A Delicate Balance

It works until it doesn't.  Last year's starting five for the Warriors was statistically the best in the NBA.  This year so far, the same starting five is near the bottom.

I saw this happen to the San Francisco Giants, I believe it was 2016, but in a more compressed and comprehensive fashion: for the first half of the season they had the best record in MLB; the second half, the worst.  That was the beginning of the team's decline and turnover and continued decline, with one last hurrah in 2021 that fell short.  

It could be as soon as the OKC game today that there's at least one change in the Warriors' starting five.  Maybe it will make a difference.  Coach Kerr has 10 very good players but no combination of them so far has looked like a team to be feared.  The Portland game was decided by a player not in the rotation, Jonathan Kuminga.  He was not only effective, he brought excitement.  The home crowd had somebody other than Steph to go wild over.    

With two-thirds of the NBA season to go, it's an awkward moment to be looking for a new balance, but better to experiment sooner than later.  It may be as simple as cutting back some of the veterans' minutes, especially in the first half of the season.  And of course, maybe not.

Speaking of a team to be feared: the San Francisco 49ers are about at that level now, though they haven't won anything yet.  But they crushed the bully boys of Philly and that counts for a lot.  Teams may talk about a challenge but nobody wants to play the Niners right now.  Still, every week is a test: beat the better teams, don't let down or let up on lesser teams.  

That mistake was made by the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the thrashing they got from Jacksonville, a team with a losing record, may have carried over to their loss to another lowly team, Boston.  When Brady was there, the Patriots too often broke the hearts of Steelers nation, and this brings it all back, dropping the Steelers out of a Wild Card spot.  With an injured starting quarterback and remaining games against tough opponents on the road, the Steelers even face the possibility of their first losing season under Coach Tomlin.