How’s the Golden State Warriors Bench Performing?

By Greg Chin | Apr 27, 2015

Throughout the regular season, one of the Golden State Warriors’ strengths was their bench depth. Their bench was a mix of former All-Stars in David Lee and Andre Iguodala; heady veterans like Leandro Barbosa, Marreese Speights and Shaun Livingston; and a few rookie-scale contract players in Justin Holiday and Festus Ezeli.

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The bench helped maintain leads that the starters established, and even won games on occasion. Livingston, Barbosa, and Speights were having resurgent seasons, while Iguodala started to shine in his role as the sixth man off the bench towards the end of the regular season.

Critics and analysts insisted that the bench wouldn’t have such a big effect in the playoffs, where the starters would play a lot more minutes, but it was clear that having any advantage over their opponents would only help the Warriors find success. However, through the first four games, the bench support has almost been non-existent, and coach Steve Kerr has had to play his starters a lot more minutes than he would normally have liked.

Apr 15, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors center Marreese Speights (5) dunks the ball against Denver Nuggets center

Jusuf Nurkic

(23) during the fourth quarter at Oracle Arena. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Denver Nuggets 133-126. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

One of the biggest culprits so far has been Marreese Speights. There was a stretch during the regular season where Speights’ play off the bench garnered him some consideration as the frontrunner of the Sixth Man of the Year award. He gave the Warriors with scoring off the bench, and would regularly trouble opposing centers with his floor-spacing ability.

However, in the playoffs, Speights has averaged just seven minutes per game. He has shot 20 percent from the field, averaging 3.8 field goal attempts per game, and has struggled mightily. In Game One, he played one minute, but was a -5 for the time he spent on the floor. His reduction in minutes could be explained by coach Kerr’s unwillingness to play him at center when Anthony Davis is on the court, so we might see more from him in the upcoming games.

Leandro Barbosa has been the Warriors’ best player off the bench. His attention on the defensive end has improved significantly, which allows coach Kerr to keep him in the game longer. His bursts of speed threatened the fragile Pelicans’ defense regularly, and he drove to the rim with ease. It helped that the Pelicans had the diminutive Norris Cole as their backup point guard, which gave Barbosa some size advantage.

Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston’s performances so far have been mixed. Iguodala finished the season strongly, and there aren’t many bench players in the league that can impact a game on both ends of the court quite like he does. However, his shooting has dipped drastically in the playoffs – he shot 31 percent from the field, and 12.5 percent from three-point range.

Iggy and Livingston’s strengths lie in their ability as defensive stoppers and secondary ball-handlers. However, against the Pelicans, those weren’t needed. The Pelicans main threat was Davis, and outside of that, they lacked other scoring threats. Ergo, there wasn’t much need for Iggy and Livingston’s lockdown defensive prowess.

Their poor shooting is cause for concern, but neither are particularly accurate shooters (46.6 percent for Iggy and 50 percent for Livingston this season).

April 2, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Justin Holiday (7, left), forward David Lee (10, center), and guard

Stephen Curry

(30, right) celebrate after Curry made a three-point basket during the fourth quarter against the Phoenix Suns at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Suns 107-106. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

As for Justin Holiday, Brandon Rush, James McAdoo, and David Lee, don’t expect coach Kerr to be playing them big minutes any time soon. Kerr’s playoff rotation seems to be the starters, plus Iguodala, Livingston, Speights, Barbosa, and maybe even Ezeli. The others might play in garbage time, but outside of that, their roles will be confined to the bench.

So, don’t believe the assertion that the Warriors’ bench has been underperforming of late. Their poor shooting is something that needs to be addressed, but the lack of playing time and impact can be explained by the opposition the Golden State Warriors faced. We should see them bounce back against their opponents in the next round.

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