We have reached the quarter mile of the NBA season and the Warriors are clear leaders and are yet to even drop a game with a 22-0 record. That’s worrisome. A few teams have come close to beating them but how can you even think of toppling the Goliaths of 2015 when even their bench guys are winning games for them and racking up double-doubles. Exactly. Here’s three things I learned during Week 7 in the NBA. It’s a shorter-than-normal post, because next week I’ll have my 2015 NBA Quarterly Report ready for mass consumption where I will rank the teams and dish out some awards.
By Justin Robertson
1.Gregg Popovich: What I love about Pop is Pop. He calls it how it is. Sometimes it’s old school, but, hey, sometimes I like old school, because old school was the hard way. Popovich was quoted saying this, about three-pointers:
“I still hate it. I’ll never embrace it. I don’t think it’s basketball. I think it’s kind of like a circus sort of thing. Why don’t we have a 5-point shot? A 7-point shot? You know, where does it stop, that sort of thing. But that’s just me, that’s just old-school.”
Isn’t he the best? Could you imagine a life with 7-pointers? I think NBA Jam Tournament Edition had 7-pointers. What I like is that he is traditional at heart and his loyalty to that is winning him games, championships and fans. I still think the Spurs can take 2015. All because of Pop.
2. Warriors 22-0. Klay Thompson was ridiculous against the Pacers. And we all thought Curry was the guy to watch. Despite a slow start, Klay looks as though he’s starting to find rhythm. There was a point a few weeks back I contemplated trading Klay out from my fantasy NBA team the Steve Nashbrowns. Lucky for me I didn’t. When your bench guys are getting the job done on nights the stars aren’t, that’s when you know you’re on your way to great things.
3. Who’s the MVP? I was having this conversation with some friends the other night: if the season ended now, who’s the MVP, outside the obvious first choice Steph Curry? The names Durant, Westbrook and Griffin came up. Durant leads those three in scoring with 27.9 ppg, 3.8 ass and 7.9 rebounds. Griffin leads the trio in rebounds with 8.6, 24.4 ppg and 5 assists. And then there’s Westbrook with 26.4 ppg, 9 ass, 7.4 rebs and leads the league in double-doubles (14). I’d pick Westbrook out of that bunch. He’s consistent across the board. I’d have Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard as outsiders, because if you’ve watched them this season, you would have seen some incredible stuff. They are sitting an inch below the elites right now.
Justin Robertson (@justinjourno) is a freelance journalist and Hooped Up contributor based in Toronto, ON.
