The 10-man rotation, starring the Warriors, one win away from history
A look around the league and the Web that covers it. It’s also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren’t always listed in order of importance. That’s for you, dear reader, to figure out.
C: Bay Area News Group. Marcus Thompson II says the Golden State Warriors’ historic 15-0 start is “only a shocker to those who believe last season was some kind of miracle” rather than what it really was: “the next step in a steady progression.”
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PF: SB Nation. Tom Ziller takes a statistical look at the Warriors’ killer small lineup of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green, and comes away with a bold belief: “This is perhaps the most potent scoring lineup we’ve ever seen.”
SF: ESPN.com. Ethan Sherwood Strauss on the roster-wide spirit that helps make Golden State different: “Joy is a weapon, an essential aspect of winning. Their fun is your demise.”
SG: The Diss. Jacob Greenberg (who, for the record, is a Golden State fan) on what appears to be an early-season shift in the balance of power from left to right on your radio dial, and how it might be about more than just Eastern Conference teams getting better: “In the West, where the threat of Stephen Curry and his maxim gun Warriors is more present and prevalent, there are a slew of rattled teams; outfits who not long ago seemed very sure about who they were, and how they were going to succeed.”
PG: Salt City Hoops. Late to this, but I loved Ben Dowsett’s look at the Utah Jazz’s “Wing-T” lineup, a super-sized formation featuring Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors up front flanked by Gordon Hayward, Alec Burks and Rodney Hood, three rangy swingmen with ball skills who can handle the playmaking duties typically associated with point guards while also providing additional defensive versatility and potential offensive mismatches. A fun wrinkle from a funky team.
6th: The Oklahoman. Kevin Durant sits down with Anthony Slater to talk about his friendship with Russell Westbrook, and how it’s evolved over the course of the last eight years. A really great look behind the curtain provided by a player who’s been playing things pretty close to the vest these past couple of seasons.
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7th: Sunday Shootaround. Paul Flannery on the continued brilliance of Dirk Nowitzki, shooting 54 percent from the field and 53 percent from 3-point land to lead the veteran Dallas Mavericks to a surprising 9-5 start, and remembering to stop and appreciate all-time greatness while you still can.
8th: Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Magazine. Mike Sielski considers the generational divide in how folks view the Philadelphia 76ers’ commitment to burning down the forest so a greener one will grow — “broadly speaking and boiled down to its simplest, catchiest essence, older people don’t get what the Sixers are doing, and younger people do” mdash; and Derek Bodner casts the Sixers’ second straight historically awful start as the truest test of just how much Philly fans trust the process: “all of this — the luck necessary to win the lottery, the thought, even if early, of potentially missing on a high draft pick — just goes to show how fraught with uncertainty this style of rebuild is. Certainty has never been the reasoning behind the strategy, and anybody selling certainty was guilty of false advertisement.”
9th: Clips Nation. Steve Perrin assures Los Angeles Clippers fans that no, the ship does not “be sinking,” even after a rare-for-this-team rough patch: “The good news (and I shouldn’t really have to say this, but just in case), the playoffs do NOT start in November. They start in May. And with 13% of the season gone, there’s 87% of the season remaining.”
10th: Posting and Toasting. When the New York Knicks meet the Miami Heat on Monday night, Kristaps Porzingis will attempt to avoid getting schooled by Chris Bosh. In the grand scheme of things, though, he should be trying to learn from the lefty, according to Joe Flynn.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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