The Golden State Warriors peaked when they defeated the 67-win Dallas Mavericks in the ’07 playoffs, they haven’t done much since. Their defense the past two seasons has been one of the worst in the league, if not the worst. They can score whenever they want, but they don’t play defense and let teams get back into games. If anything needs to change it’s their defensive mindset, otherwise the Warriors will be the Phoenix Suns of yore: a very exciting team but one that can’t make critical stops when the game is on the line.

The Warriors drafted the talented Stephen Curry. Curry became the best scorer in college basketball. While he may not score 30 points per game in the pro, he should eventually be a key player on the team. F Cory Maggette is one of the best players on the team and should have another solid season. With this being his 10th season, he is the veteran who needs to keep the team focused throughout the season.

The Warriors play in the highly talented and solid Western Conference; in the West, making the playoffs as the eighth seed will be a tall order. If the Warriors expect to play in late spring, they’ll need to improve on defense: No team that was last to score on defense made the playoffs. The Warriors may not be what the San Antonio Spurs once were defensively, but in a league with gifted athletes, the Warriors can improve like the Denver Nuggets did last year.

Coach Don Nelson likes the run-and-gun offense, but even he knows that to win games in the league you have to try playing defense from time to time. Nelson is second all-time in career wins and over the next two seasons he should break the mark set by Lenny Wilkins.