[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Hard to see the Warriors winning tomorrow against the Bucks. Iguodala, Curry and Green played 44, 47, and 50 minutes respectively tonight, Thompson and Barnes are probably not playing, and it's the second half of a back-to-back at the end of a long 7-game road trip.

Yeah, no way you could expect a team to win a game 8 states away the next night after that epic game (Underrated advantage of having a deep team with no superstar - Celtics play phenomenally well on the 2nd half of regular season back to backs compared to the average NBA team.)

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

The crowd up there was amazing as well - it sounded like a soccer match with all the chanting and singing during the game. Fun to watch. I'll be sorry to see that sort of crowd presence disappear on the road now that the streak is over.

I wonder if any of that is left over from Bogut's initiative. Still one of the coolest things I've seen from an NBA player (of course an Aussie thought of it!) and something that should be done by every team who doesn't sell out most games. Energy is contagious and most people are followers... get the right 20-30 people in the right seats and you could change the entire dynamic of a 20,000 seat arena. It's tricking people into cheering more initially, but guaranteed they'd have a better experience overall.

Originally Posted by nol

Draymond Green may have breached the rare ceiling of being a top 30 player with his 24-11-8-5-5 performance tonight. Seriously though, in the last couple close Warriors games I've watched (Jazz and Celtics) he's wrestled a rebound away from a seven-footer when the game was in the balance. He's absolutely an all-star and I wouldn't blink if he was named first or second team all-NBA this season.

Originally Posted by nol

Last night's game is evidence that even if Klay isn't shooting lights out, the threat of him still opens things up offensively, but I don't think there are 5 players on the planet who could've stepped in for Draymond this season and kept the Warriors undefeated to this point.

Unless I'm blanking on someone, between his ability to play both sides of the pick and roll, rebound, make the right decision every time on 4v3's once teams double Curry, and hit open 3's there aren't 5 players on the planet who could fill Draymond's role, there's one, and his name is LeBron. (Maybe Paul Millsap? Boris Diaw if he actually worked out? Maaaaaaaybe Chris Bosh? Could Anthony Davis pull it off?) Not to mention the effect his swagger and cockiness has on his teammates - I watched Steph Curry at Davidson and his first couple years on GS, even the first half of last season, and while I don't want to say he was meek, he was kind of a nice guy/silent assassin. He's started acting like a cocky dick these last 12 months, and I put 10% of that on being MVP/healthy and 90% on being best friends with Draymond.

As far as whether that makes Draymond top 20, top 30, or a "max player" I don't know. I do know he's a perfect fit with those teammates in that system, and wouldn't be nearly as good on a number of NBA teams. But really how many players transcend teammates and system... Curry, LeBron, Durant, motivated DeMarcus Cousins, I want to say Anthony Davis but his net numbers were shockingly bad when missing any competent perimeter player early this year... Kawhi/Paul George? Jimmy Butler? Chris Bosh. Russell Westbrook. Millsap/Horford? Maybe CP3 and Blake Griffin if they stopped being such bitter old men? Healthy Kyrie??? (Triple question mark there because I legitimately forget what healthy, ball-dominant Kyrie looks like.) Kyle Lowry?

Biggest question about naming him all-NBA is what position you throw him under. Does he really qualify as a center?