base and media basically 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:36.559 said that he was an other and everybody else were 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:39.960 the real Warriors. I don't know, Okay, anyway back to that, 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:42.880 I feel like he's been pretty good at understanding culture, 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:45.440 but I think he's also now understood how important it 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:47.360 is to hire the right assistance around you to do 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:50.640 the jobs that you don't know or aren't able to do, 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:53.960 whether that's because of skill or time or whatever. And 0:09:54.000 --> 0:09:57.480 now he's got some talent around him he always has. 0:09:57.760 --> 0:10:00.360 I mean, he lost Willie Green. That's a big that's 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:03.160 a big time assistant coach that he ended up losing. 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:06.360 He came down with COVID at a critical juncture against 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:09.280 the war Grizzlies, and then he gives the job to 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:13.000 Mike Brown to concoct a new scheme around Looney to 0:10:13.040 --> 0:10:16.200 combat Jaron Jackson and Steven Adams. Big reason that they 0:10:16.240 --> 0:10:19.440 ended up winning that series. He gave the power away 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:22.280 to someone and his players as well, to come up 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:24.560 with something in order to stop the other team that 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:27.040 was doing something effectively that you didn't not encounter on 0:10:27.080 --> 0:10:29.240 your own. And he's also doing some of his best 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:31.960 scheme work. The rotations that used to not make sense 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:36.079 last work last year. Now they work. He didn't want 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:38.080 to do small ball last year. People forget that. He 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:40.800 just wanted to have big centers all the time. He 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:43.000 leaned into the Wiseman. The only reason that they stopped 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:45.480 playing Wiseman last year is because he got hurt, so, 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:47.600 like I don't know, he ends up having to go 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:50.160 to Draymond and sees how effective that is and then 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:52.800 he leans into that this year. We'll see what happens 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:55.520 next year when Wiseman's fully healthy. He closed out the 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:59.400 Mavericks using three guards and two wings, and he's learned 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:02.120 from the Memphis game last year. He's changing defensive schemes 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:05.880 quickly to confuse offenses. He's doing a really great job 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:09.240 of finding matches, matchups that benefit the Warriors, not only 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:15.120 offensively but defensively, hiding guys that are defensively liable. And 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:18.040 he's using the entire roster because it makes sense. Guys 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:21.920 like Otto Porter Bilichia, Damian Lee, even Jonathan Kaminga have 0:11:21.960 --> 0:11:24.640 been used at times and have played important roles at 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:29.240 certain situations. During this postseason, want Toscano Anderson has seen 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:33.360 his playing time diminished by twenty five percent, hasn't complained, 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:36.880 but still has contributed. The roster, even in the playoffs, 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:40.400 can run like ten eleven deep. And that was before 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:43.880 Moses Moody got seventeen points in a game in the 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:48.840 final three games against the mass And because I have 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:53.520 to finish talk about Andrew Wiggins. I briefly mentioned he 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:56.599 was better that he's an All Star starter because of 0:11:56.679 --> 0:12:02.120 K pop, but still he is. Wiggins was terrible, terrible 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:06.240 in any crucial situation. Wiggins has been in the past 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:10.440 before this year, someone you can rely on time and 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:16.640 time again to fuck up this year, when when the 0:12:16.760 --> 0:12:20.880 lights are bright and the Warriors go down or the 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:24.120 lead that they have is diminishing, Wiggins gets the ball. 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:29.240 You gasp and he hits it. You screech, your muscles 0:12:29.280 --> 0:12:35.199 tense up, and then you're like Wiggins, he's dunking on Luca. 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:39.880 Remember I said that last playoffs, in the play in games, 0:12:39.920 --> 0:12:42.560 he was negative seven on the floor. This year he's 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:48.040 plus seven. Better decision making in high pressure moments. But truthfully, 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:52.000 let's be honest, less high pressure moments going to Wiggins. 0:12:52.320 --> 0:12:55.040 You're the fourth option now, not the third option. Now 0:12:55.240 --> 0:12:58.920 you're on you get the ball the fourth most, you're 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:02.120 the open corner three guy. You don't have to deal 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:06.520 with shouldering the burden in high pressure moments nearly as much. 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:10.040 And also you get to defend first and foremost and 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:12.160 then be a part of the flow of the offense 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:15.480 instead of being the focal point of the offense. Not 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:18.560 a shocker that Golden State became the odds on favorite 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:21.400 to win the title, moving past the nets in February 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:24.000 to four hundred plus four hundred. They moved down to 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:26.600 plus three twenty five in April and now stand at 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:29.080 minus one fifty five to win it all to beat 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:31.840 the Celtics, and how they got there was not the 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:35.480 easy road, it turns out, but it was the most 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:41.199 effective one. And it turns out that those those Silicon 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:43.959 Valley we can win at the same time we build 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:45.839 for the future. It turns out those folks are right. 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:51.080 So congratulations to the Warriors on another title. I hope 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:55.079 I don't mush you. I sincerely, sincerely hope. I don't 0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:57.000 mush you because that would be a real shame.