Obsessedsportsnut's Blog

1. Stephen Curry

The past couple weeks, I tried to come up with reasons to put Draymond at the #1 spot, but I just couldn’t justify it. Curry’s the league most unstoppable player, the most explosive offensive player in NBA history. As he goes, the Warriors goes.

• Win share/48 of 0.338 – Win share/48 is an advanced stat that determines who much a player contributes to a given win. The NBA record? Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s 0.3399 in the 1971-72 season. Curry is only .0019 behind Kareem’s. This 2015-16 season is better than the best season of Jordan, Lebron, and Wilt.
• 232 3-pointers in 47 games – If the season ended today, Curry would finish 10th all time in 3 pointers per season. He’s only 7 3-pointers behind Klay’s total from last season. No player has ever made 300 3-points in a season. Curry’s on pace to shatter his own record of 286 and hit 400.
• +/- of 15.9 – When Curry is on the floor, the Warriors outscore their opponents by close to 16 points. The highest +/- since 2000? Curry last year at 11.2. Lebron’s best? 10.6 in his 2008-2009 year.

2. Draymond Green

While Curry is the best player in the NBA and the likely MVP for the 2nd straight season, many are saying Green is the MVP of the Warriors. Weird huh? Draymond is the heart and soul of this team, and he brings the intensity to both games and practices. He should be in the running in Defensive Player of the Year, and one can make the case that he should be the Most Improved Player of the Year. Draymond can guard all positions, and when he moves to center, he’s the reason why the death lineup of Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Barnes, and Dramond works so effectively.

• +/- of 15.0 – While Curry’s first at 15.9 this season, Draymond is settled securely in 2nd place at 15.0.
• 10 triples doubles leads the entire league.
• 7.4 assists per game – Draymond is listed as a power forward, but he can really play all 5 positions. Green is 6th in the league in assists and has more assists than the point guards of 25 other teams, including Curry who has only 6.4. As forwards, Green and Lebron James are the only two non guards in the top 30 in assists.

3. Klay Thompson

Klay Thompson’s the best shooting guard in the NBA, with a close second coming to Jimmy Butler. Sorry James Harden, you’ve got to play at least SOME defense to be considered the best 2-guard in the NBA. This wont cut it.

While Curry is best shooter in NBA history, Klay is currently the 2nd best shooter in the NBA. That’s really, really unfair. Klay is 2nd on the team in points and is 2nd in the NBA in 3 pointers this season.

My only “gripe” about Klay is that when Curry is off the floor or out of the game, Klay really needs to step up offensively. In their blowout loss to Dallas with Curry out, Klay only scored 10 points on 4 for 15 shooting. For a player of Klay’s stature, that can’t happen.

4. Andre Iguodala

Can we give Andre the 6th Man of the Year award already (and while we’re at it, can we just give Curry MVP, Draymond Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved, and Steve Kerr Coach of the Year)?

Andre’s the first man off the bench, and he’s the glue that keeps the 2nd unit running as effectively as they can be. You’ll never see it in the stat line, but you can see him importance in all aspects of the game.

But really…why can’t the dude make free throws?

5. Shaun Livingston

I love Shaun Livingston. Like Andre, he provides a calming presence with the 2nd unit at the backup point guard position when Curry is out of the game. He’s a size mismatch for a lot of other backup pgs, and I love the way he uses his length on post-ups to knock down the midrange jumpers.

6. Harrison Barnes

To me, Harrison is the most frustrating player on the Warriors. Many would put him above Livingston, due to Harrison’s importance to the “death lineup”. And yes, Barnes hit the game winner against the 76ers earlier this week.

But his inconsistency and disappearance in a lot of games drops him to the 6th spot. One game, you can see why he’s a max contract type player and then the next day, you’re saying, “this is the worst game of this season.” If this happens once or twice, you can live with it. When it becomes a common occurrence, it becomes increasingly frustrating.

I also dropped Barnes to 6th due to the emergence and growth of Brandon Rush when Barnes was out for a significant amount of time due to injury. Yes Rush isn’t even close to Barnes in terms of his defensive capabilities, but Rush more than adequately gave the Warriors an offensive replacement for Barnes in the starting lineup.

7. Andrew Bogut

The Warrior’s top competitors in the NBA all have above average players at the center position. Mozgov (Cavs), Duncan (Spurs), Jordan (Clippers), Howard (Rockets), and even Adams (Thunder) are all very capable big men.

While the centers of the Warriors will never be part of the closing lineup, they are still vital to handle big lineups, especially those of the Cavs and Spurs who also have Love and Aldridge. Bogut’s defense and inside presence is one of the best in the league, and he’s arguably the best passing center in the NBA right now.

8. Festus Ezili

With Bogut growing older and his body breaking down, Ezili is the future for the Warriors at the center position, and while Draymond has made a huge leap from last year to this, Ezili’s is even more impressive. Ezili has still remained a strong defensive presence, but it’s growth on the offensive side that has been amazing to watch. He’s far more aggressive and confident with the ball and is starting to develop a couple nice post moves and hook shots. He’s not even close to being the passer and offensive facilitator that Bogut is, but if he keeps improving, he’ll be just as an effective player on offense.

9. Leandro Barbosa

The Brazilian Blur might have lost a step or two since winning the 6th Man of the Year award in 2007, but Barbosa still provides good scoring off the bench and definitely still knows how to get to the bucket. He’s not the best shooter on the team, but he’s definitely one of the better ones in driving through the lane for a circus-like layup. Barbosa is a great veteran scorer to have on the bench.

10. Brandon Rush

Rush is slowly making his way up my rankings of most favorite Warriors players. As I mentioned above, Rush performed admirably in place of Harrison Barnes, and it’s good to see him back to playing at a high level. Rush is shooting 45.5% from the 3-point lead, 2nd on the team and only 0.3% behind Curry’s rate. Warriors are so deep that it’s hard to find playing time for Rush, and he’d be a starter on over half of the other NBA teams.

11. Marreese Speights

Last year, Speights was often talked about being a 6th Man of the Year candidate. “Mo Buckets” was a huge fan favorite. He’s getting more playing time lately due to Ezili’s injury, but when Festus comes back, we’ll likely only see Speights when Bogut and Festus are in foul trouble. Speights still shows his midrange jumper brilliance, but his lack of defense capabilities hinders him from getting more rotation minutes on a full healthy bench.

12. Ian Clark

Impressive for Ian Clark to make a NBA roster after successful showings at the Summer League and D-League. The last guard off the bench, his appearance late in games often means a victory is in the bags, though he has been getting more playing time during Barbosa’s absence.

13. James Michael McAdoo

I really like the energy McAdoo gives in his limited time on the court this season. Before his injury, he’s another player, like Rush, who is a victim of the Warriors deep bench and who deserves to get more significant playing minutes.

14. Kevon Looney

Kevon Looney was a likely lottery pick before there were concerns over his a hip injury. Warriors still drafted him at the 30th pick, which many consider to be the “steal of the draft.” Looney recorded a double-double in his first game with the Santa Cruz Warriors. He definitely has a lot of raw talent, and it’ll be interested to see how this kid develops.

15. Jason Thompson

Why is he even on this team again?

Steve Kerr showed a complete disrespect to the NBA and the Denver Nuggets when he named JT in the starting the lineup. The Warriors totally deserved to lose that game.

I’m kidding, of course…but just kind of.