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Bloggers Roundtable: Preparing for the Home Stretch

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With the Warriors being more than 50 games into the season, we’re long overdue for another edition of the Bloggers Roundtable. We’ve brought back three independent bloggers to answer a few questions on the Bay’s Team, and as usual, there is no shortage of opinions. Steve Berman (Bay Area Sports Guy), Rich Twu (Let’s Go Warriors) and Grant Hughes (Bleacher Report) take it from here.

Should the Warriors make a move before the NBA trade deadline (February 20)?

Steve Berman | Bay Area Sports Guy | @BAAportsGuy
Yes, if at all possible, because this is a team that's built to win now. Andrew Bogut is 29, David Lee is 30, and Andre Iguodala is 31. As deep as the Western Conference is, and as strong as Miami and Indiana are, the Warriors have an opportunity to make a run. Since they're only the seventh seed after Monday's win, there's room for improvement in all areas of the team, including its roster.

Rich Twu | Let's Go Warriors | @poormanscommish
I'm going against the grain and saying that the Warriors should *not* make a move at the deadline. It takes some time for the cake to bake, as even Jermaine O'Neal alluded to earlier this season. With the injuries suffered this season to Steph, then Andre, then JO, and now D.Lee and Bogut, the Warriors haven't gotten a chance to try their new lineup and go through all of the experiences that a team needs to go through, although they've certainly checked off most of the boxes. In short, this core is still learning to play with one another, to develop their chemistry. I've written before about how this is like the Spurs franchise in Year One, how it parallels my own observations as an experienced coach of amateur tournament teams, having gone through various trials and tribulations before the core finally clicks. Also, the playoffs are a totally different beast. The true test is the playoffs, not the regular season.

Grant Hughes | Bleacher Report | @g30three
Maybe I’m in the minority on this, but I think the Warriors already have most of the pieces they need. Their struggles have more to do with rotations and roles than any glaring lack of depth. Between Andre Iguodala and Jordan Crawford, the Dubs have enough ball-handlers to give Stephen Curry 10 minutes of rest per game. And if Festus Ezeli can provide decent production when he returns, the frontcourt will look a lot better behind Andrew Bogut and David Lee.

Besides, the Warriors aren’t exactly equipped to get a good return on any potential deal. Their current roster includes players who are either too valuable (Curry and Bogut), too costly to be attractive (Lee) or whose performance has been so spotty as to lower their value substantially (Harrison Barnes). A trade might not be necessary, and a good one might not even be possible. The Dubs should stand pat.

How do you see the rest of the regular season playing out? Where will the team finish in the Western Conference standings?

Rich Twu | Let's Go Warriors | @poormanscommish
The reality is, it doesn't matter, but if you're forcing me to give an answer, I'm guessing that the Warriors make at least two mini-runs of four or five (or more) wins in a row apiece. At that rate, they might get a seed of #4, 5, or 6. So what really matters is that they play up to their potential in the playoffs, which I think they will assuming Steph and Bogut are 100%. I know I'm playing the optimist card, but no one will want to face them in the first round and the "dark horse" role may well work in their favor.

Grant Hughes | Bleacher Report | @g30three
The optimist in me sees Golden State hammering out a rotation that makes better use of Barnes, employing a bit more creativity on offense and a fielding a defense that continues to rank among the league’s top five. If all those things happen, the Warriors can still climb into one of the top four spots in the West. The talent is there; the Dubs just have to figure out how to utilize it.

At the same time, we’re now well past the halfway point in the season and some of the issues that seemed merely troublesome earlier in the year are bordering on disastrous. Barnes has to be put in a better position to succeed, and the offense is in desperate need of more secondary actions when the first options aren’t available. Golden State has been relatively fortunate on the health front to this point as well. If that changes, missing the playoffs is possible. With both scenarios in mind, I’ll split the difference and say the Warriors will wind up with the No. 7 seed.

Steve Berman | Bay Area Sports Guy | @BAAportsGuy
By my estimation – and this comes from nothing more than looking at the schedule and guessing whether the Warriors will win or lose each game – the Warriors will go 17-13 over their remaining games and finish with 48 wins. That should be enough to make the playoffs as either the seventh or eighth seed.

What has been the biggest surprise this season?

Grant Hughes | Bleacher Report | @g30three
The offense. Golden State has scored the ball this year at a rate that ranks as merely “average.” Though the Warriors checked in at a somewhat underwhelming 10th in offensive efficiency a year ago, nobody expected a decline in 2013-14—especially not with Iguodala coming aboard and Barnes projected to take a step forward.

The use of punchless five-man bench units earlier in the year has a lot to do with the Dubs’ weak offensive numbers, and a more staggered rotation should help those figures recover. But no team with Curry, Thompson and Lee (not to mention the passing of Iguodala and Bogut) should ever struggle to score the ball like this. Chalk that up as an unpleasant surprise.

Steve Berman | Bay Area Sports Guy | @BAAportsGuy
As well as Stephen Curry has played this season offensively and as dominant as Andrew Bogut has been on the defensive end, I'm surprised the Golden State Warriors are only 16-9 at home. Losing to the Nuggets, Timberwolves, Wizards and Bobcats at Oracle Arena is painful, since a four-game swing in their record would put them in a tie with the Clippers for the Pacific Division lead and the No. 4 seed.

Rich Twu | Let's Go Warriors | @poormanscommish
To me, the biggest surprise has to be Kent Bazemore's failure live up to what were pretty lofty preseason expectations, especially after a good run at the NBA Summer League. So that's affected bench output, where the Warriors rank near the bottom of the NBA. There may be a myriad of things going on here that have to do with his mental approach to the game, but one thing that my analytical basketball brethren have tipped me off on is that Bazemore lacks a go-to move. As such, I would speculate that he's probably over-thinking things and needs to just develop that one move his defender can't stop. On the flip side, at least his time spent on working on all the various aspects of his game has indeed improved – albeit incrementally – in all facets (e.g., shooting), but the results can't be seen thus far in an NBA game because of the limited opportunity coming off the bench.