| Are Expectations Too High? Authored by Payam Jahromi - September 13, 2005 - 11:52 am
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That’s the prevailing feeling in the Bay Area when it comes to the Warriors. After the 18-10 finish with Baron Davis, the optimism and anticipation has been phenomenal while season tickets sales have increased more than any other team. This broaches the obvious question.
Are the expectations too high?
I’ve heard some call the Warriors this year’s Suns. That’s ridiculous. Despite some similarities – both get the point guard who makes the team click – there is one big difference. The Suns have Amare Stoudamire and the Warriors have Adonal Foyle. The Suns won over 60 games. The Warriors have no shot of winning that many in 2005-06.
Any realistic Warriors fan knows the Warriors have a shot at the No. 7 or 8 seed in the Western Conference – and perhaps the fifth or sixth seed as a best-case scenario. But if anything goes wrong, such as injury or just a letdown, this team will miss the playoffs for the twelfth consecutive year.
With all the hype and expectations, another trip to the lottery will be considerably disappointing for the fans. And that’s what scares me.
Are the fans setting themselves up for more torture, or is this is a team that will surprise the league next season? Time will tell.
But these are the Warriors after all. In sports, history has a weird way of repeating itself. If we were talking about the Lakers for example, they’d be playoff bound. It’s just one of those things, and it’s hard to break that cycle.
This was a talented but very bad team before the Davis trade. Mike Montgomery is still unproven. The team still has no proven reliable post player.
And just because the Warriors ended last season on fire doesn’t necessarily mean it will translate into this year.
That doesn’t mean the Warriors’ run at the end of the season wasn’t legitimate because I think it was. During their 18-10 record with Davis, the Warriors had an eight-game winning streak and a six-game road winning steak, the latter unheard of for this franchise. And with Davis in the starting lineup for the final 19 games, they went 14-5.
But what if they get off to a slow start in 05-06? What if they lose a few games they’re “supposed” to win? A slow start could kill any supposed momentum from last season. With the young roster, a bad start could also hurt the players’ confidence and belief in themselves, whereas a strong start will only make them better.
The schedule is fairly easy the first month of the season, which is a good thing but puts extra pressure on the team and coaches.
This is the most important November in a long time. In the 17 games that month, I think an 11-6 or better record is imperative, otherwise they could end up under .500 after a grueling December schedule.
Opening day is about month and a half away, and every game in November is huge for many reasons. See you at the Coliseum and bring on Atlanta.
If you have any questions or comments, you can reach me at pjahromi@sbcglobal.net |
