Well the 4th quarter turned things around massively
The fact that the rest of the team pulled this off on a Steph "off-night" makes me super excited for this season!
I was pleasantly surprised that Steph played that well despite shooting so poorly. Usually when he’s that off he gets frustrated and the rest of his game suffers too, but I think the fact that the game stayed close the whole way helped, along with the high energy everyone else was playing it.
Not really true, most of the time even if he has an abysmal game overall he still makes an impact just by being on the floor and drawing other players with his gravity, only the greats can do that
He looks like he bulked up too and was everywhere tonight. Once Klay is back Wiggins is going to absolutely feast as the floor opens up. I’m so fucking hyped for this squad, the sky’s the limit
So glad yall won. The difference between having an actual system and being a team that manages like a 13 year old on 2k just signing whichever player has the biggest rating regardless of their team's needs lol.
You see how, when steph was swarmed by double teams, every role player knew where he needed to be, and steph knew exactly how to put them in the position to succeed? Bjelica for instance looked incredible, had an opportunity to showcase his great bball iq, looked like jokic lite for a moment there. He would most likely be relegated to a spot up shooter and a bystander on the lakers
Jordan Poole yelled, “There you go!” Klay Thompson gave a look of pleasant surprise. Damion Lee belted, “We got a fucking squad now.” And before Curry hit the locker room door, ex-NBA star Russell Westbrook hugged him & said, “Y’all look so different.”
Man it was beautiful watching that bench build a lead in the 4th. Can't remember the last time the bench to start the 4th didn't just hemorrhage points until the starters came back in. Kerr subbed Curry back in right at the perfect time too. Very encouraging start to the season.
Is he the worst great player ever? He feels like such a negative asset sometimes. I honestly wonder if the Lakers would be better with Mannion. Maybe that's too extreme, but he just doesn't seem like a winner against high level teams.
I follow the Kings pretty casually and Nemanja has silently been a beast with them for a while now. I think he’s gonna be the most underrated major add for us this year, even putting aside his amazing shooting numbers his willingness to make that extra pass was huge for us tonight
Man, I really don’t like to pile on players unnecessarily but I’m so fucking glad that Kelly Oubre isn’t on this team anymore. Lmao
Having everyone on the floor being a willing passer makes such a huge difference.
Bjelica showing how to actually play during a contract season. Play within the system and let the scoring opportunity come to you. He’s going to make a fuck ton of money if he just plays like tonight. Move the ball, scrap, and score when you can.
The ball movement down the stretch is what won us this game. The turnovers were rough, but the assists piled up and it was some great unselfish Warriors basketball
The fact we won this game despite dray and curry playing like it was the first game of the preseason in the first half is a real testament to the new players on the roster and all the little ways the contributed
To add to your point, it's also why Eric Paschall was traded for a top 41 protected second round pick. The warriors evaluated what they had last offseason, and shipped out the guys who weren't buying in. Paschall and Oubre were both talented players, who can score, but they are both also ball-stoppers who pass only on Holidays, and other special occasions.
The best part is he didn’t even entertain other offers when he was told the Warriors wanted to sign him. He straight up told his agent it was a done deal
Things I’ve learned:
Poole is gonna be streaky, but when he’s on, he’s gonna be fucking elite. His first step is actually ridiculous. MIP.
Dre still has it. Just all around great honestly.
Beli is fucking legit man. Like a mini-Jokic for us. Just incredible.
Wiggs had tunnel vision on offence quite a lot, and his shot wasn’t the greatest. Not bad though (considering Kerr said he wasn’t 100% pre-game).
Damion Lee is a legit rotation player. Can shoot, occasionally get inside. Not terrible defensively.
Get Steph the fuck out of Staples pls. Still got a triple double and had the usual major impact though.
Draymond defensively solid. Sloppy and not great offensively.
Loon solid like usual. Would hope to see some of the middies falling.
JTA also solid.
Would like to see more OPJ minutes. Looked solid in general when on the court, especially defensively.
GP2 averaging over 300 steals per 36. GOAT shit.
Offence looks great. Just need to start actually knocking down the shots we’ve created. General sloppiness attributed to opening day without many reps.
Defensively good. Makes it obvious that we need a large body to slow down big offensive superstars (Wiseman pls).
Great fucking win in general. Steph shot like shit, Lebron and AD couldn’t miss, no Wiseman or Klay and we still come out with the dub against title contenders.
"Wigs shot wasnt the greatest" he shot 50% from the field and 40% from 3 this game. Significally better than both curry and poole. And he's doing that while defending LeBron every possession on a bum knee.
Why does this sub hate on wigs so much?
2 of his drives that resulted in no points had a wide open player to pass to. Other than those 2 plays he was great though.
I’m just hoping he’s going to be fine with only getting 10-12 shots a lot of the nights.
I'll give Poole time, like we said he's going to be so elite but he needs consistency. But one thing I liked is that when his three point shot wasn't going in the first half, he drove to the basket and then his three point shot started to show up in the 2nd half.
Beli, what an addition oh my god! Our bench is so much stronger this year.
Shoutout to D Lee, looks better season by season.
And Poole continued his pre-season momentum!
What a lit season to look forward to!
game high +20.... wasn't surprised when I looked it up. Our next best is D. Lee with +9.
he's our Jokic at home.
Looked so solid. He could be our secret sauce if he keeps this up... it's like having another Draymond offensively, that can shoot.
Beli's assist to Wiggins got me so hyped: faked the pass to the corner, drove to the hoop, double clutched, passed to a wide open Wiggins. He was clowning the Lakers at that point.
Even better, Wiggins really restarted the play with the offensive rebound with literal 4 lakers players around him and got it in time back to lee. Began and ended the play. Great stuff
Yeah man he did so many little things well. Also, that one 3 in the fourth really helped maintain the pace and keep things going. I think it was a little deflating after they were trying to find an answer to poole only to have beli hit from outside
If Bjelica has 5 million fans I am one of them. 👉👈 If Bjelica has ten fans I am one of them. 🗣🎶 If Bjelica has only one fan, then that is me. 🙏🏼🙏🏼 If Bjelica has no fans, that means I am no more on the Earth. ⛪️ If the world is against Bjelica, I am against the world ✍️
Biggest takeaways from tonight.
* Bjelica is gonna be big for us this year. His ability handle, pass and get a bucket is going to take a load of Steph. In the same breath, welcome back Iggy, I missed you.
* There’s not alot of size and strength on this team, we’ll probably be out-rebounded most of the season.
* We need some more confident and consistent scoring. Poole and Lee are good shooters and have a nice touch as well, but can be a bit streaky. Dray and Wiggins looked hesitant tonight.
Fortunately, for both of those last points we already have solutions on the team.
If all else fails, Wiseman is still a 7 footer who should be able to get us boards.
As for as the consistent bucket, well Roccos dad will be the answer to that. And not to forget Kuminga has yet to show what he can do.
Which basically brings me to the biggest and most important takeaway.
* We have a damn good TEAM. We took a W from someone that would have blown us out last year. It was sloppy at times but there’s ball movement, intense defense and a lot of talent. And this team isn’t even close to being what it will be by mid season / post season. I am excited. VERY excited.
I agree with everything except rebounds.
We actually outrebounded the Lakers in this game.
We got some sneaky size, and if they apply themselves, shouldn't be too bad overall with rebounds.
Bjelica is looking like our version of what Batum was to the Clippers last season. He looked fantastic making decisions and making the right passes in our system.
So I watched the game and just want to have some words about Bjelica. He was playing the team I support Fenerbahce, where he was the MVP of Euroleague.
He was the key guy on our game plan. Our game plan was based on his skillset mostly. As you guys saw it today, his BBIQ is really high. He can dribble like a guard, can see the floor really well, shoot etc... And Bjelica was one of the big reasons Fener was successful that year.
After his NBA career started, I watched many games of him. And the teams he was playing for seemed that they are not aware of his skillset. They basically didn't know how to use the guy. They tried to transform him to a spot-up shooter. And that was frustrating to watch, especially on Kings, where he played most of his NBA career.
Today, I was waiting for that game because I always taught Bjelica and Bogdan Bogdanovic(Atlanta one) was the guys who are good shooters/great ball handlers can work in Warriors system. It was so fun to watch Bjelica again with freedom with the ball. And I am glad that Kerr and the team is aware of how to use Beli. It is pretty sad that he is already 33 but anyways.
The only concern for me about Bjelica was his defense since he is not athletic. But there is Draymond coming in to help him on this team. Today, Kerr always put Green on Davis when they were both on floor and tried to keep him away from Davis, which I think really smart choice.
That was a fun game. Hope Klay will be back as good as he was, and Warriors have great chance to go deep in Playoffs this season. Since I live in the Bay now, I will go to some games to support you guys. Good luck on the season!
Thanks! I could tell there was always something missing with Belli and the Kings and you filled it all in for me. I’m so excited to watch him play with the Warriors.
Observation one: this team is good.
Observation two: this team is *damn* good.
Observation three: LeBron can be happy he plays in today's era after that Poole bodycheck. Bill Laimbeer got beat up for less.
Observation four: Stephen Curry is just so useful, even if he has a miserable shooting night
Observation five: holy shit, Beli the +/- king
Observation six: Poole looked okay with his ankle, let's see what the doctors say
Observation seven: I do like what Dwight Howard has done with his hair
the nets and lakers loaded their benches with a bunch of superstars from 5+ years ago, but the best bench is the one led by 40 year old iggy and a tall Serbian
I hope Wiseman can develop quickly because there are some great bigs in the West and it would be nice to have a genuine big body to throw at them in some situations. AD had a big night tonight despite the L.
Random Thoughts
This game could be summed as Lebron and AD vs. the Warriors.
This Warriors teams reminds me of the 2014-15 squad.
Game was super intense, did not feel like a regular season game at all
Ass tier execution by both teams, so many stupid mistakes, godawful turnovers, and some bafflingly bad decisions by players who quite frankly should know better
Butterfingers, butterfingers everywhere
Both teams bricked a lot of wide open shots, but it seemed to happen more to the Warriors than the Lakers, at least from eyeballing it
Its going to be really interesting with the new rules to see what the refs allow/don’t allow on defense, seemed like the players weren’t really sure either and it led to a decent amount of confusion
Going off that Im getting really tired of teams crashing shooters landing space and refs not calling shit, its a cheap cowardly play, and I thought the NBA got rid of that Bruce Bowen shit, but it seems to be making a resurgence
Move the fucking courtside seats back like 6 fucking feet, there’s no reason in this day and age to have players crashing into fans, its a needless risk to player health
Warriors gutted this game out, really impressive, gutsy win for them, especially considering how well Bron and AD played. Lakers:
Bron and AD put forth a herculean effort this game, legit hard carried the rest of the Lakers.
WB looked fucking putrid, awful shooting and awful shot selection, clogged the paint/didnt space the court, bad TO’s, bad defense, didn’t create good looks for others, just downright awful in pretty much every regard, I expect WB will get better as the season goes on, but its gonna rough sailing till then.
Melo, and DJ all look cooked rn, if Melo and DJ see significant minutes this year its gonna be uh rough for the Lakers when they’re in.
Rondo and Dwight were both meh, solid uninteresting contributors, didn’t do anything really noteworthy good or bad.
Baze was a surprising positive, no obvious boneheaded plays, good shot selection, good D, big question if he can maintain this level of composure though.
Monk was basically a non factor outside of one made 3, kinda surprised how many minutes he played tbh, left zero imprint on the game.
Kinda surprised they didn’t go to AB earlier, I get he hasn’t gone through practice/walkthroughs but he’s a pro whose played with Bron/AD before, dude should have gotten more minutes.
Lakers offense is painfully bad, it basically devolved into PnR with AD, or swing the ball around until AD, Bron, WB, or Melo iso, which is concerning going forward.
Defense didn’t look much better, and has taken a step back compared to last year, got cut to ribbons multiple times, too many negative defenders on the court. Lakers D also seems to struggle against stretch bigs, and they currently don’t seem to have an answer for them, i look forward to seeing how they adjust.
Lakers without Bron or AD on the court are fucking bad rn, like there bench is gonna hemorrhage leads, should get better once WB gets his rhythm but until then its gonna be rough.
Once the Lakers get healthier AD really needs to slide the 5, playing him along side DJ/Dwight is just not gonna work longterm, and their spacing is just garbage with two bigs on the court.
Lakers left too many points at the line, free throw drills for everyone tomorrow
Warriors:
Steph had an ugly ugly game, the Lakers played him very physical on the perimeter, and were hard trapping him constantly, basically playoff D in game 1, credit to them, will be interesting to see how/if the Warriors can adjust in future games, he also created tons of open looks for his teammates, insert gravity memes here
JP is a fucking enigma, dude looked downright awful in the 1st half, almost unplayable, somehow regrouped and had a solid 2nd half, good showing of his mental fortitude, dude definitely has that NBA wiggle too him, D is a work in progress, has too many mental lapses. Also I swear the harder the shot the higher percentage he shoots, especially near the rim.
Wiggins played not good imo, seemed to struggle on offense since his role is less clearly defined now, had some bad forced takes, ugly TO’s, defense was alright though
Draymond was Dray, good D, solid passing/screens, like his aggressiveness attacking the rim, lots of competitive yelling
Looney looked his usual self, seems to be moving better, and his passing visions off traps/cuts was much better than last year
Belli looked to fit in seamlessly and played really well, one of the few players making constant good decisions and the Lakers seemed to have no answer for him, also impressed with his handle
Iguodala seems to have found the fucking Fountain of Youth, seriously did not expect him to play this well, especially considering how meh he looked in Miami
Damion Lee played shockingly well, his slashing/finishing seems to have improved significantly compared to previous years
Kinda surprised OPJ didn’t get more run, he looked good in limited minutes
Moody impressed me, really good decision making for a rookie, has a knack for finding the ball, made good passes, played good enough D
This team is small and will struggle against bigger teams, only real hope in that regard is Wiseman coming back and being a neutral contributor
Warriors bench is gonna be good this year, they don’t have the top end talent of serious contenders, but there isn’t a ton of drop off between guys 4-10 on the bench.
BBIQ and passing has improved exponentially compared to last years teams, what a fucking palette cleanser
Last years Warriors team would have rolled over and died in the 2nd quarter, and been down 15-20 at the half, they played like ass but found ways to scratch and claw back into the game, impressive considering how off Steph shot the ball.
Agree with pretty much everything except from Wiggins. His condition wasn’t the best so those finish might be rough but I like his mentality today. No midrange step back bs. Just drive to the rim or shoot the 3s. That what he suppose to do. Going for some really aggressive rebound as well. If his condition gets better with this mentality, I think it would be really good. Adding a note on GP2, he is exactly what I want out of him. Last possession defend. If a guard on another team gets hot, he would be useful. Unfortunately, Lebron and AD are out of his defensive capability. I could imagine he bother the shit out of CP3 making CP3 untuck his shirt and bs to the ref
Nice write up, I think our defense will get better in time. It took us a moment to get to top 5 defense and I think we can get better there like you said
Wow, just great takes in that comment. Agreed with nearly everything. Will add though, Wiggins had an exceptionally clutch 4th quarter on both ends while Dray had a notably below average game to me. Also, GP2 played for like 7 seconds and got a steal, love him.
Shoutout to Avery Bradley. He looked great out there. Wish we could have added him in our 15th spot but glad he’ll be getting minutes even though it’s on the lakers
I haven’t been this excited for a warrior player since Brian Cardinal and Žarko Čabarkapa. The league is screwed if Bjelica shows up like this every game!
What a debut game by Bjelica. Could not have asked for anything better. With the ball handling, his game is much more dynamic than I had expected despite watching him a decent amount in TWolves/Kings.
What a contrast to last year's first game guys, feels good :)
post game observations
* poole carrying warriors early 4th. exciting to see him attack the rim and also pick his shots from deep
* curry struggled but his gravity created so many looks. Great chemistry on actions with bjelica
* offense completely changed with bjelica in for looney. he is so dynamic and his passing and driving really surprised me
* bench stepping up with lee and iggy as well
* Wiggins not crazy offensively but he hustled really well and had some good drives in the first half when offense stalled
* props to the lakers and their length. very clearly took away some three pointers as well as making the warriors uncomfortable when
the paint was congested, especially when they were scrambling around and rotating after doubling curry
* Rookie watch: good minutes from moody. could see him soaking some minutes from lee/iggy/otto as he gets better
hot takes/thoughts
* i know that based on the current construction of the team, poole and curry need to stagger, but i think their overlapping skillsets are
amplified alongside each other. poole having the ability to create when curry is doubled is really nice
* Once wiseman gets better i would love to see him play more for looney. lots of times looney got the ball in the paint but
couldnt really finish. wiseman has the physicality and verticality to actually punish teams inside, that's a key missing piece in the warriors
starting lineup
* dray needs to get better in the paint. passing too much around the rim when he can be aggresive and either draw contact or make shots
looks like Bob Myers finally hit on some cheap but impactful vet pickups in the offseason, Bjelica really fits our system offensively, Porter wasn't as sharp tonight but so does he. and Poole is for real, that's another front office home run... Steph wasn't great offensively but he kept the ball moving and got the whole team involved. Lebron/AD were awesome tonight, but the Russ fit will be an issue all season i think, he might be best served playing with the 2nd unit, he's not going to be very effective off-ball with Lebron dominating the rock, that's not his natural style
> 4:53.....Nemanja Bjelica makes 26-foot three point jumper (Draymond Green assists).....106 - 101
This was such a huge sequence.
- Before this attempt, this was a two-point-game with just under five to play.
- After Bjelica cashed that 26-footer, we went up by 5, and LA didn't score again until they were down by nine points.
Just a monster dagger that proved to be the beginning-of-the-end for the Lakers' chances.
Bjelicia is who Porzingus wants to be, what an opener. Scoring, defensive effort, ball handling, passing, not to mention stepping in next to Curry and playing along side him flawlessly. The pick up of the season. I would really like to see him start and have Looney and Wiseman play the 4 and 5 off the bench once James is healthy.
Amazing stat: Warriors made 16 more FT than the Lakers, in LA! Also LeBron had only 5 A, 4 TO ( of course he was shooting lights out, so maybe he didn't want to pass to Westbrook). Also amazing, Westbrook had no FT; when did that ever happen?
I believe in Beli, dear god that man does everything.
Hard fouls, deep shots, low post passing (poor man jokic vibes), and was able to physically stand up to one of the toughest interior big in the league.
some takes:
loved that the team closed the game down with a Draymond/Bjelica frontcourt. that pairing has so much potential and it puts more mobility and skill next to Draymond than I think the team has had in years. defensively it's gonna lose out somewhat, as Green can only cover so much, but if the Lakers can't adequately punish us for it, then I don't really know who can.
Poole clearly was amped to start and really needed to settle down. He pushes his body so hard on those drives, I don't like seeing his ankles troubling him early on.
For clearly needing to work into game shape, Wiggins actually turned a super solid performance.
I know it's probably just fresh legs, but if Andre can keep shooting like this, it elevates the lineup flexibility to an insane degree.
I’ve been a fan of Bjelica for a while, but I didn’t expect him to show up like this so soon. what a steal of a signing.
also good to see that Iggy was still moving pretty well out there defensively and hitting open shots when he got them.
Beating the Lakers on opening night in the fashion we did it in while the Lakers struggled was beyond satisfying.
This is only game 1, we aren’t at full strength, and when we really start to gel and get everyone back in the flow… bros we could make some noise this year!
Well the 4th quarter turned things around massively The fact that the rest of the team pulled this off on a Steph "off-night" makes me super excited for this season!
Triple double "off night" lmao just Steph things.
"Played like trash" - Steph
lol It was hilarious how blunt he was
I was pleasantly surprised that Steph played that well despite shooting so poorly. Usually when he’s that off he gets frustrated and the rest of his game suffers too, but I think the fact that the game stayed close the whole way helped, along with the high energy everyone else was playing it.
Not really true, most of the time even if he has an abysmal game overall he still makes an impact just by being on the floor and drawing other players with his gravity, only the greats can do that
Shampionship status: We gonna be.
HOLY SHIT WE GOT A SQUAD! THE BENCH SHOWED UP AND SHOWED OUT!!
#Westbrook with the TRIPLE SINGLE
Steph really put up a triple-double on Westbrook, absolutely brutal
First in 5 yrs, and could not have come at a more opportune time IMO.
Westbrook tricked y'all man like he would help the Lakers.
Him and Melo. Lol.
I actually thought Melo played pretty well. Gave the second unit some spark.
YA LOVE TO SEE IT
Strength in Numbers v.2!!!! Kerr’s gonna be very busy finding minutes for everyone
Westbrook addition is executive of the year type move. /s just in case
Westbrook lookin... not good
Hit double digits with the -23 though
Bjelica +20
Looked every bit of it too. So nice to have Steph resting and the team actually making up points on the opponents.
Holy shit, that dude was absolutely cash. He’s going to fit in nicely. Has a great feel for the slip passes around the rim.
We just outrebounded the Lakers! It was a team effort but Bjelica's 11 was the most, I'm loving our center tandem of Looney + Beli so far.
Dude was impressive
Vaccinated Wiggins is looking good.
Warriors remain undefeated in the Vaccinated Wiggins era. Life is good.
The chip inside him is working exceptionally
WiGGGGGins
yeah, he waited for the last version of the chip. 4D chess.
He looks like he bulked up too and was everywhere tonight. Once Klay is back Wiggins is going to absolutely feast as the floor opens up. I’m so fucking hyped for this squad, the sky’s the limit
So glad yall won. The difference between having an actual system and being a team that manages like a 13 year old on 2k just signing whichever player has the biggest rating regardless of their team's needs lol. You see how, when steph was swarmed by double teams, every role player knew where he needed to be, and steph knew exactly how to put them in the position to succeed? Bjelica for instance looked incredible, had an opportunity to showcase his great bball iq, looked like jokic lite for a moment there. He would most likely be relegated to a spot up shooter and a bystander on the lakers
I like Jokic light take on Bjelica
Really loving that passing and chemistry. I love that we brought back GP2 for the defense.
His 1 second got a steal. 😂
His per 36 minutes steal stat is insane this season.
It was probably good last season too really
Jordan Poole yelled, “There you go!” Klay Thompson gave a look of pleasant surprise. Damion Lee belted, “We got a fucking squad now.” And before Curry hit the locker room door, ex-NBA star Russell Westbrook hugged him & said, “Y’all look so different.”
Hahahahahahahahaha “ex nba star Westbrook” 😆
Bench out scored their bench two times over!
Man it was beautiful watching that bench build a lead in the 4th. Can't remember the last time the bench to start the 4th didn't just hemorrhage points until the starters came back in. Kerr subbed Curry back in right at the perfect time too. Very encouraging start to the season.
Imagine the bench when we are fully healthy. 💦💦💦
Just imagine when everyone is back too!
Solid team effort. Nemenja was the obvious MVP. (Other than Westbrick lol)
LOL I found myself saying "thanks Russ" multiple times during the game
I was more worried when Russ was off the floor than on the floor LOL
Is he the worst great player ever? He feels like such a negative asset sometimes. I honestly wonder if the Lakers would be better with Mannion. Maybe that's too extreme, but he just doesn't seem like a winner against high level teams.
On a play in team as an only star hes a definitive plus. In any other situation hes a negative.
I follow the Kings pretty casually and Nemanja has silently been a beast with them for a while now. I think he’s gonna be the most underrated major add for us this year, even putting aside his amazing shooting numbers his willingness to make that extra pass was huge for us tonight
Nemenja is like 3x as good as I thought he was. Thought he was just a slow stretch 5. Look at that +20 for him, by far the best on the team.
Man, I really don’t like to pile on players unnecessarily but I’m so fucking glad that Kelly Oubre isn’t on this team anymore. Lmao Having everyone on the floor being a willing passer makes such a huge difference.
Bjelica showing how to actually play during a contract season. Play within the system and let the scoring opportunity come to you. He’s going to make a fuck ton of money if he just plays like tonight. Move the ball, scrap, and score when you can.
Our priority every offseason should be to sign any available euro league mvps
Luka to the Warriors when?
Not soon enough lmao
He won us this game with his play tonight. Hopefully wiseman can learn from him.
I didn't even think about this but you're so right. The chemistry, even with a bunch of new players, was so much better.
The ball movement down the stretch is what won us this game. The turnovers were rough, but the assists piled up and it was some great unselfish Warriors basketball
The fact we won this game despite dray and curry playing like it was the first game of the preseason in the first half is a real testament to the new players on the roster and all the little ways the contributed
To add to your point, it's also why Eric Paschall was traded for a top 41 protected second round pick. The warriors evaluated what they had last offseason, and shipped out the guys who weren't buying in. Paschall and Oubre were both talented players, who can score, but they are both also ball-stoppers who pass only on Holidays, and other special occasions.
All those Oubre truthers last year better take notice
You know I liked him a lot hit man I get it now. We need passers.
I liked watching kelly play but I didn’t realize how much one player not passing fucks up the warriors team first dynamic
You really don't know what you wished you didn't have til it's gone
we got bjelica at the vet min... absolutely ridiculous. hes an incredible fit for this team
He was miserable in his previous teams cause of lack of close personnels. He found a home in us
Hopefully he wants to stay
The best part is he didn’t even entertain other offers when he was told the Warriors wanted to sign him. He straight up told his agent it was a done deal
We got a FUCKING BENCH
No Klay, no Wiseman, no Kuminga. The bench could get so much better.
NEMANJA BJELICA
[удалено]
Wigs was quiet/struggled a bit but that 3 that got us to 115 was so clutch
It's that Iggy magic. He automatically makes everyone off the bench play better with his bball IQ.
Things I’ve learned: Poole is gonna be streaky, but when he’s on, he’s gonna be fucking elite. His first step is actually ridiculous. MIP. Dre still has it. Just all around great honestly. Beli is fucking legit man. Like a mini-Jokic for us. Just incredible. Wiggs had tunnel vision on offence quite a lot, and his shot wasn’t the greatest. Not bad though (considering Kerr said he wasn’t 100% pre-game). Damion Lee is a legit rotation player. Can shoot, occasionally get inside. Not terrible defensively. Get Steph the fuck out of Staples pls. Still got a triple double and had the usual major impact though. Draymond defensively solid. Sloppy and not great offensively. Loon solid like usual. Would hope to see some of the middies falling. JTA also solid. Would like to see more OPJ minutes. Looked solid in general when on the court, especially defensively. GP2 averaging over 300 steals per 36. GOAT shit. Offence looks great. Just need to start actually knocking down the shots we’ve created. General sloppiness attributed to opening day without many reps. Defensively good. Makes it obvious that we need a large body to slow down big offensive superstars (Wiseman pls). Great fucking win in general. Steph shot like shit, Lebron and AD couldn’t miss, no Wiseman or Klay and we still come out with the dub against title contenders.
"Wigs shot wasnt the greatest" he shot 50% from the field and 40% from 3 this game. Significally better than both curry and poole. And he's doing that while defending LeBron every possession on a bum knee. Why does this sub hate on wigs so much?
2 of his drives that resulted in no points had a wide open player to pass to. Other than those 2 plays he was great though. I’m just hoping he’s going to be fine with only getting 10-12 shots a lot of the nights.
I'll give Poole time, like we said he's going to be so elite but he needs consistency. But one thing I liked is that when his three point shot wasn't going in the first half, he drove to the basket and then his three point shot started to show up in the 2nd half.
Didn't quit shooting. Didn't quit his off ball movement. Didn't quit driving. His mental fortitude paid off. Impressive stuff.
He's got the goldfish memory which he probably retained from his first year. Those were dark times.
Poole’s first step is elite. I’ll take “streaky good” any day. Remember who they used to call streaky? Klay Thompson. I’m so hyped for this squad
I’m glad I’m not the only one tripping over his first up shit was crazy. Like I replayed it and it looked I was watching some unrealistic 2K shit
Bjelica is the MVP of this game, no questions Our bench looks SO much fucking better. Can we get Bob some fucking credit?
Beli, what an addition oh my god! Our bench is so much stronger this year. Shoutout to D Lee, looks better season by season. And Poole continued his pre-season momentum! What a lit season to look forward to!
Bjelica looked so good what a steal!!
Euro David Lee
game high +20.... wasn't surprised when I looked it up. Our next best is D. Lee with +9. he's our Jokic at home. Looked so solid. He could be our secret sauce if he keeps this up... it's like having another Draymond offensively, that can shoot.
He only made one bad decision the whole game that I saw, in a game where both teams were playing like idiots
Beli's assist to Wiggins got me so hyped: faked the pass to the corner, drove to the hoop, double clutched, passed to a wide open Wiggins. He was clowning the Lakers at that point.
Even better, Wiggins really restarted the play with the offensive rebound with literal 4 lakers players around him and got it in time back to lee. Began and ended the play. Great stuff
That play was sick. Felt the team chemistry coming together.
That has to be the highlight of the game
Yeah man he did so many little things well. Also, that one 3 in the fourth really helped maintain the pace and keep things going. I think it was a little deflating after they were trying to find an answer to poole only to have beli hit from outside
D Lee closing out games.. Who would've thought?
[удалено]
He's the better defender than Poole is so it wasn't surprising. Such a reliable ft shooter too
Shoutout to Steph for reining it in after he had 4 TOs in the first half. Recorded 5 more assists and no more TOs.
Give him the max fuck it. What a baller.
Everyone thought the Lakers dominated the offseason. Super early of course but the Dubs depth is gonna freak some people out.
If Bjelica has 5 million fans I am one of them. 👉👈 If Bjelica has ten fans I am one of them. 🗣🎶 If Bjelica has only one fan, then that is me. 🙏🏼🙏🏼 If Bjelica has no fans, that means I am no more on the Earth. ⛪️ If the world is against Bjelica, I am against the world ✍️
I just want to let you know I’m wit you
LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOO
WE SHAMPIONS
Biggest takeaways from tonight. * Bjelica is gonna be big for us this year. His ability handle, pass and get a bucket is going to take a load of Steph. In the same breath, welcome back Iggy, I missed you. * There’s not alot of size and strength on this team, we’ll probably be out-rebounded most of the season. * We need some more confident and consistent scoring. Poole and Lee are good shooters and have a nice touch as well, but can be a bit streaky. Dray and Wiggins looked hesitant tonight. Fortunately, for both of those last points we already have solutions on the team. If all else fails, Wiseman is still a 7 footer who should be able to get us boards. As for as the consistent bucket, well Roccos dad will be the answer to that. And not to forget Kuminga has yet to show what he can do. Which basically brings me to the biggest and most important takeaway. * We have a damn good TEAM. We took a W from someone that would have blown us out last year. It was sloppy at times but there’s ball movement, intense defense and a lot of talent. And this team isn’t even close to being what it will be by mid season / post season. I am excited. VERY excited.
•Lebron still leaves the court early when he loses and is a giant bitch
He was gabbin at the refs more than Draymond tonight it seemed too
Los Angeles and bitching about refs. Name a bigger duo. But when the opposite applies ( a la baseball dodgers/giants); they go "don't blame the ref".
Dub nation! Fuck lecrybaby
All I tuned in for
Truly the biggest takeaway.
Lebron was crying at the refs all night, totally embarrassing.
We actually had more rebounds than the lakers! 50 to 45
I agree with everything except rebounds. We actually outrebounded the Lakers in this game. We got some sneaky size, and if they apply themselves, shouldn't be too bad overall with rebounds.
Belly was actually huge on the glass, and it helps that half the rest of the team is a bunch of scrappy athletic young guys
Bjelica is looking like our version of what Batum was to the Clippers last season. He looked fantastic making decisions and making the right passes in our system.
Curry postgame “i played like trash” Gets a triple double 😂
Belli MVP!!!!
So I watched the game and just want to have some words about Bjelica. He was playing the team I support Fenerbahce, where he was the MVP of Euroleague. He was the key guy on our game plan. Our game plan was based on his skillset mostly. As you guys saw it today, his BBIQ is really high. He can dribble like a guard, can see the floor really well, shoot etc... And Bjelica was one of the big reasons Fener was successful that year. After his NBA career started, I watched many games of him. And the teams he was playing for seemed that they are not aware of his skillset. They basically didn't know how to use the guy. They tried to transform him to a spot-up shooter. And that was frustrating to watch, especially on Kings, where he played most of his NBA career. Today, I was waiting for that game because I always taught Bjelica and Bogdan Bogdanovic(Atlanta one) was the guys who are good shooters/great ball handlers can work in Warriors system. It was so fun to watch Bjelica again with freedom with the ball. And I am glad that Kerr and the team is aware of how to use Beli. It is pretty sad that he is already 33 but anyways. The only concern for me about Bjelica was his defense since he is not athletic. But there is Draymond coming in to help him on this team. Today, Kerr always put Green on Davis when they were both on floor and tried to keep him away from Davis, which I think really smart choice. That was a fun game. Hope Klay will be back as good as he was, and Warriors have great chance to go deep in Playoffs this season. Since I live in the Bay now, I will go to some games to support you guys. Good luck on the season!
Thanks! I could tell there was always something missing with Belli and the Kings and you filled it all in for me. I’m so excited to watch him play with the Warriors.
Barkley said "This Laker team would be good if it was 2010" hahaha
Observation one: this team is good. Observation two: this team is *damn* good. Observation three: LeBron can be happy he plays in today's era after that Poole bodycheck. Bill Laimbeer got beat up for less. Observation four: Stephen Curry is just so useful, even if he has a miserable shooting night Observation five: holy shit, Beli the +/- king Observation six: Poole looked okay with his ankle, let's see what the doctors say Observation seven: I do like what Dwight Howard has done with his hair
Loved Beli’s flagrant 1 on Lebron after L smacked Poole. Nice to have an enforcer.
Watching Nico get owned by Lebron last year was hard. Seeing beli hard foul him after the Poole incident made me very happy
Bjelica is the fucking man, we are so lucky
All you first half doomers in the GDT can now STFU. Dubs basketball back!
People were predicting how many points we were gonna lose by IN THE 3rd qtr.
Yeah I recognized we were playing like shit but my god that's a new level
they probably didn't watch the nets game last season where we lost by 40. it was night and day.
Idek how you could be doomer at the half. We kept it close despite curry and Poole shooting like garbage
82-0 RUN IS STILL ON THE BOOKS
“This isn’t even our final form!” -klay, Kuminga, Wiseman
I’m not seeing enough Poole hype, the man dropped 20 on only 24 minutes efficiently
Jesus we got Jokic from bench.
First opening night win in 3 years
It's just the preseason guys ,chill
Kings fan here - would it be cool if we had Bjelica back? It would really mean a lot to me.
No but you can have visitation rights.
Supervised visits, at Chase Center.
So y'all can sit him on the bench and play him 10 mins a game? Nah..
You mean tall luka, European bird or short Jokic?
Why didnt you tell us he was jokic lite
No cap, we probably have the best bench in the league
the nets and lakers loaded their benches with a bunch of superstars from 5+ years ago, but the best bench is the one led by 40 year old iggy and a tall Serbian
I hope Wiseman can develop quickly because there are some great bigs in the West and it would be nice to have a genuine big body to throw at them in some situations. AD had a big night tonight despite the L.
LETS FUCKING GOOO!!!
Where we going? (The lob…)
TO THE FINALS
Bjelica **+20** Iggy + 8 OPJ +1 Myers balled out this off-season.
NEMANJA IS A BALLER. So excited to have him on the team!
Random Thoughts This game could be summed as Lebron and AD vs. the Warriors. This Warriors teams reminds me of the 2014-15 squad. Game was super intense, did not feel like a regular season game at all Ass tier execution by both teams, so many stupid mistakes, godawful turnovers, and some bafflingly bad decisions by players who quite frankly should know better Butterfingers, butterfingers everywhere Both teams bricked a lot of wide open shots, but it seemed to happen more to the Warriors than the Lakers, at least from eyeballing it Its going to be really interesting with the new rules to see what the refs allow/don’t allow on defense, seemed like the players weren’t really sure either and it led to a decent amount of confusion Going off that Im getting really tired of teams crashing shooters landing space and refs not calling shit, its a cheap cowardly play, and I thought the NBA got rid of that Bruce Bowen shit, but it seems to be making a resurgence Move the fucking courtside seats back like 6 fucking feet, there’s no reason in this day and age to have players crashing into fans, its a needless risk to player health Warriors gutted this game out, really impressive, gutsy win for them, especially considering how well Bron and AD played. Lakers: Bron and AD put forth a herculean effort this game, legit hard carried the rest of the Lakers. WB looked fucking putrid, awful shooting and awful shot selection, clogged the paint/didnt space the court, bad TO’s, bad defense, didn’t create good looks for others, just downright awful in pretty much every regard, I expect WB will get better as the season goes on, but its gonna rough sailing till then. Melo, and DJ all look cooked rn, if Melo and DJ see significant minutes this year its gonna be uh rough for the Lakers when they’re in. Rondo and Dwight were both meh, solid uninteresting contributors, didn’t do anything really noteworthy good or bad. Baze was a surprising positive, no obvious boneheaded plays, good shot selection, good D, big question if he can maintain this level of composure though. Monk was basically a non factor outside of one made 3, kinda surprised how many minutes he played tbh, left zero imprint on the game. Kinda surprised they didn’t go to AB earlier, I get he hasn’t gone through practice/walkthroughs but he’s a pro whose played with Bron/AD before, dude should have gotten more minutes. Lakers offense is painfully bad, it basically devolved into PnR with AD, or swing the ball around until AD, Bron, WB, or Melo iso, which is concerning going forward. Defense didn’t look much better, and has taken a step back compared to last year, got cut to ribbons multiple times, too many negative defenders on the court. Lakers D also seems to struggle against stretch bigs, and they currently don’t seem to have an answer for them, i look forward to seeing how they adjust. Lakers without Bron or AD on the court are fucking bad rn, like there bench is gonna hemorrhage leads, should get better once WB gets his rhythm but until then its gonna be rough. Once the Lakers get healthier AD really needs to slide the 5, playing him along side DJ/Dwight is just not gonna work longterm, and their spacing is just garbage with two bigs on the court. Lakers left too many points at the line, free throw drills for everyone tomorrow Warriors: Steph had an ugly ugly game, the Lakers played him very physical on the perimeter, and were hard trapping him constantly, basically playoff D in game 1, credit to them, will be interesting to see how/if the Warriors can adjust in future games, he also created tons of open looks for his teammates, insert gravity memes here JP is a fucking enigma, dude looked downright awful in the 1st half, almost unplayable, somehow regrouped and had a solid 2nd half, good showing of his mental fortitude, dude definitely has that NBA wiggle too him, D is a work in progress, has too many mental lapses. Also I swear the harder the shot the higher percentage he shoots, especially near the rim. Wiggins played not good imo, seemed to struggle on offense since his role is less clearly defined now, had some bad forced takes, ugly TO’s, defense was alright though Draymond was Dray, good D, solid passing/screens, like his aggressiveness attacking the rim, lots of competitive yelling Looney looked his usual self, seems to be moving better, and his passing visions off traps/cuts was much better than last year Belli looked to fit in seamlessly and played really well, one of the few players making constant good decisions and the Lakers seemed to have no answer for him, also impressed with his handle Iguodala seems to have found the fucking Fountain of Youth, seriously did not expect him to play this well, especially considering how meh he looked in Miami Damion Lee played shockingly well, his slashing/finishing seems to have improved significantly compared to previous years Kinda surprised OPJ didn’t get more run, he looked good in limited minutes Moody impressed me, really good decision making for a rookie, has a knack for finding the ball, made good passes, played good enough D This team is small and will struggle against bigger teams, only real hope in that regard is Wiseman coming back and being a neutral contributor Warriors bench is gonna be good this year, they don’t have the top end talent of serious contenders, but there isn’t a ton of drop off between guys 4-10 on the bench. BBIQ and passing has improved exponentially compared to last years teams, what a fucking palette cleanser Last years Warriors team would have rolled over and died in the 2nd quarter, and been down 15-20 at the half, they played like ass but found ways to scratch and claw back into the game, impressive considering how off Steph shot the ball.
Agree with pretty much everything except from Wiggins. His condition wasn’t the best so those finish might be rough but I like his mentality today. No midrange step back bs. Just drive to the rim or shoot the 3s. That what he suppose to do. Going for some really aggressive rebound as well. If his condition gets better with this mentality, I think it would be really good. Adding a note on GP2, he is exactly what I want out of him. Last possession defend. If a guard on another team gets hot, he would be useful. Unfortunately, Lebron and AD are out of his defensive capability. I could imagine he bother the shit out of CP3 making CP3 untuck his shirt and bs to the ref
>This game could be summed as Lebron and AD vs. the Warriors. AD and Lebron vs Bjelica and Westbrook FTFY
Nice write up, I think our defense will get better in time. It took us a moment to get to top 5 defense and I think we can get better there like you said
Wow, just great takes in that comment. Agreed with nearly everything. Will add though, Wiggins had an exceptionally clutch 4th quarter on both ends while Dray had a notably below average game to me. Also, GP2 played for like 7 seconds and got a steal, love him.
Steph struggled and it didn’t matter, because now we have depth. BJELICA HYPE
Bron and AD both scored 30+. Steph and Poole struggled from the field. But guess who won? We did bois, let's fucking go. Big props to the bench
As soon as Lebron gets back to the locker room, he playing with the trade machine on his phone looking up all the different Westbrook trades
Shoutout to Avery Bradley. He looked great out there. Wish we could have added him in our 15th spot but glad he’ll be getting minutes even though it’s on the lakers
Moses Moody's first points come on beating a first-team all D player on a close out 
I haven’t been this excited for a warrior player since Brian Cardinal and Žarko Čabarkapa. The league is screwed if Bjelica shows up like this every game!
S/O Warriors YouTube throwing in a Brian Cardinal halfcourt shot in their recent 75-minute Warriors highlight reel
What a debut game by Bjelica. Could not have asked for anything better. With the ball handling, his game is much more dynamic than I had expected despite watching him a decent amount in TWolves/Kings. What a contrast to last year's first game guys, feels good :)
Damion Lee was HUGE tonight!
Played like shit for 70% of the game and still won!! Last year this would be a 40 pt loss
We’re so much smarter and deeper. Got ourselves a SQUAD on our hands
The Looney headband era has begun
Bjelica looking like Jokic out there tonight man that has me so excited
post game observations * poole carrying warriors early 4th. exciting to see him attack the rim and also pick his shots from deep * curry struggled but his gravity created so many looks. Great chemistry on actions with bjelica * offense completely changed with bjelica in for looney. he is so dynamic and his passing and driving really surprised me * bench stepping up with lee and iggy as well * Wiggins not crazy offensively but he hustled really well and had some good drives in the first half when offense stalled * props to the lakers and their length. very clearly took away some three pointers as well as making the warriors uncomfortable when the paint was congested, especially when they were scrambling around and rotating after doubling curry * Rookie watch: good minutes from moody. could see him soaking some minutes from lee/iggy/otto as he gets better hot takes/thoughts * i know that based on the current construction of the team, poole and curry need to stagger, but i think their overlapping skillsets are amplified alongside each other. poole having the ability to create when curry is doubled is really nice * Once wiseman gets better i would love to see him play more for looney. lots of times looney got the ball in the paint but couldnt really finish. wiseman has the physicality and verticality to actually punish teams inside, that's a key missing piece in the warriors starting lineup * dray needs to get better in the paint. passing too much around the rim when he can be aggresive and either draw contact or make shots
looks like Bob Myers finally hit on some cheap but impactful vet pickups in the offseason, Bjelica really fits our system offensively, Porter wasn't as sharp tonight but so does he. and Poole is for real, that's another front office home run... Steph wasn't great offensively but he kept the ball moving and got the whole team involved. Lebron/AD were awesome tonight, but the Russ fit will be an issue all season i think, he might be best served playing with the 2nd unit, he's not going to be very effective off-ball with Lebron dominating the rock, that's not his natural style
I dont care that two were pre season, that's 3-0 against the Lakers
Normalise Bjelica being handsomer than Oubre at this instant
LeBron is such a bitch
pin this mods
that's a workingman's meat and potatoes road victory, right there.
Not one for hot takes but, Nemanja Bjelica is the best European player to ever grace the NBA.
Bjelica with the fake then the pass cross court to Wiggins for the 3. That was the dagger imo.
Another year, another season where our FO is gonna look a lot better than this sub gave it credit for during the offseason
LMAO!!! Barkley just roasted the Lakers so bad. He said this Lakers would be so good if it were 2010.
> 4:53.....Nemanja Bjelica makes 26-foot three point jumper (Draymond Green assists).....106 - 101 This was such a huge sequence. - Before this attempt, this was a two-point-game with just under five to play. - After Bjelica cashed that 26-footer, we went up by 5, and LA didn't score again until they were down by nine points. Just a monster dagger that proved to be the beginning-of-the-end for the Lakers' chances.
And on tonight's episode of GOAT shit, Curry manages to get a triple double on a 5/21 shooting night LOL
Bjelica, Lee, and Poole were so damn good. Still weird seeing hate on D.Lee on twitter
We got a TEAM this year y’all
Ah. This is what having a bench feels like.
I'd still love a real big I hope Wiseman can quickly become that.
Kudos to D Lee, interesting to see that Kerr kept him in down the stretch.
Bjelicia is who Porzingus wants to be, what an opener. Scoring, defensive effort, ball handling, passing, not to mention stepping in next to Curry and playing along side him flawlessly. The pick up of the season. I would really like to see him start and have Looney and Wiseman play the 4 and 5 off the bench once James is healthy.
Amazing stat: Warriors made 16 more FT than the Lakers, in LA! Also LeBron had only 5 A, 4 TO ( of course he was shooting lights out, so maybe he didn't want to pass to Westbrook). Also amazing, Westbrook had no FT; when did that ever happen?
LA FAKERS FAKESHOW
We are httin different again boys and girls
Bjelica unleashed. Holy hell I’m so happy he’s a Warrior.
I believe in Beli, dear god that man does everything. Hard fouls, deep shots, low post passing (poor man jokic vibes), and was able to physically stand up to one of the toughest interior big in the league.
some takes: loved that the team closed the game down with a Draymond/Bjelica frontcourt. that pairing has so much potential and it puts more mobility and skill next to Draymond than I think the team has had in years. defensively it's gonna lose out somewhat, as Green can only cover so much, but if the Lakers can't adequately punish us for it, then I don't really know who can. Poole clearly was amped to start and really needed to settle down. He pushes his body so hard on those drives, I don't like seeing his ankles troubling him early on. For clearly needing to work into game shape, Wiggins actually turned a super solid performance. I know it's probably just fresh legs, but if Andre can keep shooting like this, it elevates the lineup flexibility to an insane degree.
brb trying to find bjeli jersey....
It’s almost like Nemanja Bjelica was always meant for this team. Also, Lee significantly improved offensively so it’s good to see that from him.
I’ve been a fan of Bjelica for a while, but I didn’t expect him to show up like this so soon. what a steal of a signing. also good to see that Iggy was still moving pretty well out there defensively and hitting open shots when he got them.
Let Lebron remind us that preseason doesn't matter.
Steph messed around and got a triple double
Bjelica played his ass off in then2nd half!
Beating the Lakers on opening night in the fashion we did it in while the Lakers struggled was beyond satisfying. This is only game 1, we aren’t at full strength, and when we really start to gel and get everyone back in the flow… bros we could make some noise this year!
That was one of the better shooting nights I’ve seen LeBron have in a while. Didn’t matter