Warriors among all time Greatest Teams

The Golden State Warriors set an NBA record by starting off the season 16-0. It's not surprising that they won 16 in a row, but it did come as a surprise how much they are beating there opponents by. They are beating opponents by an average margin of 11.3 points per game. Last night against the Laker they went up 27-9 early and never looked back. They would go on to beat the Lakers 111-77. The Warriors have become a deadly team and they are doing it in an different way. They can go small and still get stops on the defensive end. And on offense there has been no answer for Curry. And Curry is not the only one playing well. Harrison Barnes and Iguodala have come to play this season and Draymond Green is proving he was worth every penny on his new contract.

Many annalist felt that the Warriors would not be able to top what they did last year after losing David Lee. But it seems as if they have improved from last season. In fact by removing Lee they have been able to distribute minutes and cap space else where on the team. Going into this season many people were picking the Spurs and Cavaliers as the favorites to win the NBA title. But looking at how well this Warriors team has played it is hard to say that they aren't the favorite to win it all. ESPN BPI has the Warriors at a 67.1% chance of winning the NBA title. The two behind them are the Spurs at 10.6% and the Cavaliers at 10.2%.

Among all time greatest teams the Warriors are in the discussion, but they have to win another title this year to really solidify themselves. The Warriors can beat that mark of 72-10 if they stay healthy. Last year they ended the season with a record of 67-15 and it only make sense that they try to improve from that. Seeing how they have been playing so far this year it is not as far fetched as it may seem. To tie that record they would need to go 56 and 10 the rest of the season. For now all these talks should be put off. Just enjoy the basketball they are playing because one thing is for certain, no one has ever seen a team play the way this one has.

Alpha Dog for Thunder

Westbrook has been playing very well this season and he seems to play even better without Durant in the lineup. Last night against the Pelican's Westbrook almost earned his third triple-double of the season. He had 43 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists on the night. The Thunder would go on to beat the Pelican's 110-103. The Thunder haven't really struggled without Durant due to Westbrook's performances. This does, however; make many question whether or not Durant is the Alpha dog for this team. It is a difficult question to answer. Think about it this way. There is 5 seconds left in the game and the Thunder are down by two. Who gets the ball? Most would say Durant, but lets just say Westbrook has 50 points on the night while Durant only has 30 and he has been struggling. Does Durant still get the ball or does the hot hand of Westbrook get the last shot? It's hard to say.

From what basketball fans have seen so far this season is that Westbrook and Durant can co-exist and they are a very deadly duo. As for who the Alpha dog is? It is still Durant's team. The Thunder are very focused on retaining Durant next summer and that should be there priority, because without Durant in Oklahoma, there will be no Westbrook in Oklahoma. There are only three teams that can take down the Warriors when the post-season arrives and those teams are the Cavaliers, Spurs and Thunder. In order for any of those teams to beat the Warriors they will have to be healthy. And that is why Durant is so important to the Thunder and that's why he is the Alpha dog. Without Durant the Thunder will not win the title.

Brook Lopez is OK, but the Nets aren't

Saturday night the Nets took on the Milwaukee Bucks in there second meeting of the season. Lopez had 20 points through three quarters before injuring his right foot. It was a scary moment for all Nets fans. Lopez came out of the game and went right to the locker room. His x-rays were negative and he is going to be fine.

As for the Nets, well they are in trouble. The Nets are off to a 0-7 start to the season and are near the bottom, if not last, in every team stat. The Nets have a lot of problems that need to be solved. For one they need to pick it up on defense. It seems as if they want there opponent to score every time down the floor. They are ranked 27th in points per possession. Not only that, but the only reliable sources of offense are Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young. Joe Johnson is only averaging 10 points per game right now, while Jarrett Jacks points per game are lower than Deron Williams. Which begs the question should we have stuck it out with Deron Williams?

Williams is playing 29 minutes per game and averaging 14 points per game (ppg), 5.2 assists per game (apg) and 0.8 steals per game (spg). Jack is averaging 12.7 ppg, 6.5 apg, and 0.3 spg. Honestly neither point guard stands out to me as great and neither of them will out opposing teams point guards. The thing is though if they were both playing for the Nets it could have added some scoring to a team that clearly has problems creating shots. Deron Williams had a great two man game with Lopez in the pick and roll and didn't turnover the ball much.

Billy King has been working the phones and testing the market. He has not said he definitely making moves now, but if the Nets keep going down this road he will. The fact that he even said he has talked to other teams this early in the season is a concern.

The Nets need to look into trading Joe Johnson and Jarrett Jack. They also need to be wise when it comes to there younger players. I don't want King to make a panic trade and trade away young talent for lesser value just to rid of Joe Johnson's contract. As much as it may hurt to have a terrible season and then not have their own draft pick, it is better to only lose the pick then to lose potential talent as well.

NBA Injury Returns

This time we discuss multiple players returning from injury or returning to full form for this NBA season. If you are enjoying these subscribe to Mac from Ireland on Blogger and on YouTube. We may even look into doing podcast for these longer discussions.