Each week sports reporters Matthew Lambert and Sam Thiel will face off on a hot topic in sports. The world of sports is changing quickly and constantly, but we want to slow it down and take a better look at the juiciest gossip, scandal, rumor or issue that is making headlines this week. Lambert and Thiel will take different sides and battle it out, telling you why you they are right.
This week’s topic: Which team will win the NBA title?
We are nearing the end of October, which means the NBA season is officially here. Last season, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games, 4-2, to win its first NBA Championship in 40 years. This week, Matthew Lambert and Sam Thiel voice their opinions about which team will raise the Larry O’Brien trophy next June. Let’s talk about it… (Recap by Sam Thiel)
Matthew Lambert/Winonan
With the NBA season coming, it’s important to overanalyze and make wild predictions for who will be the NBA champion.
It’s a difficult decision to try and make. What if Steph Curry breaks his ankle? Will the Warriors be competitive or even make the playoffs? What if LeBron James gets sick of his teammates and the Cavs trade for six new players? Is Anthony Davis so phenomenal that he takes his garbage Pelicans team to the Finals?
It’s hard to predict those things. So I’m picking a team that is consistent, not flashy, and has the best next-man-up mentality in all of sports: the San Antonio Spurs.
My reasoning isn’t because they added LaMarcus Aldridge or David West. It also isn’t that Gregg Popovich could be Coach of the Year, which he should. Or that, somehow, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have found the fountain of youth and aren’t letting Kobe Bryant have any. It’s about reigning Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard, a guy who plays 64 games.
A lot of storylines will be about Leonard and if he is the best player on the Spurs. I’ll go one further. Leonard is the fifth best player in the LEAGUE, behind James, Davis, Kevin Durant and Curry. Leonard is the lynch pin, the guy Popovich can play for 36 minutes a game, unlike his other stars. Leonard should average, this season, 17 points, four assists, eight rebounds, and 2.5 steals a game, but that’s my prediction.
Even if Leonard has another year of injuries, the Spurs are so efficient, they can find a guy to fill that slot until Leonard gets back. Kyle Anderson had a great Summer League, Patty Mills is an outstanding bench player and don’t ever tell me Matt Bonner is overrated. The Spurs lost in one of the greatest seven game series I’ve ever watched last year against the Clippers. Don’t expect something like that to happen again this season.
Sam Thiel/Winonan
Christmas may be two months away, but for me, it comes at the end of October.
The NBA season is upon us.
This season, many teams battle for the chance to be called NBA Champions. But there is only one team that will stand on the trophy podium next June: the Golden State Warriors.
So please excuse me as I open my closet and take out my Stephen Curry jersey, my Golden State Warriors hat and my Curry One basketball shoes. I’m a little excited.
The first reason why the Warriors will repeat as champions is because of their roster depth and coaching staff. Golden State returns almost their entire roster from last season and were able to replace forward David Lee with free agent Jason Thompson, who comes from Sacramento. And although current head coach Steve Kerr is out after having back surgery, assistant coach Luke Walton is more than capable of taking the reins.
The second reason needs just two words: Stephen Curry. The 27-year-old had one of the best years of his life last season, obliterating records as fast as the 0.4 release time on his jump shot. Curry averaged 23.8 points, 7.7 assists, 1.6 steals and broke the single-season record for three-pointers made with 286. He won the MVP, the Championship and his daughter Riley is an Internet sensation and the clear frontrunner for the 2048 presidential election. Even one paragraph can’t guard this guy.
Finally the last, and quite frankly, the loudest reason the Warriors will win the title is because of their home crowd. Oracle Arena is sold-out every single game and last year Golden State went 39-2 at home in the regular season. There’s a reason why it is called Roar-acle.
They’re not the biggest team, but have depth, the loudest crowd in the association and a floor general in Curry, Dub Nation will have plenty to cheer about next June.
