NFL
By: Melo Williams
The 2022-2023 NBA regular season is a couple of weeks away but the Warriors preseason opened with two exhibition games against the Wizards in Japan and they looked pretty good, to say the least.
The Warriors will begin their run on a quest to repeat as back-to-back NBA Champions for the second time and their eighth NBA championship in franchise history with a new look team. First and most importantly, after a breakout year with the 2022 NBA champion Warriors, Kevon Looney and the Warriors were able to reach a three-year $25.5 million dollar agreement to bring the big man back who was a key important player for the Warriors winning their seventh NBA Championship. Looney became an elite rebounder. In the conference semifinals against the Memphis Grizzlies, Looney grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds.
Veteran Andre Iguodala announced on his Point Forward Podcast that he’s coming back for his 19th and final season saying “This is It” and that he was looking forward to getting back on the court with his guys. Re-signing Iguodala was key as he brings a leadership big brother type of role in the locker room and on the bench during games. Iggy has been seen in the past coaching up the Warriors with the most recent memories during the 2022 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics.
The Warriors knew it was likely they would lose some players to free agency so they signed guard Donte DiVincenzo from the Sacramento Kings to a two-year $9.3 million deal that includes a player option in the second year. DiVincenzo has shown flashes of potential with the Milwaukee Bucks before he was traded to the Sacramento Kings and is a solid 3-and-D wing but has battled injuries through the first four seasons of his career. In 25 games with Sacramento last year DiVincenzo showed promise. In his first game with the Warriors, Donte put up nine points, seven rebounds, and two assists in the 17 minutes.
The Warriors also signed free agent forward Jamychal Green after he was bought out of his contract by the Denver Nuggets. Green will play a role like Andre Iguodala I imagine. He’s a veteran who understands the game of basketball, understands his role, he’s a solid defender and average three-point shooter that gives the Warriors depth. Most of the teams JaMychal played on, if not all of them were playoff teams. So he knows a thing or two about roles and being around an established winning culture and knowing what it takes to win a championship though he never won one yet. Green had five rebounds and one assist in the win over the Wizards Friday night.
The Warriors, however, did lose two key defensive rotation players, Gary Payton II who signed with the Portland Trailblazers, and Otto Porter Jr who signed a multi-year deal with the Toronto Raptors. The Warriors also lost Damion Lee who signed with the Phoenix Suns, Juan Toscano Anderson to the Los Angeles Lakers, and Nemanja Bjelica decided to return to Europe and play for Fenerbahce.
In the 2022 NBA Draft, the Warriors drafted forward Patrick Baldwin Jr from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with their 28th pick, and with their 44th pick, they drafted guard Ryan Rollins from Toledo.
Due to injury both Baldwin Jr and Rollins missed summer league play so they got their first taste of NBA action this past weekend in the Warriors’ two preseason games in Japan against the Washington Wizards.
In the Warriors’ 96-87 win over the Wizards on Friday, Baldwin Jr. finished with seven points shooting 50% from the field going 2-of-4, and went 1-for-3 from behind the 3-point line. On Sunday Baldwin Jr. put up 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, and all his made shots were three-pointers. He also added six rebounds, one assist, a steal, and a block. Filled up the stat sheet. It’ll probably be a lot of that in Pat Baldwin Jr career.
On Friday, Rollins saw 11 minutes of action, scoring eight points on 1-of-6 shooting and shot 6-for-6 from the free throw line, and grabbed four rebounds. On Sunday, Rollins failed to make a field goal but did have two assists.
Via NBC Sports Steph Curry said “We’ve seen a lot of great things, it’s obviously still early,” Curry told reporters after Golden State’s 104-95 preseason victory over the Washington Wizards Sunday at Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
“We’re trying to find just the right patterns, the right way to approach the game on both ends of the floor,” Curry continued. “Getting [Rollins and Baldwin Jr.] comfortable with some of our actions, and then also featuring their talent and their skill sets and just trying to instill as much confidence, and that’s the way it’s supposed to go in training camp.”
Now we get to third-year big man James Wiseman who showed great promise in Japan, especially Friday night. Wiseman scored a game-high 20 points, team-high nine rebounds, one assist, and one block while shooting 8-of-11 from the field. Exactly what the Warriors have been waiting for and hoping it’s more consistent performances to come like that from James Wiseman, who was selected #2 overall by the Warriors in the 2020 NBA Draft. In his second preseason game, Wiseman tallied eight points on 2-of-7 shooting from the floor with three boards and a block in 18 minutes against the Wizards. I believe James Wiseman took his development seriously and we’ll see him in Steve Kerr’s rotation this season averaging 25-30 minutes a night posting close to a double-double a night helping Draymond and Kevon Looney anchor the defense while possibly winning Most Improved Player of the year.
The Warriors’ starting five was Steph Curry, Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, and Kevon Looney. Klay Thompson didn’t make the trip to Japan for rest purposes only. Curry finished Friday’s night game with six points, three rebounds, and two assists on 1-of-7 shooting and a shot a perfect 100% percent from the free-throw line (3-for-3). Curry’s only made field goal was a three. He went 1-for-4 from behind the 3-point line with four turnovers in 13 minutes.
On Friday night, Draymond Green finished with four points, eight rebounds, and two assists in 13 minutes, Jordan Poole played just over 19 minutes and went 1-for-10 from the field and 3-for-4 from the free-throw line for five points and 0-for-4 from the three-point line. Andrew Wiggins had five points, six rebounds, and one assist. Kevon Looney recorded four points and seven rebounds on Friday, including grabbing a game-high-tying three offensive rebounds.
Jonathan Kuminga scored six points and three assists while 1-of-4 from the field and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line. Moses Moody put up five points, two assists, and one steal on Friday against the Wizards in the exhibition preseason game.
The Golden State Warriors signed guard Mac McClung for Summer League and then signed him to a training camp deal, but after only two preseason games, the Warriors have released McClung.
The Warriors bench will be without Steve Kerr’s long-time associate head coach Mike Brown. In May, Brown reached a deal with Kings management to become the new head coach of the Sacramento Kings on a four-year deal. Brown had been with Golden State since 2016 and stepped in for Kerr when he couldn’t coach because of medical reasons and helped guide the Warriors to championships in 2017 and 2018. His presence will be missed greatly defensively as Brown was the defensive architect for Steve Kerr. The Warriors had the No. 2 defense in the league last year. We know defense wins championships, so expect the Warriors to continue to put a major emphasis on defense even though Mike Brown is gone to Sacramento. Kerr still has Kenny Atkinson on the bench who turned down the Charlotte Hornets head coaching job to remain with the Kings.
Looking at the Warriors roster and the depth it has, along with the veteran leadership of the core group of Curry, Thompson, Green, Iguodala, and head coach Steve Kerr, barring a season with little to no significant injuries, the Warriors will be contending for their eighth NBA Championship in franchise history come June led by Stephen Curry. The original core group of players Curry, Thompson, Green, and Iguodala are all looking to join some exclusive Finals history company by winning their fifth NBA Championship tying some Hall of Fame legends like George Mikan, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Dennis Rodman, and their head coach Steve Kerr who won five NBA Championships as a player. Three with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, two with Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs, while learning how to coach basketball from two of the greatest coaches ever, Phil Jackson and Greg Popovich.
After winning two games in Japan, the Warriors will return to the Chase Center for three more preseason games with the Lakers Sunday, October 9, Blazers Tuesday, October 11, and the Nuggets Friday, October 14, before starting the 2022-23 regular season.
It’s been four months since the Warriors hoisted up the Larry O’Brien trophy and now they’re a couple of weeks away from defending their crown, opening up the season at home against the Los Angels Lakers Tuesday, October 18. I’m sure #DubNation will have the Chase Center loud and rocking.
The Warriors win 60 games this year and Steph Curry will be an MVP finalist possibly winning his third MVP in his storied career.
