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'Changed the Game of Basketball': Former NBA Player Vouches for Warriors' Play Style and Shooting Threes
The former NBA star extols Warriors' three-point mastery and tactical shifts, pioneering a new era. He puts in insightful comparison of the strategy and making threes look easy.
Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors have revolutionized basketball with their innovative play style and emphasis on three-point shooting. Beyond their matches and championships, their impact on the game goes far beyond just Wins or losses.
In a recent podcast appearance, former NBA player Raymond Felton praised the Warriors' influence, acknowledging their role in reshaping the basketball landscape.
Felton reminisced about the evolution of the game, noting the dramatic shift from traditional post-play to the Warriors' perimeter-oriented offense.
He credited the new era of basketball, characterized by an unusual emphasis on outside shooting and floor spacing to the Warriors saying “They basically changed the game of basketball. You know, if you think about it when I first came in, it was legit fives where you had to throw the ball in the post and these dudes trying to get buckets, like Dwight Howard and them Shaq and them…They was throwing the ball in the post of these dudes and these dudes going to work. Z-Bo, all of them.
Hyping up the Warriors three-points, he added, “If you fast forward a couple, a few years later, they come in. And the stuff they was doing, shooting the threes and now they got big men shooting threes and now the whole game changed. Now nobody want to post up bigs. Now they want dudes to shoot threes.”
However, it is not a mere strategic change for the Warriors that happened in the recent time.
A similar bold step was taken back on May 11, 2015, that is still noted as one of the trend changing steps from the Warriors.
Rather than directly facing off against Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol, 7-foot-tall Andrew Bogut positioned himself alongside 6-foot-4 guard Tony Allen during the opening defensive play. However, Bogut's "guarding" of Allen was minimal; when Allen received the ball on the perimeter, no Warrior made an effort to challenge him.
This strategic adjustment occurred during Game 4 of the second-round series, catching Memphis by surprise. Subsequently, despite Allen's pending recognition on his fifth All-Defensive team, he only played for 16 minutes, a notable decrease from his average of 36 minutes in the preceding three games.
This shift contributed to the Warriors' comfortable victory and eventual triumph in the series, leading to them winning the championship and establishing a dynasty. However, at that time, the outcome seemed far from assured, as the relentless Grizzlies were imposing their physical style on the Warriors.
Recalling that series, Golden State assistant coach Ron Adams emphasized the team's precarious situation, stating, "What I remember about that series is that we were in trouble."
Notably, Adams proposed the Bogut-on-Allen ploy to coach Steve Kerr while en route to Memphis after Game 2, during which the Warriors' typically fluid offense struggled. In that game, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson collectively shot a mere 3 for 17 from 3-point range in the 97-90 defeat.
Also Read: ‘It’s Time’: Phoenix Suns' Bradley Beal Gets Hyped Up After Defensive Play Win Against Kings
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