It's Organic, Like Eating Healthy

Kevin Durant said of his future teammates, "It felt like they weren't even in the NBA. It felt like those guys just got together and played pickup ball every day. I really enjoy pure basketball, and that's what I wanted."

The Bay Area has a history of playground basketball. . .

So, welcome to the Warrior Playground, Kevin Durant.Your presence has made the Golden Gate Bridge a little more Golden.

There, I couldn't be more clear, can I? I adore Durant's offense, his selflessness, his modesty, his desire to be a team player. These skills and traits are as natural to him as the limbs of his body.

But what about defense and boards? I'm not trying to be a "downer" in the middle  of  this joyful celebration, but we should not forget that Harrison Barnes was a strong defender and a strong rebounder. It is not that Kevin doesn't play D, but I don't think it's as "organic" to him as the other parts of his game. In the middle of all this bru-ha-ha, we should not forget that the Warriors are at their best on offense when they play lock-down defense. Those fast breaks, open shots, mismatches the last two seasons didn't simply materialize out of thin air.

I'm a basketball player. I have to think as one. The game is played on both ends of the court. I'm not telling the Warriors' coaching staff anything they don't know. But in this three-point-era, it's worth repeating again and again. D Wins Games.   

Paging through a book of poetry, I came upon this lovely, oldy-but-goody quatrain. It seems to me a very Warrior kind of poem.

Who Misses or Who Wins    by William Makepeace Thackeray

Who misses or who wins the prize
Go lose or conquer as you can;
But if you fall, or if you rise,
Be each, pray God, a gentleman.