Today you are the king of the list, tomorrow I am the supreme leader.
Warriors and Suns, just like that in the league's record list you catch up with me. The Suns beat the Raptors 99-95 on the road, the Warriors lost to the Grizzlies 108-116 on the road, and the Suns, who lost 31 to 9, once again surpassed the Warriors (30-10) and returned to the first place in the league.
The competition to take turns to dominate the list continues.
What kind of team can be called a powerhouse?
In one word, steady!
The first is that the lineup is stable, and it is clear that this configuration can play a good result, and the management will not play the disassembly game every offseason.
The Lakers in this regard, a proper alliance negative teaching materials.
In this regard, the sun has set an example of correct operation.
They essentially saved the basic rotation of last season's finals in the offseason, bringing in McGee to strengthen the basket defense and adding a reliable manpower to shamet to the outside line. Since last season was only two wins away from winning the championship, it is quite reliable to respond to changes without change.
The lineup changes are small, there is no need to run into it, everyone has played together to the finals, and they know each other's roots, so the sun playing routine is very clear, blocking and dismantling the next pie, mid-range shooting, outside the three points, how to play the players know, skillfully, there is no obvious dead end in the attack.
The Suns at the defensive end are also a steady word, the outside line Paul, Bridges and Crowder three big locks, the inside line Ayton basket to assist in defense, in the face of block demolition to a big delay, if necessary, directly change defense, there is an echo between the inside and outside defense lines, once Curry defense to 21 shots 4 is the Suns team's concentrated display of defense, that game is the Suns 18 consecutive wins in the 17th game.
So far this season, only two teams have played 10+ consecutive wins, one for the Suns and the other for the Grizzlies, who just beat the Warriors.
Compared with the Suns, the Warriors' lineup changes in the offseason is still quite large. The Suns are the Champions of the West who can seek stability, and the Warriors have not made the playoffs for two consecutive years, so they have to think about it.
However, the Warriors' changes have focused on the adjustment of auxiliary players, their core team has not changed, and the tactical system has not changed.
The Nets' recent poor performance has sparked a big discussion about whether Nash has tactics or not. What exactly are tactics and what tactics are good tactics? In the past two years, when the Warriors missed the playoffs, Kerr was also taken out and shelled, either the tactics were outdated, or the tactics were rigid, all in all, it was also a tactical black hole.
This season's Warriors record is back, and Kerr's tactics have been touted again, YYDS again.
In fact, Kerr's tactics have not changed much, high transit, middle road and bottom line air cut, outside line with the help of cover to catch the ball bombardment, defensive end of the single point strong against strong, dream center dispatch, or change defense, or pinch attack, according to the situation to adapt.
The tactic is still that tactic, the previous two years were not working because it was difficult for the clever woman to cook without rice, this season was spirited, because of better resource conditions, Poole's offense improved, Wiggins defended better, Payton Jr.'s bite was more fierce, and Porter became a surprise Mr. Surprise for offseason reinforcements.
Therefore, no head coach does not understand tactics, and tactics are not absolutely good or bad, the key lies in whether the tactical purpose matches the resource conditions.
The strength of the Suns and warriors lies in the fact that their lineup configuration and the coach's tactical fit is very high, there is no flaw that is easy to be caught by the opponent, the attack and defense are so, especially the defensive end, both teams have high-quality defenders in the inside and outside, which directly determines that the basic plate of the defense line is very stable, the Warriors are the first in defensive efficiency this season, and the Sun is close behind.
Offense is a volatile element in the game, a section as fierce as a tiger, a section of the in-situ pestle fluctuations are not uncommon, and the defensive ups and downs are much smaller, especially this season, after the adjustment of the blowing penalty scale, indirectly encourage defensive confrontation, good defensive teams benefit more. It makes sense for the Warriors and Suns to take turns leading the record list as top defensive teams.
Halfway through the regular season, the league number one battle will continue, and the Warriors and the Suns are far from the time to open the gap.
So, if you look at it in the long run, which of the two teams is stronger?
Squad stability, tactical execution, can determine a team's lower limit, on this basis, the team's ceiling height depends on the level of talent.
Both the Warriors and the Suns have some problems when it comes to talent.
Against the Grizzlies, Curry played a triple-double of 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, but 8 of 21 shooting, 9 of 2 three-pointers, and 1 three-pointer of 6 of the fourth quarter.
Curry has had plenty of highlight moments this season, constantly breaking all-time three-point record, but if you don't count the 2019-20 season, which played only five games, Curry's shooting percentage this season is the lowest in his career. For Curry's offensive efficiency, various analyses can be given, such as decreased agility after muscle gain, higher defensive concentration consumes offensive physical fitness, etc., but is it possible that Curry has gone downhill a little bit?
It's easy to get scolded, how can you call a player who has cut 40+ 5 times this season and has 50 points in a single game call it "going downhill"? Curry's level of projection and his level of engagement are able to play amazing games, and his worrying thing this season is his ability to continue to stabilize his output, and the presence or absence of this ability is a measure of whether a star has signs of decline.
By March 14, Curry will be 34 years old, his absolute physical talent is not as good as Durant and the older James, although the projection-based playing style can allow Curry to extend the peak period, but the changes in physical function, the subtle impact is still slowly emerging.
People, after all, will grow old, but there are always people in the jianghu who are young, and when Curry sees Morant, who has a worldly good waist, he will feel the urgency brought by the years.
Of course, this is by no means to say that Curry is not good, he is still quite good, but there is room for a pullback in stability, and in terms of combat strength level, Curry also has the ability to explode the game.
With Clay's comeback, the Warriors' talent level is rising, and it can't be said that Clay can definitely return to his peak state, after all, he has only played two games, but even if he only has 80% of the peak skill, Klay can also raise the warrior's ceiling.
Don't forget, Wiseman hasn't come back yet, and although Wiseman was ridiculed by Warriors fans last season, wiseman is still a premium potential stock in terms of physical talent.
The situation of the Suns is more troublesome than that of the Warriors, because the Warriors still have room for improvement, and the Suns lineup has reached the top of the strength development?
The sun's weakness is that it may be exploded by the opponent's strong point, such as the thick eyebrow brother before the playoffs last season, the alphabet brother in the finals, this unreasonable talent crushes, making the sun a little helpless.
Paul's height dictates that he may be targeted for playing the highest-end innings, and Holliday had something to say last season. The Suns didn't renew the contract early for the price Ayton wanted, which can explain some problems. Booker played fairly well in last season's playoffs, but he wasn't a genius monster at the level of Alphabet Brother.
The Suns have won 5 wins and 4 losses in the last 9 games, which certainly has the factor of being hit by the epidemic and causing a shortage of major generals, but injuries are a common challenge faced by the whole league, and the Pace of Progress of the Suns has slowed down after the dividend of 18 consecutive wins, although it has not affected their record at present.
Now, the Suns are better, but maybe the Warriors have better season prospects, provided Klay is getting better and better and Curry is better at killing the game in key moments. Within a five-point gap in the final five minutes of the season, Curry shot 34 percent from the field and 26 percent from three-point range.
In the final analysis, the ultimate combat strength of the star in charge determines how far the team can go in the end.