Flashback to April 16, 2015...
Barkley thinks Warriors play wrong style to win title...
Noted Warriors-hater
Charles Barkley was at it again Thursday, using an hour-long TNT conference call as a platform to rip the team that recorded one of the 10-best regular seasons in NBA history and earned home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
“They’ve had a terrific season,” the Hall of Famer-turned-analyst said. “But I don’t like jump-shooting teams. I don’t think you can make enough jumpers to win four series in a row. I’ve said that for 25 years, not just now. I think you physically manhandle them inside. ...
“I mean, obviously, I think they’re going to beat the Pelicans, but they’ve got some matchup issues.”
Barkley joked that he’d start beating up the Warriors’ record-breaking three-point tandem of
Stephen Curry and
Klay Thompson as soon as they got off the bus to the game. And the physical dominance should continue inside, where he doesn’t think
Andrew Bogut,
Draymond Green, Festus Ezeli and Marreese Speights can match up with
Omer Asik,
Anthony Davis and
Ryan Anderson in the team’s best-of-seven, first-round series.
Davis “is going to be the best player in the world within the next three years, when LeBron (James) gets a little older,” Barkley said. “That’s going to be a better series than people think. One thing that Golden State can’t do is beat you down low. With Asik down low and Davis down low, (the Warriors) are going to have their hands full. I don’t think Golden State will get beat, but Anthony Davis is a mismatch. He has a mismatch every night, but he’s going to have a huge mismatch against anybody Golden State puts on him. …
“There are teams you like to play and teams you don’t want to play. Teams are never afraid of a jump-shooting, finesse team. That’s not a knock. They’re just a finesse team. I’d rather play against a jump-shooting, finesse team than any team that’s going to be knocking me down all night or any team that’s going to grind and use the whole shot clock. That’s the knock I have against Golden State.”
It’s as if Barkley is unaware that the Warriors posted a plus-10.1 point differential this season, becoming the eighth team in NBA history to outscore its opponents by an average of at least 10 points a game.
They did it by becoming the first team to finish first in both offensive and defensive field-goal percentage since Philadelphia in 1980-81. They did it by finishing first in defensive efficiency (98.2 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com) and second in offensive efficiency (109.7).
The Warriors finished second in blocked shots (6.0 per game) and fourth in steals (9.3 per game). Bogut (95.2) and Green (96.0) each finished with better individual defensive ratings than eight of the league’s past 10 Defensive Player of the Year winners.
“He’s a terrific defender, but he’s going to be undersized against guys he’s playing with down low,” Barkley said of the 6-foot-7 Green. “I think that’s the problem that Golden State has. … He’s going to be trying to guard Anthony Davis, LaMarcus Aldridge,
Zach Randolph and
Marc Gasol,
Blake Griffin and
DeAndre Jordan. That’s the problem I think Golden State is going to have when they play against big, physical teams that pound the ball down low.”
Still, Barkley said the Warriors are “a legitimate contender” and a “lock for the conference finals.”
He said Cleveland would beat Golden State in the NBA Finals if the two advanced, but he’s not so confident the Cavaliers would beat the Spurs, Clippers, Grizzlies or Trail Blazers.
Fastforward to June 16, 2015.
Warriors Defeat Cavs in Game 6 to Win NBA Championship!