Golden State Warriors Mailbag: Rotation, Bogut or Green, Title Expectations
Feb 27, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) and center Andrew Bogut (12) celebrate against the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre. Golden State defeated Toronto 113-89. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
This is an incredibly difficult question to answer, because both players are so important to the Warriors’ overall success as a defense, which is so incredibly vital in the playoffs, and because my answer could vary depending on who the Warriors are facing at the time. Depending on the playoff matchup, Bogut could potentially be more important to the Warriors’ success or vice versa.
This is also difficult to answer, because the Warriors haven’t played many games without Green this season. In the Warriors’ 74 games this season, Green has played in 72 of them. The two games he’s missed were the two most recent Warriors games, and the Warriors won both of those games. Given the small sample size, it’s a little harder to judge how this Warriors team would do in a playoff situation without Green.
On the other hand, Bogut has played in 59 games this season. In the games that Bogut has been out, the Warriors are 9-6, which must be taken with a grain of salt given the Warriors’ incredible 61-13 overall record. A more telling way to put this is that six of the Warriors’ 13 losses were when Bogut was out.
This might suggest that Bogut is more important to the Warriors in the playoffs. This is backed up by the fact that even though Ezeli is skilled defensively, he’s still pretty raw and isn’t as feared as Bogut is as as defender.
Bogut was also a significant part of the Warriors’ first round upset of the Denver Nuggets in the 2013 NBA Playoffs, and if Bogut had played in the first round of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Clippers last season, the Warriors could’ve possibly advanced to the Western Conference semifinals again. That displays the incredible impact that he’s had on the Warriors and that he continues to have this season.
It’s hard to ignore Green’s importance though. Green is hard to replace, because of his ability to stretch the floor, guard both guards and forwards, and play center in small lineups. There isn’t anyone on the Warriors’ roster that can do those things and as effectively as Green doe, which suggests that Green is incredibly vital as well.
Lee has started at power forward during the games Green was out, but he wouldn’t provide the same defensive tenacity and wouldn’t mesh as well with the starters in the Warriors’ current offense as Green does.
Both players are incredibly vital to the Warriors’ success in the playoffs. If I had to pick one though, I’d say Bogut, mostly because we’ve seen how important he is in the playoffs, more so than with Green. This is still a tight race though, and the health of these two players, and the Warriors’ roster in general, is highly important to the Warriors’ success for the rest of the season.
Next: Is It All or Nothing for the Warriors This Season?