The Warriors are just a ridiculous offensive juggernaut.

[Bush4Ever]

How would you all gameplan against their offense?

I don't even know how I would start to approach it, hypothetically.

[zombiesonics]

1. The Warriors average 32.0 assists. The next team is only at 24.7 assists.
2. Go back to trolling Amerikka or cuck faggots, Clevetown. Basketball appears to be too complicated of a topic for you to understand.
3. GSW is on pace to be arguably the best offensive team of all time.
4. Don't look now... but they're up to 7th in defensive efficiency, too. That's the area everybody was worried about.

The Warriors are unquestionably the greatest regular season team of all-time.

[AbeVigodaLive]

How would you all gameplan against their offense?

I don't even know how I would start to approach it, hypothetically.

1. Body Curry. Beat him up. Does it work with Durant there instead of Barnes? Probably not. But at least there's a precedent. Cleveland leaned on him, chipped him, pressured him, et al and it finally paid off. Personally, I think there were other extenuating factors that played into that 3-game losing streak, but it's worth a chance to try to replicate what hurt the Warriors in the past.

2. Outscore them. Easier said than done. But just make it a track meet and hope for your guys to be hotter than their guys. This is really just a way of saying I really would want to see a Houston vs. GSW series. It would be incredibly entertaining for people who dig offense. And if Harden is the best player on the court (possible) and Houston's shooters get hot (possible) and Beverley intentionally injures Curry's knee (possible)...

3. Hope. Hope Blake Griffin plays 10x better than last night and is the best player in the league for a two-week stretch vs. GSW in the playoffs. Hope that the Warriors go cold for two weeks collectively (worked for Cleveland). Hope that Pau Gasol finds a way to play like it's 2009. Hope that Durant, Curry and/or Green get injured.

[vcsgrizzfan]

How would you all gameplan against their offense?

I don't even know how I would start to approach it, hypothetically.

I thought about that a bit last night and couldn't come up with anything. They all move so well, shoot so well, pass so well that they look unguardable.

I think you would try to be as physical as possible, pray the refs swallow their whistles and that they miss an inordinate amount of open looks....

[thedangerouskitchen]

How would you all gameplan against their offense?

I don't even know how I would start to approach it, hypothetically.

Invent a time machine and bring back Jordan-Pippen-Harper-Rodman... full court pressure, shut down the passing lanes, help defense/rotations; hold them to 105-110 PPG and hope you have enough Offense of your own to outscore them.

[denali4eva]

How would you all gameplan against their offense?

I don't even know how I would start to approach it, hypothetically.

Invent a time machine and bring back Jordan-Pippen-Harper-Rodman... full court pressure, shut down the passing lanes, help defense/rotations; hold them to 105-110 PPG and hope you have enough Offense of your own to outscore them.

Stop living in the past bro...

[AbeVigodaLive]

How would you all gameplan against their offense?

I don't even know how I would start to approach it, hypothetically.

Invent a time machine and bring back Jordan-Pippen-Harper-Rodman... full court pressure, shut down the passing lanes, help defense/rotations; hold them to 105-110 PPG and hope you have enough Offense of your own to outscore them.

To be fair, it's tough to be as good offensively if you're exerting so much energy pressuring guys full-court.

[Bush4Ever]

How would you all gameplan against their offense?

I don't even know how I would start to approach it, hypothetically.

Invent a time machine and bring back Jordan-Pippen-Harper-Rodman... full court pressure, shut down the passing lanes, help defense/rotations; hold them to 105-110 PPG and hope you have enough Offense of your own to outscore them.

With all (very much) due respect to the 1996 Bulls, they never had to defend a team with the dimensional problems (i.e.-spacing) the Warriors present.

Having to guard Curry 30 feet out, with multiple god-tier shooters, and a big who can put the ball on the floor and create presents a different set of problems compared to anything the Bulls had to overcome. Just from a floor spacing perspective, especially since they move so well without the ball. There is a big difference between shutting down a traditional passing lane, and shutting one down that gets widened as a function of having to guard players really far out.

I'm not saying they wouldn't be up for it, just that it is an entirely different.

[thedangerouskitchen]

How would you all gameplan against their offense?

I don't even know how I would start to approach it, hypothetically.

Invent a time machine and bring back Jordan-Pippen-Harper-Rodman... full court pressure, shut down the passing lanes, help defense/rotations; hold them to 105-110 PPG and hope you have enough Offense of your own to outscore them.

Stop living in the past bro...

Ya, well, he did say hypothetically.

[zombiesonics]

How would you all gameplan against their offense?

I don't even know how I would start to approach it, hypothetically.

Invent a time machine and bring back Jordan-Pippen-Harper-Rodman... full court pressure, shut down the passing lanes, help defense/rotations; hold them to 105-110 PPG and hope you have enough Offense of your own to outscore them.

'96 Bulls wouldn't be a top 5 team in today's league.

[AbeVigodaLive]

How would you all gameplan against their offense?

I don't even know how I would start to approach it, hypothetically.

Invent a time machine and bring back Jordan-Pippen-Harper-Rodman... full court pressure, shut down the passing lanes, help defense/rotations; hold them to 105-110 PPG and hope you have enough Offense of your own to outscore them.

'96 Bulls wouldn't be a top 5 team in today's league.

Who is the 5th best team in today's league?

1. GSW
2. Cleveland
3. San Antonio
4. LA Clippers
5. ???

Houston? Toronto? Memphis? Boston? Utah?

You might want to reconsider...

[thedangerouskitchen]

How would you all gameplan against their offense?

I don't even know how I would start to approach it, hypothetically.

Invent a time machine and bring back Jordan-Pippen-Harper-Rodman... full court pressure, shut down the passing lanes, help defense/rotations; hold them to 105-110 PPG and hope you have enough Offense of your own to outscore them.

With all (very much) due respect to the 1996 Bulls, they never had to defend a team with the dimensional problems (i.e.-spacing) the Warriors present.

Having to guard Curry 30 feet out, with multiple god-tier shooters, and a big who can put the ball on the floor and create presents a different set of problems compared to anything the Bulls had to overcome. Just from a floor spacing perspective, especially since they move so well without the ball.

I'm not saying they wouldn't be up for it, just that it is an entirely different.

That's why full court pressure would be so important... similar to how they guarded Magic / Lakers in the 91 Finals, to the point where LA had trouble getting their Offense set, and when they did there was already 15-18 seconds run off the shot clock. Also the Bulls were exceptional in the half-court at playing the passing lanes (with their size/quickness/length) and rotating / helping.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Invent a time machine and bring back Jordan-Pippen-Harper-Rodman... full court pressure, shut down the passing lanes, help defense/rotations; hold them to 105-110 PPG and hope you have enough Offense of your own to outscore them.

With all (very much) due respect to the 1996 Bulls, they never had to defend a team with the dimensional problems (i.e.-spacing) the Warriors present.

Having to guard Curry 30 feet out, with multiple god-tier shooters, and a big who can put the ball on the floor and create presents a different set of problems compared to anything the Bulls had to overcome. Just from a floor spacing perspective, especially since they move so well without the ball.

I'm not saying they wouldn't be up for it, just that it is an entirely different.

That's why full court pressure would be so important... similar to how they guarded Magic / Lakers in the 91 Finals, to the point where LA had trouble getting their Offense set, and when they did there was already 15-18 seconds run off the shot clock. Also the Bulls were exceptional in the half-court at playing the passing lanes (with their size/quickness/length) and rotating / helping.

A few problems with that... including that the Warriors aren't so reliant on one player bringing the ball up the court.

It would be interesting to see how Luc Longley and Bill Wennington would be used in that series. They're a bad matchup with the Warriors. Depth would be an issue for the Bulls.

Jordan
Pippen
Rodman
Harper
Kukoc
Kerr

All would be fine on the court vs. the Warriors. But beyond them? Randy Brown can play some defense. Would Jud Buechler play a larger role because he could stretch the floor?

In any event... full-court pressure seems like a bad idea for the Bulls considering the shorter bench they'd have.

[Chooch]

Wasn't there a time a few years ago when every single west playoff team was arguably better than every single east playoff team but one?

[Kingcarl24]

I'll be curious to see how the Jazz fair against a somewhat tired Warrior team tonight. I was hoping the Clippers would gas them a little last night but that didn't happen. I think in order for the Jazz to beat the Warriors, Gobert has to shut down the paint entirely by himself. Make it so the beat defender can recover to a 3 point shooter because you know Gobert has the paint locked down. They need to sllllllooooowwwww the game down tremendously. Be careful with the ball and avoid turnovers as much as possible. They basically have to play the most efficient game they've played all season.

[thedangerouskitchen]

With all (very much) due respect to the 1996 Bulls, they never had to defend a team with the dimensional problems (i.e.-spacing) the Warriors present.

Having to guard Curry 30 feet out, with multiple god-tier shooters, and a big who can put the ball on the floor and create presents a different set of problems compared to anything the Bulls had to overcome. Just from a floor spacing perspective, especially since they move so well without the ball.

I'm not saying they wouldn't be up for it, just that it is an entirely different.

That's why full court pressure would be so important... similar to how they guarded Magic / Lakers in the 91 Finals, to the point where LA had trouble getting their Offense set, and when they did there was already 15-18 seconds run off the shot clock. Also the Bulls were exceptional in the half-court at playing the passing lanes (with their size/quickness/length) and rotating / helping.

A few problems with that... including that the Warriors aren't so reliant on one player bringing the ball up the court.

It would be interesting to see how Luc Longley and Bill Wennington would be used in that series. They're a bad matchup with the Warriors. Depth would be an issue for the Bulls.

Jordan
Pippen
Rodman
Harper
Kukoc
Kerr

All would be fine on the court vs. the Warriors. But beyond them? Randy Brown can play some defense. Would Jud Buechler play a larger role because he could stretch the floor?

In any event... full-court pressure seems like a bad idea for the Bulls considering the shorter bench they'd have.

Not interested in debating Bulls vs. GS... just answering the question of how to defend the Warriors. But since you brought it up, the 96 Bulls (like this GS team) ddidn't need much of a bench because they were so top heavy 1-6/7, with the starters more than capable of going 40+ minutes a night (remember, this was the 90's... not today's league where you get accused of 'burning guys out' if they play 35 minutes a game).

Full court pressure wouldn't be an issue at all for the Bulls... in fact, this was a staple of their Defense throughout the 90's (especially the first 3-Peat). MJ-Pip-Harp-Rodman were all 6'6 - 6'8 with long wingspans, and they all had the speed/quickness to keep up with the Warriors in the full and half court.

Now TO BE CLEAR: I'm not saying the 96 Bulls would stop / shut down this Warriors Offense. The question was, how to defend them... and I think the 96 Bulls' Defensive strategy would be the way to go, to at least make the Warriors work hard on every possession and limit their ability to drop 120 PPG.

[Thedictator]

GS currently has a better offense, but their defense is worse...they are giving up more points than last year on defense and their bench scoring is way down

GS imo has the same problem as last year...Sure they will score a lot, win a lot of games against other teams but as soon as they run into a team that is healthy in the playoffs and they have only faced 2 in the last 2 years like (OKC last year should have lost) and Cavs that play defense, rebounds better and have damn near just as deadly of an offense they lose...Will Durant push them over the edge, that statistics say no...

[Robceltsfan]

You can slow them....but you certainly can't stop them. Not consistently. Too many options. Too many guys that can sit in the corner and hit 3's. Too many guys that can move well without the ball. Too many guys that can pass well to hit the guys moving without the ball.


You need to slow them down....and then outscore them. I think Cleveland, with their deep threats, are the only team possibly equipped to do so. And the massive upgrade from Barnes to Durant is enough for me to believe that not even a hot Cleveland team has enough in the tank to win 4 out of 7.

[vcsgrizzfan]

GS currently has a better offense, but their defense is worse...they are giving up more points than last year on defense and their bench scoring is way down

GS imo has the same problem as last year...Sure they will score a lot, win a lot of games against other teams but as soon as they run into a team that is healthy in the playoffs and they have only faced 2 in the last 2 years like (OKC last year should have lost) and Cavs that play defense, rebounds better and have damn near just as deadly of an offense they lose...Will Durant push them over the edge, that statistics say no...

Wishful thinking doesn't make it so.

[Robceltsfan]

GS currently has a better offense, but their defense is worse...they are giving up more points than last year on defense and their bench scoring is way down

GS imo has the same problem as last year...Sure they will score a lot, win a lot of games against other teams but as soon as they run into a team that is healthy in the playoffs and they have only faced 2 in the last 2 years like (OKC last year should have lost) and Cavs that play defense, rebounds better and have damn near just as deadly of an offense they lose...Will Durant push them over the edge, that statistics say no...

They were 1st and 7th in offensive and defensive rating last year.

This year, so far, they're 1st and 5th.

The statistics say yes.