Any team playing the Warriors need to use Draymond Green and Demarcus Cousins to their advantage. Both of these players have a long history of never controlling their emotions and getting into trouble because of it. Last season Draymond Green was second and Cousins was 14th only playing in 48 games in technical fouls, this season Green is currently in 5th place and Cousins was ejected from a game against the Knicks he didn't even play in. In the 2015-16 NBA Championship Green was actually suspended for a game, which turned the momentum. The Warriors were famously up 3-1 in the series and it looked like LeBron was on the verge of losing another NBA finals. Once Green was suspended this caused the Warriors to not be the same team, and it cause the greatest collapse in NBA history. The Warriors lost the series and it showed the league that Green could be a lose cannon and he was a bigger part of the success of the team than anybody thought.
This season Green is hurting the Warriors, averaging 25% on 3 point shot and it is hurting the Warriors. Teams are daring Green to shoot the ball, which is causing teams to stay more in the paint taking an option away from the Warriors. The Warriors aren't as free flowing moving as they have been in the past years, since team can stay more in paint guarding because of Green.
Draymond Green has also been known to fight within the team. On November 12th, Green and Kevin Durant got into a heated argument on the last play of the game. Durant wanted the ball to hit the game winner over the Clippers, but Green went ahead and turned over the ball. Although the team has tried to cover it up and acted like it was no big deal Green was suspended for being "detrimental to the team." Green has always been one who is very passionate, but sometimes it does affect the team. If a team does get inside of Green's head it could come back and hurt the Warriors in a playoff series. If they could get inside of Green's head they could cause him to get suspended or even fight with his own players. Green could try to prove something to the other team and try to go hero ball. This could cause some riff in the Warriors chemistry and it could blow up in front of their faces in the playoffs.
The long-term effect of the Draymond Green/Kevin Durant fight might not ever be public knowledge with them even denying it will ever be anything past a heated argument. What we do know is that recently Durant has liked some tweets recently that are very peculiar. He liked a tweet in response to an article about his upcoming free agency where it says to "stop bothering him about it and let him be in peace." This could mean absolutely nothing, it could just be as simple as let Durant play this season out before we speculate anything. It could also mean to leave him alone about his decision because he has already decided what he'll do next. The answer to this question won't be answered until the upcoming free agency but it's an interesting wrinkle to think about. This could be used as fuel for a teams trash talkers to put inside the Warriors heads and lead Green to fight with Durant about leaving behind the scenes.
The long-term effect of the Draymond Green/Kevin Durant fight might not ever be public knowledge with them even denying it will ever be anything past a heated argument. What we do know is that recently Durant has liked some tweets recently that are very peculiar. He liked a tweet in response to an article about his upcoming free agency where it says to "stop bothering him about it and let him be in peace." This could mean absolutely nothing, it could just be as simple as let Durant play this season out before we speculate anything. It could also mean to leave him alone about his decision because he has already decided what he'll do next. The answer to this question won't be answered until the upcoming free agency but it's an interesting wrinkle to think about. This could be used as fuel for a teams trash talkers to put inside the Warriors heads and lead Green to fight with Durant about leaving behind the scenes.
Demarcus Cousins is the next big weakness the Warriors have, since Cousins has returned the Warriors look unbeatable but are they really? In his first game back Cousins fouled out and since them he's averaging a little over 4 fouls a game. This could be useful to teams who are playing against the Warriors as they could potentially use this to their benefit. If Cousins gets into foul trouble this could potentially leave him playing a weaker form of defense, he could be hesitant on going for blocks and make it easier to score in the paint.
Cousins also has an anger issue, which makes it easier to get inside his head. Cousins has already been tossed from a game while being on the bench not even playing! Earlier this season against the Knicks, Cousins was arguing with the ref and he was thrown out. He received a tech and referee Scott Foster said that one technical would suffice him being thrown out since he wasn't even playing.
Cousins has a long history of receiving technical fouls and a team should use this to help them win a series. If they can get into Cousins head it could cause him to get tossed from the game. It could also cause Green and Cousins to fight each other if they are both heated. This could cause the biggest fight between two teammates in a playoffs series that we've ever seen. This could cause they Warriors to break up in the offseason. If Durant sees that they are falling apart within he might not resign and move on to the next team. This could also cause the Warriors to pick between Cousins and Green which could cause they end of the Warriors as we know it.
A background on Cousins history of anger is a long one. With the Sacramento Kings, in 2011 Cousins was sent home early on a road trip with the team because he unwilling to to embrace traveling in the same direction as the team. In 2012 he was suspended for two games for confronting the Spurs Color Commentator in a "hostile way." In 2017 Cousins was suspended for receiving his 16th technical foul for the season. This is just a very brief overview of all the trouble Cousins has gotten in and it could be used to a team's advantage to destroy the Warriors.
A background on Cousins history of anger is a long one. With the Sacramento Kings, in 2011 Cousins was sent home early on a road trip with the team because he unwilling to to embrace traveling in the same direction as the team. In 2012 he was suspended for two games for confronting the Spurs Color Commentator in a "hostile way." In 2017 Cousins was suspended for receiving his 16th technical foul for the season. This is just a very brief overview of all the trouble Cousins has gotten in and it could be used to a team's advantage to destroy the Warriors.
In the playoffs the Warriors could become the most dominate team in NBA history. There is a very glaring weakness with Green and Cousins and it could be a ticking time bomb that the league needs to have a chance to beat them. Of course there will always be the switching Stephen Curry onto a bigger player, but this strategy of getting into these guys head is the Warriors biggest downfall. They have two guys who are very outspoken and have the most potential to be very detrimental to the team.
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