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Why the Golden State Warriors will NOT win the 2019 NBA Championship

Edit 1: 4/20

Yes, you read it here. The Warriors will not complete their ever so wanted 3-peat, nor do I think they will even make it to the NBA finals. I believe that the Houston Rockets or the Milwaukee Bucks have the greatest chance of taking down the defending champions. In this blog, I am going to break down the starting lineup match-ups, as well as each teams’ offensive and defensive play-style.

Rockets vs Warriors

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[rbrown2019-blog]

Why the Golden State Warriors will NOT win the 2019 NBA Championship

 Edit 1: 4/20

Yes, you read it here. The Warriors will not complete their ever so wanted 3-peat, nor do I think they will even make it to the NBA finals. I believe that the Houston Rockets or the Milwaukee Bucks have the greatest chance of taking down the defending champions. In this blog, I am going to break down the starting lineup match-ups, as well as each teams’ offensive and defensive play-style.

Rockets vs Warriors

How will the Rockets beat the Warriors? The Pick and Roll. Clearly, the Warriors can’t handle the Clippers’ Lou Williams isolation ball/pick and roll game, as he lead the Clippers charge putting up a 36 points-11 assists stat line in Game Two AT the Oracle. If the Warriors can’t stop the Clippers’ offensive moves, please explain to me how they will be able to stop James Harden and Chris Paul? With Demarcus Cousins now being ruled out for the rest of the playoffs, you might have better defense with Andrew Bogut. But let’s not forget about that 3 point line, the true reason why the Rockets are so deadly. As a team in the regular season, they averaged a total of 16, made 3s per game; second being the Milwaukee Bucks at 13.5 (NBA Stats). 

Edit 2: 4/21 Continuation of Rockets Analysis

Running the offense through James Harden and Chris Paul opens up so many opportunities for them to score, as well as the other 3 or 4 guys on the court, all ready to shoot. Double teamed? Kick it out to Eric Gordon or P.J Tucker. The Warriors are protecting the 3? Lob it up to Clint Capela or Kenneth Faried. Thus, the Rockets just have too many weapons in their starting 5 and off the bench that can torch the Warriors on any given night.

Now yes, The Warriors have their big 4 in Durant, Curry, Klay, and Draymond. And yes, the Rockets don’t have the greatest defense. The big difference is, the Warriors do not really have that guy to throw the lob to, now that Demarcus Cousins is out. When they set up their own pick and roll, they can easily attack coverages such as switches and hard hedges, just like the Rockets. Their one big piece they now lack is a big man to throw the lob to on the roll. Draymond Green, an undersized 6′7 forward is a great option, but I believe he won’t match up against the Rockets bigs, (please prove me wrong). The Warriors do indeed have a man named Kevin Durant, who can get you 30 on any given night. I truly believe he is the X Factor to this series, and it all depends on how many shots he wants to take a game. He needs to quiet the media and haters and prove to them that this is his team, not Curry’s. 

EDIT 3, 5/3: Warriors vs Rockets: Games 1-3

Wow. All I have to say. This has been a very entertaining series, from on the court to off the court. If you are an NBA fan, you couldn't ask for anything more, except if you are James Harden or the Rockets. Yes the Warriors are up 2-1 in the series, but the big ref scandal on not knowing their own rule they created a couple of seasons ago about closing out on a player is absolutely ridiculous. Mr. Scott Foster was the main target for this blame, since it was in his zone. The problem was, none of the refs attempted to call it, even if it was in his zone. There were many occurrences of it, mainly that James Harden was apart of. He is known for initiating contact with a defender, but the Warriors players gave him nowhere to land after he shot. Though the Rockets are still in this series, a stolen game at the Oracle will come up big down the road.

Throughout the series, we have seen tempers flare, terrible acting, and Steve Kerr doing absolutely nothing this whole series except trolling the internet and the Houston Rockets. Very funny, but we all know the Warriors could win it all with any head coach. Harsh words, but give the ball to Kevin Durant- just like they did in the 4th quarter of game 3- and watch magic happen. It is unbelievable how good of a player he is. He can do it all, and I do truly believe it is HIS team. Steph Curry may be a fan favorite, but KD is showing up day in and day out, just look at his playoff numbers, he is averaging 36 points on 51 percent shooting. Like I said, Kevin Durant is truly the X factor for the Warriors, it all depends on how many shots he takes, and how many shots they let him take in a row. This man is the definition of streaky, and the Warriors have yet to use him to his full potential.

Edit #4, 5/5: Warriors vs Rockets Games 4 and 5

As the series has gone on, we have seen a lot more flopping, acting, and numerous maneuvers in order to exploit the referees and get a call. These games in my eyes are turning into plays, while each act is a quarter. You never know what is going to happen next from these guys. #BringBack90sBasketball . Now if you know 90s basketball you may think I am contradicting myself saying I do not like trash talk and miniature fights in basketball, but I am trying to say that these days the refs immediately blow their whistles for a technical if you stare someone down, or talk trash a player. This whole series has been a prime example of what I explained above, and it needs to stop.

Despite the flopping and complaining, we got to see Kevin Durant and James Harden both take over in Game 4, and it was a fun scoring battle to watch. James Harden ended up scoring 38 points, while KD led his team in scoring with 34. A great battle between each of these players in the fourth quarter, but the Rockets ended up tying up the series 2-2 after some missed clutched three pointers by Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. 

Steph Curry. Has yet to REALLY show up for his team yet. Yes he is still putting up great numbers, but not MVP type of numbers we expect to see from this man. From the missed layups and the wide open threes, Curry has really struggled to put the ball in the net when his team needs it, ESPECIALLY in the fourth quarter. I will give say though he was the main reason why the Warriors brought home game 5 after KDs calf strain. But now since KD is ruled out for the series, Steph Curry really needs to start finding his shot quick in order to avoid elimination from the playoffs. I wouldn't say Austin Rivers, Shumpert, and Cp3 are 100 percent locking Steph up, but they have definitely made a major contribution to his struggles.

Edit #5, 5/7: Could the Raptors be a new rival? 

Never thought I would say this, but the Raptors are actually looking great in the PLAYOFFS. We all know Kawhi Leonard has been putting his team on his back and making up for the “Playoff Lowry” jokes that have been happening, but Marc Gasol and Pascal Siakam have really stepped up their game. Gasol has been rock solid offensively, and has really stepped up defensively when it comes to guarding the post or contesting shots. Not to mention, Marc Gasol is creating shots for his teammates, and taking a major gap out of the equation that the Raptors have of depth in the front-court. Also, Paskal Siakam has continued to show us why he will be a offensive and defensive star for many years to come. He is averaging 22 points per game, 1 steal, 1 block, and 7 rebounds a game. Those are some amazing stats coming from a player who averaged 7 points last season in the playoffs. Hats off to both of these guys, as well as the rest of the Raptors role players, for shutting down the Sixers offense.

Kawhi Leonard. The Raptors 100 percent made the right move by bringing him and Danny Green over to the 6. I couldn't be more proud of him, after sitting out a whole season due to his situation with the Spurs, he has been the second or third best player right now in the NBA. He has greatly handled Jimmy Butler and the Sixers defense, averaging 31 points this postseason, to go with an effective field goal percentage (EFG) of 61.2 percent. Not to mention, his Player Efficiency Rating (PER) has been 31.2, which is off the charts. As the article I linked said it, he is a Defensive player of the year putting up 30 points a game; that deserves comparisons to the Greatest of all Time, Michael Jordan. We will see if he can continue this high level play, especially against teams like the Bucks, and if they can get to the NBA finals, the Western Conference. 

Edit 6 5/8: How the Blazers can Defeat the Warriors

We all remember Damian Lillard telling reporters he believe the Blazers will win the series in 6 games. That turned into a meme real quick. Now that the Warriors have lost: some of their firepower on defense, the new weapons the Blazers have added, and the emerging of a superstar back-court in Dame and CJ, the Blazers truly match-up with these high flying defending champions. They will need to make a little magic happen-especially at the Oracle Arena- if they want to take this series and advance to the NBA finals assuming they beat the Nuggets.

First off, Damian Lillard has been the definition of clutch, along with Steph Curry. In my eyes, we are seeing the number 1 and number 2 point guard duel each other in the Western Conference Finals. Dame and CJ need to be able to out-shoot their perimeter based offensive, or this series will go downhill very fast. Portland will also need to use their size effectively to counter post touches from Kevin Durant. This will easily be their greatest challenge of the series, because we know both team’s back-courts can score at ease, but can Nurkic and Aminu shut down the best pure scorer in the league. Otherwise, I see the Warriors not having the biggest problem against this Blazers squad.

Edit 7 5/9: The Nuggets Bigs’ are the Key

This blog is turning out to be talking about each team left in the playoffs and talking about how they have a chance on taking down the defending champions. I am totally ok with it, but from a readers standpoint, it may seem very annoying. This Nuggets team really succeeded in the regular season, though then again, it is the regular season. The main key to their success was their ball movement, and their patience. Unlike the Rockets- and for some games the Warriors- the Nuggets use the whole 24 seconds given to them most of the time in order to get a shot off. The fast pace threes are greater than twos game the Warriors play is not their type of game. The Nuggets need to make sure their game is being played, and they are not rushing.

Taking a look at their roster, they are led by the 7 foot point guard/center Jokic, key role players in Will Barton, Garry Harris, and Paul Millsap. Finally, they have an emerging star in Jamal Murray. I love and been loving this mans game ever sine his days in Kentucky; a high flying, electric, fun to watch and impossible to hate player. I see his game very similar to Damian Lillard, the man he is going up against right now in the Western Conference Semifinals. It has been very fun to see both of them go at each other. 

Getting back on track, the Warriors lack the size and depth of bigs on their squad, so if Millsap and Jokic will have a field day going against Draymond and Looney if the Nuggets give them post touches. If the post isn't working, both of these big man are great play-makers, and are willing to set another player up for an open shot. On defense, the Nuggets might have a tough time guarding perimeter shots and the pick and roll/pop offense the Warriors run. Though this team has some great defenders in Will Barton and Garry Harris-who will need to be constantly on Curry and Thompson- they must protect the perimeter and be ok to give up lobs and post-up baskets. The Warriors do not completely live and die by the three, and are willing to distribute the ball, so the Nuggets need to be aware of the extra pass and weak side ball screens and cuts the Warriors do to free Curry and Klay. As for Durant, he will get his shot no matter what, but the Nuggets need to make sure they double team him in the post, preferably with their two bigs.

Edit 8 5/10: The Rockets are sent home

Despite Kevin Durant being ruled out for Game 6, the Warriors took the series after a dominating performance by the Warriors back-court Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. I am truly happy for them, both of them started to find their shot and consistency that they have been burning the NBA with during the regular season. Though lets not get ahead of ourselves here, Curry did score 0 points in the first half, and Klay Thompson got off to a decent start. Despite that the game was still neck and neck in the 1st half. Yes, the Rockets deserved to lose this one. Though, from what I watched, there is nobody truly to blame. As Jonathan Fiegen puts it in his article reflecting on the game, James Harden did not fail. He did not succeed, either. No one can claim that he did in another loss, another season ending in frustration. But as much as many will blame him for the latest playoff loss and use it to define him as had been promised even before the game began in the event of a Rockets loss, if he is to be ripped now, they are talking about games of his past. This is a perfect explanation of tonight's game in terms of a Rocket fan’s shoe. I would though argue they should have been up by more at halftime due to the offensive struggle the Warriors had, but not every game is winnable.

 Edit 9 5/11: Bucks Analysis

This is the team I expect to be in the NBA finals, and now that the Rockets are gone, the team I want to win it all (in case you didn't know or infer from my previous edits, I don’t really like the Warriors). I am now going to break down the match-ups, and how I think the Bucks can really take advantage of the Warriors fast paced, high flying offense.

Currently, all I know is that Kevin Durant's leg is going to be re-examined in a week, but I am going to assume that he is going to play in the NBA finals. That will be Giannis’ or maybe Kris Middleton's assignment. As I have said for the past teams, Kevin Durant will get his shot, the Bucks just need to make sure that the shots that they give him are not full isolation plays ran for him. As for the back-court, I am really confident that Bledsoe and Middleton have the defensive ability to lock up Curry and Thompson. Both of them are solid defenders who have the ability to guard such of players. 

The Giannis Durant match-up is one for the century. Two freaks of nature dueling out with one another for the championship (assuming that is the finals match-up). Both of these players are in their MVP form, and certainly showing it these playoffs, but I believe Durant has the slight edge over him due to his experience in these very intense situations. I fear is the lack of experience this team has. The NBA Playoffs are a whole different type of basketball, not to mention that the NBA finals are the best of the best basketball. We will see if Giannis can continue to perform how he has been all season. Otherwise, the Warriors are most likely seeing a 3-peat.

This is an English Project, I am not a professional blogger nor do I have any experience in blogging. I will continue to update this blog as the playoffs go on, as that is one of the requirements for getting full credit.