Despite the obvious, maybe all time offensive firepower they’ve assembled, I can’t seem to shake the feeling that there is no chance in hell we see them making noise past the first or second round. Curious to hear the counter arguments, if that’s how you really feel.
Nope, maybe starts with dynasty warriors
Thing is just because there’s ranking on paper for defense (for ex : DRTG), doesnt mean the defense is that good. There’s ofc nuance on it. If your team is well-oiled machine on offense like can get easy buckets, it means your players has more energy on D for example, or lets say the opp. will be pressured more to score buckets so prone to mistakes
22 celtics is playing dumb offense, which is expected with no real PG while warriors with their continuity motion offense can get buckets easier. On paper the defensive guys on celtics better or at least same with warriors, but on offense jeez night and day
21 bucks : when giannis can 1-2 steps dunk easily and showing the world he’s the best player on the planet that year while Book shoot 27℅ from 3,that’s a wrap
I forgot bubble
19 raps win also by talent on paper, just old steph + 1 leg Klay cant carry that offense while the next players with big minutes are Iggy, Dray, cousins, loon whom are abysmal shooting 3s
TLDR : dont say D is not important, but i think NBA nowadays are more 70/30 lean on offense. Rules that limiting defensive player, heavy 3s and spacing, scoring easy buckets more and more important if you want to go far. Like i take #5 on O + #15 on D than the reverse
That’s what kings did last year, bulls before that, and now suns knew it too. It’s offense league now
Those teams were still defensively focused.
Your point about offense helping defense doesn’t mean much because the opposite is also true. Good defense will lead to stops and liveball turnovers which lead to fastbreak offense. It also forces the opponent to expend more energy to score which leaves them vulnerable on the other end, or forces their coach to switch to more offensive slanted lineups to get some points up and the expense of their D.
The 2022 Warriors being a better offensive team than their Finals opponent isn’t relevant. They were the two best defensive teams in the league that year and surprise surprise, they ended up in the Finals.
2021 Bucks were notoriously sluggish on offense in the playoffs at times but got through because they were the best defensive team in the playoffs.
2020 Lakers’ had virtually no offense outside of Bron/AD and the resurrected corpse of Rondo come playoff time, but they were stacked defensively with Bron/AD/Green/Caruso/Dwight/KCP/McGee.
2019 Raptors had offensive series where nobody but Kawhi got get anything going and even he was going 15/39 and shit, but got by because they were stacked with defensive talent. Even if they weren’t in the primes, you had Kawhi/Ibaka/Gasol as former DPOY level defenders, Lowry and Green as All-D guards, pre-prime Siakam and FVV, and even a young OG even if he didn’t play in the playoffs.
Even the dynasty world ending Warriors teams, for all their offensive firepower, were roughly as good defensively as they were offensively.
Just because the league as a whole has gotten much more slanted towards offense doesn’t mean that you can afford to be a mediocre defense, relative to these standards, and expect to win a title.