When the Warriors’ struggles first started early within the season, the prevailing narrative was that the group needed to be affected by a “championship hangover”.
Such a suggestion implied the group would ultimately snap out of it and return to their previous selves. However with the Warriors nonetheless failing to encourage a lot confidence at 29-29 greater than two thirds into the season, their gamers and coaches have needed to confront the truth that one thing may really be damaged.
“I don’t assume it’s a championship hangover,” Draymond Inexperienced advised reporters on Tuesday. “It’s a will to wish to defend. You’re not hungover at .500 60 video games into the season. You’re a loser if you happen to’re nonetheless hungover at that time. It’s no hangover.
“It’s the need to defend, to cease and guard your man, to sink and assist and entice the field and rotate. Protection is all one or two steps additional. I’m going to take that additional step to get there or not. That’s all will. We don’t have that as a group. You possibly can have that as people. I can have that myself. Loon can have that. However if you happen to don’t collectively have that…”
Steve Kerr additionally spoke on the difficulty and broke down particularly what was going fallacious on the defensive finish.
“Level of assault,” Kerr stated when requested what the group’s largest downside was on the defensive finish. “We’re getting beat on penetration. We’re giving up center so much. While you get beat center, there’s an excessive amount of to cowl. Then we’re fouling so much. We’re final within the league in free throw makes an attempt allowed.
“… One of many causes we made the commerce for Gary (Payton II) is to shore up our perimeter protection. We had been the No. 2 ranked protection within the league a 12 months in the past. I feel we’ve got it in us.”
Kerr has repeatedly stated that offence has not been the issue, and the numbers again that up.
In reality, the five-man lineup of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Inexperienced and Kevon Looney is outscoring their opponents by 22 factors per 100 possessions. For context, the 2017 KD Warriors outscored their opponents by 11 factors per 100 possessions.
If they will get their defence to be even half as productive as that, they may lastly be again in enterprise.
