The Golden State Warriors owned the
2014-2015 NBA season. Amazingly, they
were first in defensive efficiency (98.2) and a close second (they only trailed
by .1) in offensive efficiency (109.7). They
finished the regular season with a league best 67-15 record (which is also the franchise’s
best). They never lost three straight
all season long. Stephen Curry broke his
own record for most three-pointers in a single season and then broke the record for most three-pointers done in a playoff
run, as well as winning the regular season MVP along the way. Klay Thompson broke the record for most
points in a quarter with 37 (Curry and Thompson, the “Splash Brothers”, also
broke the record for most three pointers by a pair of teammates in a single
season). Draymond Green nearly won the
Defensive Player of the Year award.
There were All-Star, All-NBA, and All-Defensive selections among
the Warriors roster. Throughout this
season, it was fairly obvious that the Warriors this season was definitely a
championship pedigree team.
The championship was principally theirs
for the taking. The only way they could
have failed was if they have an epic playoff meltdown. But throughout the playoffs, the Warriors
basically played the way they did when they dominated the season: poised and
purposeful. Even when down 2-1 during
the series against Memphis and in the Finals itself, I never ever felt that
this team was going to lose (okay, maybe a bit during the Finals). It is because throughout this season, in
dealing with any conflicts or setbacks, the Warriors never lost cool and
focus. If there were any worries, internal
squabbles, or voicing out of displeasure, it was quietly dealt in the locker
room. There was no drama. No distractions. This was a team that never showed any signs
of implosion.
Moreover, the Warriors were a real
team-centric team. Sure, Stephen Curry
is the face of the Warriors, but it can never be truly said that the excellence
of this team was an extension of his individual excellence. This Warriors team actually functioned
similarly to last year’s star-less Spurs mold rather than a team revolving
around a superstar. Sacrifices defined
this team as scoring opportunities, starting positions, and rotation minutes were
willingly given up to provide match-up advantages and development of younger
players; which led to different players stepping up at different points during
the season and playoffs (that’s why there was an opportunity for another
Warrior aside from Curry or All-Star Thompson to win the Finals MVP). The
Golden State Warriors’ whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts.
The Golden State Warrior’s
domination of the season and the first title for the franchise in 40 years
tells us several things. First, though
their championship-clinching “small ball” lineup isn’t the first to show us
that a “small ball” team can win a championship – that would be the Miami Heat
three seasons back – this Warriors proved that a team using an offense that heavily relies on jump shots over inside scoring – as long as it’s complemented by a
topnotch defense, fast pace, and smart ball movement – can win a
championship. Second, contrary to what
LeBron thinks, this basic basketball truth is validated: championships aren’t
necessarily won by the best player but by the best team.
STEPHEN CURRY
Ever since his performance in the
Warriors’ first round series against the Nuggets back in the 2013 playoffs and
discovering that he’s a professing Christian, I’ve been a fan of Stephen Curry. Hence, I was thrilled when Stephen Curry won
the championship and the regular-season MVP.
First and foremost, as a
Christian myself, it always cheers me whenever a Christian artist or athlete
receives success since they are able to get the opportunity to direct the glory
to God in front of the world. And that’s
what Curry has done amidst his accomplishments this season. Being a Christian athlete, Curry displays the
same attitude as fellow Christian NBA player Jeremy Lin to be the best
basketballer he can possibly be so that the excellence of his talents would
ultimately point towards the glory of God.
As Stephen Curry declared:
“I love that basketball gives me the opportunities to do good things for people and to point them towards the Man who died for our sins on the cross. I know I have a place in heaven waiting for me because of Him, and that’s something no earthly prize or trophy could ever top. There’s more to me than just this jersey I wear, and that’s Christ living inside of me.”
Moreover, there is genuine joy in
watching Curry play. His skills in ball
handling, passing, and – especially – shooting are so spectacular. Despite his fragile stature, he has this
noticeably formidable presence on the court.
Can’t help but be awed of the guy.
FINALS MVP
I’ve always liked Andre Iguodala. A few years back, I was even hoping my Lakers would trade for him (instead, he was part of a multi-team trade that brought Dwight Howard to the Lakers and sent him to the Nuggets). Hence, I really am glad that he got the
Finals MVP.
This isn’t really the first time
that someone unexpected won the Finals MVP, but Iguodala winning the Finals MVP
is still a delightfully remarkable happening.
It’s quite ironic, actually. He
got this individual glory by sacrificing his pride and settling with a
supporting player role. At the start of the season, Iggy, a starter
for his entire career, was asked by Coach Kerr to come off the bench and give
his spot in the starting five to developing young forward Harrison Barnes. And he unselfishly agreed to do so for the
sake of the team’s success. Throughout
the season, he would play the role of the Dubs’ sixth man.
The voters could have gone the
clichéd approach by awarding the Finals MVP to the winning team’s star player –
in this case, regular-season MVP Stephen Curry – regardless of the fact that a
teammate has been more consistently impactful as far as the games of the Finals
are concerned. Or the Finals MVP could
have gone to LeBron (appropriately and interestingly, only Iggy and LeBron received
votes for Finals MVP, with the former edging the latter 7 to 5) since his spectacular
performance and stats had established him as the best player in this Finals and there was a legitimate cause to believe he was set to become the first Finals MVP belonging
to the losing team since Jerry West in 1969.
But I believe the voters got it
right picking Iggy. A bench player from
the start of the season until Game 3 of the Finals, Iggy proved to be the piece
on which Warriors’ success in the Finals was hinge on. The Cavs’ defense dared him to shoot, and he obliged, making them pay dearly, contributing heavily on offense.
But what made him Finals MVP is being able to be an impact in defense as
much as offense. He was given the task
to guard LeBron, but though LeBron was a dominant force in the Finals, Iggy was
able to defend him well enough to prevent his dominant play into translating
into wins. LeBron did score a lot as
well as assisted on much of the Cavaliers’ points, but Iggy made him work hard
to get them – depleting his energy down the stretch. Also, LeBron had to take a lot of shots to
get his points, and Iggy made him miss a significant amount. Meanwhile, other Warrior defenders like
Barnes and Thompson always got bullied whenever they found themselves guarding
James. Basically, if Iggy wasn’t around,
the already dominating LeBron would actually have dominated much more, and
could have probably carried the Cavs to a championship. As someone who loves defense, I really
appreciate what Iggy accomplished on the defensive end in this Finals.
COACH KERR
I have always known that Steve
Kerr has a brilliant basketball brain.
When he was still an NBA player, he got the chance to be coached by Phil
Jackson and Gregg Popovich – arguably two of the greatest coaches of all time –
and this definitely contributed much in giving him the deep understanding of
the game that he possesses. He was my
most favorite basketball writer/analyst when he still worked for Yahoo! Sports,
and his basketball smarts were apparent by how his articles oozed with
thoughtfulness and insight. He was also
pretty sensible and eloquent when he worked as a TV analyst.
Hence, when he replaced Marc
Jackson as head coach of Golden State Warriors, I was intrigued. I felt that this team under Kerr could become
something special. Employing the principles
he learned from his mentors – Jackson and Popovich – as well as the principles
of his assistant coaches Ron Adams (one of the best defensive coaches now) and
Alvin Gentry (known for his up-tempo offense), Coach Kerr did just that,
developing the Golden State Warriors into a team that excelled in both ends of
the floor.
Moreover, he successfully
established a culture of sacrifice and teamwork (as mentioned earlier) in the
team. He willingly listened to
suggestions, and give credit to whom is due.
Thus, his players and staff considered Kerr “the best boss in the
world” (words of assistant coach Luke Walton), and trusted him enough to completely invest into every detail of whatever game plan he would
prepare – even if it was pretty unconventional or perplexing. And since Kerr’s decisions and adjustments
generally proved to be masterful and yielded results, the team would trust him some more.
Unfortunately, Kerr lost to
Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer in consideration for Coach of the Year. Nevertheless, a championship is much more
important. And by leading the Warriors
through a history-making season, Kerr has established himself as the most
successful rookie head coach in NBA history and a legitimate, elite head coach
to be reckoned with in the future.
* * *
Miscellaneous thoughts about the
2014-2015 NBA season:
- Interesting trivia and image from Bleacher Report: Stephen Curry is the first player in history to beat every other member of the All-NBA First Team on his way to a title.
- For a while there, the depleted Cavs had me worried a bit that they could actually pull off an epic upset of the Warriors. LeBron James on “basketball god mode” putting up phenomenal numbers in the Finals made it seem that Timofey Mozgov and Matthew Dellavedova were enough to fill in for injured Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. Nonetheless, even when the Cavs were up 2-1, I was confident the Warriors would still win for two reasons: a.) Coach Kerr’s knack of making successful adjustments kept the Warriors from losing three straight all season long; and b.) exhaustion should eventually set in on the Cavs’ short rotation. As it had proven to be in Game 4, I was right in both counts.
- I’m first and foremost, an LA Lakers fan. But as an NBA fan as well, I need a team to root for in the playoffs, and after I became a Stephen Curry fan, I have always rooted for the Warriors come playoffs time since the Lakers are unavailable in the playoffs in the past few seasons.
- I’m happy with Kawhi Leonard winning Defensive Player of the Year. At last, a perimeter defender wins for the first time since Ron Artest in 2004. I was tired of big men winning the DPOY year in, year out.
- We never saw what Julius Randle – the pick Lakers earned for their awful 2013-2014 season – can do since he was brought down by a season-ending injury at opening night. It was an indication on where this Lakers team was going for the rest of the season.
- The 2014-2015 Los Angeles Lakers turned out to be the most horrible team in franchise history.
- It’s official: time and wear-and-tear have already caught up with Kobe Bryant, and he’s simply isn’t the player we have been spoiled of knowing. He no longer has the capacity to carry a subpar roster by himself as he did during the 2005-2007 seasons. He still averaged 22.3 ppg but got there at 37.3 FG%. I would love to see him back to elite form next season, but that looks unlikely at this point.
- During the season, Kobe overtook Jordan as the 3rd all-time leading scorer, but he also earned the record for missing more shots than any other NBA player in history.
- Thank God for Kobe Bryant’s Muse, however.
- And there’s some nice silver linings resulting from another failure of a Lakers season. First, Jordan Clarkson, the 46th pick of last year’s draft, was given ample playing time and proved to be a promising Laker. And by being part of the All-Rookie First Team, Clarkson is basically the fifth best rookie of the batch at least. Not bad for a second-rounder.
- Also, the Lakers’ awfulness earned them the second pick for this year’s draft! With that draft expected to turn out being a talented center in Jahlil Okafor or Karl-Anthony Towns, the Lakers’ future looks bright with a trio of young potential franchise players in Randle, Clarkson, and whoever the result of the 2nd pick be (just don’t mess it up, Mitch and Jim).
- Of course, I want the Lakers to win the championship next year. But if that won’t be the case, I prefer the Dubs to repeat.
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