Many NBA critics and coaches will downplay the importance of opening night stating "its only one game" or "there are 81 left to play".  I will argue on this site today that opening night means everything for the 2007-2008 and season and beyond.

Reason #1- The Warriors need to prove they can handle adversity.  Losing their compsosure and swagger during the magical playoff run, certainly dissapointed Warrior fans and players alike, but noone expected them to get that far in the first place.  NBA teams will be ready for the Warriors and take them seriously night in and night out, starting with the Utah Jazz on September 30th.  They will be challenged not just to duplicate their playoff performance, but also to duplicate the magic that inspired thousands for the last month.  No Warrior team in recent history has been able to handle adversity well, and a rematch is a perfect opportunity to make a statement that this season is going to be different.  There will be no Stephen Jackson, no Jason Richardson, and somone aside from Baron Davis will have to step up to get us a win.

Reason #2- Can the Warriors match up with a physical basketball team?  While the regular season is filled with finesse games, the playoffs are all about earning your stripes and Utah challenged us at every turn in the semifinals.  We were not able to handle the intense physical play that they brought to the table every night and wilted when challenged.  Visions of new team captain Stephen Jackson, melting down due to the tough defense of Andrei Kiralenko is something that needs to change on night one and its going to have to be from someone other than Baron Davis that leads the charge.  Can Al Harrington blossom into a legitamate NBA Power Forward?  Can Andris handle the low post without getting into foul trouble?  In order for this team to be a legitamte Western Conference playoff team, they are going to need to be able to put the Suprs/Jazz types of teams on notice that this roster is more complete than its counterpart from last season.

Reason #3 - Too many key parts are relying on success this season to improve their future.  A serious argument can be made that failure by this years version of the GSW, could have serious implications on the future success of this franchise.  Most would agree the warriors are one Baron Davis hamstring away from burning their "we believe" shirts.  Consider this scenerio, Baron hurt, the question marks remain just that, and the Warriors miss the playoffs.  Under this dreadful situation the following dominoes are likely to fall, Nelson retiring/leaving, Baron opting out due to no offer of an extension (injury related mostly), Barnes gone to FA, perhaps not even a mutliyear deal for him.  Tell me that your not scared of a team run by Stephen Jackson with no Nelson nor any legitimate NBA point guard on the roster.  This relates to my first point in this article, that there is alot of adversity our roster/coaching staff is facing going into 2007-2008 and this opening game being so important.

Reason #4- Most importantly, every season is often defined by statements made early.  A quick start out of the gate would be very different than what Warrior teams have done in the past, and the NBA darlings thrive on this positive attention.  It is my belief that two early wins over the Jazz and one over the clippers, would make a statement to the league that our team is to be feared.  It will give us a physchological edge that all successful franchises have (note NE patriots) and must keep in order to maintain their high level of play.

So for this writer, while the NBA season is 82 games, the Warriors season boils down to the first week for all that we need to know, so grab some popcorn and enjoy the show.