After a terrific start, the Golden State Warriors are now third in the west and going through their most difficult phase of the season. What are the reasons for this and how does this affect the dubs’ championship aspirations?
When Steve Kerr complains to the media, it’s usually for a reason. The Warriors coach learned from Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich, so the 56-year-old knows all the tricks. After the bankruptcy against the Lakers, the problems of the team were less addressed, but instead lectured about ithow unfairly the NBA timed the catch-up game against Denver.
This was of course complete nonsense, after all the schedule is so tight that back-to-backs can hardly be avoided in such situations. And the nuggets? They even had four games in five days. In contrast, there was less to be heard from the Mile High City, which is hardly surprising given that they are one of the hottest teams in the league.
On the other hand, Golden State is in danger of losing home advantage after nine bankruptcies from twelve games. The victory against the Clippers brought some relief a day later. After the red-hot start, the Warriors are still only third in the west, even Utah (3 games behind) and Dallas (3.5) are still within reach.
So what happened to the team that started 17-2, paraded the Suns in their own arena at Christmas and was viewed by quite a few as favorites to win the championship? We take a look at the problem areas of the dubs in the past weeks and months.
1. Warriors continue to miss Draymond Green
If the past few weeks have made one thing clear, it’s that Green is irreplaceable. Stephen Curry may be the face of the team, but the forward is the heart and soul of the franchise and ranks almost as highly as the greatest marksman of all time. The forward has been missing since the beginning of January, during this period the Dubs posted a record of 15-14, so a conservative average.
Ex-player Festus Ezeli brought it up in a radio interview Sirius XM finally to the point: “He’s not the best player in the team, but the most important one (…) Without him, the small ball can’t be implemented.” Before his injury, Green was considered the favorite for his second Defense Player of the Year award, and the 32-year-old looked as lively as he had in the Championship years.
Green announces all defensive plays, he can defend all positions, he directs the fast break. It was no coincidence that Golden State had by far the best defense in the NBA (defensive rating: 103.2). Green may not be the elite shot blocker, but his IQ is so high that he’s always finding ways to disrupt enemy attacks.
This sometimes makes the impact difficult to measure, the same applies to the attack. 8 points and 8 assists on average doesn’t sound like much, but Green is Golden States best playmaker and screener in one. Apart from Curry, the Warriors lack players who can constantly create throws for themselves, the absence of Green is all the more noticeable, who was able to eradicate this a little with his creativity.
Identifying the last phase of weakness only on Green would be too easy. In the meantime, nine wins in a row, including successes against Utah, Dallas and Minnesota. After all, the wait for the forward will soon be over, on March 14th the all-star wants to intervene again in the home game against the Wizards.
2. Warriors hit too badly from outside
We’ve already talked about the problems of creating, but morphing throws is also a problem. This starts with the big names. Stephen Curry (we don’t count the 5 games 2019/20) and Klay Thompson score worse than ever from distance. The Splash Brothers had never converted below 40 percent from Downtown in a season prior to the season, and they are currently at 37 percent each.
Curry in particular will no longer find its rhythm at all in 2022. 35 percent is catastrophic for him and one of the reasons why the Guard has now said goodbye to the MVP discussion. Of the rotation players, only rookie Moses Moody has scored more than 40 percent this calendar year, as a team there are just under 36.
Jordan Poole, who was stuck in a fat slump before the All-Star break and has regained some self-confidence since then, showed at least improving form. It was the side effect of Thompson’s return. Poole had to return to the bench and Poole was quick to admit that it was a change for him.
