FanPost

The biggest question for the 2014-15 Golden State Warriors (my submission)

1977 was a long time ago.

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After nearly two decades of futility, fans are looking forward to a likely third consecutive postseason, something they haven't seen since Robert "The Chief" Parrish was picking up lids of Acapulco Gold on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. as a rookie for the Warriors. Clifford Ray, Jamaal Wilkes, and Rick Barry were on that team, and I'd guess that at least half of today's fans weren't even born yet. Yours truly turned 4, and got to see Star Wars at the UA theater on the corner of Victory and Laurel Canyon (North Hollywood) for my birthday, Elvis Presley died, and Songs in the Key of Life was battling the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack for AM supremacy.

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38 years later and the team looks to be back on track. The Golden State Warriors have turned a corner. The team won 51 games and reached the playoffs for the second year in a row, a feat that they had not accomplished since the '92 postseason. They weathered an internal personality conflict that first saw well respected assistant coach Darren Erman fired, followed by the reassignment and eventual firing of Brian "White Mamba" Scalabrine, and finally even cost the popular but polarizing Mark Jackson his head coaching job. Despite the obvious problems with the coaching staff, the team still managed to surpass 50 wins and take the Pacific Division winning LA Clippers to 7 games in a hard fought, passionate playoff series.

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There were issues with a stagnant and predictable offense that was among the league's leaders in fewest passes per possession and a lack of creativity that led to an iso-heavy attack. So the team fired Jackson and his remaining staff, and replaced them with Steve Kerr, who won 5 championships as a member of the Phil Jackson/Tex Winters triangle offense and Greg Popavich's motion offense. Coach Kerr will be supplemented by offensive guru Alvin Gentry and defensive mastermind Ron Adams.

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Super subs Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry left the team to pursue massive pay raises (combining for 4 years, 51 million dollars; are you freaking kidding me?!?!?), and the injured Brandon Rush was traded to the Utah Jazz (along with the useless Andris Biedrins and the overpaid Richard Jefferson) during the summer of 2013. The team brought in Andre "Don't Call Me Iggy" Iguodala, which pushed Harrison Barnes to the bench, but it was quickly apparent that the team would have depth issues. Part time starter Festus Ezeli would miss the entire season after surgery to repair an injury incurred against the Portland Trailblazers at the end of the 2012-13 regular season, and the 75 year old Jermaine O'Neal, Draymond Green, and Marreese Speights joined a rotating cast of guards Toney Douglas, Kent Bazemore, Steve Blake, and Jordan Crawford in what we eventually dreadfully referred to as the "Bench Mob".

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That bench, coupled with a complete lack of offensive creativity, produced some of the worst basketball fans have seen since Mike Montgomery was coach.

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Thankfully, the Warriors starters were clicking on all cylinders, and were the league's most effective five man unit. They were even better during (what seemed like) the 10 minutes or so that coach Jackson played Draymond with 4 starters, but it was pretty obvious that if the team wanted to improve, they'd need to improve the bench. Bob Myers has since added Shaun Livingston with the MLE, who had a very solid year making the Brooklyn Nets a better team. Myers also signed Leandro Barbosa and Brandon Rush, both of whom seem to be recovered from lingering injuries. The hope is that the improved faces on the perimeter, along with the expected recovery of Ezeli, and the creativity of the coaching staff will elevate the team to Pacific Division leaders and beyond, hopefully culminating into a championship for a franchise that hasn't won one since 1974-75.

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I expect the moves Myers made to be improvements. The bench is deeper. The coaching staff is more creative. And the Warriors young players: Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes, Nemanja Nedovich, and Ognjen Kuzmic all have yet to reach their potential on the court, meaning that the sky's the limit for this well constructed roster.

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There is still one remaining question, and it's the biggest one: Can the 2014-15 Golden State Warriors stay healthy?

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Last season, Andre Iguodala missed 19 games and seemed to have lingering effects from a hamstring injury when he did play. David Lee missed 13 games, and had offseason surgery for the second year in a row. Andrew Bogut is Andrew Bogut, and hasn't had a healthy season since he had his first surgery on M*A*S*H. Nedovich's "European Derrick Rose" nickname seems to come from his inability to stay on the court, Ezeli hasn't played in a real game in over a year, and Shaun Livingston has spent a chunk of the offseason in a boot while trying to recover from turf toe, and Barbosa and Rush haven't been healthy in years.

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But that's a question that all the teams have, and no one can predict the answer. If the answer is "Yes", then the Warriors should advance deep into the playoffs, and maybe all the way to 16 playoff wins. If not, well, that depends on how soon the answer becomes "No".

(BTW, I put spaces between the paragraphs that aren't showing up properly in the preview. I even tried doubling my usual gaps, but I can't seem to get them spaced. That's why I added the "dash" lines. Sorry about the unconventional solution; I just wanted the article to be easier to read.).

This FanPost is a submission from a member of the mighty Golden State of Mind community. While we're all here to throw up that W, these words do not necessarily reflect the views of the GSoM Crew. Still, chances are the preceding post is Unstoppable Baby!