Last season the Warriors made the playoffs for the first time since the “We Believe” year of 2006. They accomplished that despite having just one All Star, David Lee, and one other near All Star, Steph Curry. They extended the eventual Western Conference Champion San Antonio Spurs to seven games before a second round elimination.
The question before the house is, can they recapture the magic?
Coach Marc Jackson thinks unprecedented depth, at least in comparison with recent seasons, will help the Warriors. “It’s fun for me to have a talented team with a bunch of weapons,” Jackson told the San Francisco Chronicle. “It doesn’t matter who starts.”
“I’m going to try to put together the best starting five and the best collective unit as a team,” he continued. “We’ll find that out as we move along. It may not even be the best five guys starting, but it will be what’s best for this basketball team. It’s just awesome to have options.”
The major off-season move this year was signing guard Andre Igoudala to the squad via sign and trade. He brings a veteran presence to a spot where the Warriors are young. The also added depth up front with Toney Douglas, Marreese Speights, and Jermaine O’Neal from free agency as well. Speights gives the team another interior defender with his long arms and is deadly from mid-range with his jump shot. O’Neal also provides great veteran experience and low post defense.
The key to the whole operation might be center Andrew Bogut. Last year he missed about three quarters of the season due to complications from an injured ankle. This year he should be ready to carry an NBA starting center load. Reports from camp were encouraging. Bogut is playing without the limits on minutes and back to back games he played under last year when he was healthy enough to suit up. He is running the floor at an NBA level. “He’s looking very good and you can tell by the smile on my face” Jackson said. “He’s healthy. … I’m just happy that for the first time in a long time that there aren’t any restrictions on him. I know how passionate he is and how committed he is and he deserves to be on the floor with no physical concerns.”
“I haven’t had any restrictions since July,” said Bogut, “Five-on-five, three-on-three, four-on-four, conditioning drills, running, jumping, weights—no restrictions. It’s been a great feeling to come into a gym and not have a trainer tell me, ‘You can only do 30 minutes. You can only do this. You can only do that.’ …Very happy to not hear that.”
In addition to proclaiming that he is finally once again at 100 percent, Bogut also claimed that he considers himself a top-3 center in the NBA, though he qualified that statement. “Yeah … when healthy,” he said. “And I’m healthy now.”
With a strong core of returning players, a good crop of free agent signings, and a healthy dose of confidence it says here that the Warriors will not only make the playoffs but also be a strong contender to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals.
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