As we’ve seen – and heard – more than a handful of times this season, the Golden State Warriors’ style of play is not for everyone. Some people dislike, even hate, the pop-a-shot manner in which Golden State operates.
Well, that style of play has gotten the Warriors an NBA championship, 73 wins and a trip back to the NBA Finals.
But is it enjoyable to watch?
“The game of basketball has always changed,” former NBA center Scot Pollard said on CBS Sports Radio’s The DA Show. “It’s like jazz music. When an artist come along that can change the game, the game changes. There’s a long list of artists in the NBA that have come along that have changed the way the game is played. You can go down the list. George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and the list goes on. There’s always going to be the people that are old-timers that go, ‘Oh, the game is changing and it’s not the way it used to be played. It should be played this way.’ I’m not one of those guys. I’m one of of those guys that watches the game (and enjoys it). Is it the way I played it? Nope. It is different.”
DA, for one, said he does not find the Warriors’ style of play “very interesting.” Perhaps, he said, it’s because the Warriors are “a victim of their own ease.” Steph Curry and Klay Thompson hit threes at a high rate, so if they just keep shooting them, Golden State, in the end, will likely win.
“When you see somebody dominate, it almost becomes boring,” Pollard said. “Look, is it even fun to watch somebody when they have the code to the game? When you have the code to the game, is it as fun? It seems almost like the Warriors have the code to the rules, so it’s not as exciting to watch them. When you see Steph Curry dribble left, dribble right, dribble left, dribble right and then he shoots the three over Steven Adams two or three times in a row, maybe Steven Adams should change the way he’s guarding him. It seems almost like there’s a code and Steph gets it, Klay gets it, Draymond gets it. They’ve got the code, and they’re changing the way the game is played.
“Is it exciting?” Pollard continued. “Well, it’s exciting if you like buckets. They’ve practiced enough that the ball goes in. If the ball doesn’t go in, their codes are broken, they don’t work. So then it becomes unexciting and it becomes an unsuccessful way of playing so no one else is going to play that way. But a long as they’re successful playing the way they’re playing, people are going to emulate it. Other teams in the league have already begun the drastic challenge of trying to outfit their team with guys that can dribble left, dribble right, dribble left, dribble right or come off a screen and knock down a shot that (makes) people think, ‘That’s not going in, is it?’”
