Live by the three....die by the three? How the Golden State Warriors single-handedly changing basketball.

This past saturday, Golden State defeated the Houston Rockets by 35 points in a series that has the Warriors shooting their way to the NBA Finals.  This year, the Golden State Warriors finished 67-15, including  a 39-2  record at home. What separates the Warriors from the rest of their teams is their talent, depth, and philosophy. Let's take a closer look at the main attribute just named: philosophy.

Growing up playing basketball, every player has heard the phrase "you live by the three, you die by the three" at some particular point in their careers. For the most part, this phrase has stood true.  When someone's way of contributing to a team is mainly by shooting three's,  it's widely considered as both a blessing and a curse. If a player shoots and makes a lot of threes, they are very valuable because they score they possess the ability to score alot of points in fewer possessions. Who wouldn't want to score the most possible points every time you shoot the basketball!? However, if a player shoots a lot of threes and misses  majority of their attempts, they become defective to their teams. Each missed three becomes a missed chance to possibly score at least 2 points instead of 0. These missed attempts can add up throughout the duration of a game.

 

Stephen Curry 

 Golden State's style of play is based off pushing the ball up the floor quickly, and getting an open three point shot. Majority of these "open shots" are threes. Typically, teams only go so far depending on that because when players have games in which they don't play well, those threes turn into a bunch of 0 point possessions. Well, Golden State is defying that rule.  Even on off nights, they manage to knock down just enough threes to win a game. Golden State (led by the Splash Brothers , Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson)  are so good at making threes that a bad game for them can equate to an average game for most teams.


Opponents  have a hard time defending the Warriors because they differ from most teams. Usually, players that tend to drive to the basket can get roughed up and fouled hard by an opponent when attacking. This tactic used by opponents can cause players to re-consider driving to the basket. Can't really do that all the way out by the three point line. Another tactic would be to double team the star player. The problem with that is that Golden State has so many  others that can shoot the three and put up points that they would easily score points off of that tactic. So what can you really do?

As of now, no team has been able to really stop Golden State. Until the perfect counterattack is created to stop this kind of style, it's hard to imagine anyone stopping it.